This study investigates transient eddy activity anomalies in the mid-latitude upper troposphere associated with intensity variability of the wintertime North Pacific subtropical front. Our results show that the meridi...This study investigates transient eddy activity anomalies in the mid-latitude upper troposphere associated with intensity variability of the wintertime North Pacific subtropical front. Our results show that the meridional gradient of air temperature and baroclinic instability in the mid-latitude atmosphere become stronger as the subtropical front intensifies, and the mid-latitude westerly jet accelerates with barotropic structure. We further divide the mid-latitude atmospheric eddy activities into high-(2–7 days) and low-frequency(10–90 days) eddy activities according to their life periods. We find that, when the oceanic subtropical front intensifies, the high-frequency atmospheric eddy activity in the mid-latitudes strengthens while the low-frequency eddy activity weakens. The stronger high-frequency eddy activity tends to moderate the air temperature gradient and baroclinicity in the mid-latitudes. High-frequency eddy anomalies accelerate the westerly jet on the northern side and downstream of the westerly jet, and enhance the jet with equivalent barotropic structure. In contrast, the weaker low-frequency eddy activity has a negative contribution to zonal wind speed tendency and attenuates the zonal homogenization of the jet. The anomalous thermodynamic forcing of the low-frequency eddy activity helps maintain the meridional gradient of air temperature in the mid-troposphere.展开更多
基金supported by the National Key Basic Reasearch Program of China (Grant No. 2012CB956002)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41330420 & 41275068)+1 种基金the Jiangsu Province Science Foundation (Grant No. SBK2015020577)supported by the Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Climate Change
文摘This study investigates transient eddy activity anomalies in the mid-latitude upper troposphere associated with intensity variability of the wintertime North Pacific subtropical front. Our results show that the meridional gradient of air temperature and baroclinic instability in the mid-latitude atmosphere become stronger as the subtropical front intensifies, and the mid-latitude westerly jet accelerates with barotropic structure. We further divide the mid-latitude atmospheric eddy activities into high-(2–7 days) and low-frequency(10–90 days) eddy activities according to their life periods. We find that, when the oceanic subtropical front intensifies, the high-frequency atmospheric eddy activity in the mid-latitudes strengthens while the low-frequency eddy activity weakens. The stronger high-frequency eddy activity tends to moderate the air temperature gradient and baroclinicity in the mid-latitudes. High-frequency eddy anomalies accelerate the westerly jet on the northern side and downstream of the westerly jet, and enhance the jet with equivalent barotropic structure. In contrast, the weaker low-frequency eddy activity has a negative contribution to zonal wind speed tendency and attenuates the zonal homogenization of the jet. The anomalous thermodynamic forcing of the low-frequency eddy activity helps maintain the meridional gradient of air temperature in the mid-troposphere.
