Abstract
In this paper we study the three-dimensional (3-D) Lagrangian structures in the
stratospheric polar vortex (SPV) above Antarctica. We analyse and visualize
these structures using Lagrangian descriptor function M. The procedure for
calculation with reanalysis data is explained. Benchmarks are computed and
analysed that allow us to compare 2-D and 3-D aspects of Lagrangian
transport. Dynamical systems concepts appropriate to 3-D, such as normally
hyperbolic invariant curves, are discussed and applied. In order to
illustrate our approach we select an interval of time in which the SPV is
relatively undisturbed (August 1979) and an interval of rapid SPV changes
(October 1979). Our results provide new insights into the Lagrangian
structure of the vertical extension of the stratospheric polar vortex and its
evolution. Our results also show complex Lagrangian patterns indicative of
strong mixing processes in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.
Finally, during the transition to summer in the late spring, we illustrate
the vertical structure of two counterrotating vortices, one the polar and the
other an emerging one, and the invariant separatrix that divides them.
Citation
ID:
199554
Ref Key:
curbelo2017nonlinearinsights