A Barotropic Model of the Interaction between the Hadley Cell and a Rossby Wave

Abstract

A barotropic model is described that is designed to study the interaction of the Hadley cell with a Rossby wave forced in midlatitudes by a stationary “topographic” source. The Hadley cell is driven by a mass source/sink that is partly fixed, representing solar heating, and partly dependent on the layer thickness, representing infrared cooling. The response of the mean zonal and meridional winds to infinitesimal wave forcing is analyzed in detail; then the forcing is gradually increased to examine the departures from linearity.