Eddy-Induced Growth Rate of Low-Frequency Variability and Its Mid- to Late Winter Suppression in the Northern Hemisphere

Abstract

Synoptic eddy and low-frequency flow (SELF) feedback plays an important role in reinforcing low-frequency variability (LFV). Recent studies showed that an eddy-induced growth (EIG) or instability makes a fundamental contribution to the maintenance of LFV. To quantify the efficiency of the SELF feedback, this study examines the spatiotemporal features of the empirical diagnostics of EIG and its associations with LFV. The results show that, in terms of eddy vorticity forcing, the EIG rate of LFV is generally larger (smaller) in the upper (lower) troposphere, whereas, in terms of eddy potential vorticity forcing, it is larger in the lower troposphere to partly balance the damping effect of surface friction. The local EIG rate shows a horizontal spatial distribution that corresponds to storm-track activity, which tends to be responsible for maintaining LFV amplitudes and patterns as well as sustaining eddy-driven jets. In fact, the EIG rate has a well-defined seasonality, being generally larger in cold seasons and smaller in the warmest season, and this seasonality is stronger in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere. This study also reveals a mid-to late winter (January-March) suppression of the EIG rate in the Northern Hemisphere, which indicates a reduced eddy feedback efficiency and may be largely attributed to the eddy kinetic energy suppression and the midlatitude zonal wind maximum in the midwinter of the Northern Hemisphere.