Synoptic Climatology of the Westerlies Process and Patterns

This monograph is part of the Resource Publications in the Geography Series of the Association of American Geographers. It describes the linkage between upper-tropospheric circulation & surface weather in the Northern Hemisphere westerlies, with particular emphasis on the short-term process in North America. The first part of the book discusses long waves, introduces the topic of short, traveling waves & their relationship to surface pressure centers, & concludes with the connection between long waves & temperature & precipitation patterns. The material is presented in qualitative terms with quantitative exposition of selected aspects of circulation provided in an appendix. The second part focuses on 500mb climatology. It includes maps of mean 500mb pressure heights & height changes revealing month-to-month patterns of mean trough & ridge development for the period of record (1946-1987), histograms depicting the geographic distribution of mean trough & ridge axes, & maps of calculated monthly & daily geostrophic winds. The connection between these details & seasonal climatology is emphasized.Harman, Jay R. is the author of 'Synoptic Climatology of the Westerlies Process and Patterns', published 1991 under ISBN 9780892912087 and ISBN 0892912081.