Journal of Spatial Analysis

This study was conducted to investigate the foehn mechanism in the Alborz Mountains.For this purpose, daily temperature, mean and maximum daily temperature, minimum, mean and maximum daily relative humidity, hourly wind direction and velocity data were collected and prepared at 8 selected stations over a 10-year statistical period (2006-2010). To derive the sum of frequency of occurrence of foehn, hot days are extracted using Baldy index and taking into account wind direction relative to station position and temperature rise compared to previous days were identified as days associated with foehn. Then, using NCEP / NCAR database data, different atmospheric alignment maps were obtained for the selected samples and plotted in Grads software environment. Then the position of high pressure cores and adjacent low pressures on the maps were determined. Results showed that Masouleh station with 41 days frequency and Astara and Bandar Anzali station with 18 days had the highest and lowest occurrence of foehn. Investigations on the synoptic maps of 35 foehn events showed that a total of three groups of Anti-cyclone or high-pressure centers were affected by the synoptic pattern of the region in the days involved. The first group is the Siberian High Pressure Tabs, whose cores are located in the confines of Lake Baikal, Balchash and northern Pakistan, depending on the season and synoptic conditions. The low pressure cores are located on the Caspian Sea and the pressure difference between the high pressure tab of the Alborz Outer Slopes and the Caspian Sea causes a compressive stress. In this model, Cyclone currents with increasing moisture of the Caspian Sea on the western slopes of Alborz Heights cause precipitation and warm flow due to warming under windward slopes. The second group is the anticyclone of Saudi Arabia, in which specimens with spin cores are deployed on southwestern Iran. As the north side of the Arabian High Pressure extends northwest of Iran and the presence of low polar pressure in the Caspian region with intensified compressive flow causes currents southwest along the perpendicular heights. Western anticyclone currents in the Arabian Sea circulate the moisture of the southern warm seas to northwestern Iran. The third group is a combination of African anticyclones, immigrants, Siberian highs and its tabs that create a thermal and compressive style over the study area and west of the Alborz Mountains. And provide the basis for the formation of the foehn phenomenon.