Scaling turbulence drives the general circulation

Abstract

Statistical multifractal analysis of airborne and dropsonde observations is used to show that persistence of velocity after molecular collisions breaks the continuous translational symmetry of thermalised air, leading to upscale propagation of energy from the smallest scales; thermodynamic equilibrium is excluded down to these smallest scales and is evident in the intermittency of temperature and its correlation with ozone photodissociation rate and temperature itself. Variances do not converge, as shown by the observed values of the Lévy exponent 1.5 <  α  < 2.0, which together with symmetry breaking has consequences for such concepts as Fourier analysis, control principles, forcing, tipping points, large‐eddy simulation, mean fields in both space and time, wind velocities and the energy content of models. Vorticity generation is central on all scales and precludes laminar flow universally. Geoengineering is shown to be an uncertain process with unknowns on all scales from aerosols to such secondary features as jet streams and various cellular circulations, whether zonal or meridional means. Implications for predictability are pointed out. The general circulation is an emergent scale‐invariant, turbulent response to the thermodynamics of the entire atmosphere.