GMAO South Pole Potential Vorticity Reanalysis

GMAO South Pole PV Reanalysis

Earth’s poles are characterized by seasonal, cyclonic systems at mid-stratospheric and tropospheric levels – often referred to as polar vortexes. The exact mechanisms that govern the formation and behavior of polar vortexes aren’t completely understood, but the boundary of each vortex can be effectively defined by mapping potential vorticity (PV) across various isentropic surfaces.

This visualization of the Antarctic Polar Vortex at the 850k isentropic surface relies on a reanalysis of potential vorticity as derived from historic scalar measurements of wind speed, temperature, and air pressure. These data were generated by the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2), an assimilated data product maintained by NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO).