A downward developing mesoscale cyclone over the Ross Ice Shelf during winter

Bromwich D.H.; Carrasco J.F.; Turner, J.

Keywords: sea, polar, shelf, meteorology, antarctica, winter, ice, cyclogenesis, mesoscale, Ross

Abstract

A case of midtropospheric mesoscale cyclone formation and downward development adjacent to and over the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica during May 1988 is presented. This event involved atmospheric phenomena over a wide range of spatial scales from the meso to the synoptic. The mesoscale vortex apparently developed within a middle-level short-wave trough. Warm air advection associated with a synoptic-scale front, which developed upwind from the axis of a blocking ridge located over the Antarctic Peninsula and which traveled westward across West Antarctica, created a strong temperature gradient (baroclinic zone) at low-levels at the northern edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. The atmosphere below the initially midtropospheric mesoscale vortex was destablized by the warm air advection, inducing its downward development.

Más información

Título de la Revista: Global Atmosphere and Ocean System
Volumen: 4
Número: 2-4
Editorial: Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons
Fecha de publicación: 1996
Página de inicio: 125
Página final: 147
URL: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-0030561873&partnerID=q2rCbXpz