CAO Seminar - The subtropical jet: Do we understand why it exists

Date: 
Thu, 05/12/202411:00-12:00
תאריך: 
ה', 05/12/202411:00-12:00
מרצה: 
Orly Lachmi
The subtropical jet is a band of fast eastward winds concentrated more than 10 kilometers above the ground. It affects the propagation of upper-level atmospheric waves, thus affecting surface weather and climate. Climate models show that it will strengthen in response to anthropogenic climate change.
The subtropical jet is driven by angular momentum advection from the deep tropics in the Hadley circulation. Because Earth rotates faster at the equator, due to the larger rotation radius, air moving poleward in the upper troposphere brings higher angular momentum, creating a jet at the subtropical edge of the Hadley cell. While this mechanism is well-understood, an outstanding question remains: What enables the maintenance of the subtropical jet at the Hadley cell edge in the presence of eddies? We know that atmospheric eddies (weather systems) tend to drive another jet in midlatitudes, by mixing the air and transporting momentum poleward. Idealized models show that a single jet in midlatitudes is a much more dynamically stable state than a subtropical jet at the Hadley cell edge.
Here we will examine two possible explanations for the existence of a strong subtropical jet at the Hadley cell edge alongside strong midlatitude eddies: (a) Eddies are stabilized at low latitudes, thus they develop far poleward of the subtropical jet. (b) The subtropical jet is maintained by transient localized events of tropical convection, leading to strong climatological winds at the Hadley cell edge. We will show observations and numerical modeling results supporting both explanations.
 
סמינר החוג לאא'א