J. David Neelin, Isaac M. Held, and Kerry H. Cook
J. Atmos. Sci., 1987.
Paper (PDF 743KB)
© Copyright 1987 by the American Meteorological Society.
Abstract. A mechanism by which feedback between zonal wind perturbations and evaporation can create unstable, low-frequency modes in a simple two-layer model of the tropical troposphere is presented. The modes resemble the 30-50 day oscillation. A series of general circulation model experiments designed to test the effect of suppressing this feedback on low-frequency variability in the model tropics is described. The results suggest that the evaporation-wind feedback can be important to the amplitude of the spectral peak corresponding to the 30-50 day oscillation in the model, but that the existence of the oscillation does not depend on it. The feedback is found to have a much more dramatic effect on low- frequencey variability when sea surface temperatures are fixed than when the lower boundary is a zero heat capacity "swamp".
Citation. Neelin, J. D., I. M. Held and K. H. Cook, 1987: Evaporation-wind feedback and low frequency variability in the tropical atmosphere. J. Atmos. Sci., 44, 2341-2348.