The Seasonal Cycle Dependence of Temperature Fluctuations in the Atmosphere

Abstract

The correlation statistics of meteorological fields have been of interest in weather forecasting for many years and are also of interest in climate studies. A better understanding of the seasonal variation of correlation statistics can be used to determine how the seasonal cycle of temperature fluctuations should be simulated in noise-forced energy balance models. It is shown that the length scale does have a seasonal dependence and will have to be handled through the seasonal modulation of other coefficients in noise-forced energy balance models. The temperature field variance and spatial correlation fluctuations exhibit seasonality with fluctuation amplitudes larger in the winter hemisphere and over land masses. Another factor contributing to seasonal differences is the larger solar heating gradient in the winter.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1994
Accession Number
ADA283220

Entities

People

  • Bridget F. Tobin

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Air Temperature
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Climate Change
  • Continents
  • Data Sets
  • Heat Capacity
  • Meteorology
  • North America
  • Northern Hemisphere
  • Oceans
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Sea Surface Temperature
  • Sea Water
  • Surface Temperature
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Regression Analysis.