Structure, Amplification and Nonlinearity of the 2-Day Wave

Atmospheric Systems And Analysis, Broomfield CO

Investigators

Abstract

Numerical integrations will be performed to study the 2-day wave in a generally-unstable mean flow. Modal period and structure and its amplification will be calculated in the presence of zonal-mean structure representative of observations. Those calculated features will then be compared with observed space-time behavior of the 2-day wave. Finite amplitude considerations, leading to transport and to interaction with other planetary waves, will be addressed in fully-nonlinear integrations. Together with observed behavior, those integrations will be used to evaluate the impact that 2-day wave nonlinearity has on dynamical and chemical structure. The research outlined here promises a unified understanding of the 2-day wave and its role in the general circulation of the middle and upper atmosphere.