scholarly journals High resolution climate and vegetation simulations of the Late Pliocene, a model-data comparison over western Europe and the Mediterranean region

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 585-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Jost ◽  
S. Fauquette ◽  
M. Kageyama ◽  
G. Krinner ◽  
G. Ramstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Terrestrial Vegetation ◽  
Model Data ◽  
Late Pliocene ◽  
Data Comparison ◽  
The Mediterranean

Abstract. Here we perform a detailed comparison between climate model results and climate reconstructions in western Europe and the Mediterranean area for the mid-Piacenzian warm interval (ca 3 Myr ago) of the Late Pliocene epoch. This region is particularly well suited for such a comparison as several quantitative climate estimates from local pollen records are available. They show evidence for temperatures significantly warmer than today over the whole area, mean annual precipitation higher in northwestern Europe and equivalent to modern values in its southwestern part. To improve our comparison, we have performed high resolution simulations of the mid-Piacenzian climate using the LMDz atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) with a stretched grid which allows a finer resolution over Europe. In a first step, we applied the PRISM2 (Pliocene Research, Interpretation, and Synoptic Mapping) boundary conditions except that we used modern terrestrial vegetation. Second, we simulated the vegetation for this period by forcing the ORCHIDEE (Organizing Carbon and Hydrology in Dynamic Ecosystems) dynamic global vegetation model (DGVM) with the climatic outputs from the AGCM. We then supplied this simulated terrestrial vegetation cover as an additional boundary condition in a second AGCM run. This gives us the opportunity to investigate the model's sensitivity to the simulated vegetation changes in a global warming context. Model results and data show a great consistency for mean annual temperatures, indicating increases by up to 4°C in the study area, and some disparities, in particular in the northern Mediterranean sector, as regards winter and summer temperatures. Similar continental mean annual precipitation and moisture patterns are predicted by the model, which broadly underestimates the wetter conditions indicated by the data in northwestern Europe. The biogeophysical effects due to the changes in vegetation simulated by ORCHIDEE are weak, both in terms of the hydrological cycle and of the temperatures, at the regional scale of the European and Mediterranean mid-latitudes. In particular, they do not contribute to improve the model-data comparison. Their main influence concerns seasonal temperatures, with a decrease of the temperatures of the warmest month, and an overall reduction of the intensity of the continental hydrological cycle.

scholarly journals High resolution climate and vegetation simulations of the Mid-Pliocene, a model-data comparison over western Europe and the Mediterranean region

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 1367-1414 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Jost ◽  
S. Fauquette ◽  
M. Kageyama ◽  
G. Krinner ◽  
G. Ramstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Terrestrial Vegetation ◽  
Model Data ◽  
Data Comparison ◽  
Climate Reconstructions ◽  
Pollen Records

Abstract. The Middle Pliocene (around 3 Ma) is a period characterized by a climate significantly warmer than today, at the global scale, as attested by abundant paleoclimate archives as well as several climate modelling studies. There we perform a detailed comparison between climate model results and climate reconstructions in western Europe and the Mediterranean area. This region is particularly well suited for such a comparison as several climate reconstructions from local pollen records covering the Mid-Pliocene provide quantitative terrestrial climate estimates. They show evidence for temperatures significantly warmer than today over the whole area, mean annual precipitation higher in northwestern Europe and equivalent to modern values in its southwestern part. To improve our comparison, we have performed high resolution simulations of the Mid-Pliocene climate using the LMDz atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) with a stretched grid which allows a finer resolution over Europe. In a first step, we applied the PRISM2 (Pliocene Research, Interpretation, and Synoptic Mapping) boundary conditions except that we used modern terrestrial vegetation. Second, we simulated the vegetation for this period by forcing the Dynamic Global Vegetation Model ORCHIDEE with the climatic outputs from the AGCM. We then supplied this simulated terrestrial vegetation cover as an additional boundary condition in a second AGCM run. This gives us the opportunity not only to compare the generated vegetation cover to pollen records but also to investigate the model's sensitivity to the simulated vegetation changes in a global warming context. Model results and data show a great consistency for mean annual temperatures, indicating increases by up to 4°C in the study area. Comparison of the simulated winter and summer temperatures to pollen-based estimates show some disparities, in particular in the northern Mediterranean sector. The latitudinal distribution of precipitation depicted by pollen data over land is not reproduced by the model. Most excess Mid-Pliocene precipitation occurs over the North Atlantic but a slight weakening of the atmospheric transport does not allow for wetter conditions to establish in northwestern Europe, as suggested by the data. Continental moisture patterns predicted by the model are similar to those of the mean annual precipitation. Model results broadly underestimate the levels of available moisture indicated by the data. The biogeophysical effects due to the changes in vegetation simulated by ORCHIDEE, are weak, both in terms of the hydrological cycle and of the temperatures, at the regional scale of the European and Mediterranean mid-latitudes. In particular, they do not contribute to improve the model-data comparison. Their main influence concerns seasonal temperatures, with a decrease of the temperatures of the warmest month, and an overall reduction of the intensity of the continental hydrological cycle. Predicted climatic changes do not only arise from local processes but also result from an altered large-scale circulation initiated by regional-scale land cover changes.

Long Plio-Pleistocene Terrestrial Record of Climate Change and Mammal Turnover in Southern Spain

2001 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Agustı́ ◽  
Oriol Oms ◽  
Eduard Remacha
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Southern Spain ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Dry Period ◽  
Late Pliocene ◽  
Southeastern Spain ◽  
The Mediterranean

AbstractCyclostratigraphic analysis of the Pliocene Zújar section (Guadix-Baza Basin, southeastern Spain) has enabled the recognition of a number of climatically forced cycles reflecting alternating dry and wet periods. Peaks of aridity are recorded at ca. 3.95, 3.55, 3.2, 2.8, and 1.8 myr B.P. The first dry period at about 4.0 myr B.P. corresponds to the early Ruscinian Mammal age, while the second arid interval at about 3.6 myr B.P. corresponds to the establishment of the Mediterranean double seasonality. The significant mammal turnover between the late Ruscinian and early Villanyian stages is placed between chron 2An.2n and the very base of chron 2An.1n, coincident with the dry phase recognized at about 3.2 myr B.P. The fourth aridity maximum at 2.8 myr B.P. roughly coincides with the Equus event in western Europe and is probably related to the beginning of the glacial–interglacial dynamics in the Northern Hemisphere. Finally, the last dry peak at about 1.8 myr B.P. is probably related to the set of mammalian events characterizing the transition from the late Pliocene faunas to those of the early Pleistocene.

scholarly journals Lagrangian matches between observations from aircraft, lidar and radar in a warm conveyor belt crossing orography

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 5477-5498
Author(s):  
Maxi Boettcher ◽  
Andreas Schäfler ◽  
Michael Sprenger ◽  
Harald Sodemann ◽  
Stefan Kaufmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Conveyor Belt ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
The Alps ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Baltic

Abstract. Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) are important airstreams in extratropical cyclones, often leading to the formation of intense precipitation and the amplification of upper-level ridges. This study presents a case study that involves aircraft, lidar and radar observations in a WCB ascending from western Europe towards the Baltic Sea during the Hydrological Cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment (HyMeX) and T-NAWDEX-Falcon in October 2012, a preparatory campaign for the THORPEX North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment (T-NAWDEX). Trajectories were used to link different observations along the WCB, that is, to establish so-called Lagrangian matches between observations. To this aim, an ensemble of wind fields from the global analyses produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Ensemble of Data Assimilations (EDA) system were used, which allowed for a probabilistic quantification of the WCB occurrence and the Lagrangian matches. Despite severe air traffic limitations for performing research flights over Europe, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Falcon successfully sampled WCB air masses during different phases of the WCB ascent. The WCB trajectories revealed measurements in two distinct WCB branches: one branch ascended from the eastern North Atlantic over southwestern France, while the other had its inflow in the western Mediterranean. Both branches passed across the Alps, and for both branches Lagrangian matches coincidentally occurred between lidar water vapour measurements in the inflow of the WCB south of the Alps, radar measurements during the ascent at the Alps and in situ aircraft measurements by Falcon in the WCB outflow north of the Alps. An airborne release experiment with an inert tracer could confirm the long pathway of the WCB from the inflow in the Mediterranean boundary layer to the outflow in the upper troposphere near the Baltic Sea several hours later. The comparison of observations and ensemble analyses reveals a moist bias in the analyses in parts of the WCB inflow but a good agreement of cloud water species in the WCB during ascent. In between these two observations, a precipitation radar measured strongly precipitating WCB air located directly above the melting layer while ascending at the southern slopes of the Alps. The trajectories illustrate the complexity of a continental and orographically influenced WCB, which leads to (i) WCB moisture sources from both the Atlantic and Mediterranean, (ii) different pathways of WCB ascent affected by orography, and (iii) locally steep WCB ascent with high radar reflectivity values that might result in enhanced precipitation where the WCB flows over the Alps. The linkage of observational data by ensemble-based WCB trajectory calculations, the confirmation of the WCB transport by an inert tracer and the model evaluation using the multi-platform observations are the central elements of this study and reveal important aspects of orographically modified WCBs.

Late Pliocene climate variability on Milankovitch to millennial time scales: A high-resolution study of MIS100 from the Mediterranean

2005 ◽  
Vol 228 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 338-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Becker ◽  
Lucas J. Lourens ◽  
Frederik J. Hilgen ◽  
Erwin van der Laan ◽  
Tanja J. Kouwenhoven ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Late Pliocene ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Resolution Study

scholarly journals Comparing high-resolution gridded precipitation data with satellite rainfall estimates of TRMM_3B42 over Iran

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 119-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Javanmard ◽  
A. Yatagai ◽  
M. I. Nodzu ◽  
J. BodaghJamali ◽  
H. Kawamoto
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Caspian Sea ◽  
Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Zagros Mountains ◽  
The Caspian Sea ◽  
Entire Country ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Satellite Rainfall ◽  
Rainfall Estimates

Abstract. To evaluate satellite rainfall estimates of Tropical Rain Measurement Mission (TRMM) level 3 output (3B42) (TRMM_3B42) over Iran (20°–45° N, 40°–65° E), we compared these data with high-resolution gridded precipitation datasets (0.25°×0.25° latitude/longitude) based on rain gauges (Iran Synoptic gauges Version 0902 (IS0902)). Spatial distribution of mean annual and mean seasonal rainfall in both IS0902 and TRMM_3B42 from 1998 to 2006 shows two main rainfall patterns along the Caspian Sea and over the Zagros Mountains. Scatter plots of annual average rainfall from IS0902 versus TRMM_3B42 for each 0.25°×0.25° grid cell over the entire country (25°–40° N, 45°–60° E), along the Caspian Sea (35°–40° N, 48°–56° E), and over the Zagros Mountains (28°–37° N, 46°–55° E) were derived. For the entire country, the Caspian Sea region, and the Zagros Mountains, TRMM_3B42 underestimates mean annual precipitation by 0.17, 0.39, and 0.15 mm day−1, respectively, and the mean annual rainfall spatial correlation coefficients are 0.77, 0.57, and 0.75, respectively. The mean annual precipitation temporal correlation coefficient for IS0902 and TRMM_3B42 is ~0.8 in the area along the Zagros Mountains, and ~0.6 in the Caspian Sea and desert regions.

scholarly journals Climate change, reforestation/afforestation, and urbanization impacts on evapotranspiration and streamflow in Europe

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. 3631-3652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriaan J. Teuling ◽  
Emile A. G. de Badts ◽  
Femke A. Jansen ◽  
Richard Fuchs ◽  
Joost Buitink ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The 1950S

Abstract. Since the 1950s, Europe has undergone large shifts in climate and land cover. Previous assessments of past and future changes in evapotranspiration or streamflow have either focussed on land use/cover or climate contributions or on individual catchments under specific climate conditions, but not on all aspects at larger scales. Here, we aim to understand how decadal changes in climate (e.g. precipitation, temperature) and land use (e.g. deforestation/afforestation, urbanization) have impacted the amount and distribution of water resource availability (both evapotranspiration and streamflow) across Europe since the 1950s. To this end, we simulate the distribution of average evapotranspiration and streamflow at high resolution (1 km2) by combining (a) a steady-state Budyko model for water balance partitioning constrained by long-term (lysimeter) observations across different land use types, (b) a novel decadal high-resolution historical land use reconstruction, and (c) gridded observations of key meteorological variables. The continental-scale patterns in the simulations agree well with coarser-scale observation-based estimates of evapotranspiration and also with observed changes in streamflow from small basins across Europe. We find that strong shifts in the continental-scale patterns of evapotranspiration and streamflow have occurred between the period around 1960 and 2010. In much of central-western Europe, our results show an increase in evapotranspiration of the order of 5 %–15 % between 1955–1965 and 2005–2015, whereas much of the Scandinavian peninsula shows increases exceeding 15 %. The Iberian Peninsula and other parts of the Mediterranean show a decrease of the order of 5 %–15 %. A similar north–south gradient was found for changes in streamflow, although changes in central-western Europe were generally small. Strong decreases and increases exceeding 45 % were found in parts of the Iberian and Scandinavian peninsulas, respectively. In Sweden, for example, increased precipitation is a larger driver than large-scale reforestation and afforestation, leading to increases in both streamflow and evapotranspiration. In most of the Mediterranean, decreased precipitation combines with increased forest cover and potential evapotranspiration to reduce streamflow. In spite of considerable local- and regional-scale complexity, the response of net actual evapotranspiration to changes in land use, precipitation, and potential evaporation is remarkably uniform across Europe, increasing by ∼ 35–60 km3 yr−1, equivalent to the discharge of a large river. For streamflow, effects of changes in precipitation (∼ 95 km3 yr−1) dominate land use and potential evapotranspiration contributions (∼ 45–60 km3 yr−1). Locally, increased forest cover, forest stand age, and urbanization have led to significant decreases and increases in available streamflow, even in catchments that are considered to be near-natural.

Transnational Patriotism in the Mediterranean, 1800-1850

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantina Zanou
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Political Space ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Italian Peninsula ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Multicultural Context ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ugo Foscolo ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Republic

Transnational Patriotism in the Mediterranean, 1800–1850: Stammering the Nation investigates the long process of transition from a world of empires to a world of nation-states by narrating the biographies of a group of people who were born within empires but came of age surrounded by the emerging vocabulary of nationalism, much of which they themselves created. It is the story of a generation of intellectuals and political thinkers from the Ionian Islands who experienced the collapse of the Republic of Venice and the dissolution of the common cultural and political space of the Adriatic, and who contributed to the creation of Italian and Greek nationalisms. By uncovering this forgotten intellectual universe, Transnational Patriotism in the Mediterranean retrieves a world characterized by multiple cultural, intellectual, and political affiliations that have since been buried by the conventional narrative of the formation of nation-states. The book rethinks the origins of Italian and Greek nationalisms and states, highlighting the intellectual connection between the Italian peninsula, Greece, and Russia, and re-establishing the lost link between the changing geopolitical contexts of western Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Balkans in the Age of Revolutions. It re-inscribes important intellectuals and political figures, considered ‘national fathers’ of Italy and Greece (such as Ugo Foscolo, Dionysios Solomos, Ioannis Kapodistrias, and Niccolò Tommaseo), into their regional and multicultural context, and shows how nations emerged from an intermingling, rather than a clash, of ideas concerning empire and liberalism, Enlightenment and religion, revolution and conservatism, and East and West.

scholarly journals Comparison of regional characteristics of land precipitation climatology projected by an MRI-AGCM multi-cumulus scheme and multi-SST ensemble with CMIP5 multi-model ensemble projections

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Ito ◽  
Tosiyuki Nakaegawa ◽  
Izuru Takayabu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Annual Precipitation ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Model Ensemble ◽  
Uncertainty Range ◽  
High Performing

AbstractEnsembles of climate change projections created by general circulation models (GCMs) with high resolution are increasingly needed to develop adaptation strategies for regional climate change. The Meteorological Research Institute atmospheric GCM version 3.2 (MRI-AGCM3.2), which is listed in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5), has been typically run with resolutions of 60 km and 20 km. Ensembles of MRI-AGCM3.2 consist of members with multiple cumulus convection schemes and different patterns of future sea surface temperature, and are utilized together with their downscaled data; however, the limited size of the high-resolution ensemble may lead to undesirable biases and uncertainty in future climate projections that will limit its appropriateness and effectiveness for studies on climate change and impact assessments. In this study, to develop a comprehensive understanding of the regional precipitation simulated with MRI-AGCM3.2, we investigate how well MRI-AGCM3.2 simulates the present-day regional precipitation around the globe and compare the uncertainty in future precipitation changes and the change projection itself between MRI-AGCM3.2 and the CMIP5 multiple atmosphere–ocean coupled GCM (AOGCM) ensemble. MRI-AGCM3.2 reduces the bias of the regional mean precipitation obtained with the high-performing CMIP5 models, with a reduction of approximately 20% in the bias over the Tibetan Plateau through East Asia and Australia. When 26 global land regions are considered, MRI-AGCM3.2 simulates the spatial pattern and the regional mean realistically in more regions than the individual CMIP5 models. As for the future projections, in 20 of the 26 regions, the sign of annual precipitation change is identical between the 50th percentiles of the MRI-AGCM3.2 ensemble and the CMIP5 multi-model ensemble. In the other six regions around the tropical South Pacific, the differences in modeling with and without atmosphere–ocean coupling may affect the projections. The uncertainty in future changes in annual precipitation from MRI-AGCM3.2 partially overlaps the maximum–minimum uncertainty range from the full ensemble of the CMIP5 models in all regions. Moreover, on average over individual regions, the projections from MRI-AGCM3.2 spread over roughly 0.8 of the uncertainty range from the high-performing CMIP5 models compared to 0.4 of the range of the full ensemble.

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