Cold Fronts Research Programme: Progress, Future Plans, and Research Directions

Abstract

Following the analysis of data collected during Phases land II of the Cold Fronts Research Programme (CFRP) a conceptual model for the Australian summertime ?cool change? has been proposed. The model provides a focus and a framework for the design of Phase III. The model is based on data gathered from a mesoscale network centered on Mount Gambier, South Australia, and includes the coastal waters to the west and relatively flat terrain to the east. The first objective of Phase III is to generalize the model so that it is applicable to the ocean waters to the far west of Mount Gambier and to the more rugged terrain farther to the east in the vicinity of Melbourne, Victoria. The remaining objectives concentrate on resolving unsatisfactory aspects of the model such as the evolution of convective lines and the relationship between the surface cold front and the upper-tropospheric cold pool and its associated jet stream. The integrated nature of the Cold Fronts Research Programme has meant that it has stimulated a wide range of research activities that extend beyond the field observations. The associated investigations include climatological, theoretical, and numerical modeling studies.