Three-dimensional structure and long-term trend of heat wave events in western Eurasia revealed with an anomaly-based approach

In the summer of 2010, western Russia experienced extreme heat, which was noted for its exceptional spatial spread, long duration, high intensity and impacts. We use an anomaly-based approach to decompose atmospheric variables into daily climatic components and anomalies from two reanalysis datasets...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal of Climatology
Main Authors: Qian, Weihong, Wu, Kaijun, Leung, Jeremy Cheuk-Hin
Other Authors: Qian, WH (reprint author), Peking Univ, Sch Phys, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, 209 Chengfu Rd, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China., Peking Univ, Sch Phys, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, 209 Chengfu Rd, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China.
Format: Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY 2016
Subjects:
heat wave event
anomaly
spatial structure
geopotential height
trend
EXPLAINING EXTREME EVENTS
LOW-TEMPERATURE EVENTS
BETA-ADVECTION MODEL
STANDARDIZED ANOMALIES
ARCTIC AMPLIFICATION
CLIMATE PERSPECTIVE
NORTHERN-HEMISPHERE
WEATHER EXTREMES
PLANETARY-WAVES
CHINA
Arctic
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/458595
https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4634
Description
Summary:In the summer of 2010, western Russia experienced extreme heat, which was noted for its exceptional spatial spread, long duration, high intensity and impacts. We use an anomaly-based approach to decompose atmospheric variables into daily climatic components and anomalies from two reanalysis datasets. We show that a surface heat wave event results from a downward extension of an anomalously warm air column below a centre of positive geopotential height anomalies in the upper troposphere. Therefore, we use this approach to analyse all summer regional heat wave events with spatial scales larger than 2000 km and durations greater than 5 days over western Eurasia from 1980 to 2014. Our results demonstrate that the rapid increase in regional heat wave events over western Eurasia since 2010 is a direct response to the increasing frequency of large-scale, quasi-stationary positive centres of maximum height anomalies in the upper troposphere. Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [XDA05090407]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [41375073] SCI(E) ARTICLE qianwh@pku.edu.cn 13 4315-4326 36

Similar Items