Numerical simulation of the motion of atmospheric fronts using a two layer model

The equations describing a two-layer frontal model of the atmosphere, where all the baroclinicity is concentrated along a frontal surface separating two incompressible, homogeneous fluids in stable stratification, are integrated numerically. The upper boundary is a free surface, and the motion of the surface front at the lower boundary is found by calculating the trajectories of material “particles” on the surface front, using the known velocities in the grid points in the cold air layer. The development of frontal waves in the experiments showed a remarkable agreement with the development of observed frontal waves with the characteristic asymmetry between the warm and cold front side of the waves.