Open AccessClassifying fronts in data from a VHF wind‐profiling radar
Author(s) -
Lawson John,
Vaughan Geraint,
Schultz David M.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
atmospheric science letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 45
ISSN - 1530-261X
DOI - 10.1002/asl.353
Subject(s) - cold front , wind shear , troposphere , stratosphere , radar , warm front , geology , meteorology , maxima , mesosphere , atmospheric sciences , climatology , wind speed , geography , art , telecommunications , computer science , performance art , art history
Many fronts over the UK do not fit the traditional conceptual model of a single maximum of vertical shear of the horizontal wind sloped over the cold air. A 2‐year climatology of 296 cold, warm, and occluded fronts from a mesosphere–stratosphere–troposphere radar near Aberystwyth, Wales, reveals that 74% of warm fronts were associated with multiple linear bands representing maxima of vertical wind shear, radar return signal power, or both. In contrast, 51% of cold fronts lacked any such maxima. Similarly, the warm frontal segments of occluded fronts exhibited more banding than the cold frontal segments. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society