Accessibility navigation


Seasonal and regional variations of long-term changes in upper-tropospheric jets from reanalyses

Manney, G. L. and Hegglin, M. I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2820-9044 (2018) Seasonal and regional variations of long-term changes in upper-tropospheric jets from reanalyses. Journal of Climate, 31 (1). pp. 423-448. ISSN 1520-0442

[img]
Preview
Text - Published Version
· Please see our End User Agreement before downloading.

4MB
[img]
Preview
Text - Accepted Version
· Please see our End User Agreement before downloading.

5MB

It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing.

To link to this item DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0303.1

Abstract/Summary

Long-term changes in upper-tropospheric jet latitude, altitude, and strength are assessed using five modern reanalyses: MERRA, MERRA-2, ERA-Interim, JRA-55, and NCEP CFSR. Changes are computed from jet locations evaluated daily at each longitude to analyze regional and seasonal variations. The changes in subtropical and polar (eddy driven) jets are evaluated separately. Good agreement among the reanalyses in many regions and seasons provides confidence in the robustness of the diagnosed trends. Jet shifts show strong regional and seasonal variations, resulting in changes that are not robust in zonal or annual means. Robust changes in the subtropical jet indicate tropical widening over Africa except during Northern Hemisphere (NH) spring, and tropical narrowing over the eastern Pacific in NH winter. The Southern Hemisphere (SH) polar jet shows a robust poleward shift, while the NH polar jet shifts equatorward in most regions/seasons. Both subtropical and polar jet altitudes typically increase; these changes are more robust in theNHthan in the SH. Subtropical jet wind speeds have generally increased in winter and decreased in summer, while polar jet wind speeds have weakened (strengthened) over Africa and eastern Asia (elsewhere) during winter in both hemispheres. The Asian monsoon has increased in area and appears to have shifted slightly westward toward Africa. Our results highlight the importance of understanding regional and seasonal variations when quantifying long-term changes in jet locations, the mechanisms for those changes, and their potential human impacts. Comparison of multiple reanalyses is a valuable tool for assessing the robustness of jet changes.

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
ID Code:73555
Additional Information:For a Corrigendum to this article, see https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0881.1
Publisher:American Meteorological Society

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

University Staff: Request a correction | Centaur Editors: Update this record

Page navigation