The energetics and propagation dynamics of tropical summertime synoptic-scale disturbances

Periods of enhanced synoptic activity in the tropical western Pacific, Bay of Bengal-northeastern India, and African-Atlantic regions are identified by extended empirical orthogonal function analysis. Composite meteorological fields for such active periods at various sites are constructed using European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analyses for the northern summers of 1980-1987. These composite data form the basis for evaluating the contributions of different dynamical processes to local balances of heat, moisture, vorticity, enstrophy, and energy, so that the propagation dynamics and principal energy sources of the tropical disturbances may be studied in detail. -from Authors