The Lagrangian analysis tool LAGRANTO – version 2.0

Abstract

Abstract. Lagrangian trajectories are widely used in the atmospheric sciences, for instance to identify flow structures in extratropical cyclones (e.g., warm conveyor belts) and long-range transport pathways of moisture and trace substances. Here a new version of the Lagrangian analysis tool LAGRANTO (Wernli and Davies, 1997) is introduced, which offers considerably enhanced functionalities: (i) trajectory starting positions can be described easily based on different geometrical and/or meteorological conditions; e.g., equidistantly spaced within a prescribed region and on a stack of pressure (or isentropic) levels; (ii) a versatile selection of trajectories is offered based on single or combined criteria; these criteria are passed to LAGRANTO with a simple command language (e.g., "GT:PV:2" readily translates into a selection of all trajectories with potential vorticity (PV) greater than 2 PVU); and (iii) full versions are available for global ECMWF and regional COSMO data; core functionality is also provided for the regional WRF and UM models, and for the global 20th Century Reanalysis data set. The intuitive application of LAGRANTO is first presented for the identification of a warm conveyor belt in the North Atlantic. A further case study then shows how LAGRANTO is used to quasi-operationally diagnose stratosphere–troposphere exchange events over Europe. Whereas these example rely on the ECMWF version, the COSMO version and input fields with 7 km horizontal resolution are needed to adequately resolve the rather complex flow structure associated with orographic blocking due to the Alps. Finally, an example of backward trajectories presents the tool's application in source-receptor analysis studies. The new distribution of LAGRANTO is publicly available and includes simple tools, e.g., to visualize and merge trajectories. Furthermore, a detailed user guide exists, which describes all LAGRANTO capabilities.