Atmospheric Tides and the Diurnal Cycle on Earth and other Terrestrial Planets

The latest standardized database of Earth climate model output features 24 high-time-frequency fields including surface pressure, allowing for the first time a direct global comparison of simulations and surface observations of atmospheric tides. The comparison reveals surprising agreement, raising the possibility of models "getting the right answer for the wrong reasons" and leading to general considerations of middle atmosphere phenomena on Earth and other worlds, e.g. superrotation on Venus and Titan. Also, since Earth atmospheric tides contribute to near-surface processes like the sea breeze, our studies lead naturally to inspection of the diurnal cycle of precipitation and the boundary layer.

Speaker: Curt Covey, Lawrence Livermore National Labs