Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Dyer, Jamie L.

Committee Member

Brown, Michael E.

Committee Member

Dixon, P. Grady

Committee Member

Amburn, Philip

Date of Degree

5-12-2012

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Geosciences

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Geosciences

Abstract

Quasi-geostrophic (QG) analysis of the atmosphere utilizes predefined isobaric surfaces to ascertain vertical motion. One equation of the QG system is the omega equation that states that vertical forcing results from differential vorticity advection and thickness advection. Two problems arise when using the QG omega equation: the forcing terms are not independent and must be analyzed simultaneously, and vertical forcing is visually noisy. Both issues are resolved using a smoothing and quantification technique that applies the QG omega equation. The analysis fields from a selection of events were chosen from the North American Mesoscale model. Using a finite differencing methodology dependent on the wavelength of synoptic features, values of vertical forcing were calculated using the omega equation. The calculated omega field correlated well with model omega while also quantifying and visualizing large perturbations in vertical forcing. The method allows for quick diagnosis of forcing type and strength within the atmosphere.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/17949

Comments

vertical motion||Quasi-geostrophic theory||Three-dimensional visualization

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