The Structure and Propagation of Stationary Planetary Wave Packet in the Barotropic Atmosphere

Abstract:

Monthly or seasonally mean anomalies of large-scale atmospheric circulation are better represented by wave packets or their combination. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses of equations of wave packet dynamics, which are obtained by the use of WKB approximation, are very helpful for the understanding of structure, formation and propagation of stationary and quasi-stationary planetary wave packet patterns in the atmosphere. Indeed, these equations of wave packet dynamics can be directly solved by the method of characteristic lines, and the results can be simply and clearly interpreted by physical laws. In this paper, a quasi-geostrophic barotropic model is taken for simplicity, and the wave packets superimposed on several ideal profiles of the basic current and excited by some ideal forcings are investigated in order to make comparison of the accuracy of calculation with the analytical solution. It is revealed that (a) the rays of stationary planetary wave packet do not coincide with but go away from the great circle with significant difference if the shear of the basic zonal flow is not too small; (b) being superimposed on a westerly jet flow with positive shear (Uλ/y>0), the stationary wave packets excited by low-latitudinal forcing are first intensified during their northeastward propagation in the Northern Hemisphere, then reach their maximum of amplitude at some critical latitude, and after that weaken again; (c) the connected line of extremes (the positive and negative centres) of wave packet does not coincide with but crosses the ray by an angle, the larger the scale of external forcing, the larger the angle; and (d) the whole pattern of a trapped stationary wave packet is complicated by the interference between the incident and reflected waves.