A theoretical model of orographically modified cyclogenesis ( Alps).

Abstract

The modification of baroclinic instability by low-level orographic blocking of cold advection is considered within a simple model. In this model, the meridional flow in the lower layer of a two layer quasi-geostrophic model is blocked by a semi-infinite knife edge barrier extending eastward from the origin. Despite the extreme simplicity of the model, some of the features of the solution were found to be suggestive of features found in observations and numerical simulations of cyclogenesis in the lee of the Alps. -from Author