scholarly journals Springtime connections between the large-scale sea-level pressure field and gust wind speed over Iberia and the Balearics

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. Martín ◽  
F. Valero ◽  
A. Pascual ◽  
A. Morata ◽  
M. Y. Luna

Abstract. This paper investigates, by means of Singular Value Decomposition analysis, the springtime relationships between the mean sea-level pressure field over the North Atlantic and the regional wind gusts over the Iberian Peninsula, identifying the main atmospheric circulation patterns linked to gust wind speed anomaly configurations. The statistical significance of the obtained modes is investigated by means of Monte Carlo approach. The analysis highlighted that the covariability is dominated by two main large-scale features of the atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic. The first mode relates to Iberian gust wind speeds to the Scandinavian pattern (SCAND), linking the large-scale pattern to above-normal wind gusts. The second covariability mode, associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) pattern, correlates with maximum wind speeds over Iberia. An enhanced spring NAO pattern is related to positive (negative) wind gust correlations over northern (southern) Iberia. To find true relationships between large-scale atmospheric field and the gust wind speeds, composite maps were built up to give an average atmospheric circulation associated with coherent wind gust variability over Iberia.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvise Aranyossy ◽  
Sebastian Brune ◽  
Lara Hellmich ◽  
Johanna Baehr

<p>We analyse the connections between the wintertime North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the eddy-driven jet stream with the mid-latitude cyclonic activity over the North Atlantic and Europe. We investigate, through the comparison against ECMWF ERA5 and hindcast simulations from the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM), the potential for enhancement of the seasonal prediction skill of the Eddy Kinetic Energy (EKE) by accounting for the connections between large-scale climate and the regional cyclonic activity. Our analysis focuses on the wintertime months (December-March) in the 1979-2019 period, with seasonal predictions initialized every November 1st. We calculate EKE from wind speeds at 250 hPa, which we use as a proxy for cyclonic activity. The zonal and meridional wind speeds are bandpass filtered with a cut-off at 3-10 days to fit with the average lifespan of mid-latitude cyclones. </p><p>Preliminary results suggest that in ERA5, major positive anomalies in EKE, both in quantity and duration, are correlated with a northern position of the jet stream and a positive phase of the NAO. Apparently, a deepened Icelandic low-pressure system offers favourable conditions for mid-latitude cyclones in terms of growth and average lifespan. In contrast, negative anomalies in EKE over the North Atlantic and Central Europe are associated with a more equatorward jet stream, these are also linked to a negative phase of the NAO.  Thus, in ERA5, the eddy-driven jet stream and the NAO play a significant role in the spatial and temporal distribution of wintertime mid-latitude cyclonic activity over the North Atlantic and Europe. We extend this connection to the MPI-ESM hindcast simulations and present an analysis of their predictive skill of EKE for wintertime months.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (15) ◽  
pp. 6097-6111 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Rodrigues ◽  
M. Carmen Alvarez-Castro ◽  
Gabriele Messori ◽  
Pascal Yiou ◽  
Yoann Robin ◽  
...  

It is of fundamental importance to evaluate the ability of climate models to capture the large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns and, in the context of a rapidly increasing greenhouse forcing, the robustness of the changes simulated in these patterns over time. Here we approach this problem from an innovative point of view based on dynamical systems theory. We characterize the atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic in the CMIP5 historical simulations (1851–2000) in terms of two instantaneous metrics: local dimension of the attractor and stability of phase-space trajectories. We then use these metrics to compare the models to the Twentieth Century Reanalysis version 2c (20CRv2c) over the same historical period. The comparison suggests that (i) most models capture to some degree the median attractor properties, and models with finer grids generally perform better; (ii) in most models the extremes in the dynamical systems metrics match large-scale patterns similar to those found in the reanalysis; (iii) changes in the attractor properties observed for the ensemble-mean 20CRv2c are artifacts resulting from inhomogeneities in the standard deviation of the ensemble over time; and (iv) the long-term trends in local dimension observed among the 56 members of the 20CR ensemble have the same sign as those observed in the CMIP5 multimodel mean, although the multimodel trend is much weaker.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piia Post ◽  
Andreas Lehmann

<p>A detailed assessment of climate variability of the Baltic Sea area for the period 1958-2008 (Lehmann et al. 2011) revealed that changes in the warming trend since the mid-1980s, were associated with changes in the large-scale atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic. The analysis of winter sea level pressure (SLP) data highlighted considerable changes in intensification and location of storm tracks, in parallel with the eastward shift of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) centres of action. Additionally, a seasonal shift of strong wind events from autumn to winter and early spring exists for the Baltic area. Lehmann et al. (2002) showed that different atmospheric circulation regimes force different circulation patterns in the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, as atmospheric circulation, to a large extent, controls patterns of water circulation and biophysical aspects relevant for biological production, such as the vertical distribution of temperature and salinity, alterations in weather regimes may severely impact the trophic structure and functioning of marine food webs (Hinrichsen et al. 2007). To understand the processes linking changes in the marine environment and climate variability, it is essential to investigate all components of the climate system which of course include also the large-scale atmospheric circulation. Now, since extended time series data (1948-2018) for additional 20 years are available, it is interesting to investigate recent changes/shifts of the large-scale atmospheric conditions and their impact on the wind climate over the Baltic Sea area.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 57 (12) ◽  
pp. 2749-2768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenji Doering ◽  
Scott Steinschneider

AbstractThis study examines the joint spatiotemporal variability of summertime climate linked to renewable energy sources (precipitation and streamflow, wind speeds, and insolation) and energy demand drivers (temperature, relative humidity, and a heat index) across the contiguous United States (CONUS) between 1948 and 2015. Canonical correlation analysis is used to identify the primary modes of joint variability between wind speeds and precipitation and related patterns of the other hydrometeorological variables. The first two modes exhibit a pan-U.S. dipole with lobes in the eastern and central CONUS. Composite analysis shows that these modes are directly related to the displacement of the western ridge of the North Atlantic subtropical high (NASH), suggesting that a single, large-scale feature of atmospheric circulation drives much of the large-scale climate covariability related to summertime renewable energy supply and demand across the CONUS. The impacts of this climate feature on the U.S. energy system are shown more directly by examining changes in surface climate variables at existing and potential sites of renewable energy infrastructure and locations of high energy demand. Also, different phases of the NASH are related to concurrent and lagged modes of oceanic and atmospheric climate variability in the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins, with results suggesting that springtime climate over both oceans may provide some potential to predict summer variability in the NASH and its associated surface climate. The implications of these findings for the impacts of climate variability and change on integrated renewable energy systems over the CONUS are discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 2453-2466 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. K. Moore ◽  
I. A. Renfrew ◽  
R. S. Pickart

Abstract The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is one of the most important modes of variability in the global climate system and is characterized by a meridional dipole in the sea level pressure field, with centers of action near Iceland and the Azores. It has a profound influence on the weather, climate, ecosystems, and economies of Europe, Greenland, eastern North America, and North Africa. It has been proposed that around 1980, there was an eastward secular shift in the NAO’s northern center of action that impacted sea ice export through Fram Strait. Independently, it has also been suggested that the location of its southern center of action is tied to the phase of the NAO. Both of these attributes of the NAO have been linked to anthropogenic climate change. Here the authors use both the one-point correlation map technique as well as empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis to show that the meridional dipole that is often seen in the sea level pressure field over the North Atlantic is not purely the result of the NAO (as traditionally defined) but rather arises through an interplay among the NAO and two other leading modes of variability in the North Atlantic region: the East Atlantic (EA) and the Scandinavian (SCA) patterns. This interplay has resulted in multidecadal mobility in the two centers of action of the meridional dipole since the late nineteenth century. In particular, an eastward movement of the dipole has occurred during the 1930s to 1950s as well as more recently. This mobility is not seen in the leading EOF of the sea level pressure field in the region.


Science ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 263 (5154) ◽  
pp. 1747-1751 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Mayewski ◽  
L. D. Meeker ◽  
S. Whitlow ◽  
M. S. Twickler ◽  
M. C. Morrison ◽  
...  

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