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Meteorology

Orographic influence on atmospheric flow

Orography influences the atmospheric flow on a wide range of scales. We investigate meso-scale flow over and around mountains as well as the influence of mountain ranges on cyclone and storm track dynamics.

Influence of orography on jet streams
Influence of orography on jet streams

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Within the meso-scale, a particular interest in our group lies on barrier and tip jets related to flow over and around orography, such as Greenland, Norway or Svalbard. Tip jets and barrier jets are often associated with extreme wind speeds and sharp gradients in wind and temperature. They also often occur in very data sparse areas, which adds to the difficulties in modeling them properly. We focus on a principal understanding of these phenomena and aim to identify key processes that have to be represent by numerical forecasting models in order to make skillful predictions.

On the large-scale atmospheric flow we focus on the linear and non-linear influence of mountain ranges on cyclone dynamics and their feedback on the storm tracks and jet streams. We use a suite of model with a hierarchy or varying complexity to address these research questions. Our models range from simple one to two layer quasi-geostrophic models to full global circulation models.

Contact at GFI: Thomas Spengler