A Laboratory Model for a Meandering Zonal Jet
Abstract The meandering jet streams of the Northern Hemisphere influence the weather for more than half of Earth's population, so it is imperative that we improve our understanding of their behavior and how they respond to climate change. Here, we describe a novel laboratory model for a meander...
Published in: | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2022
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b09673467bc14bd79219c6cfe3cdf222 2023-05-15T15:11:15+02:00 A Laboratory Model for a Meandering Zonal Jet K. D. Stewart F. Macleod 2022-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002943 https://doaj.org/article/b09673467bc14bd79219c6cfe3cdf222 EN eng American Geophysical Union (AGU) https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002943 https://doaj.org/toc/1942-2466 1942-2466 doi:10.1029/2021MS002943 https://doaj.org/article/b09673467bc14bd79219c6cfe3cdf222 Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol 14, Iss 7, Pp n/a-n/a (2022) jet stream rotating annulus barotropic jet zonal jet standing meanders Physical geography GB3-5030 Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002943 2022-12-30T23:44:03Z Abstract The meandering jet streams of the Northern Hemisphere influence the weather for more than half of Earth's population, so it is imperative that we improve our understanding of their behavior and how they respond to climate change. Here, we describe a novel laboratory model for a meandering zonal jet. This model comprises a large rotating annulus with a series of topographic ridges, and an imposed radial vorticity flux. Flow interactions with the topographic ridges operate to concentrate the zonal transport into a narrow jet, which supports the development and propagation of Rossby waves. We investigate the dynamics of the jet for a range of rotation rates, imposed radial vorticity fluxes, and topographic ridge configurations. The circulations are classified into two distinct regimes: predominantly zonal or predominantly meandering. The flow regime can be quantified by the ratio of the Ekman dissipation and jet advection timescales, which gives an indication of whether disturbances arising from the flow‐topography interaction are dissipated faster than the time taken to circuit the annulus; if not, these disturbances will reencounter the topography, and thus be reinforced and amplified. For predominantly zonal flows, the radial vorticity flux is split equally between the standing meanders and transient eddies. For predominantly meandering flows, standing meanders perform 79% of the radial vorticity flux, with 18% accommodated by the transient eddies. Our experiments indicate that the Arctic amplification associated with climate change will tend to favor predominantly zonal flow conditions, suggesting a reduced occurrence of atmospheric blocking events caused by the jet streams. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 14 7 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
jet stream rotating annulus barotropic jet zonal jet standing meanders Physical geography GB3-5030 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
spellingShingle |
jet stream rotating annulus barotropic jet zonal jet standing meanders Physical geography GB3-5030 Oceanography GC1-1581 K. D. Stewart F. Macleod A Laboratory Model for a Meandering Zonal Jet |
topic_facet |
jet stream rotating annulus barotropic jet zonal jet standing meanders Physical geography GB3-5030 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
Abstract The meandering jet streams of the Northern Hemisphere influence the weather for more than half of Earth's population, so it is imperative that we improve our understanding of their behavior and how they respond to climate change. Here, we describe a novel laboratory model for a meandering zonal jet. This model comprises a large rotating annulus with a series of topographic ridges, and an imposed radial vorticity flux. Flow interactions with the topographic ridges operate to concentrate the zonal transport into a narrow jet, which supports the development and propagation of Rossby waves. We investigate the dynamics of the jet for a range of rotation rates, imposed radial vorticity fluxes, and topographic ridge configurations. The circulations are classified into two distinct regimes: predominantly zonal or predominantly meandering. The flow regime can be quantified by the ratio of the Ekman dissipation and jet advection timescales, which gives an indication of whether disturbances arising from the flow‐topography interaction are dissipated faster than the time taken to circuit the annulus; if not, these disturbances will reencounter the topography, and thus be reinforced and amplified. For predominantly zonal flows, the radial vorticity flux is split equally between the standing meanders and transient eddies. For predominantly meandering flows, standing meanders perform 79% of the radial vorticity flux, with 18% accommodated by the transient eddies. Our experiments indicate that the Arctic amplification associated with climate change will tend to favor predominantly zonal flow conditions, suggesting a reduced occurrence of atmospheric blocking events caused by the jet streams. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
K. D. Stewart F. Macleod |
author_facet |
K. D. Stewart F. Macleod |
author_sort |
K. D. Stewart |
title |
A Laboratory Model for a Meandering Zonal Jet |
title_short |
A Laboratory Model for a Meandering Zonal Jet |
title_full |
A Laboratory Model for a Meandering Zonal Jet |
title_fullStr |
A Laboratory Model for a Meandering Zonal Jet |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Laboratory Model for a Meandering Zonal Jet |
title_sort |
laboratory model for a meandering zonal jet |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002943 https://doaj.org/article/b09673467bc14bd79219c6cfe3cdf222 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change |
op_source |
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol 14, Iss 7, Pp n/a-n/a (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002943 https://doaj.org/toc/1942-2466 1942-2466 doi:10.1029/2021MS002943 https://doaj.org/article/b09673467bc14bd79219c6cfe3cdf222 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002943 |
container_title |
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
7 |
_version_ |
1766342131874529280 |