Unexpected role of winter precipitation in determining heat requirement for spring vegetation green-up at northern middle and high latitudes

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 3743-3755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongshuo H Fu ◽  
Shilong Piao ◽  
Hongfang Zhao ◽  
Su-Jong Jeong ◽  
Xuhui Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Winter Precipitation ◽  
High Latitudes ◽  
Heat Requirement

The role of subpolar North Atlantic as a source of predictability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuting Yang ◽  
Tian Tian ◽  
Yiguo Wang ◽  
Torben Schmith ◽  
Steffen M. Olsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Decadal Variability ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Ocean Temperature ◽  
High Latitudes ◽  
Cold Anomaly ◽  
Prediction Systems ◽  
The Impact

<p>The subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA) is a region experiencing substantial decadal variability, which has been linked to extreme weather impacts over continents. Recent studies have suggested that the connectivity with the SPNA may be a key to predictions in high latitudes. To understand the impact of the SPNA on predictability of North Atlantic-European sectors and the Arctic, we use two climate<strong> </strong>prediction systems, EC-Earth3-CPSAI and NorCPM1, to perform ensemble pacemaker experiments with a focus on the subpolar extreme cold anomaly event in 2015. This 2015 cold anomaly event is generally underestimated by the decadal prediction systems. In order to force the model to better represent the observed anomaly in SPNA, we apply nudging in a region of the SPNA (i.e., 51.5°W - 13.0°W, 30.4°N - 57.5°N, and from surface to 1000 m depth in the ocean). Here ocean temperature and salinity is restored to observed conditions from reanalysis in both model systems. All other aspects of the setup of this pacemaker experiment follow the protocol for the CMIP6 DCPP-A hindcasts and initialized on November 1, 2014. The restoration is applied during the hindcasts from November 2014 to December 2019. Multi-member ensembles of 10-year hindcasts are performed with 10 members for the EC-Earth3-CPSAI and 30 members for the NorCPM1.</p><p>The time evolution of ensembles of the initialized nudging hindcasts (EXP1) is compared with the initialized DCPP-A hindcast ensembles (EXP2) and the uninitialized ensembles (EXP3). The prediction skills of the three sets of experiments are also assessed. It can be seen that restoring the ocean temperature and salinity in the SPNA region to the reanalysis improves the prediction in the region quickly after the simulation starts, as expected. On the interannual to decadal time scales, the areas with improved prediction skills extend to over almost the entire North Atlantic for both models. The improved skill over Nordic Seas is particularly significant, especially for EC-Earth3-CPSAI. For NorCPM, the regions with improved skills extend to the entire Arctic. Our results suggest the possible role of the SPNA as a source of skillful predictions on interannual to decadal time scale, especially for high latitudes. The ocean pathways are the critical source of skill whereas our results imply a limited role of coupled feedbacks through the atmosphere.  </p>

Dendroclimatic response of mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) in Pacific North America

2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ze'ev Gedalof ◽  
Dan J Smith
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Winter Precipitation ◽  
Influential Factor ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Queen Charlotte Islands ◽  
Summer Temperatures ◽  
Cross Correlations ◽  
Tsuga Mertensiana

In this paper we review the ecology and physiology of mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana (Bong.) Carrière) in the context of a dendroclimatological analysis. To better understand the relationship between mountain hemlock growth and climate variability throughout its range we have analyzed chronologies from 10 coastal sites, located along a transect extending from northern California to southern Alaska. The chronologies exhibit significant large-scale cross-correlations, with two distinct growth regions implied: chronologies from the northern Cascades in California, to the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, are correlated with each other but are distinct from Alaskan chronologies. While intervals of coherent reduced growth along the entire transect occur episodically throughout the record, intervals of coherent enhanced growth are less common. Response function analyses indicate that summer temperature is the most influential factor limiting growth throughout the study region, while winter precipitation is an additional limiting factor south of Alaska. Warm summer temperatures are associated with enhanced growth in the current year but with reduced growth in the following year. This response is believed to be a reflection of the energy required to mature cones initiated in the preceding year. The association with winter precipitation may reflect the role of deep, persistent snowpacks in regulating the duration of the growing season.

scholarly journals High-latitude ocean ventilation and its role in Earth's climate transitions

2017 ◽  
Vol 375 (2102) ◽  
pp. 20160324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto C. Naveira Garabato ◽  
Graeme A.  MacGilchrist ◽  
Peter J. Brown ◽  
D. Gwyn Evans ◽  
Andrew J. S. Meijers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Climate System ◽  
High Latitudes ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Ocean Ventilation ◽  
Earth’S Climate ◽  
Warming World ◽  
Climate Transitions

The processes regulating ocean ventilation at high latitudes are re-examined based on a range of observations spanning all scales of ocean circulation, from the centimetre scales of turbulence to the basin scales of gyres. It is argued that high-latitude ocean ventilation is controlled by mechanisms that differ in fundamental ways from those that set the overturning circulation. This is contrary to the assumption of broad equivalence between the two that is commonly adopted in interpreting the role of the high-latitude oceans in Earth's climate transitions. Illustrations of how recognizing this distinction may change our view of the ocean's role in the climate system are offered. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Ocean ventilation and deoxygenation in a warming world’.

scholarly journals The role of ice in N<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> heterogeneous hydrolysis at high latitudes

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 12595-12624 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Apodaca ◽  
D. M. Huff ◽  
W. R. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Nitric Acid ◽  
Surface Area ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Acid Production ◽  
High Latitudes ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
Reactive Surfaces

Abstract. We report evidence for ice catalyzing N2O5 heterogeneous hydrolysis from a study conducted near Fairbanks, AK in November 2007. Mixing ratios of N2O5, NO, NO2, and ozone are reported and are used to determine steady state N2O5 lifetimes. When air masses are sub-saturated with respect to ice, the data show longer lifetimes (≈20 min) and elevated N2O5 levels, while ice-saturated air masses show shorter lifetimes (≈6 min) and suppressed N2O5 levels. We also report estimates of aerosol surface area densities that are on the order of 50 μm2/cm3, a surface area density that is insufficient to explain the rapid losses of N2O5 observed in this study, reinforcing the importance of other reactive surfaces such as ice. Ice-saturated pollution plumes are ubiquitous in high latitudes; therefore, catalysis on these surfaces is largely responsible for nocturnal processing of N2O5 leading to nitric acid production and loss of NOx in high latitude plumes.

scholarly journals Uncertainty in El Niño-like warming and California precipitation changes linked by the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Dong ◽  
L. Ruby Leung ◽  
Fengfei Song ◽  
Jian Lu
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Winter Precipitation ◽  
Adaptation Planning ◽  
Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation ◽  
The North ◽  
Westerly Jet ◽  
Precipitation Changes

AbstractMarked uncertainty in California (CA) precipitation projections challenges their use in adaptation planning in the region already experiencing severe water stress. Under global warming, a westerly jet extension in the North Pacific analogous to the El Niño-like teleconnection has been suggested as a key mechanism for CA winter precipitation changes. However, this teleconnection has not been reconciled with the well-known El Niño-like warming response or the controversial role of internal variability in the precipitation uncertainty. Here we find that internal variability contributes > 70% and > 50% of uncertainty in the CA precipitation changes and the El Niño-like warming, respectively, based on analysis of 318 climate simulations from several multi-model and large ensembles. The Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation plays a key role in each contribution and in connecting the two via the westerly jet extension. This unifying understanding of the role of internal variability in CA precipitation provides critical guidance for reducing and communicating uncertainty to inform adaptation planning.

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