Abstract
Horizontal dispersion of stratospheric tracer balloons over the continental United States was studied in the altitude range 14–24 km (150–30 mb). The dispersion was found in some cases to be described by a scale-dependent turbulent diffusivity; in other cases, the dispersion was dominated by mean flow gradients. Stratospheric mesoscale turbulence was found to be strongly anisotropic. Thus at the lower altitudes the diffusivity in the zonal direction exceeded that in the meridional direction by a factor of 8. In both directions, the eddy diffusivities and the rms turbulent velocities decreased in the summer and decreased with increasing altitude. The Lagrangian integral time scales of the turbulence were greater in the zonal direction than in the meridional direction, and they decreased at higher altitudes. The variation of the mean velocities with season and with altitude was also determined.
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