Baroclinic instability in the summer mesosphere

✍ Scribed by A. J. Simmons

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1977
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 316 KB
• Volume: 103
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0035-9009
• DOI: 10.1002/qj.49710343515

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Baroclinic instability is examined in idealized models of the summer circulation of the upper stratosphere and mesosphere. For all but possibly the fastest rate of thermal dissipation, results suggest the development of disturbances which have zonal wavelengths around 5000 km and which move with westerly phase speeds between 5 and 10 m^−1^ relative to an easterly maximum. Their periods relative to the ground are close to one day. the vertical scale of perturbation velocities is some 15 km. Temperatures exhibit a shorter vertical scale of about 5 km or less.