scholarly journals Cyclonic and anticyclonic contributions to atmospheric energetics

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoru Okajima ◽  
Hisashi Nakamura ◽  
Yohai Kaspi
Keyword(s):  
Storm Track ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Weather Variability ◽  
Jet Streams ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Westerly Jet ◽  
Track Dynamics ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Atmospheric Energetics ◽  
Thermally Driven

AbstractMigratory cyclones and anticyclones account for most of the day-to-day weather variability in the extratropics. These transient eddies act to maintain the midlatitude jet streams by systematically transporting westerly momentum and heat. Yet, little is known about the separate contributions of cyclones and anticyclones to their interaction with the westerlies. Here, using a novel methodology for identifying cyclonic and anticyclonic vortices based on curvature, we quantify their separate contributions to atmospheric energetics and their feedback on the westerly jet streams as represented in Eulerian statistics. We show that climatological westerly acceleration by cyclonic vortices acts to dominantly reinforce the wintertime eddy-driven near-surface westerlies and associated cyclonic shear. Though less baroclinic and energetic, anticyclones still play an important role in transporting westerly momentum toward midlatitudes from the upper-tropospheric thermally driven jet core and carrying eddy energy downstream. These new findings have uncovered essential characteristics of atmospheric energetics, storm track dynamics and eddy-mean flow interaction.

scholarly journals Observed Storm Track Dynamics in Drake Passage

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 867-884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Foppert
Keyword(s):  
Mean Field ◽  
Storm Track ◽  
Drake Passage ◽  
Polar Front ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Track Dynamics ◽  
Flow Interactions ◽  
Circumpolar Current ◽  
Eddy Potential Energy ◽  
Shackleton Fracture Zone

AbstractThe dynamics of an oceanic storm track—where energy and enstrophy transfer between the mean flow and eddies—are investigated using observations from an eddy-rich region of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current downstream of the Shackleton Fracture Zone (SFZ) in Drake Passage. Four years of measurements by an array of current- and pressure-recording inverted echo sounders deployed between November 2007 and November 2011 are used to diagnose eddy–mean flow interactions and provide insight into physical mechanisms for these transfers. Averaged within the upper to mid-water column (400–1000-m depth) and over the 4-yr-record mean field, eddy potential energy is highest in the western part of the storm track and maximum eddy kinetic energy occurs farther away from the SFZ, shifting the proportion of eddy energies from to about 1 along the storm track. There are enhanced mean 3D wave activity fluxes immediately downstream of SFZ with strong horizontal flux vectors emanating northeast from this region. Similar patterns across composites of Polar Front and Subantarctic Front meander intrusions suggest the dynamics are set more so by the presence of the SFZ than by the eddy’s sign. A case study showing the evolution of a single eddy event, from 15 to 23 July 2010, highlights the storm-track dynamics in a series of snapshots. Consistently, explaining the eddy energetics pattern requires both horizontal and vertical components of W, implying the importance of barotropic and baroclinic processes and instabilities in controlling storm-track dynamics in Drake Passage.

scholarly journals Tropical and Extratropical Responses of the North Atlantic Atmospheric Circulation to a Sustained Weakening of the MOC

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 3146-3155 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Brayshaw ◽  
Tim Woollings ◽  
Michael Vellinga
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Storm Track ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Boreal Winter ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

Abstract The tropospheric response to a forced shutdown of the North Atlantic Ocean’s meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is investigated in a coupled ocean–atmosphere GCM [the third climate configuration of the Met Office Unified Model (HadCM3)]. The strength of the boreal winter North Atlantic storm track is significantly increased and penetrates much farther into western Europe. The changes in the storm track are shown to be consistent with the changes in near-surface baroclinicity, which can be linked to changes in surface temperature gradients near regions of sea ice formation and in the open ocean. Changes in the SST of the tropical Atlantic are linked to a strengthening of the subtropical jet to the north, which, combined with the enhanced storm track, leads to a pronounced split in the jet structure over Europe. EOF analysis and stationary box indices methods are used to analyze changes to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). There is no consistent signal of a change in the variability of the NAO, and while the changes in the mean flow project onto the positive NAO phase, they are significantly different from it. However, there is a clear eastward shift of the NAO pattern in the shutdown run, and this potentially has implications for ocean circulation and for the interpretation of proxy paleoclimate records.

scholarly journals Dominant Anomaly Patterns in the Near-Surface Baroclinicity and Accompanying Anomalies in the Atmosphere and Oceans. Part I: North Atlantic Basin

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 880-904 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mototaka Nakamura ◽  
Shozo Yamane
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Storm Track ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Atlantic Basin ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
North Atlantic Basin ◽  
Eddy Heat Flux

Abstract Variability in the monthly mean flow and storm track in the North Atlantic basin is examined with a focus on the near-surface baroclinicity, B = Bxi + Byj. Dominant patterns of anomalous B found from empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analyses generally show patterns of shift and changes in the strength of B. Composited anomalies in the monthly mean wind at various pressure levels based on the signals in the EOFs display robust accompanying anomalies in the mean flow up to 50 hPa in the winter and up to 100 hPa in other seasons. Anomalous eddy fields accompanying the anomalous Bx patterns exhibit, broadly speaking, structures anticipated from linear theories of baroclinic instabilities and suggest a tendency for anomalous wave fluxes to accelerate/decelerate the surface westerly accordingly. Atmospheric anomalies accompanying By anomalies have patterns different from those that accompany Bx anomalies but are as large as those found for Bx. Anomalies in the sea surface temperature (SST) found for the anomalous patterns of Bx often show large values of small spatial scales along the Gulf Stream (GS), indicating that a meridional shift in the position of the GS and/or changes in the heat transport by the GS may be responsible for the anomalous Bx and concomitant tropospheric and lower-stratospheric anomalies. Anomalies in the net surface heat flux, SST in preceding months, and meridional eddy heat flux in the lower troposphere support this interpretation.

Finding Storm Track Activity Metrics That Are Highly Correlated with Weather Impacts. Part I: Frameworks for Evaluation and Accumulated Track Activity

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (23) ◽  
pp. 10169-10186
Author(s):  
Albert Man-Wai Yau ◽  
Edmund Kar-Man Chang
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Grid Point ◽  
Storm Track ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Monthly Precipitation ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Storm Track Activity ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Weather Impacts

AbstractIn the midlatitudes, storm tracks give rise to much of the high-impact weather, including precipitation and strong winds. Numerous metrics have been used to quantify storm track activity, but there has not been any systematic evaluation of how well different metrics relate to weather impacts. In this study, two frameworks have been developed to provide such evaluations. The first framework quantifies the maximum one-point correlation between weather impacts at each grid point and the assessed storm track metric. The second makes use of canonical correlation analysis to find the best correlated patterns and uses these patterns to hindcast weather impacts based on storm track metric anomalies using a leave-N-out cross-validation approach. These two approaches have been applied to assess multiple Eulerian variances and Lagrangian tracking statistics for Europe, using monthly precipitation and a near-surface high-wind index as the assessment criteria. The results indicate that near-surface storm track metrics generally relate more closely to weather impacts than upper-tropospheric metrics. For Eulerian metrics, synoptic time scale eddy kinetic energy at 850 hPa relates strongly to both precipitation and wind impacts. For Lagrangian metrics, a novel metric, the accumulated track activity (ATA), which combines information from both cyclone track frequency and amplitude, is found to be best correlated with weather impacts when spatially filtered 850-hPa vorticity maxima are used to define cyclones. The leading patterns of variability for ATA are presented, demonstrating that this metric exhibits coherent large-scale month-to-month variations that are highly correlated with variations in the mean flow and weather impacts.

scholarly journals Spatial Patterns and Intensity of the Surface Storm Tracks in CMIP5 Models

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (13) ◽  
pp. 4965-4981 ◽  
Author(s):  
James F. Booth ◽  
Young-Oh Kwon ◽  
Stanley Ko ◽  
R. Justin Small ◽  
Rym Msadek
Keyword(s):  
Storm Track ◽  
Storm Tracks ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Spatial Correlations ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Surface Stability ◽  
The North ◽  
Basin Scale

To improve the understanding of storm tracks and western boundary current (WBC) interactions, surface storm tracks in 12 CMIP5 models are examined against ERA-Interim. All models capture an equatorward displacement toward the WBCs in the locations of the surface storm tracks’ maxima relative to those at 850 hPa. An estimated storm-track metric is developed to analyze the location of the surface storm track. It shows that the equatorward shift is influenced by both the lower-tropospheric instability and the baroclinicity. Basin-scale spatial correlations between models and ERA-Interim for the storm tracks, near-surface stability, SST gradient, and baroclinicity are calculated to test the ability of the GCMs’ match reanalysis. An intermodel comparison of the spatial correlations suggests that differences (relative to ERA-Interim) in the position of the storm track aloft have the strongest influence on differences in the surface storm-track position. However, in the North Atlantic, biases in the surface storm track north of the Gulf Stream are related to biases in the SST. An analysis of the strength of the storm tracks shows that most models generate a weaker storm track at the surface than 850 hPa, consistent with observations, although some outliers are found. A linear relationship exists among the models between storm-track amplitudes at 500 and 850 hPa, but not between 850 hPa and the surface. In total, the work reveals a dual role in forcing the surface storm track from aloft and from the ocean surface in CMIP5 models, with the atmosphere having the larger relative influence.

scholarly journals Vertical Structure and Energetics of the Western Pacific Teleconnection Pattern

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (18) ◽  
pp. 6597-6616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sho Tanaka ◽  
Kazuaki Nishii ◽  
Hisashi Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Thermal Gradient ◽  
Far East ◽  
Storm Track ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Eddy Heat Flux ◽  
The Western Pacific

Abstract The western Pacific (WP) pattern, characterized by north–south dipolar anomalies in pressure over the Far East and western North Pacific, is known as one of the dominant teleconnection patterns in the wintertime Northern Hemisphere. Composite analysis reveals that monthly height anomalies exhibit baroclinic structure with their phase lines tilting southwestward with height in the lower troposphere. The anomalies can thus yield not only a poleward heat flux across the climatological thermal gradient across the strong Pacific jet but also a westward heat flux across the climatological thermal gradient between the North Pacific and the cooler Asian continent. The resultant baroclinic conversion of available potential energy (APE) from the climatological-mean flow contributes most efficiently to the APE maintenance of the monthly WP pattern, acting against strong thermal damping effects by anomalous heat exchanges with the underlying ocean and anomalous precipitation in the subtropics and by the effect of anomalous eddy heat flux under modulated storm-track activity. Kinetic energy (KE) of the pattern is maintained through barotropic feedback forcing associated with modulated activity of transient eddies and the conversion from the climatological-mean westerlies, both of which act against frictional damping. The net feedback forcing by transient eddies is therefore not particularly efficient. The present study suggests that the WP pattern has a characteristic of a dynamical mode that can maintain itself through efficient energy conversion from the climatological-mean fields even without external forcing, including remote influence from the tropics.

scholarly journals Dominant Anomaly Patterns in the Near-Surface Baroclinicity and Accompanying Anomalies in the Atmosphere and Oceans. Part II: North Pacific Basin

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (24) ◽  
pp. 6445-6467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mototaka Nakamura ◽  
Shozo Yamane
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Baroclinic Instability ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Pacific Basin ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Eddy Heat Flux ◽  
North Pacific Basin

Abstract Variability in the monthly-mean flow and storm track in the North Pacific basin is examined with a focus on the near-surface baroclinicity. Dominant patterns of anomalous near-surface baroclinicity found from empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analyses generally show mixed patterns of shift and changes in the strength of near-surface baroclinicity. Composited anomalies in the monthly-mean wind at various pressure levels based on the signals in the EOFs show accompanying anomalies in the mean flow up to 50 hPa in the winter and up to 100 hPa in other seasons. Anomalous eddy fields accompanying the anomalous near-surface baroclinicity patterns exhibit, broadly speaking, structures anticipated from simple linear theories of baroclinic instability, and suggest a tendency for anomalous wave fluxes to accelerate–decelerate the surface westerly accordingly. However, the relationship between anomalous eddy fields and anomalous near-surface baroclinicity in the midwinter is not consistent with the simple linear baroclinic instability theories. Composited anomalous sea surface temperature (SST) accompanying anomalous near-surface baroclinicity often exhibits moderate values and large spatial scales in the basin, rather than large values concentrated near the oceanic fronts. In the midsummer and in some cases in cold months, however, large SST anomalies are found around the Kuroshio–Oyashio Extensions. Accompanying anomalies in the net surface heat flux, SST in the preceding and following months, and meridional eddy heat flux in the lower troposphere suggest active roles played by the ocean in generating the concomitant anomalous large-scale atmospheric state in some of these cases.

Characterization of near-surface turbulence in the stable atmosphere of the Alpine Inn Valley

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Lehner ◽  
Mathias W. Rotach
Keyword(s):  
Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Intermittent Turbulence ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Stable Conditions ◽  
Surface Turbulence ◽  
Thermally Driven ◽  
Wind Profiles ◽  
Temperature Inversions ◽  
Sky Conditions

<p>The stable boundary layer is typically characterized by weak and sometimes intermittent turbulence, particularly under very stable conditions. In mountain valleys, nocturnal temperature inversions and cold-air pools form frequently under synoptically undisturbed and clear-sky conditions, which will dampen turbulence. On the other hand, thermally driven slope and valley winds form under the same conditions, which interact with each other and are both characterized by jet-like wind profiles, thus resulting in both horizontal and vertical wind shear, which creates a persistent source for turbulence production. Data will be presented from six flux towers in the Austrian Inn Valley, which are part of the i-Box measurement platform, designed to study near-surface turbulence in complex, mountainous terrain. The six sites are located within an approximately 6.5-km long section of the 2-3-km wide valley approximately 20 km east of Innsbruck. The data are analyzed to characterize the strength and intermittency of turbulence kinetic energy and turbulent fluxes across the valley and to determine whether the persistent wind shear associated with thermally driven flows is sufficient to generate continuous turbulence.</p>

A Role for Barotropic Eddy–Mean Flow Feedbacks in the Zonal Wind Response to Sea Ice Loss and Arctic Amplification

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (21) ◽  
pp. 7469-7481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryn Ronalds ◽  
Elizabeth A. Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Zonal Wind ◽  
Jet Stream ◽  
Arctic Amplification ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Jet Streams ◽  
The North ◽  
Wind Response ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract Previous studies have suggested that, in the zonal mean, the climatological Northern Hemisphere wintertime eddy-driven jet streams will weaken and shift equatorward in response to Arctic amplification and sea ice loss. However, multiple studies have also pointed out that this response has strong regional differences across the two ocean basins, with the North Atlantic jet stream generally weakening across models and the North Pacific jet stream showing signs of strengthening. Based on the zonal wind response with a fully coupled model, this work sets up two case studies using a barotropic model to test a dynamical mechanism that can explain the differences in zonal wind response in the North Pacific versus the North Atlantic. Results indicate that the differences between the two basins are due, at least in part, to differences in the proximity of the jet streams to the sea ice loss, and that in both cases the eddies act to increase the jet speed via changes in wave breaking location and frequency. Thus, while baroclinic arguments may account for an initial reduction in the midlatitude winds through thermal wind balance, eddy–mean flow feedbacks are likely instrumental in determining the final total response and actually act to strengthen the eddy-driven jet stream.

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