Climatological aspects of cyclogenesis near Adélie Land Antarctica

However, the physical mechanisms responsible for cyclogenesis are not known. A manual analysis of cyclogenesis for the 2003-2005 period using output from the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) identifies two primary patterns of cyclogenesis near the Adelie Land coast.

For "secondary development" cyclones, enhanced low-level cyclonic vorticity and baroclinicity result from the combination of an existing synoptic-scale cyclone to the west, coastal barrier winds and katabatic winds. "Lee cyclogenesis" occurs near 152 degrees E on the cyclonic-shear side of the Adelie Land katabatic jet, where a low-level warm potential temperature anomaly sets up a lee trough that becomes mobile with the arrival of upper-level synoptic-scale forcing.