Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Transverse Circulations in Frontal Zones

  • Chapter
Extratropical Cyclones

Abstract

Today, seventy years after the concept of fronts was introduced by the Bergen school, the nature of fronts and their connection with cyclones are still under intense investigation and debate in the meteorological community. New sophisticated observation techniques developed during the past decades and elaborate model simulations have made it possible to analyze the three-dimensional structure of fronts in great detail. Numerous studies published in recent years have increased our knowledge of the formation of fronts and jet streams. The classic textbook by Palmen and Newton (1969) has formed a solid basis for this research and has been of immense importance for the recent theoretical advances.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

REFERENCES

  • Bennetts, D. A., and B. J. Hoskins, 1979: Conditional symmetric instability—a possible explanation for frontal rainbands. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 105, 945–962.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergeron, T., 1928: Ãœber die dreidimensional verknüpfende Wetteranalyse. Geofys. Publ., 5, No. 6, 1–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjerknes, J., 1919: On the structure of moving cyclones. Geofys. Publ., 1, No. 1, 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——, and E. Palmén, 1937: Investigations of selected European cyclones by means of serial ascents. Geofys. Publ., 12, No. 2, 1–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bluestein, H. B., 1986: Fronts and jet streaks: A theoretical perspective. Mesoscale Meteorology and Forecasting, P. S. Ray, Ed. American Meteorological Society, 173–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edelmann, W., 1963: On the behavior of disturbances in a baroclinic channel. Summary Rep. No. 2, Research in Objective Weather Forecasting, Part F, Contract AF61 (052)-373. Deut. Wetterd., Offenbach/Main, 35 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliassen, A., 1952: Slow thermally or frictionally controlled meridional circulations in a circular vortex. Astrophys. Norv., 5, 19–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——, 1959: On the formation of fronts in the atmosphere. The Atmosphere and the Sea in Motion (Rossby Memorial Volume), B. Bolin, Ed. Rockefeller Institute Press, 277–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——, 1962: On the vertical circulation in frontal zones. Geofys. Publ., 24, 147–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——, 1966: Motions of intermediate scale: Fronts and cyclones. Advances in Earth Science, P. M. Hurley, Ed. MIT Press, 111–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckley, W. A., and B. J. Hoskins, 1982: Baroclinic waves and frontogenesis in a nonuniform potential vorticity semigeostrophic model. J. Atmos. Sci., 39, 1999–2016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoskins, B. J., 1971: Atmospheric frontogenesis models: Some solutions. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 97, 139–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——, 1972: Non-Boussinesq effects and further development in a model of upper tropospheric frontogenesis. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 98, 532–541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——, 1975: The geostrophic momentum approximation and the semigeostrophic equations. J. Atmos. Sci., 32, 233–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——, 1982: The mathematical theory of frontogenesis. Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech., 14, 131–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——, and F. P. Bretherton, 1972: Atmospheric frontogenesis models: Mathematical formulation and solution. J. Atmos. Sci., 29, 11–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——, and I. Draghici, 1977: The forcing of ageostrophic motion according to the semigeostrophic equations and in an isentropic coordinate model. J. Atmos. Sci., 34, 1859–1867.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——, and N. V. West, 1979: Baroclinic waves and frontogenesis. Part II: Uniform potential vorticity jet flows—cold and warm fronts. J. Atmos. Sci., 36, 1663–1680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keyser, D., 1986: Atmospheric fronts: An observational perspective. Mesoscale Meteorology and Forecasting, P. S. Ray, Ed. American Meteorological Society, 216–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——, and M. J. Pecnick, 1985: A two-dimensional primitive equation model of frontogenesis forced by confluence and horizontal shear. J. Atmos. Sci., 42, 1259–1282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——, and M. A. Shapiro, 1986: A review of the structure and dynamics of upper-level frontal zones. Mon. Wea. Rev., 114, 452–499.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——, and M. J. Pecnick, 1987: The effect of along-front temperature variation in a two-dimensional primitive equation model of surface frontogenesis. J. Atmos. Sci., 44, 577–604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mudrick, S. E., 1974: A numerical study of frontogenesis. J. Atmos. Sci., 31, 869–892.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Namias, J., and P. F. Clapp, 1949: Confluence theory of the high tropospheric jet stream. J. Meteor., 6, 330–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newton, C. W., and A. Trevisan, 1984: Clinogenesis and frontogenesis in jet-stream waves. Part I: Analytical relations to wave structure; Part II: Channel model numerical experiments. J. Atmos. Sci., 41, 2717–2734; 2735–2755.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orlanski, I., B. Ross, L. Polinsky and R. Shaginaw, 1985: Advances in the theory of atmospheric fronts. Advances in Geophysics, 28, 223–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmén, E., and C. W. Newton, 1969: Atmospheric Circulation Systems. Their Structure and Physical Interpretation. Academic Press, 603 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeder, M. J., and D. Keyser, 1988: Balanced and unbalanced upper frontogenesis. J. Atmos. Sci., 45, 3366–3386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sawyer, J. S., 1956: The vertical circulation at meteorological fronts and its relation to frontogenesis. Proc. Roy. Soc. London, A234, 346–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, M. A., 1975: Simulation of upper-level frontogenesis with a 20-level isentropic coordinate primitive equation model. Mon. Wea. Rev., 103, 591–604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——, 1981: Frontogenesis and geostrophically forced secondary circulations in the vicinity of jet stream-frontal zone systems. J. Atmos. Sci., 38, 954–973.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solberg, H., 1936: Le mouvement d’inertie de l’atmosphere stable et son role dans la théorie des cyclones. Proces-verbaux, Assoc. de Meteor., Mém. et disc., Un. Géod. Géophys. Int., Edimbourg, 66–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe, A. J., and K. A. Emanuel, 1985: Frontogenesis in the presence of small stability to slantwise convection. J. Atmos. Sci., 42, 1809–1824.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Todsen, M., 1964: A study of vertical circulations in a cold front. Part N, Final Report, Contr. No. AF 61(052)-525.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, R. T., 1967: Atmospheric frontogenesis: A numerical experiment. J. Atmos. Sci., 24, 627–641.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——, 1972: Quasi-geostrophic versus non-geostrophic frontogenesis. J. Atmos. Sci., 29, 3–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geophysics, University of Oslo, P. O. Box 1022, Blindern, 0315, Oslo 3, Norway

    Arnt Eliassen

Authors
  1. Arnt Eliassen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA

    Chester W. Newton

  2. University of Helsinki, Finland

    Eero O. Holopainen

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1990 American Meteorological Society

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Eliassen, A. (1990). Transverse Circulations in Frontal Zones. In: Newton, C.W., Holopainen, E.O. (eds) Extratropical Cyclones. American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-944970-33-8_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation