Summary
The ANGWIN Antarctic Gravity Wave Instrument Network has the ability to measure gravity-wave characteristics at various locations and height ranges. An ANGWIN objective is to make comparisons to the parameterized gravity waves in climate models with a view to improving their performance; A significant modelled temperature bias exists in the southern polar winter stratosphere due to a lack of gravity-wave forcing, with consequences for studies of the ozone layer and southern hemisphere climate. The success of model-observation comparisons depends on both the way gravity waves are observed and the design of model representations. Contemporary parameterizations, designed approximately 20 years ago, include attributes influenced by a need for computational simplicity. They are formed around momentum flux, the most dynamically important gravity-wave parameter but also the hardest to measure. They also integrate the gravity-wave field across parameter spaces in a manner that is hard to precisely replicate in observations. As a result, the cause of disagreements between observed and modelled gravity waves are difficult to isolate. This presentation explores the path between gravity-wave observations and climate model improvements. In the light of recent insights brought about through observations, it considers how current parameterizations can be changed to better represent gravity wave processes. In so doing, a path whereby observations and parameterizations can meaningfully interact is described.