The Integrated Enstrophy Budget of the Winter Stratosphere Diagnosed from LIMS Data

Abstract

Abstract The Northern Hemisphere, quasi-geostrophic, integrated enstrophy budget for the 1978/79 winter has been analyzed from 10-0.1 mb using LIMS data. The stratospheric integrated enstrophy builds up during early winter as a result of the diabatic forcing of the polar vortex. Starting in January, an irregular and generally irreversible transfer of enstrophy from the zonal mean reservoir to planetary waves begins to reduce the total. This transfer of enstrophy to the waves produces significant imbalances in the integrated enstrophy budget at 10 mb. The imbalances appear to result from the transfer of enstrophy to smaller scales not resolved by the LIMS instrument. We believe that these imbalances are signature of Rossby wave breaking, as the imbalance episodes correspond well to the appearance of Ertel Vorticity filaments recently shown by McIntyre and Palmer. In the mesosphere the total enstrophy shows little seasonal trend. Our analysis indicates that the mesophere may be region of continuous wave bre...