The Effective Static Stability Experienced by Eddies in a Moist Atmosphere
Water vapor directly affects the dynamics of atmospheric eddy circulations through the release of latent heat. But it is difficult to include latent heat release in dynamical theories because of the associated nonlinearity (precipitation generally occurs where there is upward motion). A new effect...
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| Format: | Article |
| Jezik: | en_US |
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American Meteorological society
2011
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| Online dostop: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65826 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1748-0816 |
| _version_ | 1826203105804419072 |
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| author | O'Gorman, Paul |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences O'Gorman, Paul |
| author_sort | O'Gorman, Paul |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Water vapor directly affects the dynamics of atmospheric eddy circulations through the release of latent heat.
But it is difficult to include latent heat release in dynamical theories because of the associated nonlinearity
(precipitation generally occurs where there is upward motion). A new effective static stability is derived that
fundamentally captures the effect of latent heat release on moist eddy circulations. It differs from the usual dry
static stability by an additive term that depends on temperature and a parameter measuring the up–down
asymmetry of vertical velocity statistics. Latent heat release reduces the effective static stability experienced by
eddies but cannot reduce it to zero so long as there are nonprecipitating regions of the eddies. Evaluation based
on reanalysis data indicates that the effective static stability in the lower troposphere ranges from ;80%of the
dry static stability at high latitudes to ;25% in the tropics.
The effective static stability provides a solution to the longstanding problem of how to adapt dry dynamical
theories to the moist circulations in the atmosphere. Its utility for climate change problems is illustrated based
on simulations with an idealized general circulation model. It is shown to help account for changes in the
thermal stratification of the extratropical troposphere, the extent of the Hadley cells, the intensity of extratropical
transient eddies, and the extratropical eddy length. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:31:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/65826 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:31:26Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | American Meteorological society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/658262024-05-15T02:19:26Z The Effective Static Stability Experienced by Eddies in a Moist Atmosphere O'Gorman, Paul Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences O'Gorman, Paul Ambrose O'Gorman, Paul Ambrose Water vapor directly affects the dynamics of atmospheric eddy circulations through the release of latent heat. But it is difficult to include latent heat release in dynamical theories because of the associated nonlinearity (precipitation generally occurs where there is upward motion). A new effective static stability is derived that fundamentally captures the effect of latent heat release on moist eddy circulations. It differs from the usual dry static stability by an additive term that depends on temperature and a parameter measuring the up–down asymmetry of vertical velocity statistics. Latent heat release reduces the effective static stability experienced by eddies but cannot reduce it to zero so long as there are nonprecipitating regions of the eddies. Evaluation based on reanalysis data indicates that the effective static stability in the lower troposphere ranges from ;80%of the dry static stability at high latitudes to ;25% in the tropics. The effective static stability provides a solution to the longstanding problem of how to adapt dry dynamical theories to the moist circulations in the atmosphere. Its utility for climate change problems is illustrated based on simulations with an idealized general circulation model. It is shown to help account for changes in the thermal stratification of the extratropical troposphere, the extent of the Hadley cells, the intensity of extratropical transient eddies, and the extratropical eddy length. 2011-09-13T20:54:54Z 2011-09-13T20:54:54Z 2011-01 2010-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0022-4928 1520-0469 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65826 O’Gorman, Paul A. “The Effective Static Stability Experienced by Eddies in a Moist Atmosphere.” Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 68.1 (2011) : 75-90. ©2011 American Meteorological Society https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1748-0816 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2010jas3537.1 Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Meteorological society American Meteorological Society |
| spellingShingle | O'Gorman, Paul The Effective Static Stability Experienced by Eddies in a Moist Atmosphere |
| title | The Effective Static Stability Experienced by Eddies in a Moist Atmosphere |
| title_full | The Effective Static Stability Experienced by Eddies in a Moist Atmosphere |
| title_fullStr | The Effective Static Stability Experienced by Eddies in a Moist Atmosphere |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Effective Static Stability Experienced by Eddies in a Moist Atmosphere |
| title_short | The Effective Static Stability Experienced by Eddies in a Moist Atmosphere |
| title_sort | effective static stability experienced by eddies in a moist atmosphere |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65826 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1748-0816 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ogormanpaul theeffectivestaticstabilityexperiencedbyeddiesinamoistatmosphere AT ogormanpaul effectivestaticstabilityexperiencedbyeddiesinamoistatmosphere |