scholarly journals Climatology and trends in the forcing of the stratospheric zonal-mean flow

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 11649-11690 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Monier ◽  
B. C. Weare
Keyword(s):  
Planetary Wave ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Flux Divergence ◽  
Temporal Shift ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Wave Forcing ◽  
Long Term Changes

Abstract. The momentum budget of the Transformed Eulerian-Mean (TEM) equation is calculated using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-40). This study outlines the considerable contribution of unresolved waves, dominated by gravity waves, to the forcing of the zonal-mean flow. A trend analysis, from 1980 to 2001, shows that the onset and break down of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) stratospheric polar night jet has a tendency to occur later. This temporal shift is associated with long-term changes in the planetary wave activity that are mainly due to synoptic waves. In the Southern Hemisphere (SH), the polar vortex shows a tendency to persist further into the SH summertime. This is associated with a statistically significant decrease in the intensity of the stationary EP flux divergence over the 1980–2001 period. Ozone depletion is well known for strengthening westerly winds through the thermal wind balance, which in turn causes a reduction in wave activity in high latitudes. This study suggests that the decrease in planetary wave activity provides an important feedback to the zonal wind as it delays the breakdown of the polar vortex. Finally, we identify long-term changes in the Brewer-Dobson circulation that, this study suggests, are largely caused by trends in the planetary wave activity during winter and by trends in the gravity wave forcing otherwise.

scholarly journals Climatology and trends in the forcing of the stratospheric zonal-mean flow

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 12751-12771 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Monier ◽  
B. C. Weare
Keyword(s):  
Planetary Wave ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Flux Divergence ◽  
Temporal Shift ◽  
Long Term Changes ◽  
Environmental Prediction

Abstract. The momentum budget of the Transformed Eulerian-Mean (TEM) equation is calculated using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis (ERA-40) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Reanalysis 2 (R-2). This study outlines the considerable contribution of unresolved waves, deduced to be gravity waves, to the forcing of the zonal-mean flow. A trend analysis, from 1980 to 2001, shows that the onset and break down of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) stratospheric polar night jet has a tendency to occur later in the season in the more recent years. This temporal shift follows long-term changes in planetary wave activity that are mainly due to synoptic waves, with a lag of one month. In the Southern Hemisphere (SH), the polar vortex shows a tendency to persist further into the SH summertime. This also follows a statistically significant decrease in the intensity of the stationary EP flux divergence over the 1980–2001 period. Ozone depletion is well known for strengthening the polar vortex through the thermal wind balance. However, the results of this work show that the SH polar vortex does not experience any significant long-term changes until the month of December, even though the intensification of the ozone hole occurs mainly between September and November. This study suggests that the decrease in planetary wave activity in November provides an important feedback to the zonal wind as it delays the breakdown of the polar vortex. In addition, the absence of strong eddy feedback before November explains the lack of significant trends in the polar vortex in the SH early spring. A long-term weakening in the Brewer-Dobson (B-D) circulation in the polar region is identified in the NH winter and early spring and during the SH late spring and is likely driven by the decrease in planetary wave activity previously mentioned. During the rest of the year, there are large discrepancies in the representation of the B-D circulation and the unresolved waves between the two reanalyses, making trend analyses unreliable.

Final Sudden Stratospheric Warmings and the memory of the stratosphere

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Hauchecorne ◽  
Chantal Claud ◽  
Philippe Keckhut
Keyword(s):  
Zonal Wind ◽  
Planetary Wave ◽  
Middle Atmosphere ◽  
Temperature Anomaly ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Easterly Wind ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Stratospheric Circulation

<p>Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) is the most spectacular dynamic event occurring in the middle atmosphere. It can lead to a warming of the winter polar stratosphere by a few tens of K in one to two weeks and a reversal of the stratospheric circulation from wintertime prevailing westerly winds to easterly winds similar to summer conditions. This strong modification of the stratospheric circulation has consequences for several applications, including the modification of the stratospheric infrasound guide. Depending on the date of the SSW, the westerly circulation can be re-established if the SSW occurs in mid-winter or the summer easterly circulation can be definitively established if the SSW occurs in late winter. In the latter case it is called Final Warming (FW). Each year, it is possible to define the date of the FW as the date of the final inversion of the zonal wind at 60°N - 10 hPa . If the FW is associated with a strong peak of planetary wave activity and a rapid increase in polar temperature, it is classified as dynamic FW. If the transition to the easterly wind is smooth without planetary wave activity, the FW is classified as radiative.</p><p>The analysis of the ERA5 database, which has recently been extended to 1950 (71 years of data), allowed a statistical analysis of the evolution of the stratosphere in winter. The main conclusions of this study will be presented :</p><p>- the state of the polar vortex in a given month is anticorrelated with its state 2 to 3 months earlier. The beginning of winter is anticorrelated with mid-winter and mid-winter is anticorrelated with the end of winter;</p><p>- dynamic FWs occur early in the season (March - early April) and are associated with a strong positive polar temperature anomaly, while radiative FWs occur later (late April - early May) without a polar temperature anomaly;</p><p>- the summer stratosphere (polar temperature and zonal wind) keeps the memory of its state in April-May at the time of FW at least until July .</p><p>These results could help to improve medium-range weather forecasts in the Northern Hemisphere due to the strong dynamic coupling between the troposphere and stratosphere during SSW events.</p>

Influence of energetic particle precipitation on polar vortex mediated by planetary wave activity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Asikainen ◽  
Antti Salminen ◽  
Ville Maliniemi ◽  
Kalevi Mursula
Keyword(s):  
Planetary Wave ◽  
Energetic Electron ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Analysis Data ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Ozone Loss ◽  
Near Earth Space

<p>The northern polar vortex experiences considerable inter-annual variability, which is also reflected to tropospheric weather. Recent research has established a link between polar vortex variations and energetic electron precipitation (EEP) from the near-Earth space into the polar atmosphere, which is mediated by EEP-induced chemical changes causing ozone loss in the mesosphere and stratosphere. However, the most dramatic changes in the polar vortex are due to strong enhancements of planetary wave activity, which typically result in a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW), a momentary breakdown of the polar vortex. Here we use the SSWs as an indicator of high planetary wave activity and consider their influence of SSWs on the atmospheric response to EEP in 1957-2017 using combined ERA-40 and ERA-Interim re-analysis data and geomagnetic activity as a proxy of EEP. We find that the EEP-related enhancement of the polar vortex and other associated dynamical responses are seen only during winters when a SSW occurs, and that the EEP-related changes take place slightly before the SSW onset. We show that the atmospheric conditions preceding SSWs favor enhanced wave-mean-flow interaction, which can dynamically amplify the initial polar vortex enhancement caused by ozone loss. These results highlight the importance of considering SSWs and sufficient level of planetary wave activity as a necessary condition for observing the effects of EEP on the polar vortex dynamics.</p>

scholarly journals The Coupled Stratosphere–Troposphere Response to Impulsive Forcing from the Troposphere

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (9) ◽  
pp. 3337-3352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Reichler ◽  
Paul J. Kushner ◽  
Lorenzo M. Polvani
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation ◽  
Planetary Wave ◽  
Lower Boundary ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Wave Drag ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Independent Test ◽  
Mean Circulation

Abstract A simple atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) is used to investigate the transient response of the stratosphere–troposphere system to externally imposed pulses of lower-tropospheric planetary wave activity. The atmospheric GCM is a dry, hydrostatic, global primitive-equations model, whose circulation includes an active polar vortex and a tropospheric jet maintained by baroclinic eddies. Planetary wave activity pulses are generated by a perturbation of the solid lower boundary that grow and decay over a period of 10 days. The planetary wave pulses propagate upward and break in the stratosphere. Subsequently, a zonal-mean circulation anomaly propagates downward, often into the troposphere, at lags of 30–100 days. The evolution of the response is found to be dependent on the state of the stratosphere–troposphere system at the time the pulse is generated. In particular, on the basis of a large ensemble of these simulations, it is found that the length of time the signal takes to propagate downward from the stratosphere is controlled by initial anomalies in the zonal-mean circulation and in the zonal-mean wave drag. Criteria based on these anomaly patterns can be used, therefore, to predict the long-term surface response of the stratosphere–troposphere system to a planetary wave pulse up to 90 days after the pulse is generated. In an independent test, it is verified that the initial states that most strongly satisfy these criteria respond in the expected way to the lower-tropospheric wave activity pulse.

scholarly journals Relation Between the Interannual Variability in the Stratospheric Rossby Wave Forcing and Zonal Mean Fields Suggesting an Interhemispheric Link in the Stratosphere

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Matsushita ◽  
Daiki Kado ◽  
Masashi Kohma ◽  
Kaoru Sato
Keyword(s):  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Rossby Wave ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Flux Divergence ◽  
Wave Forcing ◽  
Mean Fields ◽  
Meridional Cross Section ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Modern Era

Abstract. Focusing on the interannual variabilities in the zonal mean fields and Rossby wave forcing in austral winter, an interhemispheric coupling in the stratosphere is examined using reanalysis data: the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2). In the present study, the Eliassen-Palm (EP) flux divergence averaged over the latitude and height regions of 50°–30° S and 0.3–1 hPa, respectively, are used as a proxy of the Rossby wave forcing, where the absolute value of the EP flux divergence is maximized in the winter in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). The interannual variabilities in the zonal mean temperature and zonal wind are significantly correlated with the SH Rossby wave forcing in the stratosphere in both the SH and Northern Hemisphere (NH). The interannual variability in the strength of the poleward residual mean flow in the SH stratosphere is also correlated with the strength of the wave forcing. This correlation is significant even around the equator at an altitude of 40 km and at NH low latitudes of 20–40 km. The temperature anomaly is consistent with this residual mean flow anomaly. The relationship between the cross-equatorial flow and the zonal mean absolute angular momentum gradient (My) is examined in the meridional cross section. The My around the equator at the altitude of 40 km is small when the wave forcing is strong, which provides a pathway for the cross-equatorial residual mean flow. These results indicate that an interhemispheric coupling is present in the stratosphere through the meridional circulation modulated by the Rossby wave forcing.

scholarly journals Wave Forcing of Zonal Mean Angular Momentum in Various Coordinate Systems

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 2221-2229
Author(s):  
Joseph Egger ◽  
Klaus-Peter Hoinka
Keyword(s):  
Angular Momentum ◽  
Weighted Averaging ◽  
Coordinate Systems ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Flux Divergence ◽  
Standard Case ◽  
Wave Forcing ◽  
Momentum Budget ◽  
Flow Part ◽  
Isentropic Coordinates

Abstract The wave forcing of the atmospheric mean flow in isentropic coordinates has been investigated intensively in the past with the divergence of the Eliassen–Palm flux playing a dominating role. These concepts are reviewed briefly and it is pointed out that angular momentum is attractive in this context because the wave driving can be written in the form of a flux divergence. This helps to evaluate the wave forcing in other coordinate systems with a different separation of waves and mean flow. The following coordinates are chosen: (λ, φ, z), (λ, φ, θ), and (λ, θ, z). To be consistent, only one type of zonal averaging should be used. Mass-weighted averaging is applied in the isentropic standard case and simple averaging is applied in the others. The wave driving is presented for all three systems. It has to balance essentially the mean-flow part of the “Coriolis term” in the angular momentum budget in (φ, z) and (θ, z) coordinates but not in the (φ, θ) system where the form drag is a mean-flow term and, therefore, the forcing pattern differs from what has been published so far.

scholarly journals Why Are Stratospheric Sudden Warmings Sudden (and Intermittent)?

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 943-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noboru Nakamura ◽  
Jonathan Falk ◽  
Sandro W. Lubis
Keyword(s):  
Zonal Wind ◽  
Vortex Breakdown ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Threshold Behavior ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Transient Wave ◽  
Wave Forcing ◽  
Stratospheric Sudden Warmings ◽  
Wave Activity Flux

Abstract This paper examines the role of wave–mean flow interaction in the onset and suddenness of stratospheric sudden warmings (SSWs). Evidence is presented that SSWs are, on average, a threshold behavior of finite-amplitude Rossby waves arising from the competition between an increasing wave activity A and a decreasing zonal-mean zonal wind u¯. The competition puts a limit to the wave activity flux that a stationary Rossby wave can transmit upward. A rapid, spontaneous vortex breakdown occurs once the upwelling wave activity flux reaches the limit, or equivalently, once u¯ drops below a certain fraction of uREF, a wave-free, reference-state wind inverted from the zonalized quasigeostrophic potential vorticity. This fraction is 0.5 in theory and about 0.3 in reanalyses. We propose r≡u¯/uREF as a local, instantaneous measure of the proximity to vortex breakdown (i.e., preconditioning). The ratio r generally stays above the threshold during strong-vortex winters until a pronounced final warming, whereas during weak-vortex winters it approaches the threshold early in the season, culminating in a precipitous drop in midwinter as SSWs form. The essence of the threshold behavior is captured by a semiempirical 1D model of SSWs, similar to the “traffic jam” model of Nakamura and Huang for atmospheric blocking. This model predicts salient features of SSWs including rapid vortex breakdown and downward migration of the wave activity/zonal wind anomalies, with analytical expressions for the respective time scales. The model’s response to a variety of transient wave forcing and damping is discussed.

scholarly journals Analysis of the frequency-dependent response to wave forcing in the extratropics

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 4477-4481 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Haklander ◽  
P. C. Siegmund ◽  
H. M. Kelder
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Planetary Wave ◽  
Analysis Data ◽  
Length Scale ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Frequency Dependent ◽  
Wave Forcing ◽  
Time Estimates ◽  
Quasigeostrophic Model ◽  
Radiative Damping

Abstract. A quasigeostrophic model for the frequency-dependent response of the zonal-mean flow to planetary-wave forcing at Northern Hemisphere (NH) midlatitudes is applied to 4-D-Var ECMWF analysis data for six extended winter seasons. The theoretical response is a non-linear function of the frequency of the forcing, the thermal damping time α−1, and a scaling parameter µ which includes the aspect ratio of the meridional to the vertical length scale of the response. Regression of the calculated response from the analyses onto the theoretical response yields height-dependent estimates for both α−1 and µ. The thermal damping time estimated from this dynamical model is about 2 days in the troposphere, 7–10 days in the stratosphere, and 2–4 days in the lower mesosphere. For the stratosphere and lower mesosphere, the estimates lie within the range of existing radiative damping time estimates, but for the troposphere they are significantly smaller.

A Formulation of Three-Dimensional Residual Mean Flow and Wave Activity Flux Applicable to Equatorial Waves

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (9) ◽  
pp. 3427-3438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takenari Kinoshita ◽  
Kaoru Sato
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
3D Structure ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Stokes Drift ◽  
Equatorial Waves ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Wave Forcing ◽  
Meridional Cross Section ◽  
Wave Activity Flux

Abstract The large-scale waves that are known to be trapped around the equator are called equatorial waves. The equatorial waves cause mean zonal wind acceleration related to quasi-biennial and semiannual oscillations. The interaction between equatorial waves and the mean wind has been studied by using the transformed Eulerian mean (TEM) equations in the meridional cross section. However, to examine the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the interaction, the 3D residual mean flow and wave activity flux for the equatorial waves are needed. The 3D residual mean flow is expressed as the sum of the Eulerian mean flow and Stokes drift. The present study derives a formula that is approximately equal to the 3D Stokes drift for equatorial waves on the equatorial beta plane (EQSD). The 3D wave activity flux for equatorial waves whose divergence corresponds to the wave forcing is also derived using the EQSD. It is shown that the meridionally integrated 3D wave activity flux for equatorial waves is proportional to the group velocity of equatorial waves.

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