ON THE ENERGY CYCLE IN THE LOWER STRATOSPHERE. Report No. 9

Technical Report · Sun Dec 15 04:00:00 EST 1963

OSTI ID:4100966

Oort, A H

The circulation in the lower stratosphere was studied for the period July 1957 through June 1958 during the IGY. Radiosonde reports from more than 240 northern hemisphere stations were used. In all seasons the large-scale eddies transport both heat and momentum against the north-south gradient of, respectively, the temperature and angular rotation. Warm air masses tend to move towards higher pressure (sink) and cold air masses towards lower pressure (rise). That is, no kinetic energy is released by convection. For a hemispheric polar cap with 30 and 100 mb as top and bottom boundaries the balance equations of angular momentum, zonal and eddy kinetic energy, and zonal and eddy available potential energy are considered in detail. The eddies appear to build up the kinetic energy of the zonal flow at the expense of the eddy kinetic energy throughout the year. The eddies lose also eddy potential energy to the mean zonal distribution, in agreement with the abnormal upslope direction of the eddy heat transport. Thus, no source of energy for the eddy motions appears to be present in situ; and the eddies are forced by the circulation in the surrounding layers, probably by the tropospheric motions. (auth)

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge. Dept. of Meteorology
• NSA Number: NSA-18-011028
• OSTI ID: 4100966
• Report Number(s): TID-20111
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

AIR
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
ATMOSPHERE
CONVECTION
ENERGY
EQUATIONS
HEAT TRANSFER
LAYERS
MEASURED VALUES
MOMENTUM
MOTION
PHYSICS
PRESSURE
RADIO WAVES
REFLECTION
ROTATION
TEMPERATURE
TRANSPORT
TURBULENCE
VARIATIONS