Deformation frontogenesis: observation and theory

Abstract

A low-level deformation frontogenesis event that occurred during the Stormscale Operational and Research Meteorology-Fronts Experiment Systems Test (STORM-FEST) field program is analyzed in the context of semigeostrophic theory. The observed evolution and vertical structure of the potential temperature and alongfront wind fields are compared to that predicted by both numerical and analytical solutions of the semigeostrophic equations initialized at the onset of the deformation frontogenesis. The model solutions provide relatively accurate predictions of the surface potential temperature distribution 5 h later, when the frontogenesis ended. -from Authors