Mesoscale models are numerical tools which resolve atmospheric processes of spatial scales between 2 and 1000 km. They solve the conservation equations of mass, momentum, internal energy and diverse air constituents (for example water vapour, trace gases or aerosol) with different physical approximations (incompressible, anelastic; hydrostatic, non-hydrostatic). Small-scale physical processes that are not resolved by the chosen temporal and spatial discretization (mesh width, time step), such as boundary-layer turbulence or convective exchange processes, are parameterized by ad-hoc approaches, i.e. they are approximately described by resolved parameters.
Mesoscale models are mostly specialized for distinct applications (e.g. regional or local weather forecast or process studies). Therefore, different mesoscale models are applied at the Institute for Atmospheric Physics to different problems. Three examples are
Further important applications of mesoscale models are, for example, local heavy precipitations events, convective storms, and regional climate studies.