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A mechanism for the low‐frequency variability of the mid‐latitude troposphere
Author(s) -
James I. N.,
Dodd J. P.
Publication year - 1996
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.49712253309
Subject(s) - troposphere , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , latitude , climatology , mechanism (biology) , meteorology , geology , geodesy , geography , physics , quantum mechanics
Low‐frequency variability of the zonal‐mean zonal wind in long runs of a simplified global circulation model is dominated by bands of wind anomaly which originate in the tropics and propagate slowly poleward with speeds of 0–2 m s −1 . Such propagation could be the result of the interaction between the zonal‐wind anomaly and an equatorward flux of Rossby‐wave activity originating in middle or high latitude. A barotropic weakly nonlinear model of this process has been derived. It suggests propagation of zonal‐wind anomalies similar to those produced in the global circulation model, and leads to comparable propagation speeds.