Synoptic Scale Disturbances with Circular Symmetry

Abstract

Ate balanced flow structure of various classic synopitc-scale disturbances is reviewed using the invertibility principle for isentropic potential vorticity (IPV) distributions. Complete solutions are shown for cold and warm core structures of various types. The basic model imagines the tropopause to be the interface between the lower potential vorticity of the troposphere and the approximately six-fold larger value typical of the lower stratosphere. The sensitivity of the structure of the potential temperature variation along the tropopause and at the surface is described. Results are presented in diagrammatic form to allow easy diagnosis of the vortex structure from synoptic data available at perhaps only a few levels. The point is made that upper air IPV and surface potential temperature distributions are often the most crucial in accounting for the balanced flow structure.