REMOTE SENSING OF ATMOSPHERIC FRONTAL DYNAMICS OVER THE OCEAN

Frontal regions in midlatitude storms exhibit a wide range of behavior, which can be observed by remote sensors. These include decay, strengthening, rotating, and sometimes spawning of new cyclones. Here we refine and apply recent theories of front and frontal wave development to a case of a front clearly observed and analyzed in remote sensing data. By applying innovative analysis techniques to the data we assess the respective roles of ageostrophy, background deformation, and Boundary Layer processes in determining the evolution of the surface front. Our analysis comprises of diagnosis of the terms appearing in the vorticity and divergence equations using remotely sensed observations.