Forcing of Stratospheric Kelvin Waves by Tropospheric Heat Sources
Abstract
The problem of scale-selection of Kelvin waves in the stratosphere by forcing from tropospheric heating
is analyzed using a simple linear model. The effect of vertical wind shear is excluded because the phase
speed of the waves is fast relative to the range of the mean zonal wind in the vicinity of the tropopause at
which level the upward energy flux due to forcing is evaluated. Results of this analysis modify Holton's
(1973) theory in that 1) the forcing is most efficient for the longest zonal wavelength even if the heat sources
are distributed randomly, and 2) the most favored vertical wavelength of the excited waves is about twice
the vertical scale of heating. The calculated vertical wavelengths exceed slightly those observed and the
discrepancies are discussed.
Description
The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1976)033<0740:FOSKWB>2.0.CO;2
Parts of the material
in this paper were presented at the AMS Ninth Conference
on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, May
1975, Miami, Fla.
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