Equilibration of an Atmosphere by Adiabatic Eddy Fluxes
A major question for climate studies is to quantify the role of turbulent eddy fluxes in maintaining the observed atmospheric mean state. Both the equator-to-pole temperature gradient and the static stability of the extratropical atmosphere are set by a balance between these eddy fluxes and the radi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Meteorological Society
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/87782 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-1956 |
| _version_ | 1811095266540912640 |
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| author | Jansen, Malte Friedrich Ferrari, Raffaele |
| 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 Jansen, Malte Friedrich Ferrari, Raffaele |
| author_sort | Jansen, Malte Friedrich |
| collection | MIT |
| description | A major question for climate studies is to quantify the role of turbulent eddy fluxes in maintaining the observed atmospheric mean state. Both the equator-to-pole temperature gradient and the static stability of the extratropical atmosphere are set by a balance between these eddy fluxes and the radiative forcing. Much attention has been paid to the adjustment of the isentropic slope, which relates the static stability and the meridional temperature gradient. It is often argued that the extratropical atmosphere always equilibrates such that isentropes leaving the surface in the subtropics reach the tropopause near the poles. However, recent work challenged this argument. This paper revisits scaling arguments for the equilibrated mean state of a dry atmosphere, which results from a balance between the radiative forcing and the along-isentropic eddy heat flux. These arguments predict weak sensitivity of the isentropic slope to changes in the radiative forcing, consistent with previous results. Large changes can, however, be achieved if other external parameters, such as the size and rotation rate of the planet, are varied. The arguments are also extended to predict both the meridional temperature gradient and the static stability independently. This allows a full characterization of the atmospheric mean state as a function of external parameters. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:14:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/87782 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:14:21Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | American Meteorological Society |
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| spelling | mit-1721.1/877822022-09-29T19:01:39Z Equilibration of an Atmosphere by Adiabatic Eddy Fluxes Jansen, Malte Friedrich Ferrari, Raffaele Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Jansen, Malte Friedrich Ferrari, Raffaele A major question for climate studies is to quantify the role of turbulent eddy fluxes in maintaining the observed atmospheric mean state. Both the equator-to-pole temperature gradient and the static stability of the extratropical atmosphere are set by a balance between these eddy fluxes and the radiative forcing. Much attention has been paid to the adjustment of the isentropic slope, which relates the static stability and the meridional temperature gradient. It is often argued that the extratropical atmosphere always equilibrates such that isentropes leaving the surface in the subtropics reach the tropopause near the poles. However, recent work challenged this argument. This paper revisits scaling arguments for the equilibrated mean state of a dry atmosphere, which results from a balance between the radiative forcing and the along-isentropic eddy heat flux. These arguments predict weak sensitivity of the isentropic slope to changes in the radiative forcing, consistent with previous results. Large changes can, however, be achieved if other external parameters, such as the size and rotation rate of the planet, are varied. The arguments are also extended to predict both the meridional temperature gradient and the static stability independently. This allows a full characterization of the atmospheric mean state as a function of external parameters. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Award OCE-0849233) 2014-06-13T18:09:48Z 2014-06-13T18:09:48Z 2013-09 2013-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0022-4928 1520-0469 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/87782 Jansen, Malte, and Raffaele Ferrari. “Equilibration of an Atmosphere by Adiabatic Eddy Fluxes.” J. Atmos. Sci. 70, no. 9 (September 2013): 2948–2962. © 2013 American Meteorological Society https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-1956 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jas-d-13-013.1 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 | Jansen, Malte Friedrich Ferrari, Raffaele Equilibration of an Atmosphere by Adiabatic Eddy Fluxes |
| title | Equilibration of an Atmosphere by Adiabatic Eddy Fluxes |
| title_full | Equilibration of an Atmosphere by Adiabatic Eddy Fluxes |
| title_fullStr | Equilibration of an Atmosphere by Adiabatic Eddy Fluxes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Equilibration of an Atmosphere by Adiabatic Eddy Fluxes |
| title_short | Equilibration of an Atmosphere by Adiabatic Eddy Fluxes |
| title_sort | equilibration of an atmosphere by adiabatic eddy fluxes |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/87782 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-1956 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jansenmaltefriedrich equilibrationofanatmospherebyadiabaticeddyfluxes AT ferrariraffaele equilibrationofanatmospherebyadiabaticeddyfluxes |