On the power law for the kinetic energy spectrum of large scale atmospheric flow

Abstract

The evidence from observational calculations and a numerical simulation experiment point to the dominance of the baroclinic process over the non-linear cascade of kinetic energy in the spectral range 7 ≤ m ≤ 15 in atmospheric flow (m is the wavenumber). It is therefore suggested that the power law governing this portion of the kinetic energy spectrum be derived using Ci, the imaginary part of the phase speed commonly used in studies of baroclinic instability. Evidence is presented to support this view.