Factor separation in atmosphic modelling a review

This paper presents a review of the factor separation (FS) technique and its fractional approach. The work focuses on two points. First, the FS methodology is applied to some fundamental mathematical functions. For each function we define the constrains for the factor values, by investigating the function under three different synergy states: synergy term equals zero; is opposite in its sign to the factors' contributions, or is dominant. Second, the application of the method is demonstrated with a simplified atmospheric problem with an analytical solution, i.e., the Haurwitz sea-breeze (SB) model. The FS method also assists in analyzing the effects of the dominant and secondary factors in given physical models that have analytical solutions. Study of factors with the FS methodology allows a better understanding of the various mechanisms and particularly the role of their interactions-synergies in atmospheric dynamics.