Phase Speed Spectra of Transient Eddy Fluxes and Critical Layer Absorption

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Abstract
Tropospheric zonal mean eddy fluxes of heat and momentum, and the divergence of the Eliassen-Palm flux, are decomposed into contributions from different zonal phase speeds. Data analyzed are ECMWF operational global analyses covering 1980–87. Eastward moving medium-scale waves (zonal waves 4–7) dominate the spectra of lower tropospheric heat fluxes in both hemispheres and all seasons. Upper tropospheric wave flux spectra are similar to the low level spectra in midlatitudes, but shift to slower zonal phase speeds as low latitudes are approached. The cause of this shift is the selective absorption of faster moving components in midlatitudes as the waves propagate meridionally. Latitude-phase speed distributions of eddy fluxes are constructed and compared to the zonal mean wind structure. These results demonstrate that upper tropospheric eddies break and decelerate the zonal mean flow approximately 10°–20° in latitude away from their critical line (where phase speed equals zonal wind speed). Compari... Abstract Tropospheric zonal mean eddy fluxes of heat and momentum, and the divergence of the Eliassen-Palm flux, are decomposed into contributions from different zonal phase speeds. Data analyzed are ECMWF operational global analyses covering 1980–87. Eastward moving medium-scale waves (zonal waves 4–7) dominate the spectra of lower tropospheric heat fluxes in both hemispheres and all seasons. Upper tropospheric wave flux spectra are similar to the low level spectra in midlatitudes, but shift to slower zonal phase speeds as low latitudes are approached. The cause of this shift is the selective absorption of faster moving components in midlatitudes as the waves propagate meridionally. Latitude-phase speed distributions of eddy fluxes are constructed and compared to the zonal mean wind structure. These results demonstrate that upper tropospheric eddies break and decelerate the zonal mean flow approximately 10°–20° in latitude away from their critical line (where phase speed equals zonal wind speed). Compari...

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