A note on boundary-layer friction in baroclinic cyclones

The interaction between extratropical cyclones and the underlying boundary layer has been a topic of recent discussion in papers by Adamson et. al. (2006) and Beare (2007). Their results emphasise different mechanisms through which the boundary layer dynamics may modify the growth of a baroclinic cyclone. By using different sea-surface temperature distributions and comparing the low-level winds, the differences are exposed and both of the proposed mechanisms appear to be acting within a single simulation.