A Comparison between the Hoskins-Bretherton Model of Frontogenesis and the Analysis of an Intense Surface Frontal Zone
- 1 January 1980
- journal article
- Published by American Meteorological Society in Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
- Vol. 37 (1) , 64-77
- https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1980)037<0064:acbthb>2.0.co;2
Abstract
The Hoskins-Bretherton model of frontogenesis employed here represents the counterpart of the two-dimensional Eady problem expressed in geostrophic coordinate space. The fundamental characteristics of the model solution are shown to be derivable from the properties of the nonlinear one-dimensional advection equation and the linearized Eady problem. Detailed comparisons are made between the predictions of this model and the analysis of an intense frontal zone presented by Sanders. Qualitative agreement is found in details of the horizontal wind field and potential temperature distributions. The major discrepancy occurs in the vertical velocity field: the most intense vertical velocities occur at midlevel in the model and are significantly smaller in magnitude than the rising narrow jet above the analyzed zone of maximum cyclonic relative vorticity. The presence of this jet is responsible for the most significant frontogenetical properties of the front associated with vertical tilting of potential ... Abstract The Hoskins-Bretherton model of frontogenesis employed here represents the counterpart of the two-dimensional Eady problem expressed in geostrophic coordinate space. The fundamental characteristics of the model solution are shown to be derivable from the properties of the nonlinear one-dimensional advection equation and the linearized Eady problem. Detailed comparisons are made between the predictions of this model and the analysis of an intense frontal zone presented by Sanders. Qualitative agreement is found in details of the horizontal wind field and potential temperature distributions. The major discrepancy occurs in the vertical velocity field: the most intense vertical velocities occur at midlevel in the model and are significantly smaller in magnitude than the rising narrow jet above the analyzed zone of maximum cyclonic relative vorticity. The presence of this jet is responsible for the most significant frontogenetical properties of the front associated with vertical tilting of potential ...Keywords
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