Center of Action
center of action
[′sen·tər əv ′ak·shən]Center of Action
an area of high or low atmospheric pressure on charts of the global distribution of surface pressure. Centers of action are a statistical result of the prevalence of anticyclones or cyclones in a particular region. A distinction is made between semipermanent and seasonal centers of action; in Russian, the semipermanent centers are called permanent (postoiannye, or permanentnye) centers. The semipermanent centers of action are the equatorial trough, subtropical highs, the subpolar low-pressure belts, and arctic highs. The seasonal centers of action are continental highs and continental low-pressure areas.