scholarly journals A singular vortex Rossby wave packet within a rapidly rotating vortex

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 046601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Caillol
Keyword(s):  
Wave Packet ◽  
Rossby Wave ◽  
Vortex Rossby Wave ◽  
Singular Vortex

scholarly journals Ensemble Sensitivity Tools for Assessing Extratropical Cyclone Intensity and Track Predictability

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 1133-1156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minghua Zheng ◽  
Edmund K. M. Chang ◽  
Brian A. Colle
Keyword(s):  
Wave Packet ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Rossby Wave ◽  
Short Wave ◽  
Empirical Orthogonal Functions ◽  
Track Forecast ◽  
Forecast Errors ◽  
Southern Great Plains ◽  
Cyclone Intensity ◽  
Wave Trough

Abstract This paper applies ensemble sensitivity analysis to a U.S. East Coast snowstorm on 26–28 December 2010 in a way that may be beneficial for an operational forecaster to better understand the forecast uncertainties. Sensitivity using the principal components of the leading empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) on the 50-member European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ensemble identifies the sensitive regions and weather systems at earlier times associated with the cyclone intensity and track uncertainty separately. The 5.5-day forecast cyclone intensity uncertainty in the ECMWF ensemble is associated with trough and ridge systems over the northeastern Pacific and central United States, respectively, while the track uncertainty is associated with a short-wave trough over the southern Great Plains. Sensitivity based on the ensemble mean sea level pressure difference between two run cycles also suggests that the track's shift between the two cycles is linked with the initial errors in the short-wave trough over the southern Great Plains. The sensitivity approach is run forward in time using forward ensemble regression based on short-range forecast errors, which further confirms that the short-term error over the southern plains trough was associated with the shift in cyclone position between the two forecast cycles. A coherent Rossby wave packet originated from the central North Pacific 6 days before this snowstorm event. The sensitivity signals behave like a wave packet and exhibit the same group velocity of ~29° longitude per day, indicating that Rossby wave packets may have also amplified uncertainty in both the cyclone amplitude and track forecast.

Waves in a Cloudy Vortex

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 314-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Schecter ◽  
Michael T. Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Rossby Wave ◽  
Small Amplitude ◽  
Rossby Waves ◽  
Wave Radiation ◽  
Rossby Number ◽  
System Of Equations ◽  
Discrete Vortex ◽  
Wave Dynamics ◽  
Cloud Coverage ◽  
Vortex Rossby Wave

Abstract This paper derives a system of equations that approximately govern small-amplitude perturbations in a nonprecipitating cloudy vortex. The cloud coverage can be partial or complete. The model is used to examine moist vortex Rossby wave dynamics analytically and computationally. One example shows that clouds can slow the growth of phase-locked counter-propagating vortex Rossby waves in the eyewall of a hurricane-like vortex. Another example shows that clouds can (indirectly) damp discrete vortex Rossby waves that would otherwise grow and excite spiral inertia–gravity wave radiation from a monotonic cyclone at high Rossby number.

scholarly journals Diagnosing the Horizontal Propagation of Rossby Wave Packets along the Midlatitude Waveguide

2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (8) ◽  
pp. 3247-3264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Wolf ◽  
Volkmar Wirth
Keyword(s):  
Wave Packet ◽  
Rossby Wave ◽  
Wave Breaking ◽  
Wave Packets ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Severe Weather ◽  
Robust Methods ◽  
Misleading Information ◽  
Individual Wave ◽  
Wave Activity Flux

It has been suggested that upper-tropospheric Rossby wave packets propagating along the midlatitude waveguide may play a role for triggering severe weather. This motivates the search for robust methods to detect and track Rossby wave packets and to diagnose their properties. In the framework of several observed cases, this paper compares different methods that have been proposed for these tasks, with an emphasis on horizontal propagation and on a particular formulation of a wave activity flux previously suggested by Takaya and Nakamura. The utility of this flux is compromised by the semigeostrophic nature of upper-tropospheric Rossby waves, but this problem can partly be overcome by a semigeostrophic coordinate transformation. The wave activity flux allows one to obtain information from a single snapshot about the meridional propagation, in particular propagation from or into polar and subtropical latitudes, as well as about the onset of wave breaking. This helps to clarify the dynamics of individual wave packets in cases where other, more conventional methods provide ambiguous or even misleading information. In some cases, the “true dynamics” of the Rossby wave packet turns out to be more complex than apparent from the more conventional diagnostics, and this may have important implications for the predictability of the wave packet.

scholarly journals Implications of the Semigeostrophic Nature of Rossby Waves for Rossby Wave Packet Detection

2015 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Wolf ◽  
Volkmar Wirth
Keyword(s):  
Wave Packet ◽  
Rossby Wave ◽  
Hilbert Transform ◽  
Wave Packets ◽  
Meridional Wind ◽  
Coordinate Space ◽  
Single Wave ◽  
Planetary Scale ◽  
Complex Demodulation ◽  
The Hilbert Transform

Abstract Upper-tropospheric Rossby wave packets have received increased attention recently. In most previous studies wave packets have been detected by computing the envelope of the meridional wind field using either complex demodulation or a Hilbert transform. The latter requires fewer choices to be made and appears, therefore, preferable. However, the Hilbert transform is fraught with a significant problem, namely, a tendency that fragments a single wave packet into several parts. The problem arises because Rossby wave packets show substantial deviations from the almost-plane wave paradigm, a feature that is well represented by semigeostrophic dynamics. As a consequence, higher harmonics interfere with the reconstruction of the wave envelope leading to undesirable wiggles. A possible cure lies in additional smoothing (e.g., by means of a filter) or resorting to complex demodulation (which implies smoothing, too). Another possibility, which does not imply any smoothing, lies in applying the Hilbert transform in semigeostrophic coordinate space. It turns out beneficial to exclude planetary-scale wavenumbers from this transformation in order to avoid problems in cases when the wave packet travels on a low wavenumber quasi-stationary background flow.

scholarly journals New insights into Rossby wave packet properties in the extratropical UTLS using GNSS radio occultations

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (19) ◽  
pp. 11569-11592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Pilch Kedzierski ◽  
Katja Matthes ◽  
Karl Bumke
Keyword(s):  
Wave Packet ◽  
Rossby Wave ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Pressure Data ◽  
Hilbert Transforms ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Temperature Anomalies ◽  
Zonal Scale ◽  
Novel Approach

Abstract. The present study describes Rossby wave packet (RWP) properties in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) with the use of Global Navigation Satellite System radio occultation (GNSS-RO) measurements. This global study covering both hemispheres' extratropics is the first to tackle medium- and synoptic-scale waves with GNSS-RO. We use 1 decade of GNSS-RO temperature and pressure data from the CHAMP, COSMIC, GRACE, Metop-A, Metop-B, SAC-C and TerraSAR-X missions, combining them into one gridded dataset for the years 2007–2016. Our approach to extract RWP anomalies and their envelope uses Fourier and Hilbert transforms over longitude without pre- or post-processing the data. Our study is purely based on observations, only using ERA-Interim winds to provide information about the background wind regimes. The RWP structures that we obtain in the UTLS agree well with theory and earlier studies, in terms of coherent phase or group propagation, zonal scale and distribution over latitudes. Furthermore, we show that RWP pressure anomalies maximize around the tropopause, while RWP temperature anomalies maximize right above the tropopause height with a contrasting minimum right below. RWP activity follows the zonal-mean tropopause during all seasons. RWP anomalies in the lower stratosphere are dynamically coupled to the upper troposphere. They are part of the same system with a quasi-barotropic structure across the UTLS. RWP activity often reaches up to 20 km height and occasionally higher, defying the Charney–Drazin criterion. We note enhanced amplitude and upward propagation of RWP activity during sudden stratospheric warmings. We provide observational support for improvements in RWP diagnostics and wave trend analysis in models and reanalyses. Wave quantities follow the tropopause, and diagnosing them on fixed pressure levels (which the tropopause does not follow) can lead to aliasing. Our novel approach analyzing GNSS-RO pressure anomalies provides wave signals with better continuity and coherence across the UTLS and the stratosphere, compared to temperature anomalies. Thus, RWP vertical propagation is much easier to analyze with pressure data.

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