scholarly journals Understanding the Role of Tropical Moisture in Atmospheric Rivers

2019 ◽  
Vol 124 (24) ◽  
pp. 13826-13842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huancui Hu ◽  
Francina Dominguez
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Tropical Moisture

scholarly journals The role of atmospheric rivers in anomalous snow accumulation in East Antarctica

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (17) ◽  
pp. 6199-6206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina V. Gorodetskaya ◽  
Maria Tsukernik ◽  
Kim Claes ◽  
Martin F. Ralph ◽  
William D. Neff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers

Extreme Surface Winds During Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers: The Modulating Role of Near-Surface Stability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence J. Pagano ◽  
Duane E. Waliser ◽  
Bin Guan ◽  
Hengchun Ye ◽  
F. Martin Ralph ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Static Stability ◽  
Vapor Transport ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Surface Winds ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Extreme Surface ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Explained Variance

AbstractAtmospheric rivers (ARs) are long and narrow regions of strong horizontal water vapor transport. Upon landfall, ARs are typically associated with heavy precipitation and strong surface winds. A quantitative understanding of the atmospheric conditions that favor extreme surface winds during ARs has implications for anticipating and managing various impacts associated with these potentially hazardous events. Here, a global AR database (1999–2014) with relevant information from MERRA-2 reanalysis, QuikSCAT and AIRS satellite observations are used to better understand and quantify the role of near-surface static stability in modulating surface winds during landfalling ARs. The temperature difference between the surface and 1 km MSL (ΔT; used here as a proxy for near-surface static stability), and integrated water vapor transport (IVT) are analyzed to quantify their relationships to surface winds using bivariate linear regression. In four regions where AR landfalls are common, the MERRA-2-based results indicate that IVT accounts for 22-38% of the variance in surface wind speed. Combining ΔT with IVT increases the explained variance to 36-52%. Substitution of QuikSCAT surface winds and AIRS ΔT in place of the MERRA-2 data largely preserves this relationship (e.g., 44% compared to 52% explained variance for USA West Coast). Use of an alternate static stability measure–the bulk Richardson number–yields a similar explained variance (47%). Lastly, AR cases within the top and bottom 25% of near-surface static stability indicate that extreme surface winds (gale or higher) are more likely to occur in unstable conditions (5.3%/14.7% during weak/strong IVT) than in stable conditions (0.58%/6.15%).

scholarly journals The 2010/2011 snow season in California's Sierra Nevada: Role of atmospheric rivers and modes of large-scale variability

2013 ◽  
Vol 49 (10) ◽  
pp. 6731-6743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Guan ◽  
Noah P. Molotch ◽  
Duane E. Waliser ◽  
Eric J. Fetzer ◽  
Paul J. Neiman
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Snow Season

Flooding on California's Russian River: Role of atmospheric rivers

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Martin Ralph ◽  
Paul J. Neiman ◽  
Gary A. Wick ◽  
Seth I. Gutman ◽  
Michael D. Dettinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Russian River

scholarly journals Rivers in the sky, flooding on the ground: the role of atmospheric rivers in inland flooding in central Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 5125-5147
Author(s):  
Monica Ionita ◽  
Viorica Nagavciuc ◽  
Bin Guan
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Heavy Rainfall ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Pressure Center ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Extreme Flooding ◽  
Large Scale Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Rhine Catchment ◽  
Lower Rhine

Abstract. The role of large-scale atmospheric circulation and atmospheric rivers (ARs) in producing extreme flooding and heavy rainfall events in the lower part of the Rhine catchment area is examined in this study. Analysis of the largest 10 floods in the lower Rhine, between 1817 and 2015, shows that all these extreme flood peaks have been preceded up to 7 d in advance by intense moisture transport from the tropical North Atlantic basin in the form of narrow bands also known as atmospheric rivers. Most of the ARs associated with these flood events are embedded in the trailing fronts of the extratropical cyclones. The typical large-scale atmospheric circulation leading to heavy rainfall and flooding in the lower Rhine is characterized by a low pressure center south of Greenland, which migrates toward Europe, and a stable high pressure center over the northern part of Africa and the southern part of Europe and projects on the positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation. On the days preceding the flood peaks, lower (upper) level convergence (divergence) is observed over the analyzed region, which indicates strong vertical motions and heavy rainfall. Vertically integrated water vapor transport (IVT) exceeds 600 kg m−1 s−1 for the largest floods, marking these as very strong ARs. The results presented in this study offer new insights regarding the importance of moisture transport as a driver of extreme flooding in the lower part of the Rhine catchment area, and we show, for the first time, that ARs are a useful tool for the identification of potentially damaging floods in inland Europe.

scholarly journals The role of nearshore air-sea interactions for landfalling atmospheric rivers on the U.S. West Coast

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel T Bartusek ◽  
Hyodae Seo ◽  
Caroline C Ummenhofer ◽  
John Steffen
Keyword(s):  
West Coast ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
The U.S

scholarly journals Mixed populations and annual flood frequency estimates in the western United States: The role of atmospheric rivers

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 257-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy A. Barth ◽  
Gabriele Villarini ◽  
Munir A. Nayak ◽  
Kathleen White
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Flood Frequency ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
Mixed Populations
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