Cold Fronts Research: the Australian Summertime "Cool Change" A

Cold Fronts Research: The Australian Summertime "Cool Change" A

Abstract

Much of the significant weather of southeastern Australia is associated with the passage of cold fronts. In summer, such passages are often accompanied by rapid and extreme temperature falls, as hot continental northerly winds are replaced with much colder southwesterlies from the Southern Ocean; for this reason, they are popu- larly and aptly known as "cool changes." These summertime fronts, which normally form part of a front-trough complex sandwiched between two anticyclones, are ill-understood and lead to many forecasting problems. In early 1979, a Cold Fronts Research Programme was established as a coordinated long-term project to study front- trough systems affecting this region of Australia. The program, which involves all of the major Australian meteorological centers, has been designed to include three observational phases over five years, with emphasis being placed on summertime frontal systems. Each phase of intensive observations is of four weeks duration, and Phases I and II have now been completed. This article summarizes the philosophy behind the program, outlines its scientific objectives, and describes the observational networks employed. A brief review of the results of Phases I and II and an outline of future activities also is presented. South Wales, an extreme manifestation of which is the "southerly buster" (Colquhoun, 1980; Baines 1980). Weather forecasters in Australia have been aware for a long time that models of frontal structure, developed during 1. Introduction many decades on the basis of observational studies in the northern hemisphere, are of limited value in the Australian In summer, frontal passages in southeast Australia often region in late spring and summer. At this time, when the sub- bring extreme temperature falls, as strong hot and dry north- tropical ridge is displaced south of the continent, it is com- erly winds from the continent are replaced with much cooler mon for southeast Australia to be affected by cold fronts southwesterly winds from the Southern Ocean. Surface formed in the col or trough between two anticyclones (ana- temperatures in the northerlies occasionally exceed 40°C and lyzed by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology as the "pre- temperature falls of 10-15°C in a few tens of minutes are not frontal trough") as well as the tail ends of fronts extending uncommon. This explains the popular name "cool change" from the depressions of higher latitudes. Anticyclones affect- for such fronts. Only about half of summer changes are ac- ing southeast Australia tend to "bud off" from the semi- companied by precipitation, the remainder being completely permanent high in the Indian Ocean in this season, and this dry; this is a reflection of the relative dryness of the warm air. may be associated with a higher latitude cold front. Interac- Accordingly, severe thunderstorm activity is unusual over tion between this front and the pre-frontal trough presents a South Australia and Victoria, but the interaction of fronts very complex situation for forecasting. An example of this with the coastal dividing ranges between Melbourne and type of situation is shown in Fig. 1. There is also a large land- Sydney in the presence of more humid air to the east of the sea temperature contrast along a long and predominantly ranges can lead to severe squalls along the south coast of New east-west coastline, with an extensive ocean area poleward, a unique geographical situation which presumably has an important bearing on frontal behavior (also the north-south coastlines of western Australia and southeast South Aus- 1 Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Monash University, tralia between Adelaide and Mount Gambier provide a suit- Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia. ably oriented strong temperature gradient for frontogenesis 2 CSIRO Division of Cloud Physics, Epping, NSW 2121, Australia. 3CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Physics, Aspendale, Victoria to occur). Notwithstanding these special aspects, models de- 3195, Australia. veloped on the basis of observations of fronts in the northern 4 Research and Development Branch, Bureau of Meteorology, hemisphere currently provide the main guide to frontal ana- P.O. Box 1289K, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. lysis and forecasting in the Australian region. This is an un- 0003-0007/82/091028-07$05.75 fortunate situation, since most of the significant weather in © 1982 American Meteorological Society the densely populated southeast of Australia is associated

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season (Berson, 1958; Berson etal., 1959). The data were collected from two experimental networks. The first was at Mount Gambier and the second in the Melbourne region. During the observing period both radiosonde temperature and humidity soundings as well as pilot balloon (pibal) ascents were made. The upper-air observations were supported by a network of self-recording surface stations. A light aircraft was used to make soundings over Bass Strait. The observations successfully established the existence of a low-level shear zone associated with the cool change. In 1959 a mesoscale network was set up to study the structure of dry cold fronts (Clarke, 1961). Serial pibal flights in the vicinity of frontal zones revealed flow patterns that indicated a marked deformation of the frontal surface. It was found that if the air in the vicinity of the fronts had been satu- rated at the 900 mb level, both the cold fronts and the sea breeze fronts would have developed significant prefrontal FIG. 1. MSL synoptic chart for the Australian Region showing a rain. Further, such flows would have triggered convective typical summertime situation with a front-trough system in the southeast of the region, sandwiched between two anticyclones. Sur- rain if the warm air was potentially unstable. Clarke (1961) face fronts, representing the boundary of significantly colder air, are found evidence to suggest that the strong circulations about often preceded by a 'pre-frontal trough' in which thunderstorms the leading edge of the cool change were favored by the pres- may develop. With the passage of the front, hot continental north- ence of the coastline. The observational studies at this time erly winds are replaced with much colder southwesterlies from the Southern Ocean. were complemented by the theoretical work of Ball (1960). It is noteworthy that the pioneering studies of Clarke and Berson et al. described above were made before the advent of satellites and suffer from an almost complete lack of data with the passage of cold fronts. In summer, the bush fire sea- over the ocean (except for the occasional ship report). In son, accurate forecasts of frontal wind changes and precipi- more recent years, synoptic research in Australia has concen- tation may be critical for successful fire control; such fires trated on satellite observations of cloud and its application to occur frequently during hot spells and are especially danger- the forecasting of cyclogenesis over the Southern Ocean. ous in the ambience of strong, dry northerly winds ahead of However, the cloud structure of frontal bands has not been fronts. investigated specifically. Indeed, Streten (1977) emphasized Research into the characteristics and behavior of cold the lack of observational studies of bands of organized cloud fronts in the Australian region is not without a history, al- of substantial horizontal dimensions which are associated though previous studies, in particular early observational with the "front" of the synoptic chart. programs, were limited in a number of ways. Intensive research into cold fronts in Australia has been In the immediate post-war period, attempts were made to revived in recent years, the initial stimuli resulting from a systematize southern hemisphere frontal analysis (Clarke, two-day workshop on fronts organized by the Australian 1954), but not until the period from 1953 to 1959 were special Branch of the Royal Meteorological Society in May 1977 and observations made describing in detail the surface features of from the report later that year of an ad hoc Bureau of Meteor- the summer cool change (Berson et al., 1957,1959). The term ology working group on the 'Progress and Prospects of "change" was used to describe a sequence of events which Weather Forecasting' which recommended, inter alia, that give the appearance of fronts and included both cold fronts there be a comprehensive study of cold fronts as they affect and sea breeze fronts. During the seasons 1953-54 and southeastern Australia. Partly as an outcome of the report, a 1954-55, Berson et al. (1957) analyzed the frequency, move- Cold Fronts Research Programme (CFRP) was established in ment, and certain structural features of fronts. The observa- 1979 with a particular view to increasing understanding of tional material used in the analysis was based on routine ob- the summertime cool change and to facilitate improved fore- servations made by the Bureau of Meteorology and casts of such events. Central to this is an observational sub- supplemented by other surface-based observations. It was program, with field studies closely coupled to theoretical in- shown that the summer differential heating between the land vestigations. This ambitious project has harnessed the and sea exerted a strong influence on the behavior of cool resources of the major meteorological institutions in Aus- changes. Two, and sometimes more, discontinuities in a se- tralia, including the Bureau of Meteorology, the CSIRO Di- quence frequently accompanied the main trough, the leading visions of Atmospheric Physics and Cloud Physics, the Aus- change being as a rule more pronounced. Over a wide coastal tralian Numerical Meteorology Research Centre and Monash, region, single and leading changes tended to arrive in the Melbourne, and Flinders universities. The CFRP is adminis- afternoon, consistent with a diurnal variation of the speed of tered by a Joint Planning Committee whose main function is the front deduced from synoptic analysis. The variation in to coordinate the activities of several working groups. These speed, which had an afternoon maximum, was explained in groups include the Synoptic Studies Working Group, the terms of the diurnal variation in the horizontal pressure field Field Studies Working Group, the Theoretical and Numeri- produced by differential heating between hinterland and sea. cal Studies Working Group, and the Data Analysis Advisory The observational program was extended into the 1956-57 Group.

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2. Observational studies and objectives

Planning for the observational sub-program was guided by proposals laid out in a report by a working party, with repre- sentation of the various meteorological groups involved, at the end of 1979. The overall objectives of an observational study were identified as:

1) to examine the 3-dimensional dynamic and thermodynamic structure and evolution of selected summertime frontal systems as they enter southeastern Australia, to study the effects of the ocean-land transition in terms of abrupt changes in surface heating and friction in the absence of significant topographical effects; 2) to examine the relationship between large-scale features in the upper troposphere (e.g., jet streams, troughs) and frontal systems in the lower troposphere; 3) to provide a data base for the initialization and verifica- tion of numerical models which have a grid mesh capa- FIG. 2. Observational network used for Phase I of the CFRP. Sta- ble of explicitly representing frontal-scale features. tions mentioned in the text are Mount Gambier MG (rawinsonde), Pelican Point PP (pibal). Other stations comprise the autographic In establishing these objectives, the working party was network. strongly influenced by a questionnaire prepared by the Vic- torian Regional Forecasting Centre and circulated to forecasters in the Bureau's southern regions. usual rawinsonde facilities and weather watch radar. The of- It was recommended that the observational study should fice is sited at the Mount Gambier airport where an instru- consist of three phases. This article describes the first two mented F27 research aircraft (see Fig. 3) was based during the phases which took place from 24 November to 20 December observational period. An analysis center was located at an 1980 and 18 November to 14 December 1981, respectively. adjacent site occupied by the CSIRO Division of Forest Re- search. A coastal station at Pelican Point was established also and equipped, inter alia, with automatically recording theodolites for wind finding, a pluviograph, a digital ba- 3. Observational Phase I rometer, and a Woelfle anemograph. Other autographic instruments (barographs, thermohygrographs and anemo- This was conceived as a preliminary investigation to demon- graphs) were deployed at locations in the Mount Gambier strate that the proposed observational program was logisti- region as shown in Fig. 2. In addition, data were available cally feasible and scientifically sound. The principal objec- from the routine observing network in southeast Australia tives were: and from satellites. The design of the observing network was based on the following considerations: 1) to study the dynamic and thermodynamic structure of frontal systems in the lower troposphere, normal to 1) Aircraft soundings separated by a distance of 50-100 their lateral axis, as they approach and traverse the km are necessary to adequately resolve the cross-front coastline in the vicinity of Mount Gambier in South space scales. Such resolution is consistent also with Australia. Included here are fronts associated with the two-hourly radiosonde ascents and that of VTPR data sea breeze circulation; from the orbiting satellites TIROS-N and NOAA-6. 2) to assess the capabilities of the different instruments 2) Smaller-scale horizontal resolution of wind and and observational platforms (e.g., aircraft, satellite, temperature fields requires horizontal traverses by the and upper-air soundings of meteorological quantities aircraft and one-hourly low-level winds at a single in frontal situations); coastal station. 3) to establish optimal logistical procedures for aircraft 3) To determine accurately the orientation and speed of operations in respect to horizontal and vertical tran- movement of the surface discontinuity over the land sects through systems (e.g., the procedures for shallow requires a network of anemographs, recording thermo- nonprecipitating fronts would be different from those hygrographs, and microbarometers. for deep precipitating systems); 4) Investigations of temporal and spatial variations in 4) to assess the value of the additional field observations cloud cover require GMS (Geostationary Meteoro- to the forecasters in the Victorian and South Australian logical Satellite) imagery, while temporal and spatial regional offices. variations in precipitation require radar and pluviograph observations. The observing network developed for Phase I is shown in Fig. 2. The operational center for the program was the A comprehensive sequence of surface and upper-air ob- Mount Gambier Meteorological Office. This is a station in servations was initiated when an analysis (relying heavily on the Bureau of Meteorology's upper air network and has the interpretations of satellite imagery) indicated the location of

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FIG. 3. The Fokker F27 research aircraft used during the intensive observational phases of the Cold Fronts Programme. The aircraft is equipped with Doppler wind finding equipment and a wide range of sensors for measuring thermodynamic and cloud microphysics parameters. It is a research facility for CSIRO managed by the Division of Cloud Physics.

a front 400 km off the coast, west to southwest of Mount companied by baroclinic features in the lower troposphere Gambier. These observations included two-hourly rawin- (below the 700 mb level). sonde ascents at Mount Gambier and hourly pibal ascents at It was clear at the planning stage of the project that there Pelican Point. At this stage, a flight plan was developed for would be a need to study diurnal variations, including sea the aircraft which was dispatched to intercept and traverse breeze circulations on days without fronts. (In fact, large di- the front when the latter was forecast to be about 200 km off- urnal variations were observed in all of the first three events shore. Flight plans provided for soundings to be made ahead of Phase I). Accordingly, a sea breeze observational sub-pro- of and behind the front, as well as horizontal cross-sections, gram was organized. In total, three sea breeze episodes were as the front approached and moved over the land. Air navi- studied; these are detailed in an appendix to the Technical gation regulations effectively restricted aircraft scheduling to Report. two flights of up to four hours' duration each for an event; otherwise the period of intensive observations was planned to last for 24 to 36 h. During Phase I, five events were documented. A prelimi- 4. Observational Phase II nary analysis of the data collected on these, together with a critical assessment of Phase I, is contained in a Technical Re- The preliminary analysis of Phase I has revealed facets of port of the Bureau of Meteorology (Ryan (Ed.), 1981). Indi- fronts (e.g., a pressure jump line and upper-level baroclinic vidual case studies are in preparation and will be submitted zones with no surface front) over southeastern Australia that for publication in due course. Two of the events, namely one have hitherto received little attention. Further, the results and three, took place with several change lines occurring, as contributed significantly to the design of Phase II. In particu- happens with half the 'cool changes' in this region in lar, they highlighted the need for surface and upper-air ob- summer. Of particular interest was Event 1 which comprised servations offshore and provided guidance in the design of a no less than three lines of change, the second of which was a land based network suitable for studying some of the 3- and propagating pressure jump line. Event 2 was a deep frontal 4-dimensional aspects of fronts. The objectives of Phase II system extending throughout the troposphere, in contrast to are detailed below: Event 3, where the intrusion of cold air behind the front was confined to a very shallow layer (below the 800 mb level). In 1) to examine the dynamic and thermodynamic structure all of these three events, one change line was found having a of frontal systems normal to their lateral axis while the speed greater than the wind normal to it at any level; i.e., the front is out over the sea and as it approaches and trav- behavior of that change was 'wavelike,' as opposed to a sim- erses the coastline in the vicinity of Mount Gambier. ple displacement of warm air by an intruding wedge of cold Observations of the frontal structure over the sea are air, as envisaged in the classical model. Events 4 and 5, while needed if the effects of the ocean-land transition are to having cloud lines with significant weather associated with be adequately understood. Offshore observations were them, were more of the nature of cold pools and were not ac- made during Phase I, but these were inadequate;

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2) to assess the variation of dynamic and thermodynamic fields along the front while it is over the land and relate these observations to the structure of cloud bands along the front; 3) to define relationships between cloud bands and the surface discontinuities; 4) to examine the physical processes that affect the movement of frontal systems and to determine which of the change lines or 'fronts' passing through Mount Gambier finally bring the 'cool change' to central Victoria; 5) to establish a network to measure the low-level winds, the horizontal transport of heat and moisture, and to make some measurements of vertical heat and moisture fluxes in the boundary layer during the passage of a 'front,' in order to elucidate modifications of the front as a result of surface heating and friction; 6) in situations where fronts show the characteristics of a density current, to describe the 3-dimensional structure of the wedge of cold air near the nose of the front. Objectives 3) and 4) are of special importance to the forecasting problem, since forecasters rely heavily on interpretations of satellite imagery to identify fronts over the Southern FIG. 4. Observational network used for Phase II of the CFRP. Sta- Ocean. Indeed, the problem of locating surface fronts over tions mentioned in the text are Branxholme BR (pibal), Horsham the sea was brought home to us during Phase I, when it HO (radiosonde), Mount Gambier MG (rawinsonde), Pelican Point proved difficult to forecast with sufficient accuracy the time PP (pibal), Struan ST (pibal). Other stations comprise the autogra- at which a front would be 200 km offshore to optimise the phic network. first aircraft flight. The endurance of the aircraft is such that a too-early dispatch leaves it with insufficient range to per- form the necessary cross-section and soundings, whereas a also to make six-hourly rawinsonde ascents during an event. late dispatch leaves insufficient time to make the required The pibal station at Pelican Point also was retained and sim- measurements before the front crosses the coast. Greater ilar stations were established at Struan and Branxholme. In forecasting accuracy was achieved in Phase II due in part to a addition, the network of autographic stations was expanded special reconnaisance flight provided for each event by the as shown, with the provision of additional stations across Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Following a request southern and western Victoria to the vicinity of Melbourne. from the Phase II Operations Centre, an RAAF Canberra jet As in Phase I, five events were studied during Phase II, al- aircraft, equipped with wind finding and temperature sens- though the first of these might be regarded as a nonevent! A ing instruments, was directed to fly at a height of 12 km, from band of low-level cloud which had been moving at 7-10 m s_1 Edinburgh Air Force Base near Adelaide to a position esti- and had then slowed down was investigated by the RAAF mated to lie behind the front. It then descended and made a and the F27 aircraft. The former found middle cloud and traverse at 1 km, passing through the front, to Mount Gam- cumuliform cloud in the band and a temperature drop of 6°C bier. This assistance in locating the front proved immensely across it, but six hours later, the F27 reported only low-level valuable for optimising the research aircraft operations dur- stratiform cloud and a 2°C temperature change. Later, satel- ing Phase II. A further forecasting aid which, to our surprise, lite pictures showed the band to have dissipated and, appar- had a major impact on predicting the progression of fronts ently, nothing of this disturbance ever reached land. well in advance was the ECMWF (European Centre for Me- Events 2, 3, and 4 were generally similar on the synoptic dium Range Weather Forecasting) four-day prognoses. This scale. A blocking high was situated east of Australia, and a product, which was unavailable during Phase I, gave reliable large low pressure complex was south of Western Australia. forecasts of the position of the broadscale trough two days in A front emanated from this latter system and moved east; as advance. It was, therefore, most useful in planning opera- this happened, the Western Australian trough moved east tions and enabled timely advanced notice to be given to the ahead of it, sometimes developing a small closed circulation. RAAF. At the same time, Mount Gambier was just west of the major The observational network for Phase II was a considerably 500 mb ridge, and there was moist air aloft. Hence, on every oc- expanded form of that used in Phase I and is shown in Fig. 4. casion, middle-level cloud formed with much castellanus, The Operations Centre remained at Mount Gambier, but the which could have developed into thunderstorms over sea or radiosonde network was extended by the provision of a land, and it appeared that the coastline was important. As mobile rawinsonde station at Horsham which, together with the front-trough complex moved east, a ridge extended into the Mount Gambier station, made two-hourly rawinsonde the Bight from the Indian Ocean high, and subsequently a ascents during a frontal passage. The upper-air stations at "bubble high" developed in the Bight. This continued to Adelaide and Laverton (near Melbourne) were requested move, until northerly winds reappeared at Mount Gambier

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/06/21 10:48 PM UTC Bulletin American Meteorological Society 1033 and the process was repeated. Associated with the movement for some time, and then a rapid rise. A cloud band with cloud of the front/trough complex there was eastward movement base about 4 km suddenly developed near the coast (with no and development of the cloud bands, so that showers and surface discontinuity) ahead of a previously existing band, thunderstorms were common during observational periods. and moved rapidly eastward while the band to its west dissi- All three events were characterized by non-stationary proc- pated. This new band was associated with thunderstorms esses and not simple advection. Changes at the surface ap- and showers over the sea, and by the time the research air- pear to weaken and dissipate, or develop markedly. (This craft on its second flight encountered the band east of Branx- may be due in part to the shallowness of the cold air in all holme, it was a broad band from which light rain was falling three events as shown by aircraft soundings and the Mount (Fig. 5). Gambier radiosondes). For instance, in Event 2, the aircraft, The synoptic situation associated with Event 5 was quite flying out to sea to the west, found a broad transition zone different from Events 2, 3 and 4; in this case a major trough (about 150 km wide) from a 30 m s"1 northerly jet at 500 m, to extended north from a deep low at high latitudes. Some pre- southwesterly winds, with a gradual decline of 10°C in cipitation was observed from middle level cloud ahead, and temperature and also an increase in moisture. The change on there were showers in the rear of the change, but thunder- reaching land was easier to detect at 500 m (from the Pelican storms were absent. The discontinuity investigated moved Point pibals) than at the surface. Also, the 30 m s_1 norther- rapidly eastwards at about 15 m s-1, and winds shifted only to lies showed a marked increase over wind speeds observed west from north or northwest, and then reverted to north of earlier by the RAAF flight. By the time the front reached west. A second discontinuity, the boundary of the deep cold Melbourne in the evening, the leading edge had intensified, air, was suggested by satellite imagery, but was not found by and a marked discontinuity in wind and temperature had the aircraft. The soundings at Mount Gambier showed developed. deeper cold air than in the three events prior; by the last In Event 3, the surface trough passed Mount Gambier in sounding, the cold air had reached the 600 mb level, while in the afternoon and progressed rapidly eastward; it subse- the previous three events it reached no higher than about the quently slowed down and weakened and a further system 800 mb level (possibly 700 mb in Event 4, but with rapid sub- took over. A north-south band of cloud extending north sidence behind). from Kangaroo Island, which was associated with a surface At this stage, a considerable amount of detailed analysis discontinuity but which had only a little middle cloud on it has been done on Event 2, but rather less on the others. In south of the island, suddenly "blew up" and a line of thun- Event 2, such factors as the existence and persistence of the derstorms with a vivid display of lightning passed over low-level northerly jet and its relation to the thunderstorm Mount Gambier about 9 PM local time. outbreaks are now yielding to investigation. It is hoped that In Event 4, a small low developed in the trough and moved the foregoing brief description of the events during Phase II rapidly southeast to pass near Mount Gambier. Pressure rec- will provide some flavor of the problems which the CFRP is ords showed a rapid pressure fall (6 mb in 6 h), a levelling-off seeking to address, and the complexity of these problems.

FIG. 5. Photograph of the frontal line in Event 4 of Observational Phase II taken during a sounding over land in the cold air behind the front. View is toward the northeast.

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5. Data analysis and archiving the data analyses of Phases I and II are further advanced. It is anticipated that detailed planning for a Phase III will com- A preliminary analysis of many of the data from Phase II was mence towards the end of 1983. carried out on-site at Mount Gambier. This was greatly facili- tated by the provision of a mobile computer caravan by the CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Physics. This early analysis of data had a number of merits; firstly, much was done while events were still fresh in the minds of the investigators; also, it References enabled data quality to be monitored so that faulty instruments and equipment could be detected and repaired, and Baines, P. G., 1980: The dynamics of the southerly buster. Aust. observational procedures could be modified where neces- Meteorol. Mag., 28, 175-200. sary. As for Phase I, it is planned to prepare a summary and Ball, F. K., 1960: A theory of fronts in relation to surface stress. Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc., 86, 51-66. first analysis of Phase II observations in the form of a Bureau Berson, F. A., 1958: Some measurements of undercutting cold air. of Meteorology Technical Report. It is aimed to have this in Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc., 89, 1-16. print towards the end of 1982. , D. G. Reid, and A. J. Troup, 1957: The summer cool change of The archiving of data from Phases I and II is being coordi- southeastern Australia—Part I. Tech. Pap. 8, CSIRO Division of nated by the CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Physics and, Meteorological Physics, 48 pp. when completed, data will be available to interested people. , , and , 1959: The summer cool change of southeastern Australia—Part II. Tech. Pap. 9, CSIRO Division of Meteoro- logical Physics, 69 pp. Clarke, R. H., 1954: Frontal analysis over the Southern Ocean. Aust. Meteorol. Mag., 5, 33-54. 6. Future activities , 1961: Mesostructure of dry cold fronts over featureless terrain. J. Meteorol., 18, 715-735. Owing to the considerable effort and resources involved, it is Colquhoun, J. R., 1980: The origin, evolution and structure of some inevitable that the observational phases have gained much of southerly busters. Tech. Rept. 40, Bureau of Meteorology, the limelight of the CFRP, and this is likely to continue while Australia. so much labor is invested in data analysis. However, as the Ryan, B. F., (ed.) 1981: Cold Fronts Research Program Phase I: 24 latter proceeds, the emphasis will be to encourage and pro- November to 20 December 1980. Tech. Rept. 46, Bureau of Meteor- ology, Australia, 95 pp. mote theoretical and numerical studies of summertime front- , 1982: A perspective of research into cold fronts and associated trough systems, making use, of course, of the detailed data mesoscale phenomena in Australia into the 1980's. Aust. Meteorol. sets now being assembled. A brief review of associated re- Mag., 30, 123-131. search already in progress is given by Ryan (1982). Streten, N. A., 1977: Some aspects of satellite observation of frontal A third observational phase of the CFRP is tentatively cloud over the Southern Hemisphere. Proceedings of a Royal Me- proposed for the summer of 1984-85, but decisions on the teorological Society (Australian Branch) Workshop on Fronts, design and implementation of this have been set aside until Melbourne, 25-27 May 1977. •

announcements (

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