EDDY HEAT-FLUX CONVERGENCE IN THE TROPOSPHERE AND ITS EFFECT ON THE MERIDIONAL CIRCULATION AND OZONE DISTRIBUTION

In this study the vertical convergence of the eddy heat flux, found as a forcing term in the thermodynamic energy equation of the transforme d Eulerian mean formulation, is estimated in the troposphere and in th e lower stratosphere from climatalogical data. Results show that while the heating rates caused by these eddy effects are small in the strat osphere they may play an important role in tropospheric circulation. T he eddy-caused additions to the forcing field are seen as a region of significant cooling in the midlatitudes at the midtroposphere level an d of weak heating throughout the tropical region. This net global cool ing is important in balancing net global heating. In addition, the hea ting due to meridional heat flux is found to dominate compared to heat ing due to the vertical heat flux. To study circulation changes, the r esidual mean circulation is calculated with and without the estimated eddy heating effects. The added forcing causes additional circulation in each hemisphere that coincides with the primary circulation due to zonal-mean diabatic heating. Therefore, the eddy heat Bur convergence has a significant role in enhancing the zonal-mean residual circulatio n in the troposphere.