Abstract
A statistical correlation analysis is made between the horizontal eddy heat flux across 60N at 850mb and the meridional gradient of the zonal mean temperature during the winter season. The high correlation between these variables, which was found by Madden (1975) in the stratosphere, is also maintained in the lower troposphere, where the forced stationary waves are coupled with transient waves to produce the quasi-periodic perturbation in the zonal mean temperature. The correlation is highest for the perutrbations with frequencies less than 0.1 cycle/day.
The result of analysis suggests that the theory by Sasamori and Youngblut (1981) is a plausible mechanism which influences the winter circulation in middle and high latitudes with a dominant time period of about 20 days.
