Eddy flux of sensible heat at different levels in the stratosphere

Abstract

Covariances of temperature and meridional wind component at 18 stations in the Northern Hemisphere were computed at 2km-intervals from the surface to 28 km. These covariances are proportional to the northward flux of sensible heat resulting from transient eddies. Cross sections of covariance of temperature and meridional wind component during January and July were constructed for 80°W. At this longitude during January a minimum of eddy heat flux occurred near an altitude of 20 km at all latitudes, and in the higher latitudes a sharp increase began somewhere between 18 km and 22 km. Eddy heat fluxes were generally quite small, in the part of the stratosphere below 20 km. A similar pattern was found at the French station of Chateauroux. The layer which separates the regions of small and large eddy heat fluxes appears to coincide with a null layer described byFaust. However, this sharp dividing line between a lower stratosphere with small eddy heat fluxes and an upper stratosphere with large eddy heat fluxes does not appear at all longitudes. Over Alaska one finds maximum eddy heat fluxes between 20 km and 22 km, and values in the lower stratosphere are much larger than those near 80° W.