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Development of a spatial synoptic classification scheme for western Europe
Author(s) -
Bower Donna,
McGregor Glenn R.,
Hannah David M.,
Sheridan Scott C.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.1501
Subject(s) - climatology , synoptic scale meteorology , spatial ecology , air mass (solar energy) , western europe , classification scheme , scale (ratio) , environmental science , spatial variability , meteorology , geography , cartography , geology , european union , computer science , ecology , statistics , physics , mathematics , boundary layer , economic policy , business , biology , thermodynamics , information retrieval
Abstract This paper presents a new spatial air‐mass climatology for western Europe (WE) based upon the analysis of daily data for 48 climate stations for the period 1974–2000. Referred to as the spatial synoptic classification for western Europe (SSCWE), the new air‐mass climatology not only facilitates the examination of both spatial and temporal climate variations but also provides, for the first time, a physically based synoptic classification for a wide variety of applications at the western European scale. The SSCWE is based on the philosophy of the spatial synoptic classification (SSC), which was first introduced to the synoptic climatological community in the mid‐1990s and later refined as the SSC2 for application across North America. As for the SSC2, establishing the physical characteristics for six generic air masses is the basis of the SSCWE. In this paper, the procedures for identifying air‐mass characteristics are described and an analysis of the spatial and temporal variation of the six generic air‐mass types across western Europe is presented. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society