A Wave Amplitude Transition in a Quasi-Linear Model with Radiative Forcing and Surface Drag

Abstract

Abstract A quasi-linear two-layer quasigeostrophic β-plane model of the interaction between a baroclinic jet and a single zonal wavenumber perturbation is used to study the mechanics leading to a wave amplitude bifurcation—in particular, the role of the critical surfaces in the upper-tropospheric jet flanks. The jet is forced by Newtonian heating toward a radiative equilibrium state, and Ekman damping is applied at the surface. When the typical horizontal scale is approximately the Rossby radius of deformation, the waves equilibrate at a finite amplitude that is comparable to the mean flow. This state is obtained as a result of a wave-induced temporary destabilization of the mean flow, during which the waves grow to their finite-equilibrium amplitude. When the typical horizontal scale is wider, the model also supports a state in which the waves equilibrate at negligible amplitudes. The transition from small to finite-amplitude waves, which occurs at weak instabilities, is abrupt as the parameters of the system are gradually varied, and in a certain range of parameter values both equilibrated states are supported. The simple two-layer quasi-linear setting of the model allows a detailed examination of the temporary destabilization process inherent in the large-amplitude equilibration. As the waves grow they reduce the baroclinic growth by reducing the vertical shear of the mean flow, and reduce the barotropic decay by reducing the mean potential vorticity gradient at the inner sides of the upper-layer critical levels. Temporary destabilization occurs when the reduction in barotropic decay is larger than the reduction in baroclinic growth, leading to a larger total growth rate. Ekman friction and radiative damping are found to play a major role in sustaining the vertical shear of the mean flow and enabling the baroclinic growth to continue. By controlling the mean flow potential vorticity gradient near the critical level, the model evolution can be changed from one type of equilibration to the other.