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A simple diagnostic for the detection of atmospheric fronts
Author(s) -
Parfitt Rhys,
Czaja Arnaud,
Seo Hyodae
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2017gl073662
Subject(s) - simple (philosophy) , isobaric process , potential vorticity , meteorology , atmospheric dynamics , identification (biology) , cold front , geology , environmental science , climatology , vorticity , statistical physics , physics , atmosphere (unit) , thermodynamics , philosophy , epistemology , botany , vortex , biology
Abstract In this article, a simple diagnostic to identify atmospheric fronts objectively from gridded data sets is presented. For this diagnostic, fronts are identified as regions where the normalized product of the isobaric relative vorticity and horizontal temperature gradient exceeds a threshold value. The purpose is to introduce a method that is both robust and particularly straightforward in calculation. A climatology of atmospheric fronts, as well as the identification of an individual frontal system, is computed using this diagnostic. These are subsequently compared to a more traditional frontal detection method and the similarities and differences discussed.