Atlas of point correlations at 30 mb and between 500 and 30 mb
- National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)
The National Center for Atmospheric Research has issued a technical note (Shea et al. 1992) with point correlations (teleconnections) on the 30-mb surface and between 500 and 30 mb. The correlations are for the two-month means January-February, March-April, July-August, and November-December, which were chosen because of these characteristics of the intraseasonal change in the stratosphere: (a) At 30 mb the annual cooling at higher latitudes often ends in December, which therefore is on an average-the coldest month at these latitudes. (b) Major midwinter warnings, during which the polar low is replaced by a high, nearly all occur in January-February. (c) The final (spring) warming of the lower stratosphere takes place in March-April. The correlations are based on two well-known datasets: the monthly mean temperatures and geopotential heights at 30 mb, derived from the daily historical maps from the Stratospheric Research Group, 11 monthly mean geopotential heights at 500 mb from the National Meteorological Center, Washington, D.C. The 500- and 30-mb heights span the years 1957-1988, and the 30-mb temperatures, the years 1964-1988. The teleconnection maps cover the region between 15[degrees]N and the North Pole. Correlations were also computed for the two halves of the period to spot any differences between them, but there were only minor or no differences. Examples of the point correlations are described below to indicate the type of material available in the technical note. The 5% local significance level for a sample of 31 is r= 0.36, and for n = 16 it is r= 0.52. The January 30-mb mean map should be used as a reference for the correlations. The technical note is available free of charge from NCAR, Information and Education Outreach Program, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307.
- OSTI ID:
- 6617547
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society; (United States), Vol. 73:12; ISSN 0003-0007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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