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4 - Middle-latitude climates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Howard A. Bridgman  and
John E. Oliver
By
Brian Giles
Howard A. Bridgman
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle, New South Wales
John E. Oliver
Affiliation:
Indiana State University
Brian Giles
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
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Summary

Introduction

In geographical terms, the middle-latitude climate zone is generally located between the poleward edges of the subtropical high pressure systems (approximately 35° N and S), and the beginnings of the polar circulations (approximate 60° N and S). For many years the middle-latitude climates were referred to as climates of the temperate zone. This proves a definitive misnomer, for while the zone contains some of the most equable of climates, it also has some of the most extreme. In the Northern Hemisphere (NH), the middle-latitude climates have some of the highest measure of continentality, an index that is essentially a measure of seasonal extremes.

This chapter examines various aspects of middle-latitude climates. It begins with an essay providing details of the development and significance of reanalysis. This recent analytical method draws upon a state-of-the-art data assimilation system to reprocess all past atmospheric environmental observations, combining them with short forecasts in order to derive the best estimate of the state and evolution of the environment. Since the statistical combination of the forecast and observations is denoted in operational applications as “analysis,” the new method is usually known as reanalysis. Thereafter, an account of selected aspects of middle-latitude climates of the NH is followed by a discussion of the much-neglected climates of the Southern Hemisphere (SH).

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The Global Climate System
Patterns, Processes, and Teleconnections
 , pp. 96 - 130
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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