| Summary: | General circulation parameters in the Northern Hemisphere are calculated using atmospheric thermal structure obtained from Nimbus 3 SIRS multi-channel radiance information. The thermal structure up to 10 mb is obtained by using a regression technique with thickness between pressure levels as the dependent variable. General circulation parameters calculated on a daily basis include zonal and eddy available potential energy, and zonal and eddy kinetic energy. A second set of calculations is performed using National Meteorological Center grid data. A comparison of the two sets of calculations indicates that, although the energies calculated from the SIRS-derived structure underestimate the actual energies, maxima, minima, and trends are well identified. An example of mid-stratospheric energy changes during a breakdown of the polar-night vortex is also given.
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