High-Resolution Nested UA-ICON Simulation Compared to Mesospheric Observations of the VortEx Campaign at ALOMAR

We carry out high-resolution nested simulations over Andøya, Norway (ALOMAR) with UA-ICON to be co-analysed with observational data in the mesosphere collected during the NASA VortEx sounding rocket campaign in March 2023. We apply UA-ICON with 180 height levels and a model top of 150 km at a global horizontal resolution of R2B7 (~20 km) with subsequent one-way nesting with nests at R2B8 (~10 km), R2B9 (~5 km), R2B10 (~2.5 km) and R2B11 (~1.25 km) horizontal resolution. For the global domain (~20 km horizontal resolution), the dynamic situation during the campaign is specified (specified dynamics, SD) by nudging to ECMWF operational analyses up to an altitude of 50 km. For resolutions finer than 5 km, UA-ICON resolves a substantial fraction of the gravity wave (GW) spectrum. Therefore, GW and convective parameterizations are turned off to isolate the effects of resolved GWs. Data available from the rocket flight itself are wind observations. The Rayleigh-Mie-Raman (RMR) lidar supported the VortEx campaign through observations of temperature and wind profiles up to about 80 km. The MF Saura and SIMONe Norway radar systems provided 2D wind fields. All data give detailed information about GWs and tides. We present and discuss first results from comparisons between the high-resolution nested UA-ICON simulation and the observations for the VortEx campaign in March 2023.