You are here

Home » Modeling

Modeling

WACCM-X

Sample template image
WACCM-X simulation of the "April Fools" geomagnetic storm in 2001, showing the global electron column density in units of 10^12 cm^-2. Note the "tongue of ionization" extending out of both the north and south auroral regions into the dayside low-latitudes, and the highly distorted equatorial ionosphere.

The Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with thermosphere and ionosphere extension (WACCM-X) is a comprehensive numerical model, spanning the range of altitude from the Earth’s surface to the upper thermosphere.

The scientific goals of the model include studying solar impacts on the Earth atmosphere, couplings between atmosphere layers through chemical, physical and dynamical processes, and the implications of the coupling for the climate and for the near space environment. The development of the model is inter-divisional collaboration that unifies certain aspects of the upper atmospheric modeling of HAO, the middle atmosphere modeling of ACOM, and the tropospheric modeling of CGD, using the NCAR Community Earth System Model (CESM) as a common numerical framework.

Overview:

More Information:

    • WACCM-X information and tutorials at CESM:

-CESM main page
-CESM quick start guide
-WACCM-X Compsets
-CESM/WACCM-X description

    • Whole Atmosphere Working Group:

-http://www.cesm.ucar.edu/working_groups/Whole-Atmosphere/

    • WACCM at ACOM:

-https://www2.acom.ucar.edu/gcm/waccm

    • Sign up for WACCM-X Mailing list

-/modeling/waccm-x/mailing-list

News and Updates:

    • Extended runs of WACCM-X v. 2.1 with specified dynamics forcing available for analysis

-/modeling/sd/waccm-x/ExtendedRuns

    • Climate change model output archived (Solomon et al., 2018; 2019)

-https://doi.org/10.26024/ypnz-d857

    • WACCM-X v. 2.1, is released as part of the Community Earth System Model, v. 2.1, January 2019.

-Release Notes for WACCM-X v.2.1

    • WACCM-X v. 2.0, with fully-interactive ionosphere, is released as part of the Community Earth System Model, v. 2.0, June 2018.

-Release Notes for WACCM-X v.2.0
-http://www.cesm.ucar.edu/models/cesm2
-http://www.cesm.ucar.edu/models/cesm2/whatsnew.html

Recent Workshops and Symposia:

    • System Science Workshop 2018
-Toward a Whole Geospace Model

    • CEDAR Workshop 2018
-Hanli Liu's CEDAR Prize Lecture

    • Whole Atmosphere Modeling Workshop, June 13-15, 2018
-http://www.elecnor-deimos.com/wam-workshop-2018/
  • Whole Atmosphere Data Assimilation in WACCMX+DART
  • CESM: A platform for atmospheric prediction from the surface to geospace
  • Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with Thermosphere/Ionosphere Extension (WACCM-X)

      • Whole Atmosphere Working Group Meeting, Feb. 12–14, 2018
    -http://www.cesm.ucar.edu/events/wg-meetings/2018/am.html

      • WACCM-X Users Group tutorial session at the CEDAR Workshop, June 22, 2017
    -http://cedarweb.vsp.ucar.edu/wiki/index.php/2017_Workshop:WACCM_X_Users_Group

      • Whole Atmosphere Variability session at the CEDAR Workshop, June 22, 2017
    -http://cedarweb.vsp.ucar.edu/wiki/index.php/2017_Workshop:Whole_Atmosphere_Variability

      • Whole Atmosphere Working Group meeting at the CESM Workshop, June 20, 2017
    -http://www.cesm.ucar.edu/events/workshops/ws.2017/

    WACCM-X Highlights:

    median hmF2 comparison
    Ionospheric Climatology during Solar Minimum
    June 5, 2017

    In order to calculate the Earth’s whole atmosphere and ionosphere coupled system in a self-consistent way, new ionosphere and electrodynamo modules have been implemented in the thermosphere and ionosphere eXtension of WACCM-X. WACCX-X stands for the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model.

    Teleconnection pattern derived from WACCM-X simulations image
    WACCM-X simulation of tidal and planetary wave variability
    May 31, 2017

    This book chapter describes the basic physical processes in the thermosphere, or Earth's neutral upper atmosphere, which need to be captured in a physics-based model. Liu, H., 2014: WACCM-X simulation of tidal and planetary wave variability in the upper atmosphere.

    Global temperature change
    Global temperature change
    May 31, 2017

    The NCAR Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model–eXtended (WACCM-X) was used to study global temperature change throughout the atmosphere during the last several decades.

    Monthly mean, globally integrated total gravity wave flux of energy
    Variability and predictability of the space environment as related to lower atmosphere forcing
    May 31, 2017

    Most of the large events affecting the thermosphere and ionosphere part of the space environment come from the Sun, the solar wind, and Earth’s magnetosphere.

    Pages

    The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.