Impact of North Atlantic Oscillation on the Snowpack in Iberian Peninsula Mountains
The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is considered to be the main atmospheric factor explaining the winter climate and snow evolution over much of the Northern Hemisphere. However, the absence of long-term snow data in mountain regions has prevented full assessment of the impact of the NAO at the re...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2073-4441/12/1/105/ 2023-08-20T04:08:16+02:00 Impact of North Atlantic Oscillation on the Snowpack in Iberian Peninsula Mountains Esteban Alonso-González Juan I. López-Moreno Francisco M. Navarro-Serrano Jesús Revuelto agris 2019-12-28 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010105 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Hydrology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w12010105 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Water; Volume 12; Issue 1; Pages: 105 North Atlantic Oscillation Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) climate snow mountains Iberian Peninsula Text 2019 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010105 2023-07-31T22:56:39Z The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is considered to be the main atmospheric factor explaining the winter climate and snow evolution over much of the Northern Hemisphere. However, the absence of long-term snow data in mountain regions has prevented full assessment of the impact of the NAO at the regional scales, where data are limited. In this study, we assessed the relationship between the NAO of the winter months (DJFM-NAO) and the snowpack of the Iberian Peninsula. We simulated temperature, precipitation, and snow data for the period 1979–2014 by dynamic downscaling of ERA-Interim reanalysis data, and correlated this with the DJFM-NAO for the five main mountain ranges of the Iberian Peninsula (Cantabrian Range, Central Range, Iberian Range, the Pyrenees, and the Sierra Nevada). The results confirmed that negative DJFM-NAO values generally occur during wet and mild conditions over most of the Iberian Peninsula. Due to the direction of the wet air masses, the NAO has a large influence on snow duration and the annual peak snow water equivalent (peak SWE) in most of the mountain ranges in the study, mostly on the slopes south of the main axis of the ranges. In contrast, the impact of NAO variability is limited on north-facing slopes. Negative (positive) DJFM-NAO values were associated with longer (shorter) duration and higher (lower) peak SWEs in all mountains analyzed in the study. We found marked variability in correlations of the DJFM-NAO with snow indices within each mountain range, even when only the south-facing slopes were considered. The correlations were stronger for higher elevations in the mountain ranges, but geographical longitude also explained the intra-range variability in the majority of the studied mountains. Text North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation MDPI Open Access Publishing Water 12 1 105 |
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Open Polar |
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MDPI Open Access Publishing |
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ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
North Atlantic Oscillation Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) climate snow mountains Iberian Peninsula |
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North Atlantic Oscillation Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) climate snow mountains Iberian Peninsula Esteban Alonso-González Juan I. López-Moreno Francisco M. Navarro-Serrano Jesús Revuelto Impact of North Atlantic Oscillation on the Snowpack in Iberian Peninsula Mountains |
topic_facet |
North Atlantic Oscillation Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) climate snow mountains Iberian Peninsula |
description |
The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is considered to be the main atmospheric factor explaining the winter climate and snow evolution over much of the Northern Hemisphere. However, the absence of long-term snow data in mountain regions has prevented full assessment of the impact of the NAO at the regional scales, where data are limited. In this study, we assessed the relationship between the NAO of the winter months (DJFM-NAO) and the snowpack of the Iberian Peninsula. We simulated temperature, precipitation, and snow data for the period 1979–2014 by dynamic downscaling of ERA-Interim reanalysis data, and correlated this with the DJFM-NAO for the five main mountain ranges of the Iberian Peninsula (Cantabrian Range, Central Range, Iberian Range, the Pyrenees, and the Sierra Nevada). The results confirmed that negative DJFM-NAO values generally occur during wet and mild conditions over most of the Iberian Peninsula. Due to the direction of the wet air masses, the NAO has a large influence on snow duration and the annual peak snow water equivalent (peak SWE) in most of the mountain ranges in the study, mostly on the slopes south of the main axis of the ranges. In contrast, the impact of NAO variability is limited on north-facing slopes. Negative (positive) DJFM-NAO values were associated with longer (shorter) duration and higher (lower) peak SWEs in all mountains analyzed in the study. We found marked variability in correlations of the DJFM-NAO with snow indices within each mountain range, even when only the south-facing slopes were considered. The correlations were stronger for higher elevations in the mountain ranges, but geographical longitude also explained the intra-range variability in the majority of the studied mountains. |
format |
Text |
author |
Esteban Alonso-González Juan I. López-Moreno Francisco M. Navarro-Serrano Jesús Revuelto |
author_facet |
Esteban Alonso-González Juan I. López-Moreno Francisco M. Navarro-Serrano Jesús Revuelto |
author_sort |
Esteban Alonso-González |
title |
Impact of North Atlantic Oscillation on the Snowpack in Iberian Peninsula Mountains |
title_short |
Impact of North Atlantic Oscillation on the Snowpack in Iberian Peninsula Mountains |
title_full |
Impact of North Atlantic Oscillation on the Snowpack in Iberian Peninsula Mountains |
title_fullStr |
Impact of North Atlantic Oscillation on the Snowpack in Iberian Peninsula Mountains |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact of North Atlantic Oscillation on the Snowpack in Iberian Peninsula Mountains |
title_sort |
impact of north atlantic oscillation on the snowpack in iberian peninsula mountains |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010105 |
op_coverage |
agris |
genre |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
op_source |
Water; Volume 12; Issue 1; Pages: 105 |
op_relation |
Hydrology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w12010105 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010105 |
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Water |
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12 |
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1 |
container_start_page |
105 |
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