Topological Signature of Stratospheric Poincare -- Gravity Waves

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Xu, Weixuan, Fox-Kemper, Baylor, Lee, Jung-Eun, Marston, J. B., Zhu, Ziyan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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_version_ 1866914718858346496
author Xu, Weixuan
Fox-Kemper, Baylor
Lee, Jung-Eun
Marston, J. B.
Zhu, Ziyan
author_facet Xu, Weixuan
Fox-Kemper, Baylor
Lee, Jung-Eun
Marston, J. B.
Zhu, Ziyan
contents The rotation of the earth breaks time-reversal and reflection symmetries in an opposite sense north and south of the equator, leading to a topological origin for certain atmospheric and oceanic equatorial waves. Away from the equator the rotating shallow water and stably stratified primitive equations exhibit Poincare inertio-gravity waves that have nontrivial topology as evidenced by their strict superinertial timescale and a phase singularity in frequency-wavevector space. This non-trivial topology then predicts, via the principle of bulk-interface correspondence, the existence of two equatorial waves along the equatorial interface, the Kelvin and Yanai waves. To directly test the nontrivial topology of Poincare-gravity waves in observations, we examine ERA5 reanalysis data and study cross-correlations between the wind velocity and geopotential height of the mid-latitude stratosphere at the 50 hPa height. We find the predicted vortex and anti-vortex in the relative phase of the geopotential height and velocity at the high frequencies of the waves. By contrast, lower-frequency planetary waves are found to have trivial topology also as expected from theory. These results demonstrate a new way to understand stratospheric waves, and provide a new qualitative tool for the investigation of waves in other components of the climate system.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2306_12191
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Topological Signature of Stratospheric Poincare -- Gravity Waves
Xu, Weixuan
Fox-Kemper, Baylor
Lee, Jung-Eun
Marston, J. B.
Zhu, Ziyan
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Fluid Dynamics
Geophysics
The rotation of the earth breaks time-reversal and reflection symmetries in an opposite sense north and south of the equator, leading to a topological origin for certain atmospheric and oceanic equatorial waves. Away from the equator the rotating shallow water and stably stratified primitive equations exhibit Poincare inertio-gravity waves that have nontrivial topology as evidenced by their strict superinertial timescale and a phase singularity in frequency-wavevector space. This non-trivial topology then predicts, via the principle of bulk-interface correspondence, the existence of two equatorial waves along the equatorial interface, the Kelvin and Yanai waves. To directly test the nontrivial topology of Poincare-gravity waves in observations, we examine ERA5 reanalysis data and study cross-correlations between the wind velocity and geopotential height of the mid-latitude stratosphere at the 50 hPa height. We find the predicted vortex and anti-vortex in the relative phase of the geopotential height and velocity at the high frequencies of the waves. By contrast, lower-frequency planetary waves are found to have trivial topology also as expected from theory. These results demonstrate a new way to understand stratospheric waves, and provide a new qualitative tool for the investigation of waves in other components of the climate system.
title Topological Signature of Stratospheric Poincare -- Gravity Waves
topic Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Fluid Dynamics
Geophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.12191