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

500 mb Height

Gross-simplification of planetary-scale stationary waves

Ertel’s Potential Vorticity

P = (z + f ) / Dp

Potential vorticity conserved for adiabatic, large-scale motion

Conservation of
Potential Vorticity

700 mb Height (Stone 2001)

700 mb Vorticity (Stone 2001)

Held

Manabe and Terpstra (1974)

Slide 12

Slide 13

200 mb Height (Stone 2001)


	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


	P = (z + f ) / Dp
	Potential vorticity conserved for adiabatic, large-scale motion