Transient eddy forcing of the time-mean flow as identified by geopotential tendencies.

Abstract

The forcing of the time-mean flow by transient eddies is examined within the framework of a quasigeostrophic equation relating the geopotential tendency to the convergence of transient eddy transports of heat and vorticity. The forcing functions of this equation are computed using observed circulation statistics for the wintertime Northern Hemisphere, and solutions are sought for the three-dimensional structure of geopotential and temperature tendencies associated with eddies of different time scales.-from Authors