Abstract
In recent decades, efforts to investigate atmospheric circulation patterns have predominantly relied on either semi-empirical datasets (i.e., reanalyses) or modeled output (i.e., global climate models, GCMs). While both approaches can provide important insights, there is a need for more empirical data to supplement these approaches. In this paper, we demonstrate how the application of relatively simple calculations to the basic measurements from a standard weather balloon radiosonde can provide a vertical profile of the horizontal atmospheric mass fluxes. These mass fluxes can be resolved into their meridional (north/south) and zonal (east/west) components. This provides a new useful empirical tool for analyzing atmospheric circulations. As a case study, we analyze the results for a selected five stations along a fairly constant meridian in the North Atlantic sector from 2015–2019. For each station, we find the atmospheric mass flux profiles from the lower troposphere to mid-stratosphere are surprisingly coherent, suggesting stronger interconnection between the troposphere and stratosphere than previously thought. Although our five stations span a region nominally covered by the classical polar, Ferrel and Hadley meridional circulation cells, the results are inconsistent with those expected for polar and Ferrel cells and only partially consistent with that of a Hadley cell. However, the region is marked by very strong prevailing westerly (west to east) mass fluxes for most of the atmosphere except for the equatorial surface easterlies (“trade winds”). We suggest that the extension of the techniques of this case study to other stations and time periods could improve our understanding of atmospheric circulation patterns and their time variations.
Highlights
Our hope is that the empirical techniques we present through this case study of a specific region (European sector of the North Atlantic) will offer new useful methods for analyzing atmospheric circulation patterns that can be retrospectively applied by researchers to the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA) dataset or other similar archives as well as to new soundings
Several researchers have emphasized the importance of developing better metrics for investigating atmospheric circulations directly from empirical observations [117,123,124,125,126,127,128]
We showed how the application of several relatively simple calculations to the basic measurements from a standard weather balloon sounding yields a vertical profile of the horizontal atmospheric mass fluxes
Summary
Knox and Knox (2017) give a representative example: “The general circulation of the atmosphere ( known as the planetary circulation) is, in its most basic sense, the large-scale flow of the atmosphere across the entire planet It is described by averages of horizontal and vertical motion of air over time and space as well as temporal and spatial deviations from the average conditions” [2]. We hope that our case study will encourage the extension of these new techniques to analyze more stations, more regions, and more time periods We believe that this will provide much deeper insights into atmospheric circulation patterns, and hopefully allow us to gain a deeper understanding of the general atmospheric circulation. Before we turn to these new techniques and our case study, we will first provide an introductory review of the current views on atmospheric circulations and how they arose
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
