Statistical characteristics of polar lows over the Nordic Seas based on satellite passive microwave data

International audience In this study polar lows over the Nordic Seas for the period of 1995–2008 have been detected and studied using the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) data. A new methodology for polar low detection and monitoring based on the analysis of the total atmospheric water vapor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Main Authors: Smirnova, J. E., Zabolotskikh, E. V., Bobylev, L. P., Chapron, Bertrand
Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hal.science/hal-04201835
https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001433816090255
Description
Summary:International audience In this study polar lows over the Nordic Seas for the period of 1995–2008 have been detected and studied using the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) data. A new methodology for polar low detection and monitoring based on the analysis of the total atmospheric water vapor content (WVC) fields retrieved from SSM/I was used. Lifetimes, diameters, translation speeds, distances traveled, and intensities were estimated for the detected polar lows using SSM/I WVC, sea surface wind speed fields and infrared imagery. Over the Norwegian and Barents Seas, the polar low activity was found to be almost equal. A positive tendency in the total number of polar lows for the time period of 1995–2008 was detected.