On the mid-latitude tropopause height and the orographic-baroclinic adjustment theory
- Isabella Bordi
- Alfonso Sutera
- Alessandro Dell'Aquila
- Antonio Speranza
DOIAbstract
In the extratropics the analysis of the time–space structure of the dynamical tropopause shows a marked signature of nonpropagating, low-frequency (time-scale >10 d), ultra-long (zonal wavenumber <5) waves. This suggests the extension of theories relating the tropopause height to the baroclinic adjustment to the orographic-baroclinic disturbances, generally operating in the low-frequency domain. Such an extension is here proposed. By analysing Eady modes in a Boussinesq atmosphere, it has been found that the form-drag instability must be accounted for in an extended theory of baroclinic neutralization. The produced unstable standing waves carry a poleward large amount of heat at planetary scale for most of the external parameter settings an...
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