Abstract
The effects of coupling between the atmospheric model of the Consortium for Small-Scale Modelling-Climate Limited-area Modelling (CCLM) and the wind wave model (WAM) on the lower atmosphere within the North Sea area are studied. Due to the two-way coupling between the models, the influences of wind waves and the atmosphere on each other can be determined. This two-way coupling between these models is enabled through the introduction of wave-induced drag into CCLM and updated winds into WAM. As a result of wave-induced drag, different atmospheric parameters are either directly or indirectly influenced by the wave conditions. The largest differences between the coupled and reference model simulation are found during storm events as well as in areas of steep gradients in the mean sea level pressure, wind speed or temperature. In the two-way coupled simulation, the position and strength of these gradients vary, compared to the reference simulation, leading to differences that spread throughout the entire planetary boundary layer and outside the coupled model area, thereby influencing the atmosphere over land and ocean, although not coupled to the wave model. Ultimately, the results of both model simulations are assessed against in situ and satellite measurements, with a better general performance of the two-way coupled simulation with respect to the observations.
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