Short meridional scale anomalies in the lower stratosphere and upper troposphere
Consequences of the discovery of short-meridional scale anomalies (SMSAs) in the lower stratospheric temperature field in the analyses of Microwave Sounding Unit channel 4 data are examined. The time scales of these features, their presence in the u-wind, v-wind, and geopotential, and the heat and momentum fluxes resulting from the SMSAs are investigated. The SMSAs are not regularly propagating features. Latitudinal movement occurs in both northern and southern directions. Both eastward movement and stationarity are observed in the zonal direction. In episodes, SMSAs require a few days to grow, persist from a few days to two weeks, and then decay over a few days. Heat fluxes are small. It is suggested that the SMSAs are possibly caused by secondary effects of baroclinic disturbances.