On “Some Fundamental Problems of the General Circulation of the Atmosphere”

This paper revisits the seminal monograph "Some Fundamental Problems of the General Circulation of the Atmosphere" by Yeh and Chu (1958). Taking the theoretical analyses of the mean meridional circulation, the formation and maintenance of the westerly jet, and the internal consistency of the general circulation as examples, the paper analyzes the physical consistency between recent developments in these topics and the views of Yeh and Chu (1958). Some viewpoints of the book, such as the central role of large-scale eddies in mean meridional circulation, the role of eddy-induced vorticity transport in jets, and large-scale eddies as the nexus of the main components of general circulation and physical transport processes of angular momentum, heat, and kinetic energy, illustrate the far-reaching insight of Yeh and Chu on the nature and picture of the general circulation of the atmosphere as a whole. The deep insights of the monograph are still highly meaningful for furthering theoretical research on general circulation and its role in climate change.