Open AccessThe Mutual Interaction between External Rossby Waves and Thermal Forcing: The Subpolar Regions
Author(s) -
Isidoro Orlanski,
Silvina Solman
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of the atmospheric sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.853
H-Index - 173
eISSN - 1520-0469
pISSN - 0022-4928
DOI - 10.1175/2010jas3267.1
Subject(s) - rossby wave , diabatic , rossby radius of deformation , forcing (mathematics) , convection , zonal and meridional , amplitude , physics , thermal , geophysics , rossby number , equatorial waves , atmospheric sciences , inertial wave , climatology , mechanics , geology , meteorology , wave propagation , latitude , turbulence , mechanical wave , longitudinal wave , equator , adiabatic process , optics , astronomy , thermodynamics
The authors hypothesize a simple feedback mechanism between external Rossby waves and diabatic heating from convection. This mechanism could explain the large amplitude that external Rossby waves attain as they propagate to mid- and high latitudes. A series of experiments has been carried out with a core dynamic global spectral model. These simulations with the idealized atmospheric GCM and a simple parameterization of thermal forcing proportional to the low-level wave meridional velocity suggest that external Rossby waves can be enhanced by convection, which they themselves induce. It is shown that in the tropospheric upper levels the amplitude of the external waves can be twice as large with feedback as for a control simulation that does not allow feedback.