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Use of METEOSAT water-vapour images for the diagnosis of a vigorous stratospheric intrusion over the central Mediterranean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2000

K Lagouvardos
Affiliation:
University of Athens, Laboratory of Meteorology, Panepistimioupolis, Building PHYS-V, 15784 Athens, Greece
V Kotroni
Affiliation:
University of Athens, Laboratory of Meteorology, Panepistimioupolis, Building PHYS-V, 15784 Athens, Greece
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Abstract

The diagnosis of a vigorous dry intrusion over the central Mediterranean is performed using water-vapour images from METEOSAT. This dry intrusion was located on the rear side of a cold front (propagating from Italy to Greece) and played an important role in the onset of thunderstorms over the western Greek coasts. A combination of satellite imagery and potential vorticity analyses showed that the dry air originated in the lower-stratospheric and higher-tropospheric layers. The interaction of the dry air with the moist air masses within the warm conveyor belt ahead of the cold front (overrun of warm air by low equivalent potential temperature air) produced a potentially unstable region over the area of reported thunderstorms.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2000 Cambridge University Press

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