Characterizing the Variability and Extremes of the Stratospheric Polar Vortices Using 2D Moment Analysis

The mean state, variability, and extreme variability of the stratospheric polar vortices, with an emphasis on the Northern Hemisphere (NH) vortex, are examined using two-dimensional moment analysis and extreme value theory (EVT). The use of moments as an analysis tool gives rise to information about...

সম্পূর্ণ বিবরণ

গ্রন্থ-পঞ্জীর বিবরন
প্রধান লেখক: Mitchell, D, Charlton-Perez, A, Gray, L
বিন্যাস: Journal article
ভাষা:English
প্রকাশিত: 2011
_version_ 1826299885105709056
author Mitchell, D
Charlton-Perez, A
Gray, L
author_facet Mitchell, D
Charlton-Perez, A
Gray, L
author_sort Mitchell, D
collection OXFORD
description The mean state, variability, and extreme variability of the stratospheric polar vortices, with an emphasis on the Northern Hemisphere (NH) vortex, are examined using two-dimensional moment analysis and extreme value theory (EVT). The use of moments as an analysis tool gives rise to information about the vortex area, centroid latitude, aspect ratio, and kurtosis. The application of EVT to these moment-derived quantities allows the extreme variability of the vortex to be assessed. The data used for this study are 40-yr ECMWFRe-Analysis (ERA-40) potential vorticity fields on interpolated isentropic surfaces that range from 450 to 1450 K. Analyses show that the most extreme vortex variability occurs most commonly in late January and early February, consistent with when most planetary wave driving from the troposphere is observed. Composites around sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events reveal that the moment diagnostics evolve in statistically different ways between vortex splitting events and vortex displacement events, in contrast to the traditional diagnostics. Histograms of the vortex diagnostics on the 850-K (~10 hPa) surface over the 1958-2001 period are fitted with parametric distributions and show that SSW events constitute the majority of data in the tails of the distributions. The distribution of each diagnostic is computed on various surfaces throughout the depth of the stratosphere; it shows that in general the vortex becomes more circular with higher filamentation at the upper levels. The Northern and Southern Hemisphere (SH) vortices are also compared through the analysis of their respective vortex diagnostics, confirming that the SH vortex is less variable and lacks extreme events compared to the NH vortex. Finally, extreme value theory is used to statistically model the vortex diagnostics and make inferences about the underlying dynamics of the polar vortices. © 2011 American Meteorological Society.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T05:08:45Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:dad4ad19-19f7-4d2a-965b-b23d732c1ae4
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T05:08:45Z
publishDate 2011
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:dad4ad19-19f7-4d2a-965b-b23d732c1ae42022-03-27T09:06:01ZCharacterizing the Variability and Extremes of the Stratospheric Polar Vortices Using 2D Moment AnalysisJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:dad4ad19-19f7-4d2a-965b-b23d732c1ae4EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2011Mitchell, DCharlton-Perez, AGray, LThe mean state, variability, and extreme variability of the stratospheric polar vortices, with an emphasis on the Northern Hemisphere (NH) vortex, are examined using two-dimensional moment analysis and extreme value theory (EVT). The use of moments as an analysis tool gives rise to information about the vortex area, centroid latitude, aspect ratio, and kurtosis. The application of EVT to these moment-derived quantities allows the extreme variability of the vortex to be assessed. The data used for this study are 40-yr ECMWFRe-Analysis (ERA-40) potential vorticity fields on interpolated isentropic surfaces that range from 450 to 1450 K. Analyses show that the most extreme vortex variability occurs most commonly in late January and early February, consistent with when most planetary wave driving from the troposphere is observed. Composites around sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events reveal that the moment diagnostics evolve in statistically different ways between vortex splitting events and vortex displacement events, in contrast to the traditional diagnostics. Histograms of the vortex diagnostics on the 850-K (~10 hPa) surface over the 1958-2001 period are fitted with parametric distributions and show that SSW events constitute the majority of data in the tails of the distributions. The distribution of each diagnostic is computed on various surfaces throughout the depth of the stratosphere; it shows that in general the vortex becomes more circular with higher filamentation at the upper levels. The Northern and Southern Hemisphere (SH) vortices are also compared through the analysis of their respective vortex diagnostics, confirming that the SH vortex is less variable and lacks extreme events compared to the NH vortex. Finally, extreme value theory is used to statistically model the vortex diagnostics and make inferences about the underlying dynamics of the polar vortices. © 2011 American Meteorological Society.
spellingShingle Mitchell, D
Charlton-Perez, A
Gray, L
Characterizing the Variability and Extremes of the Stratospheric Polar Vortices Using 2D Moment Analysis
title Characterizing the Variability and Extremes of the Stratospheric Polar Vortices Using 2D Moment Analysis
title_full Characterizing the Variability and Extremes of the Stratospheric Polar Vortices Using 2D Moment Analysis
title_fullStr Characterizing the Variability and Extremes of the Stratospheric Polar Vortices Using 2D Moment Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Characterizing the Variability and Extremes of the Stratospheric Polar Vortices Using 2D Moment Analysis
title_short Characterizing the Variability and Extremes of the Stratospheric Polar Vortices Using 2D Moment Analysis
title_sort characterizing the variability and extremes of the stratospheric polar vortices using 2d moment analysis
work_keys_str_mv AT mitchelld characterizingthevariabilityandextremesofthestratosphericpolarvorticesusing2dmomentanalysis
AT charltonpereza characterizingthevariabilityandextremesofthestratosphericpolarvorticesusing2dmomentanalysis
AT grayl characterizingthevariabilityandextremesofthestratosphericpolarvorticesusing2dmomentanalysis