Kinetic energy cascade in the atmosphere and its connection to circulation patterns

ORAL

Abstract

Atmospheric circulation is characterized by a nonlinear dynamic over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, spanning several orders of magnitude, presenting a complex system with non-linear kinetic energy (KE) flux across scales. Analyzing the KE cascades across different scales is central to understanding and predicting atmospheric evolution. These KE cascades influence atmospheric circulation patterns and the development of synoptic-scale weather systems. This work employs a coarse graining (CG) scale-analysis framework to compute the KE cascades from ERA5 reanalysis data, derived from satellite and high-resolution model observations. The framework enables us to generate global geographic maps of the KE cascade across all resolved scales and pressure levels. Our analysis reveals a relationship between the KE cascade and distinct atmospheric circulation patterns.

*This research was supported by NASA grant 80NSSC18K0772 and NSF grant OCE-2123496. Partial support from DOE grant DE-SC0020229 and NSF grant PHY-2020249 is also acknowledged.

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Presenters

  • Pejman Hadi Sichani

    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester

Authors

  • Pejman Hadi Sichani

    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester

  • Benjamin A Storer

    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester

  • Hussein Aluie

    • University of Rochester
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester