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Title: Local finite-amplitude wave activity as an objective diagnostic of midlatitude extreme weather

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066959· OSTI ID:1255407
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [2]
  1. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
  2. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
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Midlatitude extreme weather events are responsible for a large part of climate related damage, yet our understanding of these extreme events is limited, partly due to the lack of a theoretical basis for midlatitude extreme weather. In this letter, the local finite-amplitude wave activity (LWA) of Huang and Nakamura [2015] is introduced as a diagnostic of the 500-hPa geopotential height (Z500) to characterizing midlatitude weather events. It is found that the LWA climatology and its variability associated with the Arctic Oscillation (AO) agree broadly with the previously reported blocking frequency in literature. Here, there is a strong seasonal and spatial dependence in the trend13 s of LWA in recent decades. While there is no observational evidence for a hemispheric-scale increase in wave amplitude, robust trends in wave activity can be identified at the regional scales, with important implications for regional climate change.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012374; AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1255407
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1402379
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-116218; KP1703010
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 42, Issue 24; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 47 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (47)

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A Theoretical and Diagnostic Study of Solitary Waves and Atmospheric Blocking journal July 1989
Effective Isentropic Diffusivity of Tropospheric Transport journal August 2014
Delineating the Eddy–Zonal Flow Interaction in the Atmospheric Circulation Response to Climate Forcing: Uniform SST Warming in an Idealized Aquaplanet Model journal July 2013
Local Finite-Amplitude Wave Activity as a Diagnostic of Anomalous Weather Events journal December 2015
NCEP–DOE AMIP-II Reanalysis (R-2) journal November 2002
The Role of Subtropical Irreversible PV Mixing in the Zonal Mean Circulation Response to Global Warming–Like Thermal Forcing journal March 2014
Toward the Dynamical Convergence on the Jet Stream in Aquaplanet AGCMs journal September 2015
Winter and Summer Northern Hemisphere Blocking in CMIP5 Models journal September 2013
Wave Activity for Large-Amplitude Disturbances Described by the Primitive Equations on the Sphere journal May 2013
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Sensitivities and Mechanisms of the Zonal Mean Atmospheric Circulation Response to Tropical Warming journal August 2013
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Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics null January 2015

Cited By (9)

How waviness in the circulation changes surface ozone: a viewpoint using local finite-amplitude wave activity journal January 2019
Reduced European aerosol emissions suppress winter extremes over northern Eurasia journal February 2020
Climatology of tracked persistent maxima of 500-hPa geopotential height journal October 2017
Sensitivity of Atmospheric Rivers to Damping of Midlatitude Subseasonal Variability journal September 2019
Response of the Hydrological Cycle in Asian Monsoon Systems to Global Warming Through the Lens of Water Vapor Wave Activity Analysis journal November 2018
North American Weather Regimes Are Becoming More Persistent: Is Arctic Amplification a Factor? journal October 2018
Large-Scale Atmospheric Control on Non-Gaussian Tails of Midlatitude Temperature Distributions journal September 2018
Amplified Arctic warming and mid‐latitude weather: new perspectives on emerging connections journal May 2017
Enhanced hydrological extremes in the western United States under global warming through the lens of water vapor wave activity journal April 2018

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
local wave activity
wave breaking
blocking
extreme weather