On the mechanism of winter cyclogenesis in relation to vertical axis tilt

Abstract

¶This work is concerned with the behavior of the vertical trough axis tilt during the development of a Mediterranean cyclone. The period covering stages of the development of the depression is from 1200 UTC 18 January to 1200 UTC 25 January 1981. Two procedures have been used to illustrate the behavior of the vertical axis tilt with the development of our case study. In the first direct procedure we trace the centers of the cyclone for each level for each day and determine its longitude. In the second indirect procedure we compute the values and signs of the product of the perturbation of temperature and meridional velocity over the computational domain. The energetics of the depression is studied and the partition of available potential energy and kinetic energy into zonal and eddy component is adopted. The energy contents and their changes in different atmospheric levels are discussed in the course of the cyclone’s development.