Zonally symmetric normal modes associated with the AO/NAM under a seasonally varying background climatology

Abstract

This paper describes a numerical study of the role of zonally symmetric normal modes in the dynamics of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) or Northern Hemisphere Annular Mode (NAM)with seasonally varying climatological fields. Ageneral theory of the mechanism for normal mode selection involving a fully developed non-linear interaction between different modes is proposed, and this explains not only the prominence of the AO/NAM in the Northern Hemisphere, but also the existence of the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) in the Southern Hemisphere. Following this normal mode selection mechanism, zonally symmetric normal mode with spatial structures resembling those of the AO and AAO is extracted by use of ECMWF data and the linear operator of a two-dimensional model with a seasonally varying basic state. The interannual variability of this mode is also investigated in the light of this theory.