Description of Global-Scale Circulation Cells in the Tropics with a 40–50 Day Period

Abstract

Long time series (5–10 years) of station pressure and upper air data from stations located in the tropics are subjected to spectral and cross-spectral analysis to investigate the spatial extent of a previously detected oscillation in various variables with a period range of 40–50 days. In addition, time series of station pressure from two tropical stations for the 1890's are examined and indicate that the oscillation is a stationary feature. The cross-spectral analysis suggests that the oscillation is of global scale but restricted to the tropics: it possesses features of an eastward-moving wave whose characteristics change with time. A mean wave disturbance, constructed with data from the IGY, provides additional descriptive material on the spatial and temporal behavior of the oscillation. The manifestation in station pressure consists of anomalies which appear between 10N and 10S in the Indian Ocean region and propagate eastward to the Eastern Pacific. Zonal winds participate in the oscillation and, in general, are out-of-phase between the upper and lower troposphere. Mixing ratios and temperatures are also investigated. The sum total of evidence indicates that the oscillation is the result of an eastward movement of large-scale circulation cells oriented in the equatorial (zonal) plane.