Climatology and Trends in the Forcing of the Stratospheric Zonal-Mean Flow

Abstract and PDF report are also available on the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change website (http://globalchange.mit.edu/)

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Monier, Erwan, Weare, Bryan C.
Format: Technical Report
Language:en_US
Published: MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change 2011
Online Access:http://globalchange.mit.edu/pubs/abstract.php?publication_id=2129
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61768
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author Monier, Erwan
Weare, Bryan C.
author_facet Monier, Erwan
Weare, Bryan C.
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description Abstract and PDF report are also available on the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change website (http://globalchange.mit.edu/)
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spelling mit-1721.1/617682019-04-11T07:00:14Z Climatology and Trends in the Forcing of the Stratospheric Zonal-Mean Flow Monier, Erwan Weare, Bryan C. Abstract and PDF report are also available on the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change website (http://globalchange.mit.edu/) 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 the dissipative forcing, identified as a gravity wave drag, to the forcing of the zonal-mean flow. A trend analysis shows that, in recent times, the onset and break down of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) stratospheric polar night jet 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 explained by a statistically significant decrease in the intensity of the stationary EP flux divergence over the 1980-2001 period. The prevailing theory explaining the long-term changes in the stratospheric polar vortex postulates that ozone depletion leads to a strengthening of westerly winds which in turn causes the reduction in wave activity in high latitudes. We show that the strongest component in the dynamical response to stratospheric ozone changes is in fact the feedback of planetary wave activity on the zonal wind. Finally, we identify long-term changes in the Brewer-Dobson circulation that are mainly caused by trends in the planetary wave activity during winter and by trends in the gravity wave body force otherwise. This study received support from the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, which is funded by a consortium of government, industry and foundation sponsors and the National Science Foundation grant ATM0733698. 2011-03-23T18:35:42Z 2011-03-23T18:35:42Z 2011-01 Technical Report http://globalchange.mit.edu/pubs/abstract.php?publication_id=2129 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61768 Report no. 190 en_US ;Report no. 190 An error occurred on the license name. An error occurred getting the license - uri. application/pdf MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
spellingShingle Monier, Erwan
Weare, Bryan C.
Climatology and Trends in the Forcing of the Stratospheric Zonal-Mean Flow
title Climatology and Trends in the Forcing of the Stratospheric Zonal-Mean Flow
title_full Climatology and Trends in the Forcing of the Stratospheric Zonal-Mean Flow
title_fullStr Climatology and Trends in the Forcing of the Stratospheric Zonal-Mean Flow
title_full_unstemmed Climatology and Trends in the Forcing of the Stratospheric Zonal-Mean Flow
title_short Climatology and Trends in the Forcing of the Stratospheric Zonal-Mean Flow
title_sort climatology and trends in the forcing of the stratospheric zonal mean flow
url http://globalchange.mit.edu/pubs/abstract.php?publication_id=2129
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61768
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