Research aircraft measurements of a polar low over the Norwegian Sea

M. A. Shapiro; L. S. Fedor; Tamara Hampel

doi:10.3402/tellusa.v39i4.11761

Research aircraft measurements of a polar low over the Norwegian Sea

Tellus

Volume 39 (1987): Issue 4

By: M. A. Shapiro, L. S. Fedor and Tamara Hampel

Open Access

|Jan 1987

Abstract

On 27 February 1984, the Arctic Cyclone Expedition carried out the first research aircraft measurements within a polar low. The low developed over the Norwegian Sea south of Jan Mayen in response to the baroclinic forcing by an eastward propagating upper-level synoptic-scale short wave. Observations from the NOAA WP-3D research aircraft documented the three-dimensional distribution of wind, temperature, moisture, and precipitation within the low. The polar low had a warm inner core and maximum surface winds of ~ 35 m s^-1. Heavy meso-convective precipitation was encountered within a frontal-like, mesoscale, baroclinic shear zone that spiraled into the low center from its southwestern quadrant. Vorticity and divergence values within the front reached 25 × 10^-4 s^-1 and 13 × 10^-4 s^-1, respectively, where the frontal width narrowed to 10 km near the sea surface. Radar reflectivities exceeded 40 dBZ within the meso-convective precipitation band and were confined to low levels (below 3 km). The maximum total heat flux (sensible plus latent) from the sea surface into the atmosphere was 1000 W m^-2, comparable with that observed for mature tropical cyclones. Satellite cloud images revealed that this polar low was the most intense development in a family outbreak of 5 polar lows that formed as an east-west vortex chain between Iceland and the north coast of Norway over a 48 h period.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v39i4.11761 | Journal eISSN: 3035-9554

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Language: English

Page range: 272 - 306

Submitted on: May 23, 1986

Accepted on: Dec 22, 1986

Published on: Jan 1, 1987

Published by: Stockholm University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

© 1987 M. A. Shapiro, L. S. Fedor, Tamara Hampel, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 39 (1987): Issue 4