Atmospheric Blockings in Western Siberia. Part 1. Detection Features, Objective Criteria, and Their Comparison

O. Yu. Antokhina, P. N. Antokhin, O. S. Zorkal’tseva, and E. V. Devyatova

Based on the NCEP/NCAR and ERA-Interim reanalysis archives, we investigated different methods to detect atmospheric blocking events in Western Siberia. Two criteria were studied that are based on calculating meridional gradients of the 500 hPa height and potential temperature at the dynamic tropopause. A situation is considered blocking, when it features a gradient inversion of the investigated characteristics. Additionally, we performed a synoptic analysis of individual blocking events.