Open AccessIn Situ Initiation of East Pacific Easterly Waves in a Regional Model
Author(s) -
Adam Rydbeck,
Eric D. Maloney,
Ghassan J. Alaka
Publication year - 2017
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/jas-d-16-0124.1
Subject(s) - mesoscale meteorology , weather research and forecasting model , forcing (mathematics) , climatology , advection , convection , geology , vorticity , terrain , precipitation , atmospheric sciences , mesoscale convective system , meteorology , geography , physics , vortex , cartography , thermodynamics
The in situ generation of easterly waves (EWs) in the east Pacific (EPAC) is investigated using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. The sensitivity of the model to the suppression of EW forcing by locally generated convective disturbances is examined. Specifically, local forcing of EWs is removed by reducing the terrain height in portions of Central and South America to suppress robust sources of diurnal convective variability, most notably in the Panama Bight. High terrain contributes to the initiation of mesoscale convective systems in the early morning that propagate westward into the EPAC warm pool. When such mesoscale convective systems are suppressed in the model, EW variance is significantly reduced. This result suggests that EPAC EWs can be generated locally in association with higher-frequency convective disturbances, and these disturbances are determined to be an important source of EPAC EW variability. However, EPAC EW variability is not completely eliminated in such sensitivity experiments, indicating the importance for other sources of EW forcing, namely, EWs propagating into the EPAC from West Africa. Examination of the EW vorticity budget in the model suggests that nascent waves are zonally elongated and amplified by horizontal advection and vertical stretching of vorticity. Changes in the mean state between the control run and simulation with reduced terrain height also complicate interpretation of the results.