D. Faranda, G. Messori, Erika Coppola, T. Alberti, Mathieu Vrac, F. Pons, P. Yiou, Marion Saint Lu, Andreia N. S. Hisi, Patrick Brockmann, S. Dafis, G. Mengaldo, R. Vautard
{"title":"ClimaMeter: contextualizing extreme weather in a changing climate","authors":"D. Faranda, G. Messori, Erika Coppola, T. Alberti, Mathieu Vrac, F. Pons, P. Yiou, Marion Saint Lu, Andreia N. S. Hisi, Patrick Brockmann, S. Dafis, G. Mengaldo, R. Vautard","doi":"10.5194/wcd-5-959-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-959-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Climate change is a global challenge with multiple far-reaching consequences, including the intensification and increased frequency of many extreme-weather events. In response to this pressing issue, we present ClimaMeter, a platform designed to assess and contextualize extreme-weather events relative to climate change. The platform offers near-real-time insights into the dynamics of extreme events, serving as a resource for researchers and policymakers while also being a science dissemination tool for the general public. ClimaMeter currently analyses heatwaves, cold spells, heavy precipitation, and windstorms. This paper elucidates the methodology, data sources, and analytical techniques on which ClimaMeter relies, providing a comprehensive overview of its scientific foundation. We further present two case studies: the late 2023 French heatwave and the July 2023 Storm Poly. We use two distinct datasets for each case study, namely Multi-Source Weather (MSWX) data, which serve as the reference for our rapid-attribution protocol, and the ERA5 dataset, widely regarded as the leading global climate reanalysis. These examples highlight both the strengths and limitations of ClimaMeter in expounding the link between climate change and the dynamics of extreme-weather events.\u0000","PeriodicalId":383272,"journal":{"name":"Weather and Climate Dynamics","volume":"45 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141808591","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sebastian Sippel, Clair R. Barnes, Camille Cadiou, E. Fischer, S. Kew, Marlene Kretschmer, S. Philip, Theodore G. Shepherd, Jitendra Singh, R. Vautard, P. Yiou
{"title":"Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?","authors":"Sebastian Sippel, Clair R. Barnes, Camille Cadiou, E. Fischer, S. Kew, Marlene Kretschmer, S. Philip, Theodore G. Shepherd, Jitendra Singh, R. Vautard, P. Yiou","doi":"10.5194/wcd-5-943-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-943-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Central European winters have warmed markedly since the mid-20th century. Yet cold winters are still associated with severe societal impacts on energy systems, infrastructure, and public health. It is therefore crucial to anticipate storylines of worst-case cold winter conditions and to understand whether an extremely cold winter, such as the coldest winter on the historical record of Germany in 1963 (−6.3 °C or −3.4σ seasonal December–January–February (DJF) temperature anomaly relative to 1981–2010), is still possible in a warming climate. Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal cold anomaly of about −4.9 to −4.7 °C (best estimates across methods) under present-day climate. This would rank as the second-coldest winter in the last 75 years. Second, we conceive storylines of worst-case cold winter conditions based on two independent rare event sampling methods (climate model boosting and empirical importance sampling): a winter as cold as 1963 is still physically possible in central Europe today, albeit very unlikely. While cold winter hazards become less frequent and less intense in a warming climate overall, it remains crucial to anticipate the possibility of an extremely cold winter to avoid potential maladaptation and increased vulnerability.\u0000","PeriodicalId":383272,"journal":{"name":"Weather and Climate Dynamics","volume":"18 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141808659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Model spread in multidecadal North Atlantic Oscillation variability connected to stratosphere–troposphere coupling","authors":"Rémy Bonnet, C. McKenna, A. Maycock","doi":"10.5194/wcd-5-913-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-913-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The underestimation in multidecadal variability in the wintertime North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) by global climate models remains poorly understood. Understanding the origins of this weak NAO variability is important for making model projections more reliable. Past studies have linked the weak multidecadal NAO variability in models to an underestimated atmospheric response to the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV). We investigate historical simulations from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) large-ensemble models and find that most of the models do not reproduce observed multidecadal NAO variability, as found in previous generations of climate models. We explore statistical relationships with physical drivers that may contribute to inter-model spread in NAO variability. There is a significant anticorrelation across models between the AMV–NAO coupling parameter and multidecadal NAO variability over the full historical period (r=-0.55, p<0.05). However, this relationship is relatively weak and becomes obscured when using a common period (1900–2010) and de-trending the data in a consistent way, with observations to enable a model–data comparison. This suggests that the representation of NAO–AMV coupling contributes to a modest proportion of inter-model spread in multidecadal NAO variability, although the importance of this process for model spread could be underestimated, given evidence of a systematically poor representation of the coupling in the models. We find a significant inter-model correlation between multidecadal NAO variability and multidecadal stratospheric polar vortex variability and a stratosphere–troposphere coupling parameter, which quantifies the relationship between stratospheric winds and the NAO. The models with the lowest NAO variance are associated with weaker polar vortex variability and a weaker stratosphere–troposphere coupling parameter. The two stratospheric indices are uncorrelated across models and together give a pooled R2 with an NAO variability of 0.7, which is larger than the fraction of inter-model spread related to the AMV (R2=0.3). The identification of this relationship suggests that modelled spread in multidecadal NAO variability has the potential to be reduced by improved knowledge of observed multidecadal stratospheric variability; however, observational records are currently too short to provide a robust constraint on these indices.\u0000","PeriodicalId":383272,"journal":{"name":"Weather and Climate Dynamics","volume":" 661","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141823793","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Towards a process-oriented understanding of the impact of stochastic perturbations on the model climate","authors":"Moritz Deinhard, C. Grams","doi":"10.5194/wcd-5-927-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-927-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Stochastic parametrisation techniques have been used by operational weather centres for decades to produce ensemble forecasts and to represent uncertainties in the forecast model. Their use has been demonstrated to be highly beneficial, as it increases the reliability of the forecasting system and reduces systematic biases. Despite the random nature of the perturbation techniques, the response of the model can be nonlinear, and the mean state of the model can change. In this study, we attempt to provide a process-based understanding of how stochastic model perturbations affect the model climate. Previous work has revealed sensitivities of the occurrence of diabatically driven, rapidly ascending airstreams to the stochastically perturbed parametrisation tendencies (SPPT) scheme. Such strongly ascending airstreams are linked to different weather phenomena, such as precipitation and upper-tropospheric ridge building in the midlatitudes, which raises the question of whether these processes are also influenced by stochastic perturbations. First, we analyse if rapidly ascending airstreams also show sensitivities to a different perturbation technique – the stochastically perturbed parametrisations (SPP) scheme, which directly represents parameter uncertainty in parametrisations and has recently been developed at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). By running a set of sensitivity experiments with the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) and by employing a Lagrangian detection of ascending airstreams, we show that SPP results in a systematic increase in the occurrence of ascending air parcel trajectories compared to simulations with unperturbed model physics. This behaviour is very similar to that of SPPT, although some regional differences are apparent. The one-sided response to the stochastic forcing is also observed when only specific parametrisations are perturbed (only convection parametrisation and all parametrisations but convection), and we hypothesise that the effect cannot be attributed to a single process. Thereafter, we link the frequency changes in ascending airstreams to closely related weather phenomena. While the signal of increased ascending motion is directly transmitted to global precipitation sums for all analysed schemes, changes to the amplitude of the upper-level Rossby wave pattern are more subtle. In agreement with the trajectory analysis, both SPPT and SPP increase the waviness of the upper-level flow and thereby reduce a systematic bias in the model, even though the magnitude is small. Our study presents a coherent process chain that enables us to understand how stochastic perturbations systematically affect the model climate. We argue that weather systems which are characterised by threshold behaviour on the one hand and that serve as a dynamical hinge between spatial scales on the other hand can convert zero-mean perturbations into an asymmetric response and project it onto larger scales.\u0000","PeriodicalId":383272,"journal":{"name":"Weather and Climate Dynamics","volume":"109 38","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141821380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Kuchař, Maurice Öhlert, R. Eichinger, Christoph Jacobi
{"title":"Large-ensemble assessment of the Arctic stratospheric polar vortex morphology and disruptions","authors":"A. Kuchař, Maurice Öhlert, R. Eichinger, Christoph Jacobi","doi":"10.5194/wcd-5-895-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-895-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The stratospheric polar vortex (SPV) comprises strong westerly winds during winter in each hemisphere. Despite ample knowledge on the SPV's high variability and its frequent disruptions by sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) in the Northern Hemisphere (NH), questions on how well current climate models can simulate these dynamics remain open. Specifically the accuracy in reproducing SPV morphology and the differentiation between split and displacement SSW events are crucial to assess the models in this regard. In this study, we evaluate the capability of climate models to simulate the NH SPV by comparing large ensembles of historical simulations to ERA5 reanalysis data. For this, we analyze geometric-based diagnostics at three pressure levels that describe SPV morphology. Our analysis reveals that no model exactly reproduces SPV morphology of ERA5 in all diagnostics at all altitudes. Concerning the SPV morphology as stretching (aspect ratio) and location (centroid latitude) parameters, most models are biased to some extent, but the strongest deviations can be found for the vortex-splitting parameter (excess kurtosis). Moreover, some models underestimate the variability of SPV strength. Assessing the reliability of the ensembles in distinguishing SSWs subdivided into SPV displacement and split events, we find large differences between the model ensembles. In general, SPV displacements are represented better than splits in the simulation ensembles, and high-top models and models with finer vertical resolution perform better. A good performance in representing the morphological diagnostics does not necessarily imply reliability and therefore a good performance in simulating displacements and splits. Assessing the model biases and their representation of SPV dynamics is needed to improve credibility of climate model projections, for example, by giving stronger weightings to better performing models.\u0000","PeriodicalId":383272,"journal":{"name":"Weather and Climate Dynamics","volume":"32 21","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141659109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Deepening mechanisms of cut-off lows in the Southern Hemisphere and the role of jet streams: insights from eddy kinetic energy analysis","authors":"H. Pinheiro, Kevin I. Hodges, M. A. Gan","doi":"10.5194/wcd-5-881-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-881-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Cut-off lows (COLs) exhibit diverse structures and lifecycles, ranging from confined upper-tropospheric systems to deep, multi-level vortex structures. While COL climatologies are well documented, the mechanisms driving their deepening remain unclear. To bridge this gap, a novel track matching algorithm applied to ERA-Interim reanalysis investigates the vertical extent of Southern Hemisphere COLs. Composite analysis based on structure and eddy kinetic energy budget differentiates four COL categories: shallow, deep, weak, and strong, revealing similarities and disparities. Deep, strong COLs concentrate around Australia and the southwestern Pacific, peaking in autumn and spring, while shallow, weak COLs are more common in summer and closer to the Equator. Despite their differences, both contrasting types evolve energetically via anticyclonic Rossby wave breaking. The distinct roles of jet streams in affecting COL types are addressed: intense polar front jets correlate with more deep COLs, whereas stronger subtropical jets relate to fewer shallow COLs. The COL deepening typically occurs in the presence of a robust upstream polar front jet, which enhances ageostrophic flux convergence and baroclinic processes. The subtropical jet positively correlates with COL intensity but weakens when considering the seasonality, suggesting uncertainties in this relationship. Additionally, we highlight the significance of diabatic processes in COL deepening, addressing their misrepresentation in reanalysis and emphasizing the need for more observational and modelling studies to refine the energetic framework.\u0000","PeriodicalId":383272,"journal":{"name":"Weather and Climate Dynamics","volume":"59 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141687045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Elevation-dependent warming: observations, models, and energetic mechanisms","authors":"Michael P. Byrne, W. Boos, Shineng Hu","doi":"10.5194/wcd-5-763-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-763-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Observational data and numerical models suggest that, under climate change, elevated land surfaces warm faster than non-elevated ones. Proposed drivers of this “elevation-dependent warming” (EDW) include surface albedo and water vapour feedbacks, the temperature dependence of longwave emission, and aerosols. Yet the relative importance of each proposed mechanism both regionally and at large scales is unclear, highlighting an incomplete physical understanding of EDW. Here we expand on previous regional studies and use gridded observations, atmospheric reanalysis, and a range of climate model simulations to investigate EDW over the historical period across the tropics and subtropics (40° S to 40° N). Observations, reanalysis, and fully coupled models exhibit annual mean warming trends (1959–2014), binned by surface elevation, which are larger over elevated surfaces and broadly consistent across datasets. EDW varies by season, with stronger observed signals in local winter and autumn. Analysis of large ensembles of single-forcing simulations (1959–2005) suggests historical EDW is likely a forced response of the climate system rather than an artefact of internal variability and is primarily driven by increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. To gain quantitative insight into the mechanisms contributing to large-scale EDW, a forcing–feedback framework based on top-of-atmosphere energy balance is applied to the fully coupled models. This framework identifies the Planck and surface albedo feedbacks as being robust drivers of EDW (i.e. enhancing warming over elevated surfaces), with energy transport by the atmospheric circulation also playing an important role. In contrast, water vapour and cloud feedbacks along with weaker radiative forcing in elevated regions oppose EDW. Implications of the results for understanding future EDW are discussed.\u0000","PeriodicalId":383272,"journal":{"name":"Weather and Climate Dynamics","volume":"13 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141111623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The upstream–downstream connection of North Atlantic and Mediterranean cyclones in semi-idealized simulations","authors":"Alexander Scherrmann, H. Wernli, E. Flaounas","doi":"10.5194/wcd-5-419-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-419-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Cyclogenesis in the Mediterranean is typically triggered by the intrusion of a potential vorticity (PV) streamer over the Mediterranean. The intrusion of the PV streamer results from a preceding Rossby wave breaking (RWB) upstream over the North Atlantic. The ridge leading to the RWB is typically amplified by the presence of warm conveyor belts (WCBs) in at least one North Atlantic cyclone about 4 d prior to Mediterranean cyclogenesis. Thus, the sequence of these four main events (namely a North Atlantic cyclone, WCBs, RWB, and the resulting PV streamers) forms an archetypal scenario leading to Mediterranean cyclogenesis. However, they rarely occur in a spatially consistent, fully repetitive pattern for real cyclone cases. To more systematically study this connection between upstream North Atlantic cyclones and Mediterranean cyclogenesis, we perform a set of semi-idealized simulations over the Euro-Atlantic domain. For these simulations, we prescribe a constant climatological atmospheric state in the initial and boundary conditions. To trigger the downstream Mediterranean cyclogenesis scenario, we perturb the climatological polar jet through the inversion of a positive upper-level PV anomaly. The amplitude of this perturbation determines the intensity of the triggered North Atlantic cyclone. This cyclone provokes RWB, the intrusion of a PV streamer over the Mediterranean, and thereby the formation of a Mediterranean cyclone. Therefore, our results show a direct connection between the presence of a North Atlantic cyclone and the downstream intrusion of a PV streamer into the Mediterranean, which causes cyclogenesis about 4 d after perturbing the polar jet. We refer to this as the upstream–downstream connection of North Atlantic and Mediterranean cyclones. To investigate the sensitivity of this connection, we vary the position and amplitude of the upper-level PV anomaly. In all simulations, cyclogenesis occurs in the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, the tracks and intensity of the Mediterranean cyclones may vary by up to 20° and 10 hPa (at the time of the mature stage), respectively. This indicates that the Mediterranean cyclone dynamics are sensitive to the dynamical structure and amplitude of the intruding PV streamer, which itself is sensitive to the interaction of the upstream cyclone and the RW(B). By applying different seasonal climatological atmospheric states as initial conditions we show that cyclogenesis occurs in distinct regions in different seasons. Thus, the seasonal cycle of Mediterranean cyclogenesis might be partly determined by the large-scale atmospheric circulation, i.e., the seasonal location of the polar jet. Furthermore, we show that the Mediterranean cyclones in these semi-idealized simulations show characteristics that agree with the observed climatology of Mediterranean cyclones in the respective season.\u0000","PeriodicalId":383272,"journal":{"name":"Weather and Climate Dynamics","volume":"34 26","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140373624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Oldeman, M. Baatsen, A. S. von der Heydt, A. V. van Delden, Henk A. Dijkstra
{"title":"Mid-Pliocene not analogous to high-CO2 climate when considering Northern Hemisphere winter variability","authors":"A. Oldeman, M. Baatsen, A. S. von der Heydt, A. V. van Delden, Henk A. Dijkstra","doi":"10.5194/wcd-5-395-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-395-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. In this study, we address the question of whether the mid-Pliocene climate can act as an analogue for a future warm climate with elevated CO2 concentrations, specifically regarding Northern Hemisphere winter variability. We use a set of sensitivity simulations with the global coupled climate model CESM1.0.5 (CCSM4-Utr), which is part of the PlioMIP2 model ensemble, to separate the response to a CO2 doubling and to mid-Pliocene boundary conditions other than CO2. In the CO2 doubling simulation, the Aleutian low deepens, and the Pacific–North American pattern (PNA) strengthens. In response to the mid-Pliocene boundary conditions, sea-level pressure variance decreases over the North Pacific, the PNA becomes weaker and the North Pacific Oscillation (NPO) becomes the dominant mode of variability. The mid-Pliocene simulation shows a weak North Pacific jet stream that is less variable in intensity but has a high level of variation in jet latitude, consistent with a dominant NPO and indicating that North Pacific atmospheric dynamics become more North Atlantic-like. We demonstrate that the weakening of the Aleutian low, and subsequent relative dominance of the NPO over the PNA, is related to shifts in tropical Pacific convection. Variability in the North Atlantic shows little variation between all simulations. The opposite response in North Pacific winter variability to elevated CO2 or mid-Pliocene boundary conditions demonstrates that the mid-Pliocene climate cannot serve as a future analogue in this regard.\u0000","PeriodicalId":383272,"journal":{"name":"Weather and Climate Dynamics","volume":"45 20","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140231713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Forcing for varying boundary layer stability across Antarctica","authors":"Mckenzie J. Dice, J. Cassano, Gina C. Jozef","doi":"10.5194/wcd-5-369-2024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-369-2024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The relative importance of changes in radiative forcing (downwelling longwave radiation) and mechanical mixing (20 m wind speed) in controlling boundary layer stability annually and seasonally at five study sites across the Antarctica continent is presented. From near neutral to extremely strong near-surface stability, radiative forcing decreases with increasing stability, as expected, and is shown to be a major driving force behind variations in near-surface stability at all five sites. Mechanical mixing usually decreases with increasing near-surface stability for regimes with weak to extremely strong stability. For the cases where near neutral, very shallow mixed, and weak stability occur, the wind speed in the very shallow mixed case is usually weaker compared to the near neutral and weak stability cases, while radiative forcing is largest for the near neutral cases. This finding is an important distinguishing factor for the unique case where a very shallow mixed layer is present, indicating that weaker mechanical mixing in this case is likely responsible for the shallower boundary layer that defines the very shallow mixed stability regime. For cases with enhanced stability above a layer of weaker near-surface stability, lower downwelling longwave radiation promotes the persistence of the stronger stability aloft, while stronger near-surface winds act to maintain weaker stability immediately near the surface, resulting in this two-layer boundary layer stability regime.\u0000","PeriodicalId":383272,"journal":{"name":"Weather and Climate Dynamics","volume":"1974 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140246672","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}