Structure and evolution of baroclinic waves as inferred from regression analysis

Abstract

The observed high-frequency fluctuations exhibit a vertical and meridional structure suggestive of baroclinic waves evolving through the mature phase of their life cycle. Most of the results are in qualitative agreement with previous studies, but the ageostrophic wind field in the lower troposphere exhibits systematic fluctuations in the meridional component that had not been anticipated. An analysis of the temperature and vorticity tendencies in the waves yielded dynamically plausible results, despite the deficiencies in the NMC divergence and vertical velocity fields. The vertical velocity field at the 500-mb level was found to be consistent with the forcing in the quasi-geostrophic omega equation. -from Authors