The effects of long planetary waves on the regions of cyclogenesis: linear theory.

J. S. Frederiksen

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37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A study is made of the effect of a long planetary wave on the regions of preferentail development, eddy momentum and heat fluxes, and the growth rates and phase speeds of growing baroclinic distrubances. The model used is a linear, spherical, 2-layer quasi-geostrophic model with a basic state consisting of a 30o jet and an upper layer long planetary wave which together provide an approximate representation of the observed average Northern Hemisphere winter flow. The results of the baroclinic instability theory are compared with the observed regions of most actively developing baroclinic distrubances and eddy momentum and heat fluxes. Considering the crude vertical structure of 2-layer models, the agreement between the theoretical and observed results is noteworthy. -from Author

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)195-204
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of the Atmospheric Sciences
Volume36
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 1979
Externally publishedYes

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