9633418 Morgan The objectives of this project are to describe the propagation and development characteristics of midlatitude upper tropospheric mobile troughs ("short waves"), characterize the basic state flow within which short waves propagate, and identify the disturbances antecedent to short wave formation and determine their relationship to the background atmospheric flow. The research will utilize data from the North American radiosonde and rawinsonde network, analysis and forecast fields from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) operational weather forecast models, and possibly data from an upcoming international experiment known as FASTEX (Fronts and Atlantic Storm Track Experiment). The NCAR limited area nonhydrostatic mesoscale model (MM5) as well as simpler quasi-geostrophic models will be employed to help elucidate the interactions between the basic state and the short wave precursors. The results from this research should have practical application in improving short and medium range weather forecasts. In addition, they may provide some guidance in the deployment of adaptive observing systems for weather prediction. ***
