[MITgcm-support] DeepAtmosphere and rstar coordinates

[Angela Zalucha]

Hi,

Am I correct in saying that setting deepAtmosphere to true while using rstar coordinates is not supported by the model?

I have been running the MITgcm applied to Pluto (and now Triton) for some time, and one of the poorer assumptions I must make is that the atmosphere is shallow.  Pluto's solid body radius is about 1150 km, yet the "lower" atmosphere extends to 600-800 km.  Thus, the assumption that the gravitational acceleration is constant with height is poor at high levels.

My configuration is essentially Held-Suarez 94 with rstar coordinates (plus a Pluto-specific heating/cooling scheme that I call from external_forcing.F).  Is there any possibility of getting g to vary with height in rstar coordinates?

    Angela
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