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The polar low as an extratropical CISK disturbance
Author(s) -
Rasmussen E.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49710544504
Subject(s) - extratropical cyclone , barotropic fluid , convection , polar , convective instability , climatology , instability , disturbance (geology) , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , tropical cyclone , geostrophic wind , meteorology , geology , mechanics , physics , paleontology , astronomy
It is suggested that the polar low is basically a thermal instability phenomenon much akin to a small tropical cyclone. A quasi‐geostrophic model is employed in order to find small‐scale unstable CISK‐forced disturbances in a barotropic basic flow with a vertical structure similar to that actually observed during a polar air outbreak. Case studies of some polar low developments in some ways support a convective hypothesis according to which the polar low is driven by latent heat released in convection clouds.