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The interaction of a global model (GM) and a local (regional) model (LM) of heat flow is considered under the framework of so‐called “one‐way nesting”. In this framework, the GM is constructed in a large domain with coarse discretization in space and time, while the LM is set in a small subdomain with fine discretization.

The GM is solved first, and its results are then used via some boundary transfer operator (BTO) on the GM–LM interface in order to solve the LM. Past experience in various fields of application has shown that one has to be careful in the choice of BTO to be used on the GM–LM interface, since this choice affects both the stability and accuracy of the computational scheme. Here the problem is first theoretically analyzed for the linear heat equation, and stable BTOs are identified. Then numerical experiments are performed with one‐way nesting in a two‐dimensional channel for heat flow with and without radiation emission and linear reaction, using four different BTOs.

Among other conclusions, it is shown that the “negative Robin” BTO is unstable, whereas the Dirichlet, Neumann and “positive Robin” BTO are all stable. It is also shown that in terms of accuracy, the Neumann and “positive Robin” BTOs should be preferred over the Dirichlet BTO.

This study may be the first step in analyzing BTO accuracy and stability for more general atmospheric systems.