Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (Q929)

Subject, term, tag: Quasi-Biennial Oscillation

Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO)

Language	Label	Description	Also known as
English	Quasi-Biennial Oscillation	Subject, term, tag: Quasi-Biennial Oscillation	Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO)

Statements

Instance of

Category

source version

IPCC Glossary v1.5

1 reference

Source

https://apps.ipcc.ch/glossary/

date accessed

27 May 2026

Part of

Working Group I: Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis

0 references

Definition

A near-periodic oscillation of the equatorial zonal wind between easterlies and westerlies in the tropical stratosphere with a mean period of around 28 months. The alternating wind maxima descend from the base of the mesosphere down to the tropopause and are driven by wave energy that propagates up from the troposphere. (English)