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Mesoscale meteorology
 
 
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Mesoscale Meteorology is the study of weather
Weather

Weather is a set of all the Phenomenon occurring in a given atmosphere at a given time. Weather phenomena lie in the hydrosphere and troposphere....
 systems smaller than synoptic scale systems but larger than microscale
Microscale meteorology

Microscale meteorology is the study of Earth's atmosphere phenomena smaller than mesoscale meteorology, about 1 km or less. These two branches of meteorology are sometimes grouped together as "mesoscale and microscale meteorology" and together study all phenomena smaller than Synoptic scale meteorology; that is they study features generally...
 and storm-scale
Storm-scale

Storm-scale is a scale of sizes of weather systems on the order of individual thunderstorms....
 cumulus systems. Horizontal dimensions generally range from around 5 kilometers to several hundred kilometers. Examples of mesoscale weather systems are sea breeze
Sea breeze

A sea-breeze is a wind from the sea that develops over land near coasts. It is formed by increasing temperature differences between the land and water which create a pressure minimum over the land due to its relative warmth and forces higher pressure, cooler air from the sea to move inland....
s, squall line
Squall line

A squall line is a line of thunderstorms#Severe_thunderstorm that can form along and/or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front....
s, and mesoscale convective complex
Mesoscale Convective Complex

A mesoscale convective complex is a unique kind of mesoscale convective system which is defined by characteristics observed in infrared satellite imagery....
es.

Vertical velocity often equals or exceeds horizontal velocities in mesoscale meteorological systems due to nonhydrostatic processes such as buoyant acceleration of a rising thermal or acceleration through a narrow mountain pass.

scale Meteorology is divided into these subclasses (Orlanski, 1975):





n synoptic frontal analysis
Surface weather analysis

Surface weather analysis is a special type of weather map that provides a view of weather elements over a geographical area at a specified time based on information from ground-based weather stations....
, literature about mesoscale analysis uses cold, warm, and occluded fronts on the mesoscale to help describe phenomena.






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Encyclopedia


Mesoscale Meteorology is the study of weather
Weather

Weather is a set of all the Phenomenon occurring in a given atmosphere at a given time. Weather phenomena lie in the hydrosphere and troposphere....
 systems smaller than synoptic scale systems but larger than microscale
Microscale meteorology

Microscale meteorology is the study of Earth's atmosphere phenomena smaller than mesoscale meteorology, about 1 km or less. These two branches of meteorology are sometimes grouped together as "mesoscale and microscale meteorology" and together study all phenomena smaller than Synoptic scale meteorology; that is they study features generally...
 and storm-scale
Storm-scale

Storm-scale is a scale of sizes of weather systems on the order of individual thunderstorms....
 cumulus systems. Horizontal dimensions generally range from around 5 kilometers to several hundred kilometers. Examples of mesoscale weather systems are sea breeze
Sea breeze

A sea-breeze is a wind from the sea that develops over land near coasts. It is formed by increasing temperature differences between the land and water which create a pressure minimum over the land due to its relative warmth and forces higher pressure, cooler air from the sea to move inland....
s, squall line
Squall line

A squall line is a line of thunderstorms#Severe_thunderstorm that can form along and/or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front....
s, and mesoscale convective complex
Mesoscale Convective Complex

A mesoscale convective complex is a unique kind of mesoscale convective system which is defined by characteristics observed in infrared satellite imagery....
es.

Vertical velocity often equals or exceeds horizontal velocities in mesoscale meteorological systems due to nonhydrostatic processes such as buoyant acceleration of a rising thermal or acceleration through a narrow mountain pass.

Subclasses

Mesoscale Meteorology is divided into these subclasses (Orlanski, 1975):
  • Meso-gamma 2-20 km, deals with phenomena like thunderstorm convection, complex terrain flows (at the edge to microscale
    Microscale meteorology

    Microscale meteorology is the study of Earth's atmosphere phenomena smaller than mesoscale meteorology, about 1 km or less. These two branches of meteorology are sometimes grouped together as "mesoscale and microscale meteorology" and together study all phenomena smaller than Synoptic scale meteorology; that is they study features generally...
    , also known as storm-scale
    Storm-scale

    Storm-scale is a scale of sizes of weather systems on the order of individual thunderstorms....
    )


  • Meso-beta 20-200 km deals with phenomena like sea breezes, lake effect snow storms


  • Meso-alpha 200-2000 km fronts, deals with phenomena like squall lines, mesoscale convective systems (MCS), tropical cyclones at the edge of synoptic scale


Mesoscale boundaries

As in synoptic frontal analysis
Surface weather analysis

Surface weather analysis is a special type of weather map that provides a view of weather elements over a geographical area at a specified time based on information from ground-based weather stations....
, literature about mesoscale analysis uses cold, warm, and occluded fronts on the mesoscale to help describe phenomena. On weather maps mesoscale fronts are depicted as smaller and with twice as many bumps or spikes as the synoptic variety. In the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, opposition to the use of the mesoscale versions of fronts on weather analyses, has led to the use of an overarching symbol (a trough symbol) with a label of outflow boundary as the frontal notation.

See also

  • Synoptic scale
    Synoptic scale meteorology

    The synoptic scale in meteorology is a horizontal length scale of the order of 1000 kilometres or more . This corresponds to a horizontal scale typical of mid-latitude Depression ....
  • Storm scale
    Storm-scale

    Storm-scale is a scale of sizes of weather systems on the order of individual thunderstorms....
  • Microscale
    Microscale meteorology

    Microscale meteorology is the study of Earth's atmosphere phenomena smaller than mesoscale meteorology, about 1 km or less. These two branches of meteorology are sometimes grouped together as "mesoscale and microscale meteorology" and together study all phenomena smaller than Synoptic scale meteorology; that is they study features generally...
  • Misoscale
    Misoscale

    Misoscale is the scale of Meteorology phenomena that ranges in size from 40 meters to about 4 kilometers. It includes rotation within a thunderstorm....
  • Scale (spatial)
    Scale (spatial)

    Spatial scale provides a "shorthand" form for discussing relative lengths, areas, distances and sizes. A microclimate, for instance, is one which might occur in a mountain valley or near a lakeshore, whereas a megatrend is one which involves the whole planet....
  • Surface weather analysis
    Surface weather analysis

    Surface weather analysis is a special type of weather map that provides a view of weather elements over a geographical area at a specified time based on information from ground-based weather stations....


Further reading

  • Orlanski, I., 1975: A rational subdivision of scales for atmospheric processes. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 56(5), 527-530.
  • Fujita, T. T.
    Ted Fujita

    was a prominent severe storms researcher. His research at the University of Chicago on severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and typhoons revolutionized knowledge of each....
    , 1986. Mesoscale classifications: their history and their application to forecasting, in Ray, P. S., ed., Mesoscale Meteorology and Forecasting: American Meteorological Society, Boston, p. 18-35. [presented 1984; published 1986]


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