Influence of atmospheric rivers and associated weather systems on precipitation in the Arctic
In this study, we analyse the contribution of atmospheric rivers (ARs), cyclones, and fronts to the total precipitation in the Arctic. We focus on two distinct periods of different weather conditions from two airborne campaigns: ACLOUD (Arctic Cloud Observations Using airborne measurements during po...
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ftethz:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/627802 2024-02-11T10:00:33+01:00 Influence of atmospheric rivers and associated weather systems on precipitation in the Arctic Lauer, Melanie Rinke, Annette Gorodetskaya, Irina Sprenger, Michael Mech, Mario Crewell, Susanne 2023 application/application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/627802 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000627802 en eng Copernicus info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/acp-23-8705-2023 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/001044288000001 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/627802 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000627802 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 23 (15) info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2023 ftethz https://doi.org/20.500.11850/62780210.3929/ethz-b-00062780210.5194/acp-23-8705-2023 2024-01-22T00:52:22Z In this study, we analyse the contribution of atmospheric rivers (ARs), cyclones, and fronts to the total precipitation in the Arctic. We focus on two distinct periods of different weather conditions from two airborne campaigns: ACLOUD (Arctic Cloud Observations Using airborne measurements during polar day; May/June 2017) and AFLUX (Aircraft campaign Arctic Boundary Layer Fluxes; March/April 2019). Both campaigns covered the northern North Atlantic sector, the area in the Arctic that is affected by the highest precipitation rates. Using ERA5 reanalysis, we identify pronounced regional anomalies with enhanced precipitation rates compared to the climatology during ACLOUD due to these weather systems, whereas during AFLUX enhanced precipitation rates occur over most of the area. We have established a new methodology that allows us to analyse the contribution of ARs, cyclones, and fronts to precipitation rates based on ERA5 reanalysis and different detection algorithms. Here, we distinguish whether these systems occur co-located or separately. The contributions differ between the two periods. During ACLOUD (early summer), the precipitation rates are mainly associated with AR- (40 %) and front-related (55 %) components, especially if they are connected, while cyclone-related components (22 %) play a minor role. However, during AFLUX (early spring) the precipitation is mainly associated with cyclone-related components (62 %). For both campaign periods, snow is the dominant form of precipitation, and the small rain occurrence is almost all associated with ARs. About one-third of the precipitation can not be attributed to one of the weather systems, the so-called residual. While the residual can be found more frequently as convective than as large-scale precipitation, the rare occasion of convective precipitation (roughly 20 %) can not completely explain the residual. The fraction of precipitation classified as residual is reduced significantly when a precipitation threshold is applied that is often used to eliminate ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic North Atlantic ETH Zürich Research Collection Arctic |
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Open Polar |
collection |
ETH Zürich Research Collection |
op_collection_id |
ftethz |
language |
English |
description |
In this study, we analyse the contribution of atmospheric rivers (ARs), cyclones, and fronts to the total precipitation in the Arctic. We focus on two distinct periods of different weather conditions from two airborne campaigns: ACLOUD (Arctic Cloud Observations Using airborne measurements during polar day; May/June 2017) and AFLUX (Aircraft campaign Arctic Boundary Layer Fluxes; March/April 2019). Both campaigns covered the northern North Atlantic sector, the area in the Arctic that is affected by the highest precipitation rates. Using ERA5 reanalysis, we identify pronounced regional anomalies with enhanced precipitation rates compared to the climatology during ACLOUD due to these weather systems, whereas during AFLUX enhanced precipitation rates occur over most of the area. We have established a new methodology that allows us to analyse the contribution of ARs, cyclones, and fronts to precipitation rates based on ERA5 reanalysis and different detection algorithms. Here, we distinguish whether these systems occur co-located or separately. The contributions differ between the two periods. During ACLOUD (early summer), the precipitation rates are mainly associated with AR- (40 %) and front-related (55 %) components, especially if they are connected, while cyclone-related components (22 %) play a minor role. However, during AFLUX (early spring) the precipitation is mainly associated with cyclone-related components (62 %). For both campaign periods, snow is the dominant form of precipitation, and the small rain occurrence is almost all associated with ARs. About one-third of the precipitation can not be attributed to one of the weather systems, the so-called residual. While the residual can be found more frequently as convective than as large-scale precipitation, the rare occasion of convective precipitation (roughly 20 %) can not completely explain the residual. The fraction of precipitation classified as residual is reduced significantly when a precipitation threshold is applied that is often used to eliminate ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lauer, Melanie Rinke, Annette Gorodetskaya, Irina Sprenger, Michael Mech, Mario Crewell, Susanne |
spellingShingle |
Lauer, Melanie Rinke, Annette Gorodetskaya, Irina Sprenger, Michael Mech, Mario Crewell, Susanne Influence of atmospheric rivers and associated weather systems on precipitation in the Arctic |
author_facet |
Lauer, Melanie Rinke, Annette Gorodetskaya, Irina Sprenger, Michael Mech, Mario Crewell, Susanne |
author_sort |
Lauer, Melanie |
title |
Influence of atmospheric rivers and associated weather systems on precipitation in the Arctic |
title_short |
Influence of atmospheric rivers and associated weather systems on precipitation in the Arctic |
title_full |
Influence of atmospheric rivers and associated weather systems on precipitation in the Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Influence of atmospheric rivers and associated weather systems on precipitation in the Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Influence of atmospheric rivers and associated weather systems on precipitation in the Arctic |
title_sort |
influence of atmospheric rivers and associated weather systems on precipitation in the arctic |
publisher |
Copernicus |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/627802 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000627802 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Arctic North Atlantic |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 23 (15) |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/acp-23-8705-2023 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/001044288000001 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/627802 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000627802 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11850/62780210.3929/ethz-b-00062780210.5194/acp-23-8705-2023 |
_version_ |
1790596272927801344 |