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Vertical velocities and vertical eddy fluxes derived from serial soundings at one station
Author(s) -
Tucker G. B.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49709942110
Subject(s) - tropopause , troposphere , stratosphere , sensible heat , potential temperature , geology , spurious relationship , atmospheric sciences , meteorology , climatology , eddy diffusion , environmental science , mathematics , physics , statistics , turbulence
Detailed 3‐hourly soundings of the atmosphere from 0–30 km for one month (September/October 1967) over Laverton, Victoria (38°S) are analysed to obtain vertical velocities using the heat balance method. Results are assessed to be reliable from the point of view of error estimates, synoptic compatibility and statistical features for the whole month. The tendency for a reversal of vertical velocity between low and high troposphere occurs, with occasional very strong downward velocities (∼ 30 cm s −1 ) at the tropopause level. Convergence of vertical eddy flux of both momentum and sensible heat is shown to occur near the levels of maximum poleward eddy transport with magnitudes equivalent to 1 · 5°K/day and 3 m s −1 /day. Similar computations based on routinely available upper‐air soundings at standard pressure levels at 12‐hourly intervals are shown to give quite different (spurious) results. As a supplementary result, strong horizontal eddy transports are revealed in the middle stratosphere.