Airstream Regions of North Africa and the Mediterranean

Abstract

Mean monthly surface wind streamline charts for the North Africa-Mediterranean region are extracted from a previously prepared Northern Hemisphere set. These charts define mean airstream sources and mean confluences or ?fronts.? Composite charts of airstream duration and seasonally stationary confluence positions are then extracted from the monthly streamline charts. The seasonality, duration and mean boundaries of the airstreams and their properties define a pattern of genetic climatic regions. This pattern derived entirely from climatic data is found to match the biotic pattern quite well.