ANALYSIS AND REGIONALIZATION OF NORTHERN EUROPEAN WINTER PRECIPITATION BASED ON ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION

The relationship between the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO) and winter temperature and precipitation over northern Europe has long been known. However, its strength is variable within this region. In this paper, an analysis of the regional variability of the influence of the NAO on winter precipit...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cintia B. Uvoa B
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2003
Subjects:
KEY WORDS
European precipitation
NAO
North Atlantic oscillation
northern Europe
precipitation
regionalization
winter precipitation
Norway
North Atlantic
Northern Sweden
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.666.8048
http://www.zi.ku.dk/popecol/ape/PDF/030821/IJC1.pdf
Description
Summary:The relationship between the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO) and winter temperature and precipitation over northern Europe has long been known. However, its strength is variable within this region. In this paper, an analysis of the regional variability of the influence of the NAO on winter precipitation in northern Europe is developed using empirical orthogonal function analysis, cluster analysis and simple correlation. Results show that precipitation in most of the region studied is affected by the NAO, although with varying intensity. The NAO strongly influences winter precipitation along the Norwegian coast, in northern Sweden and in southern Finland. It is evident that the region on the lee side of the Scandes (the mountain chain between Norway and Sweden) is protected from the effects of the moist western winds from the Atlantic that, in turn, are strongly related to the NAO. As a result, precipitation in this shielded area is mainly related to southeasterly winds. Copyright 2003 Royal Meteorological Society.

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