Articles | Volume 4, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-157-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-157-2023
Research article
 | 
25 Jan 2023
Research article |  | 25 Jan 2023

Origin of low-tropospheric potential vorticity in Mediterranean cyclones

Alexander Scherrmann, Heini Wernli, and Emmanouil Flaounas

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Cited articles

Aebischer, U. and Schär, C.: Low-level potential vorticity and cyclogenesis to the lee of the Alps, J. Atmos. Sci., 55, 186–207, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1998)055<0186:LLPVAC>2.0.CO;2, 1998. a, b, c
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Aragão, L. and Porcù, F.: Cyclonic activity in the Mediterranean region from a high-resolution perspective using ECMWF ERA5 dataset, Clim. Dynam., 58, 1293–1310, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05963-x, 2022. a, b
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Attinger, R., Spreitzer, E., Boettcher, M., Forbes, R., Wernli, H., and Joos, H.: Quantifying the role of individual diabatic processes for the formation of PV anomalies in a North Pacific cyclone, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 145, 2454–2476, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3573, 2019. a, b, c, d
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Short summary
We investigate the dynamical origin of the lower-atmospheric potential vorticity (PV; linked to the intensity of cyclones) in Mediterranean cyclones. We quantify the contribution of the cyclone and the environment by tracing PV backward in time and space and linking it to the track of the cyclone. We find that the lower-tropospheric PV is produced shortly before the cyclone's stage of highest intensity. We investigate the driving processes and use a global dataset and a process-resolving one.