Publication: North Atlantic oscillation influence and weather types associated with winter total and extreme precipitation events in Spain
Loading...
Official URL
Full text at PDC
Publication Date
2009-12
Authors
Advisors (or tutors)
Editors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier Science INC
Citations
Exportar
Abstract
An analysis of winter intensity and frequency of precipitation is presented, based on 102 daily precipitation stations over Spain and the Balearic Islands for the 1997-2006 decade. Precipitation stations have been merged in the eight different regions which compose the analyzed area by the use of an EOF analysis. NAO influence on the intensity and frequency of precipitation of each region is described in terms of mean precipitation, mean rain frequency, the number of extreme events, changes in the precipitation distribution and the prevalent synoptic configuration. Results indicate a non-stationary response; NAO signal being more evident in mid-late winter. Strong regional differences in the response to NAO are also found, which vary according to the specific character of the precipitation under analysis. Thus, NAO exerts a clear effect on the intensity of total and extreme precipitation rates in northern and westernmost Spanish regions, whereas the frequency of precipitation is clearly affected by NAO in central and southwestern areas. While the correlation between NAO and precipitation is negative for most of the analyzed area, two regions reveal positive responses to NAO in total precipitation occurrence and intensity for specific months. Further analyses reveal asymmetric responses to opposite phases of NAO in the precipitation distributions of some regions. The complex regional relationship between NAO and precipitation is also revealed through the modulation of the former in the preferred Circulation Weather Types associated to precipitation in each region. This spatially non-homogeneous NAO signal stresses the need of caution when employing Iberian precipitation as a proxy for NAO.
Description
© 2009 Elsevier B.V. General Assembly of the European-Geosciences-Union (2006. Vienna). The authors wish to thank Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia for the grant and contract, respectively, associated to the CG04-05187-
CO3-01/CLI project. The authors also want to thank Agencia
Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET) for supplying precipitation
data. Two anonymous reviewers provided useful comments that helped to improve significantly this manuscript.
UCM subjects
Unesco subjects
Keywords
Citation
Brunetti, M., Maugeri, M., Nanni, T., 2001. Changes in total precipitation, rainy days and extreme events in northeastern Italy. International Journal of Climatology 21, 861–871.
Esteban Parra, M.J., Rodrigo, F.S., Castro Díez, Y., 1998. Spatial and temporal patterns of precipitation in Spain for the period 1880–1992. International Journal of Climatology 18, 1557–1574.
Fernández Mills, G., 1995. Principal component analysis of precipitation and rainfall regionalization in Spain. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 50, 169–183.
Fowler, H.J., Kilsby, C.G., 2002. Precipitation and the North Atlantic Oscillation: a study of climatic variability in Northern England. International Journal of Climatology 22, 843–866.
García, N.O., Gimeno, L., de la Torre, L., Nieto, R., Añel, J.A., 2005. North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO) and precipitation in Galicia (Spain).Atmósfera 18, 25–32.
García Herrera, R., Gallego, D., Hernández, E., Gimeno, L., Ribera, P., Calvo, N., 2002. Precipitation trends in Canary Islands. International Journal of Climatology 23, 235–241.
Goodess, C., 2000. The construction of daily rainfall scenarios for Mediterranean sites using a circulation-type approach to downscaling. PhD thesis, University of East Anglia.
Groisman, P.Y., Karl, T.R., Easterling, D.R., Knight, R.W., Jamason, P.F., Hennessy, K.J., Suppiah, R., Page, C.M., Wibig, J., Fortuniak, K., Razuvaev, V.N., Douglas, A., Førland, E., Zhai, P., 1999. Changes in the probability of heavy precipitation: important indicators of climatic change. Climatic Change 42, 243–283.
Groisman, P.Y., Knight, R.W., Easterling, D.R., Karl, T.R., Hegerl, G.C., Razuvaev, V.N., 2005. Trends in intense precipitation in the climate record. Journal of Climate 18, 1326–1350.
Hurrell, J.W., 1995. Decadal trends in North Atlantic Oscillation: regional temperature and precipitation. Science 269, 676–679.
Lorenzo, M.N., Taboada, J.J., Gimeno, L., 2008. Links between circulation weather types and teleconnection patterns and their influence on precipitation patterns in Galicia. International Journal of Climatology 28, 1493–1505.
Muñoz Díaz, D., Rodrigo, F.S., 2006. Seasonal rainfall variability in Spain (1912–2000) and their links to atmospheric circulation. Atmospheric Research 8, 94–110.
Nastos, P.T., Zerefos, C.S., 2007. On extreme daily precipitation totals at Athenes, Greece. Advances in Geosciences 10, 59–66.
New, M., Todd, M., Hulme, M., Jones, P., 2001. Precipitation trends and measurements in the twentieth century. International Journal of Climatology 21, 1899–1922.
Paredes, D., Trigo, R.M., García Herrera, R., Trigo, I.F., 2006. Understanding precipitation changes in Iberia in early spring: weather typing and stormtracking approaches. Journal of Hydrometeorology 7, 101–113.
Pauling, A., Paeth, H., 2006. On the variability of return periods of European winter precipitation extremes over the last three centuries. Climate Dynamics 26, 387–405.
Pauling, A., Luterbacher, J., Casty, C., Wanner, H., 2007. Five hundred years of gridded high-resolution precipitation reconstructions over Europe and the connection to large-scale circulation. Climate of the Past 3, 65–76.
Queralt, S., Hernández, E., Gallego, D., Iturrioz, I., 2007. Atmospheric instability analysis and its relationship to precipitation patterns over the western Iberian Peninsula: Advances in Geosciences, vol. 10, pp. 39–44.
Rodrigo, F.S., Trigo, R.M., 2007. Trends in daily rainfall in the Iberian Peninsula from 1951 to 2002. International Journal of Climatology 27, 513–529.
Rodríguez Puebla, C., Encinas, A.H., Nieto, S., Garmendia, J., 1998. Spatial and temporal patterns of annual precipitation variability over the Iberian Península. International Journal of Climatology 18, 299–316.
Sáenz, J., Zubillaga, J., Rodriguez Puebla, C., 2001. Interannual variability of winter precipitation in the Northern Iberian Peninsula. International Journal of Climatology 21, 1503–1513.
Serrano, A., García, A.J., Mateos, V.L., Cancillo, M.L., Garrido, J., 1999. Monthly modes of variation of precipitation over the Iberian Peninsula. Journal of Climate 12, 2894–2919.
Trenberth, K.E., Jones, P.D., Ambenje, P., Bojariu, R., Easterling, D., Klein Tank, A., Parker, D., Rahimzadeh, F., Renwick, J.A., Rusticucci, M., Soden, B., Zhai, P., 2007. Observations: surface and atmospheric climate change. In: Solomon, S., Qin,D.,Manning, M., Chen, Z.,Marquis,M., Averyt, K.B., Tignor,M., Miller, H.L. (Eds.), Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. : Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Trigo, R.M., DaCamara, C., 2000. Circulation weather types and their influence on the precipitation regime in Portugal. International Journal of Climatology 20, 1559–1581.
Trigo, R.M., Pozo Vázquez, D., Osborn, T.J., Castro-Díez, Y., Gamiz Fortis, S., Estaban Parra, M.J., 2004. North Atlantic Oscillation influence on precipitation, river flow and water resources in the Iberian Peninsula. International Journal of Climatology 24, 925–944.
Trigo, R., et al., 2006. Relations between variability in the Mediterranean region and mid-latitude variability. In: Lionello, P., Malanotte-Rizzoli, P., Boscolo, R. (Eds.), Mediterranean Climate Variability. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 179–226.
Vicente Serrano, S.M., López Moreno, J.I., 2008. Non-stationary influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation on European precipitation. Journal of Geophysical Research 113, D20120. doi:10.1029/2008JD010382.
Xoplaki, E., González Rouco, J.F., Luterbacher, J., Wanner, H., 2004. Wet season Mediterranean precipitation variability: influence of large-scale dynamics and predictability. Climate Dynamics 23, 63–78.
Zorita, E., Kharin, V., von Storch, H., 1992. The atmospheric circulation and sea surface temperature in the North Atlantic area in winter: their interaction and relevance for Iberian precipitation. Journal of Climate 5, 1097–1108.