Systematic Energy Errors and the Tendency toward Canonical Equilibrium in Atmospheric Circulation Models
- 1 March 1996
- journal article
- Published by American Meteorological Society in Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
- Vol. 53 (6) , 887-904
- https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1996)053<0887:seeatt>2.0.co;2
Abstract
Systematic kinetic energy errors are examined in barotropic and multilevel general circulation models. The dependence of energy spectra on resolution and dissipation and, in addition for the barotropic model, on topography and the beta effect, is studied. We propose explanations for the behavior of simulated kinetic energy spectra by relating them to canonical equilibrium spectra characterized by entropy maximization. Equilibrium spectra at increased resolution tend to have increased large-scale kinetic energy and a drop in amplitude at intermediate and small scales. This qualitative behavior may also be found in forced and/or dissipative simulations if the forcing and dissipation operators acting on the common scales are very similar at different resolutions. An explanation for the tail “wagging the dog” effect is presented. This effect, where scale-selective dissipation operators cause a drop in the tail of the energy spectra and, surprisingly, also an increase in the large-scale energy, is fou... Abstract Systematic kinetic energy errors are examined in barotropic and multilevel general circulation models. The dependence of energy spectra on resolution and dissipation and, in addition for the barotropic model, on topography and the beta effect, is studied. We propose explanations for the behavior of simulated kinetic energy spectra by relating them to canonical equilibrium spectra characterized by entropy maximization. Equilibrium spectra at increased resolution tend to have increased large-scale kinetic energy and a drop in amplitude at intermediate and small scales. This qualitative behavior may also be found in forced and/or dissipative simulations if the forcing and dissipation operators acting on the common scales are very similar at different resolutions. An explanation for the tail “wagging the dog” effect is presented. This effect, where scale-selective dissipation operators cause a drop in the tail of the energy spectra and, surprisingly, also an increase in the large-scale energy, is fou...Keywords
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