Instability and its relation to precipitation over the Eastern Iberian Peninsula

Iturrioz, I.; Hernández, E.; Ribera, Pedro; Queralt, S.

doi:10.5194/adgeo-10-45-2007

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…However, the other stations also present values above 38 southern stations (Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza and Murcia) are the ones presenting higher values. In that season, the Atlantic stations and Gibraltar present values below 40 • C. This feature is also in agreement with previous studies highlighting that precipitation is important in those regions during that season (Rodríguez-Puebla et al, 1998;Esteban-Parra et al, 1998;Romero et al, 1999;Iturrioz et al, 2007). Finally, all the stations show similar values in autumn, with the exception of Gibraltar where the values are smaller.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…A Coruña and Santander present the largest values during winter, which agrees with the fact that the northern and northwest-255 ern IP receive greats amounts of rain during that season (Rodríguez-Puebla et al, 1998;Esteban-Parra et al, 1998;Romero et al, 1999;Iturrioz et al, 2007). Higher values than in winter are observed during spring, but the maximum is recognizable in…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

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Changes in the simulation of instability indices over the Iberian Peninsula due to the use of 3DVAR data assimilation

González-Rojí

Carreno-Madinabeitia

Sáenz

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. The ability of two downscaling experiments to correctly simulate the instability conditions that can trigger thunderstorms over the Iberian Peninsula is compared in this paper. To do so, three instability indices are evaluated: TT index, CAPE and CIN. The WRF model is used for the simulations. The N experiment is driven by ERA-Interim’s initial and boundary conditions; The D experiment has the same configuration as N, but the 3DVAR data assimilation step is additionally run at 00, 06, 12 and 18 UTC. Eight radiosondes are available over the IP, and the values for these indices calculated from the University of Wyoming were chosen as reference in the validation of both simulations. Additionally, measured variables at different pressure levels from the radiosondes provided byWyoming were used to calculate the three instability indices by our own methodology using the R package aiRthermo. According to the validation, the correlation, SD and RMSE obtained by the experiment D for all the indices in most of the stations are better than those for N. The different methodologies produce small discrepancies between the values for TT, but these are larger for CAPE and CIN due to the dependency of these indices on the initial conditions assumed for the calculation of an air parcel’s vertical evolution. Similar results arise from the seasonal analysis concerning both WRF experiments: N tends to overestimate or underestimate (depending on the index) the variability of the reference values, but D is able to capture it in most of the seasons. The heterogeneity of the indices is highlighted in the mean maps over the Iberian Peninsula. According to those from D, the ingredients for the development of convective precipitation during winter are found along the entire Atlantic coast, but in summer they are located particularly in the Mediterranean coast. The chances of developing thunderstorms in those areas at 12 UTC is much higher than at 00 UTC; The convective inhibition is more extended towards inland at 00 UTC in those areas, which prevents storms from developing. However, high values are observed near Murcia also at 12 UTC.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Changes in the simulation of instability indices over the Iberian Peninsula due to the use of 3DVAR data assimilation

González-Rojí

Carreno-Madinabeitia

Sáenz

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…autumn. In this season, lows of relatively small size at 500 hPa are located preferentially over the southern part of IP (Font, 2000), and the associated low-level flow over the Mediterranean is warm and humid from the southeast (Romero et al, 1999a(Romero et al, , 1999bIturrioz et al, 2007). Moreover, Mediterranean precipitation is strongly dependent on mesoscale systems and Mediterranean cyclones, not properly captured by circulation types based on synoptic-scale fields as the occurrence of strong precipitation events largely depends on additional information of the meteorological situation such as the heat and moisture content (Schiemann and Frei, 2010).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circulation types and winter precipitation in Spain

Casado

Pastor

2013

Intl Journal of Climatology

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This paper is concentrated on the evaluation of circulation type classifications (CTCs) from the European Action COST733 catalogue version 2.0 in terms of their ability to capture winter precipitation, expressed as percentage, over Spanish Iberia and the Balearic Islands. The explained variation, the pseudo‐F statistics and the Brier skill score are used to quantify the explanatory power of circulation classifications. As secondary aims, the impact of using different number of circulation types, additional types of variables and 4‐day sequences in the generation of classifications is analysed.Although no optimal method has been found, nevertheless, the results suggest that the use of CTCs based on optimization algorithms are, in general, performing better than those which are based on other algorithms (i.e. leader algorithms). Distinct variations in skill exist not only among classifications from different groups of basic methods but as well between classifications from the same method group; being remarkable the behaviour of the optimum random centroid method. Results are very dependent on the metric, for the explained variation, and the Brier skill score, the larger the number of circulation types, the better the performance; contrary to the behaviour of the pseudo‐F statistic. The inclusion of 500 hPa vorticity in the generation of classifications improves results while a general deterioration is observed when considering 4‐day sequences. These results are only valid for the selected season and cannot be transferred to other locations and seasons.

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“…This seasonal pattern is related to the underprediction by LMOP at N and, to a lesser extent, at S. The higher amount of hail precipitation observed from April to May at N (Figure 3b) supports the argument that underprediction can at least to some degree be explained by thermally driven convection. Some authors (Iturrioz et al, 2007) point out that from May to October, there is an increased ratio of precipitation events in Central Iberia area due to thermodynamic instability. The smaller model error at C may be due to smaller moist convective activity on the southern side of Guadarrama.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi‐scale evaluation of a linear model of orographic precipitation over Sierra de Guadarrama (Iberian Central System)

Durán

Barstad

2018

Intl Journal of Climatology

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A linear model of orographic precipitation is validated at Sierra de Guadarrama (Iberian Central System) using ERA-Interim as input and a historical set of precipitation data. It is the first time that a linear precipitation model is tested in a semi-arid region like this. The historical precipitation data come from three high-quality observatories located at the south, north and top of the mountain range. Different timescales ranging from daily, monthly and annual precipitation are analysed. Phenomena not generally taken into account in linear models like a sub-saturated air condition and topographic mesoscale flow blocking are included in the modelling. Model results show a good agreement with observations at annual and monthly scales. The model reproduces well the high inter-annual variability and the annual cycle, including the pronounced summer drought. Bigger differences between observed and modelled precipitations are found for some winter months and for May. Winter overestimation is attributed to measurement undersampling during snowy conditions. The underestimation in May is likely related to thermally driven convective precipitation, which is not modelled. Results also show how orographic precipitation is an important contributor to total precipitation in this area. The high-resolution precipitation fields obtained can be used in the future for precipitation assessment and other hydrological applications. Modelled time series can also be very helpful for completing and validating the precipitation observations for the winter months.

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Instability and its relation to precipitation over the Eastern Iberian Peninsula

Cited by 13 publications

References 7 publications

Changes in the simulation of instability indices over the Iberian Peninsula due to the use of 3DVAR data assimilation

Changes in the simulation of instability indices over the Iberian Peninsula due to the use of 3DVAR data assimilation

Circulation types and winter precipitation in Spain

Multi‐scale evaluation of a linear model of orographic precipitation over Sierra de Guadarrama (Iberian Central System)

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