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Which term describes an isolated tongue of stratospheric air?

  • A.A potential vorticity streamer or cut-off
  • B.A tropopause fold, which is the vertical cross section through such a feature rather than the horizontal view
  • C.A dry intrusion
  • D.A jet streak, which is a localised maximum of wind speed embedded within the upper level westerly flow

Answer: A

Wave breaking on an isentropic surface draws long filaments of high potential vorticity air equatorward, and these streamers sometimes pinch off into isolated cut-off features. The tropopause fold is the same feature seen in a vertical section and the dry intrusion is its signature in water vapour imagery, so all three describe closely related aspects of one structure. The shared properties explain why these belong to one family, and the differences explain why more than one exists.

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