The Mutual Interaction between External Rossby Waves and Thermal Forcing: the Subpolar Regions

Abstract

The authors hypothesize a simple feedback mechanism between external Rossby waves and diabatic heating from convection. This mechanism could explain the large amplitude that external Rossby waves attain as they propagate to mid- and high latitudes. A series of experiments has been carried out with a core dynamic global spectral model. These simulations with the idealized atmospheric GCM and a simple parameterization of thermal forcing proportional to the low-level wave meridional velocity suggest that external Rossby waves can be enhanced by convection, which they themselves induce. It is shown that in the tropospheric upper levels the amplitude of the external waves can be twice as large with feedback as for a control simulation that does not allow feedback.