Spatial and Temporal Variations of Atmospheric Angular Momentum and Its Relation to the Earth Length of Day

The characteristics of atmospheric-angular-momentum （AAM） and length-of-day （LOD） on different timescales are investigated in this paper, on the basis of the NECP/NCAR reanalysis data and an LOD dataset for 1962-2010. The variation and overall trend of the AAM anomaly （AAMA） at different latitudes are presented, and the relationship between AAMA and LOD is discussed. The AAMAs in different latitude regions exhibit different patterns of variation, and the AAMA in the tropics makes a dominant contribution to the global AAMA. In the tropics, the AAMA propagates poleward to the extratropical regions. It is confirmed that a downward propagation of the AAMA occurs in the lower stratosphere. Correlation analysis shows that the relationship between AAMA and LOD varies significantly on different timescales. Specifically, the tropical AAMA is positively correlated with LOD on short timescales, but they are not obviously correlated on long timescales. This indicates that the interaction between AAM and the earth＇s angular momentum follows the conservative restriction on short timescales, but the influence of the earth angular momentum on that of the atmosphere depends on the interaction process on long timescales.

Spatial and Temporal Variations of Atmospheric Angular Momentum and Its Relation to the Earth Length of Day

The characteristics of atmospheric-angular-momentum (AAM) and length-of-day (LOD) on different timescales are investigated in this paper, on the basis of the NECP/NCAR reanalysis data and an LOD dataset for 1962–2010. The variation and overall trend of the AAM anomaly (AAMA) at different latitudes are presented, and the relationship between AAMA and LOD is discussed. The AAMAs in different latitude regions exhibit different patterns of variation, and the AAMA in the tropics makes a dominant contribution to the global AAMA. In the tropics, the AAMA propagates poleward to the extratropical regions. It is confirmed that a downward propagation of the AAMA occurs in the lower stratosphere. Correlation analysis shows that the relationship between AAMA and LOD varies significantly on different timescales. Specifically, the tropical AAMA is positively correlated with LOD on short timescales, but they are not obviously correlated on long timescales. This indicates that the interaction between AAM and the earth’s angular momentum follows the conservative restriction on short timescales, but the influence of the earth angular momentum on that of the atmosphere depends on the interaction process on long timescales.