Investigation of a Proposed Solar-Terrestrial Relationship with Potential Monthly and Decadal Implications

A proposed solar-terrestrial mechanism is described that uses solar UV heating to generate weekly, monthly and decadal changes in tropospheric and stratospheric circulations. The strengths of the proposed relationship are that it is well defined, testable, and consistent with research found in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to describe the first analysis attempting to verify whether the proposed relationship may be valid.

The investigation analyzes data from the 1989 solar cycle maximum and the 1986 solar cycle minimum. The winter 1986 and 1989 (Jan, Feb, Mar) northern hemisphere tropospheric temperatures (200 mb) are compared to F10.7 cm solar flux for the same period. Specific changes in the temperature gradients, meridional circulation components, and long wave (Rossby) pattern are discussed. The changes are compared to those expected by the proposed solar-terrestrial relationship. A review of the observed changes is discussed.