The role of air–sea interactions in atmospheric rivers: Case studies using the SKRIPS regional coupled model
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Accepted manuscript
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2021-08-13
Type
ArticleAuthors
Sun, Rui
Subramanian, Aneesh C.
Cornuelle, Bruce D.
Mazloff, Matthew R.

Miller, Arthur J.

Ralph, F. Martin

Seo, Hyodae

Hoteit, Ibrahim

KAUST Department
Earth Science and Engineering ProgramPhysical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
Date
2021-02-13Embargo End Date
2021-08-13Submitted Date
2020-04-06Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/667371
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Atmospheric rivers (ARs) play a key role in California’s water supply and are responsible for most of the extreme precipitation and major flooding along the west coast of North America. Given the high societal impact, it is critical to improve our understanding and prediction of ARs. This study uses a regional coupled ocean–atmosphere modeling system to make hindcasts of ARs up to 14 days. Two groups of coupled runs are highlighted in the comparison: (1) ARs occurring during times with strong SST cooling and (2) ARs occurring during times with weak SST cooling. During the events with strong SST cooling, the coupled model simulates strong upward air–sea heat fluxes associated with ARs; on the other hand, when the SST cooling is weak, the coupled model simulates downward air–sea heat fluxes in the AR region. Validation data shows that the coupled model skillfully reproduces the evolving SST, as well as the surface turbulent heat transfers between the ocean and atmosphere. The roles of air–sea interactions in AR events are investigated by comparing coupled model hindcasts to hindcasts made using persistent sea surface temperature (SST). To evaluate the influence of the ocean on ARs we analyze two representative variables of AR intensity, the vertically integrated water vapor (IWV) and integrated vapor transport (IVT). During strong SST cooling AR events the simulated IWV is improved by about 12% in the coupled run at lead times greater than one week. For IVT, which is about twice more variable, the improvement in the coupled run is about 5%.Citation
Sun, R., Subramanian, A. C., Cornuelle, B. D., Mazloff, M. R., Miller, A. J., Ralph, F. M., … Hoteit, I. (2021). The role of air–sea interactions in atmospheric rivers: Case studies using the SKRIPS regional coupled model. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. doi:10.1029/2020jd032885Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Additional Links
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020JD032885ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1029/2020jd032885