Characteristics and Possible Sources of the Intraseasonal South Asian Jet Wave Train in Boreal Winter

• Published in: Journal of climate 2020-12, Vol.33 (24), p.10523-10537
• Main Authors: Huang, Sijie, Li, Xiuzhen, Wen, Zhiping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atmospheric forcing; Barotropic mode; Disturbances; Divergence; Energy conversion; Energy resources; Energy sources; Kinetic energy; Latitude; Lower troposphere; North Atlantic Oscillation; Ocean-atmosphere system; Planetary waves; Rossby waves; Synoptic disturbances; Temperature; Troposphere; Upper troposphere; Wave packets; Wave propagation; Wave trains; Winter
• ISSN: 0894-8755; 1520-0442
• DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0125.1

The characteristics and possible energy sources of the South Asian jet wave train in winter are analyzed, with the intraseasonal signal emphasized. The wave train is equivalently barotropic and strongest in the upper troposphere, with its daily evolution dominated by the intraseasonal (10–30 day) time scale. Along the wave train, the propagation of disturbances from the North Atlantic to the western North Pacific takes around 8 days, which is much faster than the eastward migration of activity centers. The energy sources of the intraseasonal wave train are complicated and can be separated into three categories depending on the role of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). When NAO− precedes the wave train, it is northwest–southeast oriented. The energy is rooted in the lower troposphere over the high-latitude North Atlantic, and excites the Rossby wave source (RWS) over the western Mediterranean Sea via vortex stretching by abnormal divergence. When NAO+ precedes the wave train, it is southwest–northeast oriented. The energy rooted in the northeastern activity center excites RWS over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Additionally, disturbances from the western North Atlantic and southwestern activity center of NAO+ excite the RWS over the western Mediterranean Sea. Hence, both NAO− and NAO+ can excite the same wave train, but with different orientation and via different paths. Without the NAO, the wave train can also be stimulated by enhanced disturbances over the midlatitude central North Atlantic. The signal lies mainly in the middle-upper troposphere, which might be related to atmospheric internal dynamic processes, such as kinetic energy conversion from synoptic disturbances.