Why Does Atmospheric Radiative Heating Weaken Midlatitude Cyclones?
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- Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science University of Miami Miami FL USA
- Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Princeton University Princeton NJ USA
- High Meadows Environmental Institute Princeton University Princeton NJ USA, Department of Geosciences Princeton University Princeton NJ USA
Abstract Recent work has indicated that atmospheric radiative heating reduces the kinetic energy of large‐scale eddies in the midlatitudes. However, a physical mechanism that connects radiation to the midlatitude eddy kinetic energy is still uncertain. Using a high‐resolution general circulation model we perform an experiment in which the radiative cooling profile at each model time step is overwritten with the climatological mean, computed from a control simulation. This approach separates the mean and transient effects of radiative heating on the extratropical circulation. We find that, when radiative heating is fixed, the globally‐averaged eddy kinetic energy is enhanced by ∼6%. We show that thermal radiation dampens temperature anomalies near the surface and tropopause in low‐pressure systems, destroying eddy available potential energy and eddy kinetic energy. We identify this as a possible mechanism by which atmospheric radiative heating weakens midlatitude cyclones.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0021333
- OSTI ID:
- 2449633
- Journal Information:
- Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 19 Vol. 51; ISSN 0094-8276
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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