Phase-speed spectra of eddy tracer fluxes linked to isentropic stirring and mixing in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere

Abstract

The regions around the subtropical jets in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) are characterized by strong isentropic stirring and mixing. In this work, the wave spectrum of the associated eddy tracer fluxes is examined using an artificial passive tracer advected on isentropes by the two-dimensional flow. The eddy diffusivity computed from the flux–gradient relation captures the main features of the mixing structure. Eddy transport in the UTLS is strongest in the summer hemisphere, and weak eddy fluxes are found at the core and poleward of the subtropical jets, especially in the winter hemisphere. There is an important contribution of stationary planetary equatorial Rossby waves in the tropical upper troposphere. The transient eddy tracer transport is primarily linked to medium-scale waves (wavenumbers ~4–7) breaking in the regions of weak westerlies around the subtropical jets and to planetary-scale waves at high latitudes. Phase-speed spectra for transient eddy fluxes show a close relationship of waves to the background zonal wind. In the deep tropics, traveling equatorial and Rossby waves of extratropical origin lead to cross-equatorial tracer transport throughout the upper troposphere. Interannual changes show that eddy tracer fluxes closely follow the shifts in the zonal winds associated with El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the quasi-biennial oscillation.