NUMERICAL MODELS / Methods 1423
Testing Models
Given the complexities of atmospheric chemistry, and
the many interactions with other processes, atmos-
pheric chemical models can be very large programs.
Much care is needed to write the code in a rigorous
way to minimize the risk of errors. Generally the
program should make use of all of the options
available in a particular language, and on a particular
machine, to test for coding errors. When a model is
running it is validated by comparison with observa-
tions. Periodically different atmospheric models are
intercompared in international workshops to asses the
uncertainties in model calculations due to differences
in approach.
See also
Chemistry of the Atmosphere: Chemical Kinetics; Gas
Phase Reactions. Cloud Chemistry. Deposition.
Numerical Models: Methods. Radiative Transfer:
Absorption and Thermal Emission. Stratospheric
Chemistry and Composition: Overview.
Methods
J Thuburn, University of Reading, Reading, UK
Copyright 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
The Need for Numerical Solutions
Only in a small number of special cases can exact
analytic solutions be found for the differential equa-
tions describing the uid dynamics, physics, and
chemistry of the atmosphere. In all other cases
solutions can be found only by approximating the
differential equations by algebraic equations and then
nding specific numerical solutions to these algebraic
equations. Because of the vast amount of arithmetic
involved, numerical solutions are virtually always
found with the aid of electronic computers.
Types of Equations
In broad terms, the method for nding a numerical
solution generally reects the type of equation being
solved, which in turn reects the nature of the physics
that the equation describes. For example, an equation
describing how a variable evolves in time is called a
prognostic equation. A prognostic equation is solved by
specifying the solution at some initial time, along with
appropriate boundary conditions, and then repeatedly
Further Reading
Atkinson R, et al. (1997) IUPAC (International Union of
Pure and Applied Chemistry), Evaluated kinetic, photo-
chemical and heterogeneous data for atmospheric chem-
istry. 5. IUPAC Subcommittee on Gas Kinetic Data
Evaluation for Atmospheric Chemistry. Journal of
Physical and Chemical Reference Data 26: 5211011.
Brasseur G and Solomon S (1986) Aeronomy of the Middle
Atmosphere, 2nd edn. Dordrecht, Netherlands: D. Reidel
Publishing.
Brasseur GP, Orlando JJ and Tyndall GS (eds) (1999)
Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Change. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Jacobsen MZ (1999) Fundamentals of Atmospheric Mod-
eling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Park J, et al. (1999) Models and Measurements Intercom-
parison II. NASA Publication NASA/TM-1999-209554,
Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA.
Sander SP, et al. (2000) NASA/JPL, Chemical Kinetics and
Photochemical Data for Use in Stratospheric Modeling,
Evaluation no. 13. JPL publication 00-003.
WMO (1985) World Meteorological Organization, Atmos-
pheric Ozone. Global Ozone Research and Monitoring
Project, Report No. 16, WMO, Geneva, CH 1211,
Geneva 20, Switzerland.
using the available information to advance the solution
to the next time level. On the other hand, an equation
describing a relationship among a number of variables
all at the same instant in time is called a diagnostic
equation. The ideal gas law is an example of a local
diagnostic equation. Nonlocal diagnostic equations are
also important; they are often boundary value problems
and often describe some kind of balance such as hydro-
static balance or the relationship between quasi-geo-
strophic potential vorticity and streamfunction (see
Dynamic Meteorology: Overview). They also arise in
connection with implicit time stepping schemes see
below. Boundary value diagnostic equations require
different solution methods from prognostic equations
because the solution at any point in the domain depends
simultaneously on all of the boundary and forcing values.
The equations used to model the atmosphere are
nearly always a combination of prognostic and diag-
nostic, and so a corresponding combination of nu-
merical solution methods is used.
Representation of Data; Resolution
and Aliasing
Fields like temperature and velocity are usually con-
sidered to exist throughout a continuous region of
1424 NUMERICAL MODELS / Methods
>
Figure 1 Gridpoint representation of a simple function. Five data
values are stored, indicated by the diamond symbols.
space and time and so contain, potentially, an innite
amount of information. For a numerical solution to be
obtained, these elds must be represented approxi-
mately by a nite set of data values that can be stored in
a computer. There are several possible ways to do this.

Gridpoint representation. In gridpoint methods a
eld is represented by its values at a nite set of
points called the grid or mesh points (Figure 1).

Finite volume representation. Each value stored in
the computer represents the value of a eld not at a
point but averaged over a nite volume or grid cell
(Figure 2).

Finite element representation. Each eld f is repre-
sented as a series in terms of certain basis functions
ci x (eqn [1]) and the coefcients f^ are stored in
i
the computer (Figure 3).
X
fx f^ c x 1
i i
i ever smaller scales, and eventually on scales that must
Usually the ci are simple local functions that are
piecewise constant or piecewise linear over a small
number of gird cells and zero elsewhere.

Spectral representation. As for nite element meth-
ods, each eld is represented as a series in terms of
certain basis functions, but here the basis functions
are mutually orthogonal global functions. The
simplest example in one dimension is a Fourier
series representation in which the basis functions are
sines and cosines (Figure 4). For modeling the
atmosphere on a spherical planet, a spectral method
based on spherical harmonics is often used.
>
>
Figure 2 Finite volume representation of a simple function. Five
grid-cell-average values are stored, indicated by the histogram
values.
>
> >
Figure 3 Finite element representation of a simple function. In
this case the individual elements are witchs hats, which are
continuous, piecewise linear, and nonzero over only two cells. Five
data values are stored.
In more than one dimension combinations of the
above methods can be used, e.g., gridpoint in the
horizontal and nite element in the vertical, or spectral
in the horizontal and gridpoint in the vertical.
The number of data values used to represent a eld
denes the model resolution: a greater number of data
values corresponds to higher resolution and means
that smaller-scale structures in the eld can be repre-
sented. Nevertheless, for any xed number of data
values there will be some limiting scale below which
structures cannot be represented. Structures on small-
er scales than this will be misrepresented, or aliased, as
features of some other scale (Figure 5). Aliasing is an
important problem because, even if the initial data are
smooth, the nonlinearity of the equations describing
atmospheric dynamics tends to generate structure on
be aliased. This is one reason why models often include
some form of scale-selective dissipation to damp
poorly resolved near-grid-scale structure.
>
>
(A)
>
>
(B)
Figure 4 (A) Fourier representation (dotted curve) of a simple
function (solid curve). The coefcients of ve Fourier components
are stored; those components are shown in (B).

Figure 5 Example of aliasing. A wavenumber 7 Fourier compo-
nent sampled by only 6 data points appears the same as a
wavenumber 1 Fourier component.
Roundoff Error and Truncation Error
Numerical solutions are subject to roundoff error and
truncation error. Roundoff error arises because of the
nite number of digits, and hence limited precision,
used to store numbers in a computer. On a typical
workstation using standard precision the roundoff
error is about 73 in the eighth decimal digit. For most
purposes this error is so small as to be insignificant.
However, the effects of roundoff error can be greatly
amplied in certain calculations for example, when
adding small numbers to large ones or when taking
differences of nearly equal numbers.
Truncation errors are those that arise through
approximating a continuous eld by a nite set of
data values and through approximating derivatives or
integrals by algebraic operations such as differences or
sums. They are a function of the resolution of the
model, and are usually much more significant than
roundoff errors.
Taylor Series, Approximation
of Derivatives
For gridpoint methods, derivatives are approximated
by nite differences. The approximations are derived
from Taylor series. For example, if the grid spacing is
Dx then eqn [2] leads to eqn [3].
qf q2 f Dx2
fx Dx fx Dx 2 ODx3 2 several slightly different definitions of stability.
qx qx 2
qf fx Dx  fx
ODx 3
qx Dx
Combination of eqn [2] with the corresponding
formula for fx  Dx leads to eqn [4].
qf fx Dx  fx  Dx
ODx2 4
qx 2Dx
The difference between the exact derivative and the
approximation is the truncation error, and the de-
NUMERICAL MODELS / Methods 1425
pendence of the truncation error on Dx determines
the order of accuracy of the approximation. Formula
[3] is said to be rst-order accurate, since the
truncation error decreases as fast as Dx to the power
one as Dx ! 0, while formula [4] is second-order
accurate. Higher-order approximations can be sys-
tematically constructed but lead to more complex
formulas.
Local Truncation Error, and
Consistency
The local truncation error is the residual left over when
the true solution is substituted into the nite difference
version of an equation. It is a measure of how well the
difference equation approximates the differential
equation locally, and is closely related to the trunca-
tion error discussed above. For example, consider the
linear advection eqn [5] (v a constant).
qf qf
v 0 5
qt qx
When this is approximated by eqn [6], where fnj means
the numerical solution for f at the point jDx and time
nDt, j and n integers, then the local truncation error is
ODt ODx.
fn1
j  fnj fnj  fnj1
v 0 6
Dt Dx
A difference scheme is said to be consistent if the
local truncation error tends to zero as Dt ! 0 and
Dx ! 0.
Convergence, Stability
A scheme is said to be convergent if the nite difference
solution approaches the true solution as Dt ! 0 and
Dx ! 0. Consistency is not sufcient to ensure con-
vergence. For example, a scheme might be consistent
but fail to converge because it is unstable. There are
For most practical purposes a useful definition is
that a scheme is unstable if it produces numerical
solutions that grow much more rapidly than the true
solution.
For example, by investigating the behavior of a trial
solution of the form fnj An eikjDx with A a complex
constant (a technique called von Neumann stability
analysis), it can be shown that scheme [6] is stable if
and only if 0  v Dt=Dx  1. Thus, although the
scheme is consistent, the numerical solution will not
approach the true solution as Dt ! 0 and Dx ! 0
unless vDt=Dx lies within this range.
1426 NUMERICAL MODELS / Methods

A-grid B-grid approach will typically lead to a set of simultaneous

equations involving df ^ =dt multiplied by a sparse
i
u, v, T u, v, T T T matrix called the mass matrix. Once these are
solved for df ^ =dt, f ^ may be stepped forward in
i i
time, for example, using a temporal nite difference
u, v
formula.
Perhaps because of the need to solve simultaneous
u, v, T u, v, T T T equations to nd df ^ =dt, nite element methods have
i
been used relatively little to date for modeling the
atmosphere. For spectral methods, on the other hand,
because the basis functions are mutually orthogonal,
C-grid D-grid the mass matrix is diagonal and therefore trivial to
invert.
T u T T v T Several terms in the model equations would be
difcult or expensive to evaluate directly in terms of
u u the spectral coefcients f ^ . In practice it is simpler and
v v i
more efcient to transform the model elds to a
gridpoint representation fj , to evaluate those terms,
T u T T v T
and then to transform the result back into the spectral
representation. The transforms can be carried out
efciently with the aid of a fast Fourier transform
E-grid algorithm. This method is called the spectral trans-
form method. The advantages of spectral methods,
u, v T u, v including their high intrinsic accuracy and their
facilitation of the solution of elliptic problems see
below has made the spectral transform method very
T u, v T
important in global weather prediction and climate
models.
u, v T u, v

Figure 6 The arrangement of variables on the ve staggered The CFL Criterion

grids analysed by Arakawa.
Staggered Grids
The accuracy of some gridpoint methods can be
improved by storing different variables, such as the
different wind components and temperature, on dif-
ferent grids that are staggered with respect to each
other in space. The best-known are the ve grids,
known as the A-grid, B-grid, etc., that were classied
and analysed by Arakawa (Figure 6). It is also possible
to store elds in a way that is staggered in time, or both
space and time, but this is rarely used.
Finite Element and Spectral Methods
For nite element and spectral methods the object is to
determine how the coefcients f ^ evolve in time. One
i
way to do this is to require that the residual, which is
the amount left over when the approximate solution
[1] is substituted into the original equation, be
orthogonal to each of the basis functions. This
According to the CourantFriedrichsLewy (CFL)
criterion, a necessary condition for the stability of a
numerical scheme for a hyperbolic equation is that the
domain of dependence of the numerical solution at any
point (jDx; nDt) should include the domain of de-
pendence of the true solution at the same point. For
example, for the scheme [6] the numerical domain of
dependence of fnj consists of the points j  1Dx and
jDx at time n  1Dt. Since, for the true solution of the
linear advection equation, information propagates at
velocity v, the domain of dependence of the true
solution consists of the single point jDx  vDt at time
n  1Dt. In this case the numerical domain of
dependence contains the true domain of dependence
if and only if 0  vDt=Dx  1. In general, satisfac-
tion of the CFL criterion is necessary but not sufcient
to guarantee stability, though in the example just given
it turns out to be sufcient too.
The quantity vDt=Dx is called the Courant
number. An analogous quantity can be dened for
other equations with wavelike solutions, e.g. gravity
waves, with v replaced by the speed of the equations
characteristics. Many schemes are stable only for a

limited range of Courant numbers, so that at any given
model resolution it is important to use a time step
small enough to ensure stability; this, of course, affects
the overall cost of the model.
Semi-Lagrangian Advection
Semi-Lagrangian schemes are a way of modeling the
advection terms in uid dynamical equations while
satisfying the CFL criterion and ensuring stability
without any restriction on the time step. By removing
one of the major constraints on the time step, they
allow models to be run more cheaply, and as a result
they are now widely used.
An equation of the form Df=Dt S, where S
represents all terms other than the advection term, is
typically discretized along an air parcel trajectory
starting from some departure point xd at time nDt and
arriving at a grid point xj at time n 1Dt as in eqn [7]
(Figure 7).
fn1  fnd


j
S 7
Dt
Here
S is some estimate of S averaged along the
trajectory, fn1
j is the value of f at xj and time
n 1Dt, and fnd is the value of f at xd and time nDt.
In general xd will not coincide with a model grid point
so that the value fnd must be found by interpolation.
Cubic interpolation is typically used.
The departure point xd is given implicitly by eqn [8],
where
v is an estimate of the average velocity along the
trajectory, e.g.,
v vn1
j vnd =2. Equation [8] is
implicit because
v depends on xd ;
xj  xd


v 8
Dt
it is solved iteratively using typically two or three
iterations, with vnd estimated by linear interpolation at
each iteration.
n +2
n +1
n
xd
n1
j4 j3 j2 j1 j j +1
Figure 7 Schematic showing how a semi-Lagrangian advection
scheme can carry information along an air parcel trajectory from the
departure point xd at time nDt to the arrival grid point xj at time
n 1Dt.
NUMERICAL MODELS / Methods 1427
Implicit Time Stepping and
Semi-Implicit Time Stepping
Consider the following two schemes (eqns [9] and
[10]) for time discretization of the equation
qf=qt Rf.
fn1  fn1
Rfn 9
2Dt
fn1  fn 1 

Rfn R fn1 10
Dt 2
Scheme [9] is an example of an explicit scheme;
fn1 is given explicitly in terms of known quan-
tities fn1 and fn . Scheme [10], on the other
hand, is an example of an implicit scheme; fn1
appears on both sides of the equation, making it
more difcult to solve. The advantage of scheme
[10] is that it is stable for any size of time step and
any reasonable R, whereas scheme [9] is stable only
for a limited range of time steps and for certain
forms of R.
Implicit time schemes are often used for modeling
atmospheric chemistry, where short reaction time
scales would require very short time steps for
stability if an explicit time scheme were used. Implicit
schemes are also often used in atmospheric models
to model the gravity wave terms, and, if the hydro-
static approximation is not made, the acoustic wave
terms. Acoustic and gravity waves are the highest-
frequency signals in the atmosphere and would
strongly constrain the time step if explicit time
schemes were used. One effect of implicit time schemes
when large time steps are used is articially to slow the
highest-frequency waves. This is usually considered
acceptable, since acoustic and gravity waves are not
the most significant meterological features on synoptic
scales.
Because the equations describing the atmosphere
are nonlinear, an implicit discretization in the form
[10] would be difcult and expensive to solve for fn1.
Instead a semi-implicit discretization is usually used
(eqn [11]).
fn1  fn 1
Lfn Lfn1 
Dt 2
Rfn1=2  Lfn1=2 11
Here L is an approximation to R (or to that part of R
describing gravity waves) obtained by linearizing
about a suitable reference state, usually a stratied
atmosphere at rest, and fn1=2 is an estimate of f
at time n 1=2Dt obtained, for example, by
extrapolating from times n  1Dt and nDt. This
1428 NUMERICAL MODELS / Methods
leads to a much simpler, linear problem for fn1
(eqn [12]).
Dt
fn1  Lfn1 known terms 12 practice it is possible to choose the basis functions to be
2 eigenfunctions of the horizontal part of the Helmholtz
Equation [12] is usually of a form similar to eqn
[13] for some coefcients n, known as a Helmholtz
equation.
fn1  nr2 fn1 known terms 13 solved by direct matrix inversion.
Thus, an elliptic problem with suitable boundary
conditions must be solved to determine fn1 .
The combination of a semi-Lagrangian treatment of
advection terms with a semi-implicit treatment of
gravity waves and acoustic waves removes most of the
stability constraints on the time step size, allowing the
time step to be chosen on the basis of accuracy rather
than stability considerations, and thus making models
more efcient. For this reason, models based on semi-
implicit semi-Lagrangian schemes have become
widely used.
Elliptic Equations
Elliptic problems arise in atmospheric models when
some form of balance is assumed, e.g., when deter-
mining the streamfunction from the quasigeostrophic
potential vorticity, or when a semi-implicit time
scheme gives rise to a Helmholtz equation. They also
arise when vorticity and divergence are predicted
variables and it is necessary to derive the wind velocity
from these elds via a streamfunction and velocity
potential.
Discretization in space of an elliptic problem like
eqn [13] leads to an equation of the form [14], where
M is a sparse matrix.
Mfn1 known terms 14
Direct inversion of the matrix M is usually prohibi-
tively expensive for three-dimensional problems.
However, there are several other possible approaches
to solving eqn [14]. If a spectral representation of f
were used and the basis functions could be chosen to be
eigenfunctions of the Helmholtz operator, then M
would be diagonal and the solution would be trivial. In
operator, e.g. spherical harmonics in spherical geo-
metry. Then eqn [14] separates into a number of much
smaller problems whose matrices correspond to the
vertical part of the Helmholtz operator; these can be
If a spectral representation is not used then eqn [14]
is usually solved iteratively. One set of methods
involves relaxation of an approximate solution to
obtain a better approximation at each iteration. The
convergence of the iteration procedure can be greatly
accelerated by carrying out some iterations on coarser
grids than that on which the nal solution is required;
this is a multigrid method. Another iterative method
involves reformulating eqn [14] as a minimization
problem and then solving it using a minimization
algorithm such as the conjugate gradient algorithm.
See also
Dynamic Meteorology: Overview. Middle Atmos-
phere: Gravity Waves. Numerical Models: Chemistry
Models. Weather Prediction: Ensemble Prediction;
Seasonal and Interannual Weather Prediction.
Further Reading
Durran DR (1999) Numerical Methods for Wave Equations
in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics. New York: Springer-
Verlag.
Haltiner JG and Williams RT (1980) Numerical Prediction
and Dynamic Meteorology. Chichester: Wiley.
LeVeque RJ (1992) Numerical Methods for Conservation
Laws. Basel: Birkhauser.
Pielke RA (1984) Mesoscale Meteorological Modeling.
London: Academic Press.
Press WH, Teukolsky SA, Vetterling WT and Flannery BP
(1992) Numerical Recipes in FORTRAN 77: The Art of
Scientific Computing, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.