Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO): Some Points about the Terrestrial QBO and the Possibility of Related Phenomena in the Solar Interior

  • Conference paper
The Solar Engine and Its Influence on Terrestrial Atmosphere and Climate

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASII,volume 25))

Abstract

As Professor Holton has reminded us (q.v., this Proceedings), the terrestrial quasibiennial oscillation or QBO is a remarkably persistent phenomenon. It has been clearly seen in tropical meteorological radiosonde data since the early 1950s, and there is indirect but persuasive evidence that it has been present in varying degrees since at least the 1880s (e.g. Hamilton 1983; Hamilton and Garcia 1984,6; Hagan et al. 1993; Teitelbaum et al. 1994). I suggest we postpone the interesting question of the possible modulation of solar-terrestrial effects by the terrestrial QBO until after the presentation by Professor Labitzke. I thought, however, that it might be interesting to consider one or two very fundamental points about the fluid dynamics of the terrestrial QBO and its robustnesses and sensitivities, and then to consider briefly the possibility that some aspects of solar variability - some of the many aspects that we have been hearing about - might be related to partially similar mechanisms in the Sun’s interior.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Andrews, D. G., McIntyre, M. E. (1976) Planetary waves in horizontal and vertical shear: the generalized Eliassen-Palm relation and the mean zonal acceleration. J. Atmos. Sci., 33: 2031–2048. [See pp.2043–5.]

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. M., Christensen-Dalsgaard, J., Dziembowski, W. A., Goode, P. R., Gough, D. O., Morrow, C. A. (1989) Inferring the Sun’s internal angular velocity from observed p-mode frequency splittings. Ap. J., 343: 526–546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BĂĽhler, O., McIntyre, M.E., Mo, R., Warner, C. D. (1994) On potential-vorticity evolution and the inefficiency of momentum transport by low-frequency inertia-gravity waves. In preparation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ciesielski, P. E., Stevens, D. E., Johnson, R. H., Dean, K. R. (1989) Observational evidence for asymmetric inertial instability. J. Atmos. Sci., 46: 817–831

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, P. D., Haynes, P. H. (1994) Inertial instability of an asymmetric low-latitude flow. Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc., submitted.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickinson, R. E. (1968) Planetary Rossby waves propagating vertically through weak westerly wind waveguides. J. Atmos. Sci., 25: 984–1002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dritschel, D. G. (1993) Vortex properties of two-dimensional turbulence. Phys. Fluids, A 5: 984–997

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunkerton, T. J. (1983) Laterally-propagating Rossby waves in the easterly acceleration phase of the quasi-biennial oscillation. Atmos.-Ocean, 21: 55–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunkerton, T. J. (1991) Nonlinear propagation of zonal winds in an atmosphere with Newtonian cooling and equatorial wavedriving. J. Atmos. Sci., 48: 236–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunkerton, T. J. (1993) Inertial instability of nonparallel flow on an equatorial β-plane. J. Atmos. Sci., 50: 2744–2758

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dziembowski, W. A., Goode, P. R. (1993) The Sun’s internal angular momentum from seismology. In: GONG 1992: Seismic investigation of the Sun and Stars. Ed. T. M. Brown ASP Conference Series vol 42, San Francisco, Astron. Soc. Pacific. 225–227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ertel, H. (1942) Ein Neuer hydrodynamischer Wirbelsatz. Meteorol. Zeitschr., 59: 271–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Fels, S. B. (1984) The radiative damping of short vertical scale waves in the mesosphere. J. Atmos. Sci., 41: 1755–1764

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritts, D. C. (1984) Gravity wave saturation in the middle atmosphere: a review of theory and observations. Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 22: 275–308. [Note that the formula for the effective momentum flux due to inertia-gravity waves needs correction when Coriolis forces are important; see e.g. BĂĽhler et al. &; refs.]

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GarcĂ­a LĂłpez, R. J., Spruit, H. C. (1991) Li depletion in F stars by internal gravity waves. Ap. J., 377: 268–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill, A. E. (1982) Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics. Academic Press, 662pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Goode, P. R., Dziembowski, W. A., Korzennik, S. G., Rhodes, E. J. (1991) What we know about the Sun’s internal rotation from solar oscillations. Ap. J., 367: 649–657

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goode, P. R., Dziembowski, W. A. (1991) Solar-cycle dependence of the Sun’s deep internal rotation shown by helioseismology. Nature, 349: 223–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gough, D. O. (1977) Random remarks on solar hydrodynamics. In: The Energy Balance and Hydrodynamics of the Solar Chromosphere and Corona (Proc. IAU Colloq. 36), ed. R. M. Bonnet, P. Delache; Clermont-Ferrand, G. de Bussac, 3–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Gough, D.O. (1985) Future missions in solar, heliospheric and space plasma physics. Ed. E. J. Rolfe and B. Battrick, Proc. European Space Agency ESA SP-235 Nordwijk 183–197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gough, D. O. (1990) On possible origins of relatively short-term variations in the solar structure. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, 330: 627–640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagan, M. E., Vial, F., Forbes, J. M. (1993) Variability in the upward propagating semidiurnal tide due to effects of QBO in the lower atmosphere. J. Atmos. Terrest. Phys., 54: 1465–1474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, K. (1983) Quasi-biennial and other long period variations in the solar semidiurnal barometric oscillation: observations, theory, and possible application to the problem of monitoring changes in global ozone. J. Atmos. Sci., 40: 2432–2443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, K., Garcia, R. R. (1984) Long-period variations in the solar semidiurnal atmospheric tide. J. Geophys. Res., 89: 11705–11710

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, K., Garcia, R. R. (1986) Theory and observations of the short-period normal mode oscillations of the atmosphere. J. Geophys. Res., 91: 11867–11875

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haynes, P. H. (1994) The latitudinal structure of the quasi-biennial oscillation. In preparation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haynes, P. H., and McIntyre, M. E. (1987) On the evolution of vorticity and potential vorticity in the presence of diabatic heating and frictional or other forces. J. Atmos. Sci., 44: 828–841

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haynes, P. H., McIntyre, M. E. (1990) On the conservation and impermeability theorems for potential vorticity. J. Atmos. Sci., 47: 2021–2031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haynes, P. H., Ward, W. E. (1993) The effect of realistic radiative transfer on potential vorticity structures, including the influence of background shear and strain. J. Atmos. Sci., 50: 3431–3453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holton, J. R. (1994) The quasi-biennial oscillation in the Earth’s atmosphere and its links to longer period variability. (This Proceedings.)

    Google Scholar 

  • Holton, J. R. and Lindzen, R. S. (1972) An updated theory for the quasi-biennial cycle of the tropical stratosphere. J. Atmos. Sci., 29: 1076–1080

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kousky, V. E., Wallace, J. M. (1971) On the interaction between Kelvin waves and the mean zonal flow. J. Atmos. Sci., 28: 162–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lahoz, W. A., Carr, E. S., Froidevaux, L., Harwood, R. S., Kumer, J. B., Mergenthaler, J. L., Peckham, G. E., Read, W. G., Ricaud, P. D., Roche, A. E., Waters, J. W. (1993) Northern hemisphere mid-stratospheric vortex processes diagnosed from H2O, N2O and potential vorticity. Geophys. Res. Lett., 20: 2671–2674

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Legras, B., Dritschel, D. (1993) Vortex stripping and the generation of high vorticity gradients in two-dimensional flows. In: Advances in Turbulence IV, ed. F. T. M. Nieuwstadt (Applied Scientific Research Vol 51); Dordrecht, Kluwer, 445–455

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lindzen, R. S., Holton, J. R. (1968) A theory of the quasi-biennial oscillation. J. Atmos. Sci., 25: 1095–1107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindzen, R. S., Tsay, C. Y. (1975) Wave structure of the tropical stratosphere over the Marshall Islands area during 1 April-1 July 1958. J. Atmos. Sci., 32: 2008–2021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manney, G. L., Zurek, R. W., O’Neill, A., Swinbank, R. (1994) On the motion of air through the stratospheric polar vortex. J. Atmos. Sci., 51: in press. [Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite Special Issue.]

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre, M. E. (1992) Atmospheric dynamics: some fundamentals, with observational implications. In: Proc. Internat. School Phys. “Enrico Fermi”, CXV Course, ed. J. C. Gille, G. Visconti (ISBN 0-444-89896-4); Amsterdam, Oxford, New York, Toronto, North-Holland, 313–386. [A list of updates and minor corrigenda is available from the author, M.E.Mc.Intyre@amtp.cam.ac.uk or mem2@phx.cam.ac.uk.] See also Haynes and McIntyre (1987, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre, M. E. (1993) On the rĂ´le of wave propagation and wave breaking in atmosphere-ocean dynamics. Sectional Lecture from “Theoretical and Applied Mechanics 1992” (Proc. XVIII Int. Congr. Theor. Appl. Mech., Haifa), ed. S. Bodner, J. Singer, A. Solan, and Z. Hashin. Amsterdam, New York; Elsevier, 281–304

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre, M. E., Norton, W. A. (1990) Dissipative wave-mean interactions and the transport of vorticity or potential vorticity. J. Fluid Mech., 212: 403–435; Corrigendum 220: 693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre, M. E., Palmer, T. N. (1984) The “surf zone” in the stratosphere. J. Atm. Terr. Phys., 46: 825–849

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre, M. E., Palmer, T. N. (1985) A note on the general concept of wave breaking for Rossby and gravity waves. Pure Appl. Geophys., 123: 964–975

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mestel, L., Weiss, N. O. (1987) Magnetic fields and non-uniform rotation in stellar radiative zones. Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc., 226: 123–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Mestel, L., Moss, D. L., Tayler, R. J. (1988) The mutual interaction of magnetism, rotation and meridian circulation in stellar radiative zones. Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc., 231: 873–885

    Google Scholar 

  • Nesme-Ribes, E., Sokoloff, D., Ribes, J.-C., Kremliovski, M. (1994) The Maunder Minimum and the solar dynamo. This Proceedings.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton, W. A. (1994) Breaking Rossby waves in a model stratosphere diagnosed by a vortex-following coordinate system and a technique for advecting material contours. J. Atmos. Sci., 51: 654–673 [Video available from the author]

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Sullivan, D. J., Hitchman, M. H. (1992) Inertial instability and Rossby wave breaking in a numerical model. J. Atmos. Sci., 49: 991–1002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plumb, R. A. (1977) The interaction of two waves with the mean flow: implications for the theory of the quasi-biennial oscillation. J. Atmos. Sci., 34, 1847–1858

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Press, W. H. (1981) Radiative and other effects from internal waves in solar and stellar interiors. Ap. J., 245: 286–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plumb, R. A., Bell, R. C. (1982) A model of the quasi-biennial oscillation on an equatorial beta-plane. Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc., 108: 335–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossby, C. G. (1936) Dynamics of steady ocean currents in the light of experimental fluid mechanics. Mass. Inst. of Technology and Woods Hole Oc. Inst. Papers in Physical Oceanography and Meteorology, 5(1): 1–43 [See Eq. (75)]

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossby, C. G. (1940) Planetary flow patterns in the atmosphere. Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc., 66(Suppl.): 68–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Saravanan, R. (1990) A multiwave model of the quasi-biennial oscillation. J. Atmos. Sci., 47: 2465–2474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schatzman, E. (1993) Transport of angular momentum and diffusion by the action of internal waves. Astron. Astrophys., 279: 431–446

    Google Scholar 

  • Spiegel, E. A., Zahn, J.-P. (1992) The solar tachocline. Astron. Astrophys. 265: 106–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi, M., Boville, B. A. (1992) A three-dimensional simulation of the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation. J. Atmos. Sci., 49: 1020–1035

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teitelbaum, H., Vial, F., Bauer, P. (1994) The stratospheric quasi-biennal oscillation observed in the semidiurnal ground pressure data. J. Climate, submitted. [Preprints available from Dr François Vial, Lab. MĂ©tĂ©orol. Dynamique, École Normale SupĂ©rieure, Paris]

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, W. (Lord Kelvin) (1887) Stability of fluid motion-rectilineal motion of viscous fluid between two parallel planes. Phil. Mag., 24: 188–196

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorncroft, C. D., Hoskins, B. J., McIntyre, M. E. (1993) Two paradigms of baroclinic- wave life-cycle behaviour. Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc., 119: 17–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, J. M., Holton, J. R. (1968) A diagnostic numerical model of the quasi-biennial oscillation. J. Atmos. Sci., 25: 280–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, J. M., Kousky, V. E. (1968) Observational evidence of Kelvin waves in the tropical stratosphere. J. Atmos. Sci., 25: 900–907

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waugh, D. W. (1993) Subtropical stratospheric mixing linked to disturbances in the polar vortices. Nature, 365: 535–537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waugh, D. W., Plumb, R. A., Atkinson, R. J., Schoeberl, M. R., Lait, L. R., Newman, P. A., Loewenstein, M., Toohey, D. W., Avallone, L. M., Webster, C. R., May, R. D. (1994) Transport of material out of the stratospheric Arctic vortex by Rossby wave breaking. J. Geophys. Res., 99: 1071–1088

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yulaeva, E., Holton, J. R., Wallace, J. M. (1994) On the cause of the annual cycle in tropical lower stratospheric temperatures. J. Atmos. Sci., 51: 169–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zahn, J.-P. (1992) Circulation and turbulence in rotating stars. Astron. Astrophys., 265: 115–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziemke, J. R., Stanford, J. L. (1994) Kelvin waves in total column ozone. Geophys. Res. Lett., 21: 105–108

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Atmospheric Science, Dept of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Silver St, CB3 9EW, UK

    Michael E. McIntyre

Authors
  1. Michael E. McIntyre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, 5, place Jules Janssen, F-92195, Meudon, France

    Elizabeth Nesme-Ribes

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

McIntyre, M.E. (1994). The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO): Some Points about the Terrestrial QBO and the Possibility of Related Phenomena in the Solar Interior. In: Nesme-Ribes, E. (eds) The Solar Engine and Its Influence on Terrestrial Atmosphere and Climate. NATO ASI Series, vol 25. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79257-1_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79257-1_18

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-79259-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-79257-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation