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front Boundary or boundary region separating air masses of different origins and characteristics. Temperature gradients in any horizontal surface are large through the front. Different types of front are distinguished according to the nature of the air masses separated by the front, the direction of the front's advance, and the stage of development. The term was first devised during the First World War by the Norwegian school of meteorologists (headed by Prof. V. Bjerknes). See also ANAFRONT; COLD FRONT; WARM FRONT; KATAFRONT; OCCLUDED FRONT; and POLAR FRONT.

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