LIMS (Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere) observation of traveling planetary waves and potential vorticity advection in the stratosphere and mesosphere

Eastward and westward traveling waves were observed by the Nimbus 7 Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) during the northern winter 1978-1979. Eastward waves were prevalent in early winter and were involved in a minor Canadian warming in December 1978. A large westward traveling wave, as described by previous authors, was observed in January 1979 during a series of minor warmings. By comparing these two events, it is shown that in both cases the superposition of traveling and quasi-stationary waves led to constructive interference that was responsible for the warmings. However, there was significant asymmetry between eastward and westward traveling components. A local Eulerian analysis of potential vorticity (PV) transport indicates that adiabatic, geostrophic advection by the resolvable scales of motion explains qualitatively (but not quantitatively) the observed potential vorticity tendencies in the LIMS Northern Hemisphere winter. In particular, calculated advection explains the eastward rotation of the main vortex, intrusion of low PV air into the polar cap, and formation of high PV filaments at the vortex periphery.