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Register a new userDynamical Analysis of Blocking Events: Spatial and Temporal Fluctuations of Covariant Lyapunov Vectors
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One of the most relevant weather regimes in the mid-latitudes atmosphere is the persistent deviation from the approximately zonally symmetric jet to the emergence of blocking patterns. Such configurations are usually connected to exceptional local stability properties of the flow which come along with an improved local forecast skills during the phenomenon. It is instead extremely hard to predict onset and decay of blockings. Covariant Lyapunov Vectors (CLVs) offer a suitable characterization of the linear stability of a chaotic flow, since they represent the full tangent linear dynamics by a covariant basis which explores linear perturbations at all time scales. Therefore, we assess whether CLVs feature a signature of the blockings. As a first step, we examine the CLVs for a quasi-geostrophic beta-plane 2-layer model in a periodic channel baroclinically driven by a meridional temperature gradient $Delta T$. An orographic forcing enhances the emergence of localized blocked regimes. We detect the blocking events with a Tibaldi-Molteni scheme adapted to the periodic channel. When blocking occurs, the global growth rates of the fastest growing CLVs are significantly higher. Hence, against intuition, the circulation is globally more unstable in blocked phases. Such an increase in the finite time Lyapunov exponents with respect to the long term average is attributed to stronger barotropic and baroclinic conversion in the case of high temperature gradients, while for low values of Delta T, the effect is only due to stronger barotropic instability. In order to determine the localization of the CLVs we compare the meridionally averaged variance of the CLVs during blocked and unblocked phases. We find that on average the variance of the CLVs is clustered around the center of blocking. These results show that the blocked flow affects all time scales and processes described by the CLVs.
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Lyapunov exponents are well-known characteristic numbers that describe growth rates of perturbations applied to a trajectory of a dynamical system in different state space directions. Covariant (or characteristic) Lyapunov vectors indicate these directions. Though the concept of these vectors has been known for a long time, they became practically computable only recently due to algorithms suggested by Ginelli et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 2007, 130601] and by Wolfe and Samelson [Tellus 59A, 2007, 355]. In view of the great interest in covariant Lyapunov vectors and their wide range of potential applications, in this article we summarize the available information related to Lyapunov vectors and provide a detailed explanation of both the theoretical basics and numerical algorithms. We introduce the notion of adjoint covariant Lyapunov vectors. The angles between these vectors and the original covariant vectors are norm-independent and can be considered as characteristic numbers. Moreover, we present and study in detail an improved approach for computing covariant Lyapunov vectors. Also we describe, how one can test for hyperbolicity of chaotic dynamics without explicitly computing covariant vectors.
The classical approach for studying atmospheric variability is based on defining a background state and studying the linear stability of the small fluctuations around such a state. Weakly non-linear theories can be constructed using higher order expansions terms. While these methods have undoubtedly great value for elucidating the relevant physical processes, they are unable to follow the dynamics of a turbulent atmosphere. We provide a first example of extension of the classical stability analysis to a non-linearly evolving quasi-geostrophic flow. The so-called covariant Lyapunov vectors (CLVs) provide a covariant basis describing the directions of exponential expansion and decay of perturbations to the non-linear trajectory of the flow. We use such a formalism to re-examine the basic barotropic and baroclinic processes of the atmosphere with a quasi-geostrophic beta-plane two-layer model in a periodic channel driven by a forced meridional temperature gradient $Delta T$. We explore three settings of $Delta T$, representative of relatively weak turbulence, well-developed turbulence, and intermediate conditions. We construct the Lorenz energy cycle for each CLV describing the energy exchanges with the background state. A positive baroclinic conversion rate is a necessary but not sufficient condition of instability. Barotropic instability is present only for few very unstable CLVs for large values of $Delta T$. Slowly growing and decaying hydrodynamic Lyapunov modes closely mirror the properties of the background flow. Following classical necessary conditions for barotropic/baroclinic instability, we find a clear relationship between the properties of the eddy fluxes of a CLV and its instability. CLVs with positive baroclinic conversion seem to form a set of modes for constructing a reduced model of the atmosphere dynamics.
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