Intraseasonal Periodicity in the Southern Hemisphere Circulation on Regional Spatial Scales

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 865-877 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. J. Thompson ◽  
Brian R. Crow ◽  
Elizabeth A. Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Wave Packets ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Time Structure ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Activity Form

Abstract Wave activity in the Southern Hemisphere extratropical atmosphere exhibits robust periodicity on time scales of ~20–25 days. Previous studies have demonstrated the robustness of the periodicity in hemispheric averages of various eddy quantities. Here the authors explore the signature of the periodicity on regional spatial scales. Intraseasonal periodicity in the Southern Hemisphere circulation derives from out-of-phase anomalies in wave activity that form in association with extratropical wave packets as they propagate to the east. In the upper troposphere, the out-of-phase anomalies in wave activity form not along the path of extratropical wave packets, but in their wake. The out-of-phase anomalies in wave activity give rise to periodicity not only on hemispheric scales, but also on synoptic scales when the circulation is sampled along an eastward path between ~5 and 15 m s−1. It is argued that 1) periodicity in extratropical wave activity derives from two-way interactions between the heat fluxes and baroclinicity in the lower troposphere and 2) the unique longitude–time structure of the periodicity in upper-tropospheric wave activity derives from the contrasting eastward speeds of the source of the periodicity in the lower troposphere (~10 m s−1) and wave packets in the upper troposphere (~25 m s−1).

A Nonlinear Multiscale Theory of Atmospheric Blocking: Eastward and Upward Propagation and Energy Dispersion of Tropospheric Blocking Wave Packets

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (12) ◽  
pp. 4025-4049
Author(s):  
Dehai Luo ◽  
Wenqi Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Group Velocity ◽  
Growth Phase ◽  
Wave Packets ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Amplitude Equation ◽  
Planetary Waves ◽  
Decay Phase ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Envelope Amplitude

AbstractIn this paper, a nonlinear multiscale interaction model is used to examine how the planetary waves associated with eddy-driven blocking wave packets propagate through the troposphere in vertically varying weak baroclinic basic westerly winds (BWWs). Using this model, a new one-dimensional finite-amplitude local wave activity flux (WAF) is formulated, which consists of linear WAF related to linear group velocity and local eddy-induced WAF related to the modulus amplitude of blocking envelope amplitude and its zonal nonuniform phase. It is found that the local eddy-induced WAF reduces the divergence (convergence) of linear WAF in the blocking upstream (downstream) side to favor blocking during the blocking growth phase. But during the blocking decay phase, enhanced WAF convergence occurs in the blocking downstream region and in the upper troposphere when BWW is stronger in the upper troposphere than in the lower troposphere, which leads to enhanced upward-propagating tropospheric wave activity, though the linear WAF plays a major role. In contrast, the downward propagation of planetary waves may be seen in the troposphere for vertically decreased BWWs. These are not seen for a zonally uniform eddy forcing. A perturbed inverse scattering transform method is used to solve the blocking envelope amplitude equation. It is found that the finite-amplitude WAF represents a modified group velocity related to the variations of blocking soliton amplitude and zonal wavenumber caused by local eddy forcing. Using this amplitude equation solution, it is revealed that, under local eddy forcing, the blocking wave packet tends to be nearly nondispersive during its growth phase but strongly dispersive during the decay phase for vertically increased BWWs, leading to strong eastward and upward propagation of planetary waves in the downstream troposphere.

scholarly journals Quasigeostrophic Transient Wave Activity Flux: Updated Climatology and Its Role in Polar Vortex Anomalies

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (10) ◽  
pp. 3164-3189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mototaka Nakamura ◽  
Minoru Kadota ◽  
Shozo Yamane
Keyword(s):  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Vertical Flux ◽  
Storm Tracks ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Transient Wave ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Wave Flux ◽  
Wave Activity Flux

Abstract The climatology of transient wave activity flux defined by Plumb has been calculated for each calendar month, for high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) waves, using the NCAR–NCEP reanalyses for both hemispheres. Wave activity flux of both HF and LF waves shows upward propagation of waves from the lower troposphere into the upper troposphere, then into the lower stratosphere during the summer and at least up to the midstratosphere during other seasons. While the upward flux emanating from the lower troposphere is particularly large in the two storm tracks in the Northern Hemisphere (NH), it is large in most of the extratropics in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). The HF waves radiate equatorward most noticeably in the upper troposphere, whereas the LF waves do not show visible signs of equatorward radiation. The total horizontal flux is generally dominated by the advective flux that represents the eddy enstrophy advection by the mean flow and appears predominantly pseudoeastward. Divergence of the wave activity flux exhibits discernible large-scale characteristics at the lowest level in both hemispheres and in the upper troposphere in the NH. The divergence field indicates acceleration of the pseudoeastward mean flow near the surface in both hemispheres. In the NH, acceleration and deceleration, respectively, of the pseudoeastward mean flow in the storm tracks and downstream of the storm tracks in the upper troposphere are found. Seasonal variations in the wave flux are substantial in the NH but relatively minor in the SH. In the NH, the wave flux fields exhibit generally larger values during the cold months than during warm months. Also, the latitudes at which large wave flux values are seen are higher during warm months, as the jets and storm tracks shift northward from the winter to the summer. Anomalously large vertical flux of both HF and LF wave activity propagating up from the lower troposphere throughout the troposphere and stratosphere in the northern flank of the North Atlantic storm track is found to precede anomalous deceleration in the NH winter polar vortex, while anomalously small vertical flux in the same area precedes anomalous acceleration of the vortex. The accompanying horizontal flux anomalies tend to counteract the action of the anomalous vertical flux. These cases are found to be dissipation of strong anomalies in the polar vortex. The anomalous flux divergence does not prove the active role of the waves in the anomalous change in the polar vortex, however. No signs of the wave flux originating from specific areas preceding anomalous change in the polar vortex are found for the SH.

scholarly journals Convectively Coupled Equatorial Waves. Part III: Synthesis Structures and Their Forcing and Evolution

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (10) ◽  
pp. 3438-3451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gui-Ying Yang ◽  
Brian Hoskins ◽  
Julia Slingo
Keyword(s):  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Equatorial Region ◽  
Western Hemisphere ◽  
Equatorial Waves ◽  
Kelvin Wave ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Convectively Coupled Equatorial Waves ◽  
Eastern Hemisphere ◽  
Equatorial Wave

Abstract Building on Parts I and II of this study, the structures of eastward- and westward-moving convectively coupled equatorial waves are examined through synthesis of projections onto standard equatorial wave horizontal structures. The interaction between these equatorial wave components and their evolution are investigated. It is shown that the total eastward-moving fields and their coupling with equatorial convection closely resemble the standard Kelvin wave in the lower troposphere, with intensified convection in phase with anomalous westerlies in the Eastern Hemisphere (EH) and with anomalous convergence in the Western Hemisphere (WH). However, in the upper troposphere, the total fields show a mixture of the Kelvin wave and higher (n = 0 and 1) wave structures, with strong meridional wind and its divergence. The equatorial total fields show what may be described as a modified first internal Kelvin wave vertical structure in the EH, with a tilt in the vertical and a third peak in the midtroposphere. There is evidence that the EH midtropospheric Kelvin wave is closely associated with SH extratropical eastward-moving wave activity, the vertical velocity associated with the wave activity stretching into the equatorial region in the mid–upper troposphere. The midtropospheric zonal wind and geopotential height show a pattern that may be associated with a forced wave. The westward-moving fields associated with off-equatorial convection show very different behaviors between the EH midsummer and the WH transition seasons. In the EH midsummer, the total fields have a baroclinic structure, with the off-equatorial convection in phase with relatively warm air, suggesting convective forcing of the dynamical fields. The total structures exhibit a mixture of the n = 0, 1 components, with the former dominating to the east of convection and the latter to the west of convection. The n = 0 component is found to be closely connected to the lower-level n = 1 Rossby (R1) wave that appears earlier and seems to provide organization for the convection, which in turn forces the n = 0 wave. In the WH transition season the total fields have a barotropic structure and are dominated by the R1 wave. There is evidence that this barotropic R1 wave, as well as the associated tropical convection, is forced by the NH upper-tropospheric extratropical Rossby wave activity. In the EH, westward-moving lower-level wind structures associated with equatorial convection resemble the R1 wave, with equatorial westerlies in phase with the intensified convection. However, westward-moving n = −1 and n = 0 structures are also involved.

Two Types of Baroclinic Life Cycles during the Southern Hemisphere Summer

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (5) ◽  
pp. 1401-1417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woosok Moon ◽  
Steven B. Feldstein
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Initial Growth ◽  
Horizontal Shear ◽  
Synoptic Scale ◽  
Anomalous Wave ◽  
Wave Activity Flux

Abstract Baroclinic eddy life cycles of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) summer are investigated with NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data. A composite analysis is performed for the years 1980 through 2004. Individual life cycles are identified by local maxima in synoptic-scale eddy energy. Two types of baroclinic life cycles are examined, each defined by the strength of the barotropic energy conversion 2 days prior to the maximum baroclinic growth. For one life cycle, the barotropic conversion is anomalously weak before the maximum baroclinic growth; for the other, the barotropic conversion is anomalously strong. These two life cycles are referred to as the weak barotropic (WB) and strong barotropic (SB) life cycles. The analyses for the WB life cycle find that a poleward anomalous wave activity flux is observed within the SH tropics and subtropics just before the initial growth of the synoptic-scale eddies. In contrast, the SB life cycle exhibits an equatorward anomalous wave activity flux prior to the initial wave development. For the WB life cycle, these changes in the wave activity flux are shown to induce a mean meridional circulation that weakens and broadens the midlatitude zonal mean jet and reduces the baroclinicity in the midlatitude lower troposphere. Opposite characteristics are observed for the SB life cycle. Since the eddy growth rate is found to be greater in the WB life cycle, these results suggest that the influences of the barotropic governor mechanism (a reduction in horizontal shear coinciding with more rapidly growing baroclinic eddies) and the midlatitude baroclinicity oppose each other at the beginning of the life cycle, with the former being dominant. Both the WB and SB life cycles coincide with anomalous tropical convection. For the WB life cycle, there is a strengthening of the convection over the Maritime Continent, and for the SB life cycle there is a weakening in the convection over the same region. These results suggest that the two types of baroclinic life cycles are ultimately triggered by convection in the tropics.

scholarly journals Why Eddy Momentum Fluxes are Concentrated in the Upper Troposphere

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 1585-1604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farid Ait-Chaalal ◽  
Tapio Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Surf Zone ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Linear Wave ◽  
Tropopause Height ◽  
Surface Drag ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Linear Wave Propagation

Abstract The extratropical eddy momentum flux (EMF) is controlled by generation, propagation, and dissipation of large-scale eddies and is concentrated in Earth’s upper troposphere. An idealized GCM is used to investigate how this EMF structure arises. In simulations in which the poles are heated more strongly than the equator, EMF is concentrated near the surface, demonstrating that surface drag generally is not responsible for the upper-tropospheric EMF concentration. Although Earth’s upper troposphere favors linear wave propagation, quasi-linear simulations in which nonlinear eddy–eddy interactions are suppressed demonstrate that this is likewise not primarily responsible for the upper-tropospheric EMF concentration. The quasi-linear simulations reveal the essential role of nonlinear eddy–eddy interactions in the surf zone in the upper troposphere, where wave activity absorption away from the baroclinic generation regions occurs through the nonlinear generation of small scales. In Earth-like atmospheres, wave activity that is generated in the lower troposphere propagates upward and then turns meridionally, eventually being absorbed nonlinearly in the upper troposphere. The level at which the wave activity begins to propagate meridionally appears to be set by the typical height reached by baroclinic eddies. This can coincide with the tropopause height but also can lie below it if convection controls the tropopause height. In the latter case, EMF is maximal well below the tropopause. The simulations suggest that EMF is concentrated in Earth’s upper troposphere because typical baroclinic eddies reach the tropopause.

scholarly journals Linking African Easterly Wave Activity with Equatorial Waves and the Influence of Rossby Waves from the Southern Hemisphere

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 1783-1809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gui-Ying Yang ◽  
John Methven ◽  
Steve Woolnough ◽  
Kevin Hodges ◽  
Brian Hoskins
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Rossby Waves ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Wave Theory ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Equatorial Waves ◽  
Horizontal Structure ◽  
Positive Vorticity ◽  
Equatorial Wave

Abstract A connection is found between African easterly waves (AEWs), equatorial westward-moving mixed Rossby–gravity (WMRG) waves, and equivalent barotropic Rossby waves (RWs) from the Southern Hemisphere (SH). The amplitude and phase of equatorial waves is calculated by projection of broadband-filtered ERA-Interim data onto a horizontal structure basis obtained from equatorial wave theory. Mechanisms enabling interaction between the wave types are identified. AEWs are dominated by a vorticity wave that tilts eastward below the African easterly jet and westward above: the tilt necessary for baroclinic wave growth. However, a strong relationship is identified between amplifying vorticity centers within AEWs and equatorial WMRG waves. Although the waves do not phase lock, positive vorticity centers amplify whenever the cross-equatorial motion of the WMRG wave lies at the same longitude in the upper troposphere (southward flow) and east of this in the lower troposphere (northward flow). Two mechanisms could explain the vorticity amplification: vortex stretching below the upper-tropospheric divergence and ascent associated with latent heating in convection in the lower-tropospheric moist northward flow. In years of strong AEW activity, SH and equatorial upper-tropospheric zonal winds are more easterly. Stronger easterlies have two effects: (i) they Doppler shift WMRG waves so that their period varies little with wavenumber (3–4 days) and (ii) they enable westward-moving RWs to propagate into the tropical waveguide from the SH. The RW phase speeds can match those of WMRG waves, enabling sustained excitation of WMRG. The WMRG waves have an eastward group velocity with wave activity accumulating over Africa and invigorating AEWs at similar frequencies through the vorticity amplification mechanism.

scholarly journals The Role of Wave Packets in Wave–Mean Flow Interactions during Southern Hemisphere Summer

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 2467-2483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edmund K. M. Chang
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Wave Packet ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Wave Packets ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Single Wave ◽  
Dominant Wave ◽  
Flow Interactions

Abstract In this study, reanalysis data produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts for 14 Southern Hemisphere (SH) summer seasons have been analyzed. All cases of hemispheric transient eddy kinetic energy (TEKE) maxima have been identified, and the evolution of the local energetics and planetary-scale flow anomalies accompanying these TEKE growth/decay episodes are composited. The longitude–time evolution of the composite energetics shows the clear signature of a wave packet propagating eastward at a group velocity of about 27° longitude per day and undergoing a life cycle of growth and decay, with the energetics within a volume close to the wave packet center dominating the hemispheric mean energetics. When individual cases are examined, 52% are found to resemble the composite and have the energetics life cycle dominated by the evolution of a single wave packet, and an additional 21% are found to be dominated by the evolution of two wave packets having similar amplitudes. Only the remaining 27% can be regarded as having experienced TEKE growth and decay throughout much of the hemisphere. The zonal mean flow and eddy feedback anomalies (i.e., reduction in the meridional temperature gradient due to the effects of the eddy heat fluxes, as well as increase in the barotropic shear due to a narrowing of the midlatitude jet through the effects of the eddy momentum fluxes) associated with the cases dominated by the evolution of a single wave packet are also found to be dominated by anomalies close to the wave packet center. The fact that hemispheric wave growth/decay is often dominated by the evolution of a single wave packet has interesting dynamical consequences when the climatological basic flow is not zonally symmetric. When a wave packet propagates over regions of enhanced baroclinicity, it can extract more energy from the mean flow via baroclinic conversion, leading to its preferential growth. On the other hand, when a wave packet propagates over regions of weak baroclinicity, baroclinic conversion is suppressed; hence any packet growth must be due to other processes. By examining the location of wave packet peaks when hemispheric TEKE is at a maximum, it is observed that hemispheric mean TEKE peaks much more frequently when the dominant wave packet is located downstream of the region with strongest baroclinicity. In addition, the growth in TEKE for these cases is usually dominated by an increase in baroclinic conversion. In contrast, for the small number of cases in which the hemispheric mean TEKE maximum occurs when the dominant wave packet is located downstream of the region with weakest baroclinicity, the growth of the hemispheric TEKE is instead dominated by a reduction in barotropic dissipation.

scholarly journals Subdiurnal Stratocumulus Cloud Fraction Variability and Sensitivity to Precipitation*

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 2968-2985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casey D. Burleyson ◽  
Sandra E. Yuter
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Diurnal Cycle ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Cloud Fraction ◽  
Precipitation Intensity ◽  
Marine Stratocumulus ◽  
Ne Pacific

Abstract This paper presents an analysis of subtropical marine stratocumulus cloud fraction variability using a 30-min and 3° × 3° cloud fraction dataset from 2003 to 2010. Each of the three subtropical marine stratocumulus regions has distinct diurnal characteristics, but the southeast (SE) Pacific and SE Atlantic are more similar to each other than to the northeast (NE) Pacific. The amplitude and season-to-season diurnal cycle variations are larger in the Southern Hemisphere regions than in the NE Pacific. Net overnight changes in cloud fraction on 3° × 3° scales are either positive or neutral >77% of the time in the NE Pacific and >88% of the time in the SE Pacific and SE Atlantic. Cloud fraction often increases to 100% by dawn when cloud fraction at dusk is >30%. In the SE Pacific and SE Atlantic, a typical decrease in cloud area (median ≤ −5.7 × 105 km2) during the day is equivalent to 25% or more of the annual-mean cloud deck area. Time series for 3° × 3° areas where cloud fraction was ≥90% sometime overnight and <60% at dawn, such as would result from nocturnal formation of pockets of open cells (POCs), only occur 1.5%, 1.6%, and 3.3% of the time in the SE Pacific, SE Atlantic, and NE Pacific, respectively. Comparison of cloud fraction changes to ship-based radar and satellite-derived precipitation intensity and area measurements shows a lack of sensitivity of cloud fraction to drizzle on time scales of 1–3 h and spatial scales of 100–300 km.

scholarly journals On the Coupling between Barotropic and Baroclinic Modes of Extratropical Atmospheric Variability

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 1853-1871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Boljka ◽  
Theodore G. Shepherd ◽  
Michael Blackburn
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Feedback Mechanism ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Atmospheric Variability ◽  
Modes Of Variability ◽  
Momentum Fluxes ◽  
Baroclinic Modes

Abstract The baroclinic and barotropic components of atmospheric dynamics are usually viewed as interlinked through the baroclinic life cycle, with baroclinic growth of eddies connected to heat fluxes, barotropic decay connected to momentum fluxes, and the two eddy fluxes connected through the Eliassen–Palm wave activity. However, recent observational studies have suggested that these two components of the dynamics are largely decoupled in their variability, with variations in the zonal mean flow associated mainly with the momentum fluxes, variations in the baroclinic wave activity associated mainly with the heat fluxes, and essentially no correlation between the two. These relationships are examined in a dry dynamical core model under different configurations and in Southern Hemisphere observations, considering different frequency bands to account for the different time scales of atmospheric variability. It is shown that at intermediate periods longer than 10 days, the decoupling of the baroclinic and barotropic modes of variability can indeed occur as the eddy kinetic energy at those time scales is only affected by the heat fluxes and not the momentum fluxes. The baroclinic variability includes the oscillator model with periods of 20–30 days. At both the synoptic time scale and the quasi-steady limit, the baroclinic and barotropic modes of variability are linked, consistent with baroclinic life cycles and the positive baroclinic feedback mechanism, respectively. In the quasi-steady limit, the pulsating modes of variability and their correlations depend sensitively on the model climatology.

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