Meteorological features during Phase I of the Coordinated Eastern Arctic Experiment (CEAREX) from 17 September 1988 to 7 January 1989.

Abstract

The synoptic and mesoscale meteorological conditions were analyzed for Phase I of the Coordinated Eastern Arctic Experiment (CEAREX) from 17 September 1988 to 7 January 1989. Meteorological observations from a research ship (R/V Polarbjoern), an array of drifting buoys and satellite imagery from DMSP and NOAA satellites were the primary tools for analysis. Several short periods of high cyclone activity followed by long periods of high pressure dominated the weather pattern in the eastern Arctic Ocean from Greenland to Novaya Zemlya for this period. Two case studies are presented. An infrequent cyclogenesis event that formed within a strong baroclinic zone over Arctic pack ice was observed in a "baroclinic leaf on satellite imagery. Ship and drifting buoy observations provided critical insight to the location and intensity of the "leafs" subsequent vertical development to the surface. In the second study, a boundary layer front was observed in the East Greenland Sea by satellite imagery. The front then moved northeast into Fram Strait and a polar low formed at the northern end of the front. The event lasted less than 24 h and would not have been observed except through satellite imagery.