On the interpretation of geopotential height tendency equations

The conceptual model for height tendency presented by Hirschberg and Fritsch directly links upper-level virtual temperature tendency with low-level height tendency, overlooking the essential dynamics of mass divergence. An analysis of the complete height tendency equation shows that upper-level virt...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Monthly weather review 1993-09, Vol.121 (9), p.2642-2645
Main Authors: STEENBURGH, W. J, HOLTON, J. R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Meteorology
Storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The conceptual model for height tendency presented by Hirschberg and Fritsch directly links upper-level virtual temperature tendency with low-level height tendency, overlooking the essential dynamics of mass divergence. An analysis of the complete height tendency equation shows that upper-level virtual temperature change can only indirectly induce low-level height change by driving ageostrophic circulations. To avoid misconception about middle- and lower-tropospheric height tendency, the dynamics of height tendency are reviewed.
ISSN:0027-0644
1520-0493
DOI:10.1175/1520-0493(1993)121<2642:OTIOGH>2.0.CO;2