Interesting polar atmospheric feature

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Troppoz

Interesting polar atmospheric feature

Post by Troppoz »

Spotted this really interesting dipole type of cyclonic circulation right over the North Pole at 10hPa (~26000m) accompanied by two adjacent cyclonic features all with incredibly high wind speeds (+370km/hr):

http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wi ... ,90.51,398

Ive been watching these for a few days and they havent shifted, are they a constant feature or are they seasonal? The South Pole just has a very leisurely and staid looking hemisphere wide circulation unlike the north, but once again is that a state of the seasons?

http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wi ... -89.80,379

Its been great seeing the atmosphere unveiled through the earth.nullschool.net website, its so brilliant that its free too! icon_thumright
stephenprudence

Re: Interesting polar atmospheric feature

Post by stephenprudence »

Yes it is indeed down to the seasons, although the north is always a little more active than the south pole, the reason is the interaction between the oceans and topographical features of land. The North Pole and surrounding areas (including the wider actic area, encompasses sea, large areas of land with height rises, and also thin tracts of cold and warm air avection due to the this, which spawns these anomalies. The Antarctic is a much bigger land mass, so therefore this topographical features allow a relatively stable situation, where the only real unstable anomalies, are located at the juncture of land and sea.
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