Orographic cloud is investigated in a global context using both observations and a global climate model. Climatological cloud amounts from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) are used in conjunction with wind reanalyses to study orographic cirrus amounts over the globe. Significant increases in cirrus are seen over many land areas, with respect to any surrounding oceans. To aid in interpretation of this result special attention is given to the New Zealand region as a case study for orographic cloud formation. Cirrus is found be more prevalent over New Zealand when compared to the adjacent ocean to the west. ISCCP cloud amounts are also compared with a ten year simulation of the UK Meteorological Office's Unified Model. The model is found to be considerably lacking in both cirrus and total high cloud over major mountain ranges. The model is also found to lack trailing cirrus clouds in the lee of orography despite the inclusion of a prognostic ice variable capable of being advected by the model winds. To improve the simulations of orographic cirrus and high cloud in the Unified Model a linear hydrostatic gravity wave scheme that predicts both the amplitude and phase of subgrid orographic gravity waves is introduced. The temperature perturbation caused by these waves in the troposphere is used to modify the amount of both liquid and ice cloud. One important feature of the parameterisation is that the launch amplitude of the gravity waves is predicted by a directional variance function which accounts for anisotropy in the subgrid orography. The parameterisation is explored in the context of an off-line testbed before implementation in the Unified Model. In a ten year simulation the parameterisation is found to increase the high cloud amounts over a number of the world's major mountain ranges. However, this extra cloud is optically thick and unable to remove the deficiency in optically thin cirrus amounts. Suggestions, as part of future work, for improvements to the model and orographic cloud parameterisation are also made.

Orographic cloud is investigated in a global context using both observations and a global climate model. Climatological cloud amounts from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) are used in conjunction with wind reanalyses to study orographic cirrus amounts over the globe. Significant increases in cirrus are seen over many land areas, with respect to any surrounding oceans. To aid in interpretation of this result special attention is given to the New Zealand region as a case study for orographic cloud formation. Cirrus is found be more prevalent over New Zealand when compared to the adjacent ocean to the west. ISCCP cloud amounts are also compared with a ten year simulation of the UK Meteorological Office's Unified Model. The model is found to be considerably lacking in both cirrus and total high cloud over major mountain ranges. The model is also found to lack trailing cirrus clouds in the lee of orography despite the inclusion of a prognostic ice variable capable of being advected by the model winds. To improve the simulations of orographic cirrus and high cloud in the Unified Model a linear hydrostatic gravity wave scheme that predicts both the amplitude and phase of subgrid orographic gravity waves is introduced. The temperature perturbation caused by these waves in the troposphere is used to modify the amount of both liquid and ice cloud. One important feature of the parameterisation is that the launch amplitude of the gravity waves is predicted by a directional variance function which accounts for anisotropy in the subgrid orography. The parameterisation is explored in the context of an off-line testbed before implementation in the Unified Model. In a ten year simulation the parameterisation is found to increase the high cloud amounts over a number of the world's major mountain ranges. However, this extra cloud is optically thick and unable to remove the deficiency in optically thin cirrus amounts. Suggestions, as part of future work, for improvements to the model and orographic cloud parameterisation are also made.

Numerical simulations using the Penn State University/NCAR MM4 model are performed to examine a stably stratified, zonal easterly flow past large scale three-dimensional mountain ranges in a rotating, initially barotropic, atmosphere. Upstream blocking by the mountain range diverts the flow primarily to the south and around the mountain. Conservation of potential vorticity results in the formation of a horizontal jet at low levels south of the mountain. This jet is barotropically unstable and leads to a continuous production of synoptic scale vorticity maxima which separate from the mountain and propagate downstream. Numerical simulations using topography representative of the Sierra Madre in Mexico imply that this mechanism may be important in providing some of the initial disturbances which grow into tropical cyclones in the eastern North Pacific Ocean. The wave train produced in the simulations corresponds to waves with 3-7 day periods which have been identified observationally in the eastern North Pacific region. The sensitivity of this effect to the stability of the basic state and the upstream wind speed is investigated. Simulations are also performed which show that the Hoggar and Atlas mountains of west-central Africa block the low-level easterlies resulting in a barotropically unstable jet and a train of vorticity maxima which separate from the mountain and propagate downstream. The spacing of these disturbances is roughly 1600 km and they propagate to the east with a period of about 2.5 days. These characteristics correspond to those of observed waves in the Africa/Atlantic region. It will also be shown that the unique topography of north-central Africa results in a mid-tropospheric easterly jet which has a maximum between 0-10°E and 15-20°N. The location and magnitude of this jet correspond to the so-called African easterly jet which is usually attributed to the strong surface temperature gradients over the continent of Africa. The numerical simulations presented in this work suggest that the mechanical effect of the topography may provide a constant source of energy for the maintenance of the African easterly jet.