Life cycles of blocking flows associated with synoptic—scale eddies: Observed results and numerical experiments

Abstract

An observational study is presented to confirm that the life cycle of blocking associated with synoptic—scale eddies is a transfer process between dispersion and nondispersion. In addition, numerical experiments are conducted. It is found that the synoptic—scale eddies seem to play a dominant role in the amplification of blocking, while the topography effect appears to play a phase-locking role. At the same time, the synoptic eddies tend to split into two branches during the onset of blocking. This supports the observational results obtained.