WV signatures in mid/high atmosphere - dark stripes, WV eyes, dry intrusion, waves/turbulence

Description

Nataša Strelec-Mahović (EUMETSAT) shows and analyses several cases of water vapour structures in the atmosphere using satellite imagery.

Content

Features occurring in the WV6.2μm images indicate the processes going on in the atmosphere, since these dark (dry) and white (moist) structures result from a combination of vertical motion, moisture advection and horizontal deformation within the mid and upper troposphere. Frequently, water vapour images reveal structures such as dark stripes, mountain wave signatures, or circular or spiral formations known as water vapour eyes, eddies or vortices. We will look at how these features can be used as tracers of three-dimensional atmospheric motions on the meso- and synoptic scale and how they relate to e.g. jet-streams, upper-level lows or turbulence.

 

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Lecture slides