A refinement of cyclone tracking methods with data from FROST

Abstract

The Antarctic First Regional Observing Study of the Troposphere (FROST) project had three one-month Special Observing Periods (SOPs) during which the commitment was made to ensure that all additional data collected were passed on via the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) to operational centres for use in the construction of the analyses. These analyses can be regarded as the best available for these times of year, given the special effort to include additional data south of 50°S during these periods. The availability of these high-quality analyses has stimulated us to refine the Melbourne University numerical cyclone tracking algorithm, with additional synoptic guidance gained from a man..