The Spatial Characteristics of Extreme Precipitation in the Arctic
The Arctic (the region poleward of 65°N) is experiencing an outsized warming relative to the rest of globe, accompanied by sharp reductions in sea ice extent. Has this been attended by changes in extreme weather events? In this study, the spatial characteristics and recent trends of extreme daily pr...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Text |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
CU Scholar
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://scholar.colorado.edu/honr_theses/1209 https://scholar.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2322&context=honr_theses |
id |
ftunicolboulder:oai:scholar.colorado.edu:honr_theses-2322 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunicolboulder:oai:scholar.colorado.edu:honr_theses-2322 2023-05-15T14:28:55+02:00 The Spatial Characteristics of Extreme Precipitation in the Arctic McShane, Caitlin M 2016-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://scholar.colorado.edu/honr_theses/1209 https://scholar.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2322&context=honr_theses unknown CU Scholar https://scholar.colorado.edu/honr_theses/1209 https://scholar.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2322&context=honr_theses Undergraduate Honors Theses Arctic climate hydroclimatology extreme precipitation climate change water vapor Hydrology Other Earth Sciences text 2016 ftunicolboulder 2018-10-07T08:47:01Z The Arctic (the region poleward of 65°N) is experiencing an outsized warming relative to the rest of globe, accompanied by sharp reductions in sea ice extent. Has this been attended by changes in extreme weather events? In this study, the spatial characteristics and recent trends of extreme daily precipitation events across the Arctic are examined using station records from the National Climatic Data Center, The Norwegian Meteorological Institute and other national sources. The focus is on the period 1979-2014. Extreme events for each of the 145 stations selected for analysis, based on record length and data quality, are defined as those within the top 1% of each station’s statistical distribution. The spatial distribution of the size of the 1% event broadly follows the spatial pattern of annual precipitation. For stations in Iceland, Svalbard and coastal Norway, which are influenced by Atlantic moisture sources, the 1% event size ranges from 14 to 25 mm. This contrasts sharply with polar desert sites in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and many locations along the Siberian coast that have values from only 3-10 mm. Case studies demonstrate coherent relationships between extremes and the influence of both synoptic-scale and local uplift mechanisms, and the availability of water vapor. When the Arctic region is assessed as a whole, the frequency of extreme events shows a slight positive trend. However, regional analysis reveals areas of both positive and negative trends, with the sign of trends dependent on region, season and month. Text Arctic Archipelago Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Climate change Iceland polar desert Sea ice Svalbard University of Colorado, Boulder: CU Scholar Arctic Svalbard Canadian Arctic Archipelago Norway |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Colorado, Boulder: CU Scholar |
op_collection_id |
ftunicolboulder |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Arctic climate hydroclimatology extreme precipitation climate change water vapor Hydrology Other Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Arctic climate hydroclimatology extreme precipitation climate change water vapor Hydrology Other Earth Sciences McShane, Caitlin M The Spatial Characteristics of Extreme Precipitation in the Arctic |
topic_facet |
Arctic climate hydroclimatology extreme precipitation climate change water vapor Hydrology Other Earth Sciences |
description |
The Arctic (the region poleward of 65°N) is experiencing an outsized warming relative to the rest of globe, accompanied by sharp reductions in sea ice extent. Has this been attended by changes in extreme weather events? In this study, the spatial characteristics and recent trends of extreme daily precipitation events across the Arctic are examined using station records from the National Climatic Data Center, The Norwegian Meteorological Institute and other national sources. The focus is on the period 1979-2014. Extreme events for each of the 145 stations selected for analysis, based on record length and data quality, are defined as those within the top 1% of each station’s statistical distribution. The spatial distribution of the size of the 1% event broadly follows the spatial pattern of annual precipitation. For stations in Iceland, Svalbard and coastal Norway, which are influenced by Atlantic moisture sources, the 1% event size ranges from 14 to 25 mm. This contrasts sharply with polar desert sites in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and many locations along the Siberian coast that have values from only 3-10 mm. Case studies demonstrate coherent relationships between extremes and the influence of both synoptic-scale and local uplift mechanisms, and the availability of water vapor. When the Arctic region is assessed as a whole, the frequency of extreme events shows a slight positive trend. However, regional analysis reveals areas of both positive and negative trends, with the sign of trends dependent on region, season and month. |
format |
Text |
author |
McShane, Caitlin M |
author_facet |
McShane, Caitlin M |
author_sort |
McShane, Caitlin M |
title |
The Spatial Characteristics of Extreme Precipitation in the Arctic |
title_short |
The Spatial Characteristics of Extreme Precipitation in the Arctic |
title_full |
The Spatial Characteristics of Extreme Precipitation in the Arctic |
title_fullStr |
The Spatial Characteristics of Extreme Precipitation in the Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Spatial Characteristics of Extreme Precipitation in the Arctic |
title_sort |
spatial characteristics of extreme precipitation in the arctic |
publisher |
CU Scholar |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://scholar.colorado.edu/honr_theses/1209 https://scholar.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2322&context=honr_theses |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Canadian Arctic Archipelago Norway |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Canadian Arctic Archipelago Norway |
genre |
Arctic Archipelago Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Climate change Iceland polar desert Sea ice Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Archipelago Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Climate change Iceland polar desert Sea ice Svalbard |
op_source |
Undergraduate Honors Theses |
op_relation |
https://scholar.colorado.edu/honr_theses/1209 https://scholar.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2322&context=honr_theses |
_version_ |
1766303042421915648 |