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  • Articles  (27)
  • American Meteorological Society  (26)
  • Frontiers Media  (1)
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  • Articles  (27)
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  • 1
    Publication Date: 2018-07-30
    Description: During the North American monsoon global positioning system (GPS) Transect Experiment 2013, daily convective-permitting WRF simulations are performed in northwestern Mexico and the southern Arizona border region using the operational Global Forecast System (GFS) and North American Mesoscale Forecast System (NAM) models as lateral boundary forcing and initial conditions. Compared to GPS precipitable water vapor (PWV), the WRF simulations display a consistent moist bias in the initial specification of PWV leading to convection beginning 3–6 h early. Given appreciable observed rainfall, days are classified as strongly and weakly forced based only on the presence of an inverted trough (IV); gulf surges did not noticeably impact the development of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) and related convection in northwestern Mexico. Strongly forced days display higher modeled precipitation forecast skill than weakly forced days in the slopes of the northern Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) away from the crest, especially toward the west where MCSs account for the greatest proportion of all monsoon-related precipitation. A case study spanning 8–10 July 2013 illustrates two consecutive days when nearly identical MCSs evolved over northern Sonora. Although a salient MCS is simulated on the strongly forced day (9–10 July 2013) when an IV is approaching the core monsoon region, a simulated MCS is basically nonexistent on the weakly forced day (8–9 July 2013) when the IV is farther away. The greater sensitivity to the initial specification of PWV in the weakly forced day suggests that assimilation of GPS-derived PWV for these types of days may be of greatest value in improving model precipitation forecasts.
    Print ISSN: 1558-8424
    Electronic ISSN: 1558-8432
    Topics: Geography , Physics
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  • 2
    Publication Date: 2016-11-01
    Description: Northwestern Mexico experiences large variations in water vapor on seasonal time scales in association with the North American monsoon, as well as during the monsoon associated with upper-tropospheric troughs, mesoscale convective systems, tropical easterly waves, and tropical cyclones. Together these events provide more than half of the annual rainfall to the region. A sufficient density of meteorological observations is required to properly observe, understand, and forecast the important processes contributing to the development of organized convection over northwestern Mexico. The stability of observations over long time periods is also of interest to monitor seasonal and longer-time-scale variability in the water cycle. For more than a decade, the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) has been used to obtain tropospheric precipitable water vapor (PWV) for applications in the atmospheric sciences. There is particular interest in establishing these systems where conventional operational meteorological networks are not possible due to the lack of financial or human resources to support the network. Here, we provide an overview of the North American Monsoon GPS Transect Experiment 2013 in northwestern Mexico for the study of mesoscale processes and the impact of PWV observations on high-resolution model forecasts of organized convective events during the 2013 monsoon. Some highlights are presented, as well as a look forward at GPS networks with surface meteorology (GPS-Met) planned for the region that will be capable of capturing a wider range of water vapor variability in both space and time across Mexico and into the southwestern United States.
    Print ISSN: 0003-0007
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0477
    Topics: Geography , Physics
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  • 3
    Publication Date: 2016-11-01
    Description: Almost one-half of the annual precipitation in the southwestern United States occurs during the North American monsoon (NAM). Given favorable synoptic-scale conditions, organized monsoon thunderstorms may affect relatively large geographic areas. Through an objective analysis of atmospheric reanalysis and observational data, the dominant synoptic patterns associated with NAM extreme events are determined for the period from 1993 to 2010. Thermodynamically favorable extreme-weather-event days are selected on the basis of atmospheric instability and precipitable water vapor from Tucson, Arizona, rawinsonde data. The atmospheric circulation patterns at 500 hPa associated with the extreme events are objectively characterized using principal component analysis. The first two dominant modes of 500-hPa geopotential-height anomalies of the severe-weather-event days correspond to type-I and type-II severe-weather-event patterns previously subjectively identified by Maddox et al. These patterns reflect a positioning of the monsoon ridge to the north and east or north and west, respectively, from its position in the “Four Corners” region during the period of the climatological maximum of monsoon precipitation from mid-July to mid-August. An hourly radar–gauge precipitation product shows evidence of organized, westward-propagating convection in Arizona during the type-I and type-II severe weather events. This new methodological approach for objectively identifying severe weather events may be easily adapted to inform operational forecasting or analysis of gridded climate data.
    Print ISSN: 1558-8424
    Electronic ISSN: 1558-8432
    Topics: Geography , Physics
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  • 4
    Publication Date: 2016-08-16
    Description: Transient inverted troughs (IVs) are a trigger for severe weather during the North American monsoon (NAM) in the southwest contiguous United States (CONUS) and northwest Mexico. These upper-tropospheric disturbances enhance the synoptic-scale and mesoscale environment for organized convection, increasing the chances for microbursts, straight-line winds, blowing dust, and flash flooding. This work considers changes in the track density climatology of IVs between 1951 and 2010. IVs are tracked as potential vorticity (PV) anomalies on the 250-hPa surface from a regional climate model that dynamically downscales the NCEP–NCAR Reanalysis 1. Late in the NAM season, a significant increase in IV track density over the 60-yr period is observed over Southern California and western Arizona, coupled with a slight decrease over northwest Mexico. Changes in precipitation are evaluated on days when an IV is observed and days without an IV, using high-resolution model-simulated precipitation estimates and CPC gridded precipitation observations. Because of changes in the spatial distribution of IVs during the 1951–2010 analysis period, which are associated with a strengthening of the monsoon ridge, it is suggested that IVs have played a lesser role in the initiation and organization of monsoon convection in the southwest CONUS during recent warm seasons.
    Print ISSN: 0894-8755
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0442
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences , Physics
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  • 5
    Publication Date: 2017-09-01
    Description: Long-term changes in North American monsoon (NAM) precipitation intensity in the southwestern United States are evaluated through the use of convective-permitting model simulations of objectively identified severe weather events during “historical past” (1950–70) and “present day” (1991–2010) periods. Severe weather events are the days on which the highest atmospheric instability and moisture occur within a long-term regional climate simulation. Simulations of severe weather event days are performed with convective-permitting (2.5 km) grid spacing, and these simulations are compared with available observed precipitation data to evaluate the model performance and to verify any statistically significant model-simulated trends in precipitation. Statistical evaluation of precipitation extremes is performed using a peaks-over-threshold approach with a generalized Pareto distribution. A statistically significant long-term increase in atmospheric moisture and instability is associated with an increase in extreme monsoon precipitation in observations and simulations of severe weather events, corresponding to similar behavior in station-based precipitation observations in the Southwest. Precipitation is becoming more intense within the context of the diurnal cycle of convection. The largest modeled increases in extreme-event precipitation occur in central and southwestern Arizona, where mesoscale convective systems account for a majority of monsoon precipitation and where relatively large modeled increases in precipitable water occur. Therefore, it is concluded that a more favorable thermodynamic environment in the southwestern United States is facilitating stronger organized monsoon convection during at least the last 20 years.
    Print ISSN: 1558-8424
    Electronic ISSN: 1558-8432
    Topics: Geography , Physics
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  • 6
    Publication Date: 2017-09-01
    Description: A lightning–precipitation relationship (LPR) is studied at high temporal and spatial resolution (5 min and 5 km). As a proof of concept of these methods, precipitation data are retrieved from the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) NMQ product for southern Arizona and western Texas while lightning data are provided by the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN). A spatial- and time-invariant (STI) linear model that considers spatial neighbors and time lags is proposed. A data denial analysis is performed over Midland, Texas (a region with good sensor coverage), with this STI model. The LPR is unchanged and essentially equal, regardless of the domain (denial or complete) used to obtain the STI model coefficients. It is argued that precipitation can be estimated over regions with poor sensor coverage (i.e., southern Arizona) by calibrating the LPR over well-covered domains that are experiencing similar storm conditions. To obtain a lightning-estimated precipitation that dynamically updates the model coefficients in time, a Kalman filter is applied to the STI model. The correlation between the observed and estimated precipitation is statistically significant for both models, but the Kalman filter provides a better precipitation estimation. The best demonstration of this application is a heavy-precipitation, high-frequency lightning event in southern Arizona over a region with poor radar and rain gauge coverage. By calibrating the Kalman filter over a data-covered domain, the lightning-estimated precipitation is considerably greater than that estimated by radar alone. Therefore, for regions where both rain gauge and radar data are compromised, lightning provides a viable alternative for improving QPE.
    Print ISSN: 1558-8424
    Electronic ISSN: 1558-8432
    Topics: Geography , Physics
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  • 7
    Publication Date: 2020-05-06
    Description: Capsule Summary This paper reviews the current knowledge on detection, attribution and projection of global and regional monsoons (South Asian, East Asian, Australian, South American, North American, and African) under climate change.
    Print ISSN: 0003-0007
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0477
    Topics: Geography , Physics
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  • 8
    Publication Date: 2020-10-22
    Description: We present a comprehensive global evaluation of monthly precipitation and temperature forecasts from 16 seasonal forecasting models within the NMME Phase-1 system, using Multi-Source Weighted-Ensemble Precipitation version 2 (MSWEP-V2; precipitation) and Climate Research Unit TS4.01 (CRU-TS4.01; temperature) data as reference. We first assessed the forecast skill for lead times of 1–8 months using Kling–Gupta efficiency (KGE), an objective performance metric combining correlation, bias, and variability. Next, we carried out an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis to compare the spatiotemporal variability structures of the forecasts. We found that, in most cases, precipitation skill was highest during the first lead time (i.e., forecast in the month of initialization) and rapidly dropped thereafter, while temperature skill was much higher overall and better retained at higher lead times, which is indicative of stronger temporal persistence. Based on a comprehensive assessment over 21 regions and four seasons, we found that the skill showed strong regional and seasonal dependencies. Some tropical regions, such as the Amazon and Southeast Asia, showed high skill even at longer lead times for both precipitation and temperature. Rainy seasons were generally associated with high precipitation skill, while during winter, temperature skill was low. Overall, precipitation forecast skill was highest for the NASA, NCEP, CMC, and GFDL models, and for temperature, the NASA, CFSv2, COLA, and CMC models performed the best. The spatiotemporal variability structures were better captured for precipitation than temperature. The simple forecast averaging did not produce noticeably better results, emphasizing the need for more advanced weight-based averaging schemes.
    Print ISSN: 1525-755X
    Electronic ISSN: 1525-7541
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences , Physics
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  • 9
    Publication Date: 2019-04-01
    Description: In August 2016, the National Weather Service Office of Water Prediction (NWS/OWP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) implemented the operational National Water Model (NWM) to simulate and forecast streamflow, soil moisture, and other model states throughout the contiguous United States. Based on the architecture of the WRF-Hydro hydrologic model, the NWM does not currently resolve channel infiltration, an important component of the water balance of the semiarid western United States. Here, we demonstrate the benefit of implementing a conceptual channel infiltration function (from the KINEROS2 semidistributed hydrologic model) into the WRF-Hydro model architecture, configured as NWM v1.1. After calibration, the updated WRF-Hydro model exhibits reduced streamflow errors for the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW) and the Babocomari River in southeast Arizona. Model calibration was performed using NLDAS-2 atmospheric forcing, available from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), paired with precipitation forcing from NLDAS-2, NCEP Stage IV, or local gauge precipitation. Including channel infiltration within WRF-Hydro results in a physically realistic hydrologic response in the WGEW, when the model is forced with high-resolution, gauge-based precipitation in lieu of a national product. The value of accounting for channel loss is also demonstrated in the Babocomari basin, where the drainage area is greater and the cumulative effect of channel infiltration is more important. Accounting for channel infiltration loss thus improves the streamflow behavior simulated by the calibrated model and reduces evapotranspiration bias when gauge precipitation is used as forcing. However, calibration also results in increased high soil moisture bias, which is likely due to underlying limitations of the NWM structure and calibration methodology.
    Print ISSN: 1525-755X
    Electronic ISSN: 1525-7541
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences , Physics
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  • 10
    Publication Date: 2009-11-15
    Description: Higher temperatures increase the moisture-holding capacity of the atmosphere and can lead to greater atmospheric demand for evapotranspiration, especially during warmer seasons of the year. Increases in precipitation or atmospheric humidity ameliorate this enhanced demand, whereas decreases exacerbate it. In the southwestern United States (Southwest), this means the greatest changes in evapotranspirational demand resulting from higher temperatures could occur during the hot–dry foresummer and hot–wet monsoon. Here seasonal differences in surface climate observations are examined to determine how temperature and moisture conditions affected evapotranspirational demand during the pronounced Southwest droughts of the 1950s and 2000s, the latter likely influenced by warmer temperatures now attributed mostly to the buildup of greenhouse gases. In the hot–dry foresummer during the 2000s drought, much of the Southwest experienced significantly warmer temperatures that largely drove greater evapotranspirational demand. Lower atmospheric humidity at this time of year over parts of the region also allowed evapotranspirational demand to increase. Significantly warmer temperatures in the hot–wet monsoon during the more recent drought also primarily drove greater evapotranspirational demand, but only for parts of the region outside of the core North American monsoon area. Had atmospheric humidity during the more recent drought been as low as during the 1950s drought in the core North American monsoon area at this time of year, greater evapotranspirational demand during the 2000s drought could have been more spatially extensive. With projections of future climate indicating continued warming in the region, evapotranspirational demand during the hot–dry and hot–wet seasons possibly will be more severe in future droughts and result in more extreme conditions in the Southwest, a disproportionate amount negatively impacting society.
    Print ISSN: 0894-8755
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0442
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences , Physics
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