Mesoscale convective systems in frontal systems observed by Meteosat-8 infrared imagery

A study of the properties of Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCS) related to frontal systems has been carried out by means of Meteosat-8 infrared (IR) images using MASCOTTE (MAximum Spatial COrrelation Tracking TEchnique). The MASCOTTE method is an objective and automated method of describing structural properties of the cloud derived from the IR imagery. It has been adapted to the Meteosat-8 imagery and is able to track MCS evolution each 15 min., thus providing essential information about both the dynamical and morphological characteristics of MCS. For each MCS identified by MASCOTTE within a frontal system, a set of structural properties is computed: position, horizontal area, mean velocity and direction of displacement, mean and minimum temperature, orientation, eccentricity, among others. By using this method, we are able to learn more about the properties of MCS developed in the nucleus of a front.