Solar variability and quasi-stationary planetary wave behavior

A steady state analysis of winter winds shows that the speed of the upper atmospheric polar vortex approaches and occasionally exceeds the value required to reflect externally forced planetary wave 1 energy back towards the surface of the earth. Historical observations suggest that solar UV variability and geomagnetic disturbances are two primary forces which modulate the planetary wave trapping mechanism. Through the solar-terrestrial process described, small changes in the sun's behavior can be physically linked to both shortand long-term changes in tropospheric weather patterns.