Statistics and dynamics of persistent anomalies.

Abstract

Persistent anomalies with recurrent spatial patterns play an important role in the atmosphere's low-frequency variability. We establish a connection between statistical and dynamical methods of description and prediction of persistent anomalies. This is done by computing and analyzing the empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) in a simple deterministic model, on the one hand, and in Southern Hemisphere geopotential heights, on the other. We conclude that the dynamical interpretation of EOFs is their pointing from the time mean to the most populated regions of the system's phase space. Pursuing this interpretation, we introduce a Markov-chain formulation of transitions from one persistent anomaly regime to another, and discuss the implications for long-range forecasting.-from Authors