Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Local Mixing Events in the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere. Part I: Detection with the Lyapunov Diffusivity

Francesco d’Ovidio Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, and ISC-PIF, Paris, France

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Emily Shuckburgh British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, United Kingdom

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Bernard Legras Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, and CNRS, Paris, France

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Print Publication:
01 Dec 2009
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JAS2982.1
Page(s):
3678–3694
Restricted access

Abstract

A new diagnostic (the “Lyapunov diffusivity”) is presented that has the ability to quantify isentropic mixing in diffusion units and detects local mixing events by describing latitude–longitude variability. It is a hybrid diagnostic, combining the tracer-based effective diffusivity with the particle-based Lyapunov exponent calculation. Isentropic mixing on the 350-K surface shows that there is significant longitudinal variation to the strength of mixing at the northern subtropical jet, with a strong mixing barrier over Asia and the western Pacific, a weaker mixing barrier over the western Atlantic, and active mixing regions at the jet exits over the eastern Pacific and Atlantic.

Corresponding author address: Francesco d’Ovidio, Institut des Systèmes Complexes Paris Ile-de-France, 57–59 rue Lhomond F-75005, Paris, France. Email: francesco.dovidio@locean-ipsl.upmc.fr

Abstract

A new diagnostic (the “Lyapunov diffusivity”) is presented that has the ability to quantify isentropic mixing in diffusion units and detects local mixing events by describing latitude–longitude variability. It is a hybrid diagnostic, combining the tracer-based effective diffusivity with the particle-based Lyapunov exponent calculation. Isentropic mixing on the 350-K surface shows that there is significant longitudinal variation to the strength of mixing at the northern subtropical jet, with a strong mixing barrier over Asia and the western Pacific, a weaker mixing barrier over the western Atlantic, and active mixing regions at the jet exits over the eastern Pacific and Atlantic.

Corresponding author address: Francesco d’Ovidio, Institut des Systèmes Complexes Paris Ile-de-France, 57–59 rue Lhomond F-75005, Paris, France. Email: francesco.dovidio@locean-ipsl.upmc.fr

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