scholarly journals Using a nested single-model large ensemble to assess the internal variability of the North Atlantic Oscillation and its climatic implications for Central Europe

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Böhnisch ◽  
Ralf Ludwig ◽  
Martin Leduc

Abstract. Central European weather and climate is closely related to atmospheric mass advection triggered by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) which is a relevant index for quantifying natural variability on multi-annual time scales. It remains unclear, though, how large-scale circulation variability affects local climate characteristics when downscaled using a regional climate model. In this study, 50 members of a single-model initial-condition large ensemble (LE) (http://www.climex-project.org/) are analyzed for a climate–NAO relationship, especially its inter-member spread and its transfer from the driving model CanESM2 into the driven model CRCM5. The NAO pressure dipole is quantified in the CanESM2-LE by an extended station-based index; responses of mean surface air temperature and total precipitation to changes in the index value are determined for a Central European domain (CEUR) in both the CanESM2-LE and CRCM5-LE. NAO–response relationships are expressed via Pearson correlation coefficients (strength) and the change per unit index change for historical (1981–2010) and future (2070–2099) winters. Results show that (a) statistically robust NAO patterns are found in the CanESM2-LE under current forcing conditions and (b) impulses from the NAO in the CanESM2-LE produce correct responses in the high-resolution CRCM5-LE. Relationships weaken in the future period, but the amplitude of their inter-member spread shows no significant change. Among others, the results strengthen the validity of the climate module in the ClimEx model chain for further impact modelling and stress the importance of single-model ensembles for evaluating internal variability.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Böhnisch ◽  
Ralf Ludwig ◽  
Martin Leduc

<p>The ClimEx-project ("Climate change and hydrological extreme events"; www.climex-project.org) provides a single-model initial-condition ensemble that is unprecedented in terms of size, resolution and domain coverage: 50 members of the Canadian Earth System Model version 2 (CanESM2 Large Ensemble, 2.8° spatial resolution) are downscaled using the Canadian Regional Climate Model version 5 (CRCM5 Large Ensemble, 0.11° spatial and up to hourly temporal resolution) over two domains, Europe and northeastern North America. The high-resolution climate information serves as input for hydrological simulations to investigate the impact of internal variability and climate change on hydrometeorological extremes.</p><p>This study evaluates the downscaling of a teleconnection which affects northern hemisphere climate variability, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), within the nested single-model large ensemble of the ClimEx project. The overall goal of this study is to assess whether the range of NAO internal variability is represented consistently between the driving global climate model (GCM, i.e., the CanESM2) and the nested regional climate model (RCM, i.e., the CRCM5).</p><p>The NAO pressure dipole is quantified in the CanESM2-LE; responses of mean surface air temperature and total precipitation sum to changes in the NAO index are evaluated within a Central European domain in both the CanESM2-LE and the CRCM5-LE. NAO–response relationships are expressed via Pearson correlation coefficients and the change per unit index change for historical (1981–2010) and future (2070–2099) winters.</p><p>Results show that statistically robust NAO patterns are found in the CanESM2-LE under current forcing conditions, and reproductions of the NAO flow pattern present in the CanESM2-LE produce plausible temperature and precipitation responses in the high-resolution CRCM5-LE. The NAO–response relationship is more strongly evolved in the CRCM5-LE than in the CanESM2-LE, but the inter-member spread shows no significant differences: thus internal variability expressed as inter-member spread can be seen as being represented consistently between the GCM and RCM. NAO–response relationships weaken in the future period in both the CanESM2-LE and CRCM5-LE, suggesting that the NAO influence on Central European temperature and precipitation decreases.</p><p>The results stress the advantages of a single-model ensemble regarding the evaluation of internal variability. They also strengthen the validity of the nested ensemble for further impact modelling using RCM data only, since important large-scale teleconnections present in the driving GCM propagate properly to the fine scale dynamics in the RCM.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (19) ◽  
pp. 6491-6511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh S. Baker ◽  
Tim Woollings ◽  
Chris E. Forest ◽  
Myles R. Allen

Abstract The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and eddy-driven jet contain a forced component arising from sea surface temperature (SST) variations. Due to large amounts of internal variability, it is not trivial to determine where and to what extent SSTs force the NAO and jet. A linear statistical–dynamic method is employed with a large climate ensemble to compute the sensitivities of the winter and summer NAO and jet speed and latitude to the SSTs. Key regions of sensitivity are identified in the Indian and Pacific basins, and the North Atlantic tripole. Using the sensitivity maps and a long observational SST dataset, skillful reconstructions of the NAO and jet time series are made. The ability to skillfully forecast both the winter and summer NAO using only SST anomalies is also demonstrated. The linear approach used here allows precise attribution of model forecast signals to SSTs in particular regions. Skill comes from the Atlantic and Pacific basins on short lead times, while the Indian Ocean SSTs may contribute to the longer-term NAO trend. However, despite the region of high sensitivity in the Indian Ocean, SSTs here do not provide significant skill on interannual time scales, which highlights the limitations of the imposed SST approach. Given the impact of the NAO and jet on Northern Hemisphere weather and climate, these results provide useful information that could be used for improved attribution and forecasting.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 617-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Böhnisch ◽  
Ralf Ludwig ◽  
Martin Leduc

Abstract. Central European weather and climate are closely related to atmospheric mass advection triggered by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which is a relevant index for quantifying internal climate variability on multi-annual timescales. It remains unclear, however, how large-scale circulation variability affects local climate characteristics when downscaled using a regional climate model. In this study, 50 members of a single-model initial-condition large ensemble (LE) of a nested regional climate model are analyzed for a NAO–climate relationship. The overall goal of the study is to assess whether the range of NAO internal variability is represented consistently between the driving global climate model (GCM; the Canadian Earth System Model version 2 – CanESM2) and the nested regional climate model (RCM; the Canadian Regional Climate Model version 5 – CRCM5). Responses of mean surface air temperature and total precipitation to changes in the NAO index value are examined in a central European domain in both CanESM2-LE and CRCM5-LE via Pearson correlation coefficients and the change per unit index change for historical (1981–2010) and future (2070–2099) winters. Results show that statistically robust NAO patterns are found in the CanESM2-LE under current forcing conditions. NAO flow pattern reproductions in the CanESM2-LE trigger responses in the high-resolution CRCM5-LE that are comparable to reanalysis data. NAO–response relationships weaken in the future period, but their inter-member spread shows no significant change. The results stress the value of single-model ensembles for the evaluation of internal variability by pointing out the large differences of NAO–response relationships among individual members. They also strengthen the validity of the nested ensemble for further impact modeling using RCM data only, since important large-scale teleconnections present in the driving data propagate properly to the fine-scale dynamics in the RCM.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Jiménez-Guerrero ◽  
Nuno Ratola

AbstractThe atmospheric concentration of persistent organic pollutants (and of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, in particular) is closely related to climate change and climatic fluctuations, which are likely to influence contaminant’s transport pathways and transfer processes. Predicting how climate variability alters PAHs concentrations in the atmosphere still poses an exceptional challenge. In this sense, the main objective of this contribution is to assess the relationship between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and the mean concentration of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP, the most studied PAH congener) in a domain covering Europe, with an emphasis on the effect of regional-scale processes. A numerical simulation for a present climate period of 30 years was performed using a regional chemistry transport model with a 25 km spatial resolution (horizontal), higher than those commonly applied. The results show an important seasonal behaviour, with a remarkable spatial pattern of difference between the north and the south of the domain. In winter, higher BaP ground levels are found during the NAO+ phase for the Mediterranean basin, while the spatial pattern of this feature (higher BaP levels during NAO+ phases) moves northwards in summer. These results show deviations up to and sometimes over 100% in the BaP mean concentrations, but statistically significant signals (p<0.1) of lower changes (20–40% variations in the signal) are found for the north of the domain in winter and for the south in summer.


1997 ◽  
Vol 42 (11) ◽  
pp. 927-931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yonghong Zhou ◽  
Dawei Zheng ◽  
Benjamin Fong Chao

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document