科研之友
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摘要
Changes in the dynamics of the stratospheric polar vortices can significantly affect the composition of air in the polar stratosphere, with the dynamics of the vortex barrier being particularly important. The %26quot;Function M%26quot; is a recently proposed measure for quantifying transport in dynamical systems. We show that it can be used not only to visualize the structure of the stratospheric polar region in detail but also to provide a basis for quantitative measures capturing important aspects of vortex dynamics. Two such measures have been calculated daily for August-October 2009 and 2010 in the Southern Hemisphere for potential temperatures of 600, 700, and 900 K, as well as for three different Northern Hemisphere winter periods for 900 K. We discuss a measure of vortex barrier strength and permeability based on the average value of the function M near the vortex edge. The second measure, associated with vortex barrier area, is obtained by calculating the area associated with values of M above a threshold. Both measures are found to be potentially useful, with the area-based measure providing the most convincing results. The measures are based on a Lagrangian framework and follow the vortex edge, allowing periods when the vortex retains its dynamical integrity to be identified even when the vortex is greatly distorted. We also discuss a strong linear correlation near the vortex edge between values of the function M calculated over different time periods, suggesting that the structure of the polar vortex is coherent over periods of at least 30 days.
- 出版日期2014-5-27
