The meridional eddy flux of energy

Abstract

Abstract An investigation of a large number of upper‐air soundings over regions of North America shows that the eddy transport of sensible heat is poleward in the mid‐latitude troposphere, reversing and becoming equatorward in the stratosphere. The eddy transport of sensible heat reaches its maximum in middle latitudes, decreasing both poleward and equatorward. It is shown wherein these results differ from those recently presented by Priestley. The transport of sensible heat has a high seasonal variation, being much stronger in winter than in summer. There are indications that at very low latitudes the eddy sensible‐heat transport is directed equatorward. The eddy transport of latent energy is described by means of the same soundings and is found to be poleward throughout middle and high latitudes with a maximum at the ground and decreasing with altitude. The principal seasonal variation in the transport of latent energy appears to be the northward shift of the mid‐latitude maximum from winter to summer. This maximum is not very pronounced, the transport in both seasons being relatively constant through middle latitudes.