Hemispheric Integration Research Articles

Total Ozone Variations 1970-74 Using Backscattered Ultraviolet (BUV) and Ground-Based Observations

The most long-lived satellite set of ozone observations, to date, is that derived from the Backscatter Ultraviolet (BUV) ozone sensor on Nimbus 4 and extends from April 1970 through 1976. Unfortunately, this experiment suffered spacecraft power limitations which limited the spatial and temporal coverage and also appears to have suffered from long-term drifts which may be associated with changes in the instrument characteristics or the incident solar flux. Techniques have been developed to account for these problems, and this paper presents results of the BUV total ozone variations and compares them with those from ground-based observations, specifically the computations of Angell and Korshover (1978). After adjustments for the spatial gaps and comparison with concurrent Dobson ground-based observations, no significant trend was found in the BUV data over the years 1970-74. This finding is in contrast to a general decrease of about 2% during the same period appearing in the data of Angell and Korshover. The difference in these results is discussed in terms of the geographic sampling and the methods of hemispheric integration.

The Integration of the Cerebral Hemispheres in Poetry and Mystic Texts

The Integration of the Cerebral Hemispheres in Poetry and Mystic Texts

An Energetics Analysis of Forecast Experiments with the NCAR General Circulation Model

Abstract The energetics in numerical weather forecast experiments with the NCAR general circulation model have been analyzed. The 6-layer, 5-degree, second-generation global model was used to make two 10-day forecasts with the same initial conditions. The two experiments differed primarily in the methods of convective parameterization. Hemispheric integrals of the model energies and energy transformations are presented in the context of their approach to a quasi-equilibrium climatology. Spectral and spatial analyses of the eddy energies and transformations provide further insight into the model response to the initial conditions. After the initial adjustment, the eddy kinetic energy appears to lag the conversion from eddy available potential energy to eddy kinetic energy by at least 48 h in the long waves (wavenumbers 1–4) and by approximately 24 h in the baroclinic waves (wavenumbers 5–7), whereas little or no time lag is apparent in the short waves (wavenumbers 8–12). The sensitivity of the forecast ene...

On the variability of the atmospheric energy cycle within a 5-year period

The variability of the energy cycle in the atmosphere is studied for various time scales, namely, year-to-year, season-to-season, and month-to-month, by using daily aerological data for the 5-year period, May 1958 through April 1963. An objective method of analysis is used throughout the study. Our earlier analyses of the normal annual cycle of the energetics are expanded with seasonal and monthly estimates for the different years. It is found that the local values of the integrands of the hemispheric mean eddy available potential energy and of the hemispheric conversion from mean to eddy potential energy are positively correlated. Similarly, the local values of the integrands of the hemispheric mean eddy kinetic energy and of the hemispheric conversion from eddy to mean kinetic energy are positively, although not very highly, correlated. In the case of both potential and kinetic energy, most of the activity is found in preferred geographical areas, namely, in middle latitudes east of the major continents. The amplitude of the interannual variations in the monthly hemispheric integrals of all four basic energy components is generally less than 10% of the normal annual amplitude. The interannual variability in the various forms of energy and in the corresponding energy transformations is largest in winter and smallest in summer. The hemispheric eddy potential and eddy kinetic energy are found to be very highly, positively correlated. Considering the deviations from the normal annual variation for the hemispheric mean eddy potential, energy and for the hemispheric conversion from mean to eddy potential energy, they are found to be positively correlated with each other. On the other hand, the corresponding deviations for the hemispheric eddy kinetic energy and for the hemispheric conversion from eddy to mean kinetic energy seem to be negatively correlated. In general, the monthly energy conversion integrals show a much higher year-to-year variability than the integrated energy amounts. Since on a monthly basis the anomalies in the different conversion terms do not correlate well with each other, at least part of this large year-to-year variability must be spurious and due to uncertainties in the initial data and/or the later processing of the data. Because for the time scales considered it seems difficult to follow the sequence of events in the energy cycle, and thereby to unravel cause and effects, clarification of these questions will have to wait until reliable daily analyses of the full energetics will be possible.

Energy Streamfunctions in the Vertical-Meridional Plane for the Northern Atmosphere

The zonal mean flux vector of atmospheric heat transports is very closely nondivergent in the vertical-meridional plane. This is demonstrated for potential (cpT + gz) and latent heat. Thus the heat flux vector fields can be represented by streamfunctions. The top of the atmosphere is a streamline for latent heat. For potential heat, the radiation flux across the top determines the upper boundary condition. The conservation equations are invariant with respect to arbitrarily choosing a constant reference heat but the streamfunctions are not. The impact on the streamfunctions of shifting the reference heat is equivalent to subtracting the mass transport, scaled with that constant, from the heat flux. To remove this ambiguity it is postulated that the curt of the heat flux vector in the vertical-meridional plane be minimized in the least-squares sense. This principle of minimum mean enstrophy is rationalized by analogy to electro-dynamics. It yields a formula for the reference heat in terms of hemispheric integrals of heat and mass flux curl. The formula is applied to the circulation statistics of the MIT-Library. The reference constants turn out to be numerically identical to the observed hemispheric annual mean of the respective heat form (∼324 J g−1 for potential heat and ∼6 J g−1, corresponding to 2.6 g kg−1, for latent heat). Streamfunctions reduced in this way are presented for the seasons. The potential heat circulation is highly variable. It changes sign from summer to winter over the entire northern atmosphere. The water circulation is less variable; it changes sign only in the tropics and fluctuates in intensity in the extratropics. It is shown that there is no further ambiguity in the streamfunction concept. The interrelationships between kinetic energy and potential, latent and static heat flux are discussed with the main result that the potential heat circulation is largely governed by radiation and precipitation flux but very little by the kinetic energy flux and not at all by the water vapor, and further that the streamfunction concept is not applicable to the kinetic energy flux. The main virtue of the streamfunctions is that they quantitatively represent the net heat flux on all scales and phases.

The cerebral basis of lateral asymmetries in attention

Asymmetries in the processing of input to either side of the midline are related to hemispheric specialization in man. These asymmetries arise when preponderant activation of one hemisphere biases attention to the contralateral side. This unbalanced cerebral activation is a function of the nature of the subject's task or expectancy. A model of hemispheric integration is proposed.