Date of Award

1-1-2014

Language

English

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

College/School/Department

Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences

Content Description

1 online resource (xv, 125 pages) : color illustrations, color maps.

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Andrea L Lang

Committee Members

Daniel Keyser

Keywords

Lower-Stratospheric Fronts, troposphere-stratosphere interactions, upper-level jet-front systems, Fronts (Meteorology), Stratospheric circulation

Subject Categories

Atmospheric Sciences

Abstract

A two-part analysis, from a: (1) climatology and composite and (2) case study perspective, were used to examine robust lower-stratospheric fronts identified during eight winter seasons from 2004-2012 in North America. In Part 1, a climatology was constructed from the 184 identified cases of North American lower-stratospheric fronts associated with upper-level jet-front systems. The climatology and composite analyses of these identified cases reveal that there are substantial differences in the environmental characteristics and structure of lower-stratospheric fronts that develop in the Intermountain West and eastern North America regions. These differences exist in all flow directions and suggest that quasigeostrophic diagnostics more readily explain the characteristics of the lower-stratospheric fronts in eastern North America than those in the Intermountain West.

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