Master Thesis Defense by Rebekka Johansen

Title: A Diachronic Study of the Polar Front in the North Atlantic Region & it’s Connection to the North Atlantic Oscillation.

Abstract:
This master’s thesis investigates how the wintertime polar front in the North At- lantic region changes in terms of mean latitude, temperature and geopotential height thickness from the period 1960-1979 to 2002-2021. Afterwards, these findings are linked to the monthly NAO indices to find the areas of strongest correlation in the period 1960-2021. The results from the analyses carried out in this master’s thesis reveal that the mean latitude of the wintertime polar front in the North Atlantic region increased from 1960-1979 to 2002-2021. Although the mean temperature did as well, while the mean geopotential thickness decreased, these discoveries were considered largely statistically insignificant. Lastly, the strongest connection to the NAO index was found with mean monthly latitude in the Atlantic Ocean, south of Greenland.

Supervisors: Jens Hesselbjerg Christensen and Aksel Walløe Hansen