Analysis of Tropical Waves Using Water Vapor Imagery

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Under this award, Dr. Frank will develop a climatology of tropical waves by combining diagnostic analyses of satellite-derived data sets with global weather analysis fields. The study will focus on waves with periods of 3-15 days, principally mixed Rossby-gravity waves, equatorial Rossby waves, and synoptic-scale easterly waves. A novel aspect of the study will be the use of precipitable water data, obtained from the NASA Water Vapor Project (NVAP), as the primary tool for identifying and tracking waves. This data set should permit identification of waves in convectively inactive regions of the tropics and complements the use of outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR) for the convectively active regions in the tropics. The study will make use of 10 years of NVAP precipitable water data, OLR data, and global analysis fields from the European Center for Medium Range Forecasts.