Linear and nonlinear signatures in the planetary wave dynamics of an AGCM: Phase space tendencies

To identify and quantify indications of linear and nonlinear planetary wave behavior, characteristics of a very long integration of an atmospheric general circulation model in a four-dimensional phase space are examined. The phase space is defined by the leading four empirical orthogonal functions of 500-hPa geopotential heights, and the primary investigated characteristic is the state dependence of mean phase space tendencies. Defining the linear component of planetary wave tendencies as that part which can be captured by a least squares fit linear operator driven by additive Gaussian white noise, the study finds that there are distinct linear and nonlinear signatures. These signatures are especially easy to see in plots of mean tendencies projected onto phase space planes. For some planes the mean tendencies are highly linear, while for others there are strong departures from linearity. The results of the analysis are found to depend strongly on the lag time used to estimate tendencies with the linear component monotonically increasing with lag time. This is shown to result from the ergodicity of the system. Using the theory of Markov models it is possible to remove the lag-dependent component of the tendencies from the results. When this is done the projected mean dynamics in some planes is found to be almost exclusively nonlinear, while in others it is nearly linear. In the four-dimensional space the linear component of the dynamics is largely a reflection of a westward propagating Northern Hemisphere pattern concentrated over the Pacific and North America. The nonlinear signature can be approximated by two linear functions, each operating in a different region of phase space. One region is centered around a Pacific blocking pattern while the other is centered on a state with enhanced zonal symmetry. It is concluded that reduced models of the planetary waves should strive to include these state-dependent dynamics.