A Simulation of Atmospheric Blocking with a Forced Barotropic Model

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Abstract
Nearly stationary states (NSSs) of the barotropic vorticity equation (BVE) on the sphere that are closely related to observed atmospheric blocking patterns have recently been derived. Examining the way such NSSs affect integrations of the BVE is of interest. Unfortunately, the BVE rapidly evolves away from the neighborhood of blocking NSSs due to instability and never again generates sufficient amplitude to return to the vicinity of the blocking NSSs. However, forced versions of the BVE with both a high amplitude blocking NSS and more zonal low amplitude NSSs can be constructed. For certain parameter ranges, extended integrations of these forced BVFs exhibit two “regimes,” one strongly blocked and the other relatively zonal. Somewhat realistic simulators of low and high frequency variability and individual blocking event life cycles are also produced by these forced barotropic models. It is argued here that these regimes are related to “attractor-like” behavior of the NSSs of the forced BVE. Strong barotropic short waves apparently provide the push needed to cause a transition to or from the blocked regime. In the purely barotropic model used here, there is a rather delicate balance required between the forcing strength for different spatial scales in order to produce regimelike behavior. However, the mechanism proposed appears to be a viable candidate for explaining the observed behavior of blocking events in the atmosphere.

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