Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
1
Planetary-Scale Mountain Waves Planetary-scale waves are observed that remain fixed with respect to the earth’s surface: Possible causes are geographic distribution of: –Mountains (Charney and Eliassen 1949) –Land/sea differences and inequitable distribution of sensible and latent heating (Smagorinsky 1953) After 30 years of debate, answer settled that both are important, but mountains perhaps a little more so
2
500 mb Height
3
Sea Level Pressure
4
Gross-simplification of planetary-scale stationary waves Himalayas/ Tibetan Plateau Rockies Upper- tropospheric flow Kuroshio Gulf Stream
5
Ertel’s Potential Vorticity P = ( + f ) / p Potential vorticity conserved for adiabatic, large-scale motion Mountain pp pp E
6
Conservation of Potential Vorticity Mountain P = ( + f ) / p anticyclonic; clockwise cyclonic; counterclockwise
7
700 mb Height (Stone 2001)
8
700 mb Vorticity (Stone 2001)
9
Held
11
Manabe and Terpstra (1974) Observed
12
Manabe and Terpstra (1974) With Mountains Observed
13
Manabe and Terpstra (1974) Without Mountains Observed
14
200 mb Height (Stone 2001)
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.