Recognition and Impact of Vorticity Maxima and Minima in Satellite Imagery

• Introduction
  • What is Vorticity
• Vorticity Maxima
  • Overview
  • Physical Background
    • Development of a Comma Pattern
    • Morphology of a Comma Pattern
    • Other Considerations
  • Analysis
  • Interpretation
  • Implication
  • Exercise
• Vorticity Minima
  • Overview
  • Physical Background
    • Development of a Anticomma Pattern
    • Morphology of a Anticomma Pattern
    • Other Considerations
  • Analysis
  • Interpretation
  • Implication
  • Exercise

Implications

The correct placement of the vorticity minima is vital to the placement of related dynamic features such as the axis of maximum winds and deformation zones. All of these dynamic features must fit cohesively into the atmospheric puzzle. The correct placement of a vorticity minimum might be the piece of the puzzle required to correctly identify and place other dynamic features.

Here are some important attributes of vorticity minima to keep in mind when identifying them:

• Circulations around vorticity minimum are typically weak. As a result, numerical analyses of the atmosphere often have difficulty in their placement and appropriate relative intensities.
• Anticyclonic circulations tend to be rather dry. As a result, using cloud as a tracer for the circulation is often not possible. Water vapour is typically the only reliable tracer for anticyclonic circulations.
• Correctly identifying and locating vorticity minima can help better predict convection and cloud patterns.