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The relevance of conditional symmetric instability to the prediction of mesoscale frontal rainbands
Author(s) -
Bennetts D. A.,
Sharp J. C.
Publication year - 1982
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.49710845707
Subject(s) - instability , mesoscale meteorology , relevance (law) , meteorology , scale (ratio) , geology , climatology , physics , geography , mechanics , cartography , political science , law
This paper examines the theory of Conditional Symmetric Instability (Bennetts and Hoskins 1979) and considers its relevance to meso‐scale frontal rainbands. The theoretical growth rate of the instability is evaluated from synoptic scale data obtained from a numerical forecast model and compared with observations of the horizontal structure of rainfall observed by radar. One case study is presented in detail and a further 44 cases summarized. Rainbands were observed on 80% of the occasions on which they were predicted.