Further modification of time-longitude lag-correlation diagrams: application to three-dimensional wave propagation

William J. Randel

doi:10.3402/tellusa.v40i4.11799

Further modification of time-longitude lag-correlation diagrams: application to three-dimensional wave propagation

Tellus

Volume 40 (1988): Issue 4

By: William J. Randel

Open Access

|Jan 1988

Abstract

The time-longitude lag-correlation analysis of Fraedrich and Lutz is modified to include a second spatial dimension, thereby allowing coherent wave structure to be traced in time in the zonal-height or zonal-meridional planes. This technique is applied to daily hemispheric geopotential height data over 1000–1 mb for Northern and Southern Hemisphere winters. These analyses reveal vertical propagation of Rossby wavetrains from the troposphere into the stratosphere in midlatitudes; the correlation patterns suggest a downstream vertical splitting of the wave trains, with short horizontal scales confined to the troposphere. Zonal-meridional time-lag correlations of time-filtered data reveal the familiar teleconnection and stormtrack patterns seen in previous studies; similarities and differences between hemispheres are discussed.

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