Circumpolar vortex studies using MSU temperature data
dc.contributor.author | Reasor, Paul D., author | |
dc.contributor.author | Montgomery, Michael T., author | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2022-05-05T20:27:22Z | |
dc.date.available | 2022-05-05T20:27:22Z | |
dc.date.issued | 1996-10 | |
dc.description | October 1996. | |
dc.description | Also issued as Paul D. Reasor's thesis (M.S.) -- Colorado State University, 1996. | |
dc.description.abstract | Irreversible mixing associated with breaking planetary waves at the edge of the circumpolar vortex exerts a westward force on the atmosphere. The tendency of this wave forcing is to decelerate the polar right jet and warm the polar regions of the stratosphere. While the tendency is opposed by an induced Eulerian-mean circulation, it is observed that substantial reductions in jet strength and departures from radiative equilibrium still occur. In the steady-state limit the departures from radiative balance at any level may be accounted for by the total wave forcing above that level. The wave forcing, and hence vortex strength, varies from year to year in a biennial fashion, suggesting a link with the equatorially-confined quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) (Tung and Yang, 1994). These ideas will be explored in the context of a seasonal and interannual study of the austral circumpolar vortex using brightness temperature data from the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU). Observations of the seasonal evolution of the vortex are presented along with direct and indirect evidence of wave forcing. A 50-mb vortex circulation index derived from the MSU is shown to qualitatively correlate with the phase of the QBO in some years. It is concluded, however, that the effects of wave forcing may be too weak in the lower stratosphere to consistently observe a QBO signal at high latitudes. | |
dc.description.sponsorship | Sponsored by the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmospheric (CIRA). | |
dc.format.medium | reports | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10217/234933 | |
dc.language | English | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.publisher | Colorado State University. Libraries | |
dc.relation | Catalog record number (MMS ID): 991001235599703361 | |
dc.relation | QC852 .C6 no. 619 | |
dc.relation.ispartof | Atmospheric Science Papers (Blue Books) | |
dc.relation.ispartof | Atmospheric science paper, no. 619 | |
dc.rights | Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright. | |
dc.subject.lcsh | Polar vortex | |
dc.subject.lcsh | Rossby waves | |
dc.title | Circumpolar vortex studies using MSU temperature data | |
dc.type | Text | |
dcterms.rights.dpla | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). |
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