The Superposition of Eastward and Westward Rossby Waves in Response to Localized Forcing

Rossby waves are a principal form of atmospheric communication between disparate parts of the climate system. These planetary waves are typically excited by diabatic or orographic forcing and can be subject to considerable downstream modification. Because of differences in wave properties, including vertical structure, phase speed, and group velocity, Rossby waves exhibit a wide range of behaviors. This study demonstrates the combined effects of eastward-propagating stationary barotropic Rossby waves and westward-propagating very-low-zonal-wavenumber stationary barotropic Rossby waves on the atmospheric response to wintertime El Niño convective forcing over the tropical Pacific. Experiments are conducted using the Community Atmosphere Model, version 4.0, in which both diabatic forcing over the Pacific and localized relaxation outside the forcing region are applied. The localized relaxation is used to dampen Rossby wave propagation to either the west or east of the forcing region and isolate the alternate direction signal. The experiments reveal that El Niño forcing produces both eastward- and westward-propagating stationary waves in the upper troposphere. Over North Africa and Asia the aggregate undamped upper-tropospheric response is due to the superposition and interaction of these oppositely directed planetary waves that emanate from the forcing region and encircle the planet.