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CONTENTS

&
F oreuo rd ............................................................. xi

Introduction ............................................................. xiii

Section 1 - The Synoptic Method .......................................... 1

Section 11 - Physical Properties o f the Lower Atmosphere ................. 85

Section 111 - iarge Scale Synoptic Weather Systems ....................... 183

* *

SECTION 1 .THE SYNOPTIC METHOD

Chapter 1 .WEATHER OBSERVATIONS

1.1 Historical review ................................................ 3
1.2 Variability of atmospheric parameters . Density and frequency of
observations ..................................................... 5
1.3 Surface synoptic stations ........................................ 6
1.3.1 Composition o f observations . Instrumentation .......... 6
1.3.2 Times of observation ................................... 7
1.3.3 Representativeness and accuracy o f observations 7
1.4 Upper-air synoptic stations ...................................... 8
1.4.1 Methods of observation . Instrumentation ........... ... 8
1.4.2 Times o f observation ............................... ... 8
1.4.3 Evaluation of radiosonde data . Computation of geopo en-
tia1 heights ....................................... ... 9
1.4.4 Representativeness and accuracy o f observa ions ........ 9
1.5 Ocean weather stations ............................. ............. 10
1.6 Meteorological satellites .......................... ............. 10
1.7 Speciol observing systems .......................... ............. 13
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&
1.7.1 Reconnaissance f l i g h t s ............................... 13
1.7.2 Balloons ............................................. 13
1.7.3 Rockets .............................................. 14
1.8 World Weather Watch (WWW) . The G l o b a l Observing System (GOS) 14

Chapter 2 .DATA HANDLING AND PROCESSING

2.1 Coding. decoding. r e c o r d i n g .................................... 28

2.1.1 Surface r e p o r t f r o m l a n d s t a t i o n s .................... 28
2.1.2 Surface r e p o r t from sea s t a t i o n s ..................... 30
2.1.3 Upper-air r e p o r t s .................................... 31
2.2 Transmissin o f s y n o p t i c weather r e p o r t s ....................... 31
2.3 World Weather Watch (WWW) . The G l o b a l Telecommunication System
(GTS) .......................................................... 32
2.4 P l o t t i n g o f weather r e p o r t s ; symbolism ........................ 34
2.5 A u t o m a t i c data h a n d l i n g and p r o c e s s i n g by computer ............. 35
2.6 World Weather Watch (WWW) . The G l o b a l Data-processing System
( GDPS) ......................................................... 35

Chapter 3 -.ANALYTICAL TOOLS

3.1 .................................................
Weather c h a r t s 37
3.1.1 Map p r o j e c t i o n s ...................................... 39
3.1.2 Map s c a l e s ........................................... 40
3.2 Wind sounding c h a r t s ........................................... 41
3.3 Thermodynamic diagrams ......................................... 42
3.3.1 G r a p h i c a l o p e r a t i o n s on a thermodynamic diagram ...... 44
3.3.2 V a r i a b i l i t y o f thermodynamic p r o p e r t i e s .............. 48

Chapter 4 .SYNOPTIC ANALYSIS (OTHER THAN NUMERICAL)

4.1 F i e l d s o f atmospheric p r o p e r t i e s ............................... 51

4.2 Co-ordinate system ............................................. 52
4.3 Scalar analysis ................................................ 53
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pose
4.4 Gradients ...................................................... 55
4.5 Property surfaces and topography ............................... 56
4.5.1 Slope and curvature of surfaces ...................... 56
4.5.2 Special lines and points in a topographic field ...... 57
4.5.3 The topographic field of air pressure ................ 59
4.5.4 The topographic field of air density (specific volume) 61
4.5.5 The topographic fields of temperature ................ 62
4.6 Vector analysis ................................................ 64
4.6.1 Streamline/isotach analysis .......................... 64
4.7 Graphical analysis ............................................. 66
4.7.1 Grqphical addition ................................... 68
4.7.2 Graphical subtraction ................................ 68
4.7.3 Graphical multiplication and division ................ 69

Chapter 5 .PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF SYNOPTIC WEATHER ANALYSIS

5.1 Continuity ..................................................... 70
5.2 Analysis of the composite surface chart ........................ 71
5.3 Analysis of upper-air charts ................................... 78
5.3.1 Ranges of temperature and height ..................... 79
5.3.2 Absolute and relative topographics ................... 82

Annex ................................................................ 84

* *

SECTION 11 .PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE

Introduction ............................................................. 87

Chapter 1 .NORMAL FIELDS OF ATMOSPHERIC VARIABLES AT SEA-LEVEL

1.1 Temperature. northern hemisphere ............................... 89
1.1.1 Winter (January) ..................................... 89
1.1.2 Summer (July) ........................................ 91
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1.2 Pressure. northern hemisphere ................................... 94
1.2.1 Winter (January) ..................................... 94
1.2.2 Summer (July) ......................................... 94
1.3 Temperature. southern hemisphere ................................ 96
1.3.1 Winter (July) ......................................... 97
1.3.2 Sumner (January) ...................................... 97
1.4 Pressure. southern hemisphere ................................... 100
1.4.1 Winter (July) ......................................... 100
1.4.2 Summer (January) ...................................... 100
1.5 Temperature. zonally averaged for both hemispheres .............. 101
1.6 Temperaturg. annual march. northern hemisphere .................. 103
1.7 Pressure. zonally averaged for both hemispheres ................. 104
1.8 Pressure. annual march. northern hemisphere ..................... 107
1.9 Relative humidity. northern hemisphere .......................... 109
1.9.1 Winter (January) ...................................... 109
1.9.2 Summer (July) ......................................... 111

Chapter 2 -.CROSS-SECTIONAL REPRESENTATION OF MEAN TEMPERATURE AND WINDS

AT UPPER LEVELS; THE PLANETARY VORTICES; BAROCLINICITY
2.1 Introduction .................................................... 113
2.2 Geopotential height. northern hemisphere ........................ 114
2.3 Temperature. northern hemisphere ................................ 117
2.3.1 Winter (January) ...................................... 117
2.3.2 Spring (April) ........................................ 119
2.3.3 Summer (July) ......................................... 121
2.3.4 Autumn (October) ...................................... 122
2.4 Winds ........................................................... 123
2.4.1 Stratospheric and mesospheric wind systems. northern
hemisphere............................................ 123
2.4.2 Winds below 32 km altitude. both hemispheres .......... 125
2.5 Baroclinicity ................................................... 128
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&
Chapter 3 .STANDING WAVES IN THE MEAN PLANETARY VORTEX

3.1 Zona1 cross s e c t i o n s o f t h e mean circum-polar vortex. n a r t h e r n

hemisphere ....................................................... 133
3.1.1 Winter (January) ....................................... 133
3.1.2 Summer ( J u l y ) .......................................... 135
3.1.3 Summary ................................................ 136
3.2 Topographic mean f i e l d s o f g e o p o t e n t i a l h e i g h t . b o t h hemispheres 137
3.2.1 Northern hemisphere. w i n t e r (January) .................. 137
3.2.2 Southern hemisphere. w i n t e r ( J u l y ) ..................... 139
3.2.3 Northern hemisphere. summer ( J u l y ) ..................... 142
3.2.4 Southern hemisphere. summer (January) .................. 143
3.3 Topographic mean f i e l d s o f zona1 wind component a t 200 mb, both
hemispheres ...................................................... 146
3.3.1 Northern hemisphere .................................... 146
3.3.2 Southern hernisphere .................................... 146
3.4 The s t r a t o s p h e r i c (30 mb) mean c i r c u l a t i o n ....................... 149
3.4.1 Northern hemisphere. w i n t e r (January) .................. 149
3.4.2 Northern hemisphere. summer ( J u l y ) ..................... 149
3.4.3 Southern hemisphere. w i n t e r ( J u l y ) ..................... 154
3.4.4 Southern hemisphere. summer (January) .................. 154

Chapter 4 .A I R MASSES AND F R M S

4.1 The t h r e e p r i n c i p a l a i r masses ................................... 155

4.2 The p r i n c i p a l f r o n t a l zones ...................................... 160
4.3 P h y s i c a l p r o p e r t i e s o f a i r masses ................................ 161
4.3.1 Summary o f processes i n f l u e n c i n g a i r masses ............ 164
4.4 Exchange o f m o i s t u r e and heat between ocean and atmosphere ....... 165
R a d i a t i o n a l heot f l u x ............................................
J
4.5 169
4.6 The p o l a r f r o n t and p o l a r j e t (mean c o n d i t i o n s ) .................. 170
4.7 The s u b t r o p i c a l f r o n t and s u b t r o p i c a l j e t (mean c o n d i t i o n s ) ...... 174
4 .a Mean tropopause c o n d i t i o n s ....................................... 177
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Annex ................................................................... 181

* *

SECTION 111 .URGE-SCALE SYNOPTIC WEATHER SYSTEMS

Introduction ............................................................ 185

Chapter 1 .FEATURES OBSERVED ON SURFACE CHARTS

1.1 Sea-leve1 pressure poleward o f t h e s u b t r o p i c a l h i g h b e l t ........ 186

1.2 Sea-leve1 pressure equatorward o f t h e s u b t r o p i c a l h i g h b e l t ..... 188

Chapter 2 .FEATURES OBSERVED ON UPPER-AIR CHARTS

2.1 T y p i c a l f e a t u r e s poleward o f t h e s u b t r o p i c a l h i g h b e l t .......... 192

2.2 T y p i c a l f e a t u r e s equatorward o f t h e s u b t r o p i c a l h i g h b e l t ....... 194

Chapter 3 .SPECIFIC SYNOPTIC-SCALE SYSTEMS

3.1 Upper long waves ................................................ 197

3.1.1 Waves i n a b a r o t r o p i c a i r c u r r e n t ..................... 197
3.1.2 K i n e m a t i c p r o p e r t i e s .................................. 200
3.1.3 Waves i n a b a r o c l i n i c c u r r e n t ......................... 203

3.1.4 . B a r o c l i n i c i n s t a b i l i t y ................................ 205

3.2 Observed s t r u c t u r e o f upper long waves .......................... 208
3.2.1 Scales ................................................ 208
3.2.2 T i l t .................................................. 208
3.2.3 Index changes ......................................... 208
3.2.4 Blocking ............................................... 209
3.2.5 C u t - o f f ............................................... 209
3.3 The s t r u c t u r e o f t h e p o l a r f r o n t and t h e p e l a r j e t s t r e a m ....... 214
3.3.1 Basic theory o f d i s c o n t i n u i t y surfaces ................ 215
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3.3.2 Discussion of a model of the polar front and polar jet

in mid-winter (northern hemisphere) ................... 221
3.4 The structure of the subtropical front and the subtropical jet .. 235

Chapter 4 .EXTRATROPICAL C?CLONES AN) ANTICYCLONES

4.1 Geographical distribution and seasonal variation ................ 240
4.2 Basic theoretical concepts of cyclonic development .............. 243
4.3 The life cycle o f extratropical cyclones ........................ 246
4.3.1 The incipient and the nascent wcwe stages ............. 246
4.3.2 The main development stage ............................ 256
4.3.3 The. occlusion stage ................................... 266
4.3.4 Developments after the occluded stage ................. 270
4.4 Potential vorticity and meridional air motion ................... 272
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