Column-Integrated Moist Static Energy Budget Analysis on Various Time Scales during TOGA COARE

Abstract

Abstract Moist static energy (MSE) budgets on different time scales are analyzed in the TOGA COARE data using Lanczos filters to separate variability with different frequencies. Four different time scales (~2-day, ~5-day, ~10-day, and MJO time scales) are chosen based on the power spectrum of the precipitation and previous TOGA COARE studies. The lag regression-slope technique is utilized to depict characteristic patterns of the variability associated with the MSE budgets on the different time scales. This analysis illustrates that the MSE budgets behave in significantly different ways on the different time scales. On shorter time scales, the vertical advection acts as a primary driver of the recharge–discharge mechanism of column MSE. As the time scale gets longer, in contrast, the relative contributions of the other budget terms become greater, and consequently, on the MJO time scale all the budget terms have nearly the same amplitude. Specifically, these results indicate that horizontal advection plays an important role in the eastward propagation of the MJO during TOGA COARE. On the MJO time scale, the export of MSE by the vertical advection is in phase with the precipitation. On shorter time scales, the vertical velocity profile transitions from bottom heavy to top heavy, while on longer time scales, the shape becomes more constant and similar to a first-baroclinic-mode structure. This leads to a more-constant gross moist stability on longer time scales, which the authors estimate.