Sea Breeze Geoengineering to Increase Rainfall over the Arabian Red Sea Coastal Plains

Mostamandi, Suleiman; Predybaylo, Evgeniya; Osipov, Sergey; Zolina, Olga; Gulev, Sergey; Parajuli, Sagar; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.

doi:10.1175/jhm-d-20-0266.1

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 83 publications

(74 reference statements)

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“…The land surface emissivity directly affects surface temperature. The rate of surface heating or cooling ( 𝐴𝐴 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝑠𝑠 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 ) is given by the following surface heat budget equation (Bright et al, 2015;Deardorff, 1978;Mostamandi et al, 2022),…”

Section: Emissivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation of a Dust‐And‐Rain Event Across the Red Sea Using WRF‐Chem

et al. 2023

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We present simulations of a series of dust‐and‐rain events in July/August 2020 that caused significant loss of life and property over northeast Africa and the Red Sea coast using convection‐permitting Weather Research and Forecasting‐Chem simulations at 1.5 km horizontal grid spacing coupled with prognostic dust and aerosol scheme together with a double‐moment cloud microphysical scheme. The model generally captures the optical properties and vertical profiles of dust but has difficulty reproducing the seasonal dust plumes that originate over northeast Africa and reach the western Arabian Peninsula through the Tokar gap. Overlapping of synoptic events with local, diurnal‐scale, convective features caused continuous rainfall over the study domain in July/August 2020. The model well simulates the synoptically‐driven clouds over the ocean (∼4–8 km) and daytime deep convective clouds over the land but cannot reproduce cumulus clouds over the ocean advected from land, which leads to some biases in simulating peak rainfall rates. Although our simulations do not explicitly consider aerosol particles as ice nuclei, the model reproduces the cirrus clouds found at ∼10–15 km height during the study period. Simulations with a planetary boundary layer (PBL) scheme better represented the diurnal profile of surface temperature and winds, as well as the rainfall distribution, than without using a PBL scheme. Dust generally enhanced rainfall during the synoptic rain event through indirect effects but suppressed rainfall during sea‐breeze‐induced convective events through dust direct effects by weakening the sea‐breeze circulation.

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Section: Emissivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation of a Dust‐And‐Rain Event Across the Red Sea Using WRF‐Chem

et al. 2023

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“…Simulations were carried out with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model (V4.2.1, Powers et al, 2017). WRF has been used in the region for numerous model evaluation and process (Branch et al, 2021;Fonseca et al, 2020;Valappil et al, 2020;Wehbe et al, 2019;Nelli et al, 2020;Schwitalla et al, 2020), and rainfall modification studies (Mostamandi et al, 2022;Wulfmeyer et al, 2014;. Here, we use the same domain, resolution and configuration to Branch et al, 2021, who improvements to the MYNN planetary boundary layer (PBL), surface layer, dynamics and land surface schemes, as well as vapor mixing ratio (Q-2m) diagnostics.…”

Section: Model Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Panels could be darkened with black paint of albedo ~5% could be used to coat the panels, or even specialist coatings with < 1% albedo (Theocharous et al, 2014). Other surfaces which may modify weather are solar PV panels (Li et al, 2018;Lu et al, 2021;Mostamandi et al, 2022). These are typically of the mono-or poly-crystalline type, with very low albedos of between ~0.04 (Nemet, 2009) and ~0.1 (Zachariou & Protogeropoulos, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaling Artificial Heat Islands to Enhance Precipitation in Arid Regions

Branch,

Jach,

Schwitalla

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Abstract. Potential for regional climate engineering is gaining interest as a means of solving regional environmental problems like water scarcity and high temperatures. In the hyper-arid United Arab Emirates (UAE), water scarcity is reaching crisis point due to high consumption and over-extraction, and is exacerbated further with climate change. To counteract this problem, the UAE has conducted cloud seeding operations and intensive desalination for many years, but is now considering other means of increasing water resources. Very large ‘Artificial Black Surfaces’ (ABS), made of black mesh/black painted/solar PV panels have been proposed as a means of enhancing convective precipitation, via surface heating and amplification of vertical motion. Under the influence of the daily UAE sea breeze, this can lead to convection initiation under the right conditions. Currently it is not known how strong this rainfall enhancement would be, nor what scale of black surface would need to be employed. This study simulates the impacts at different ABS scales using the WRF-NoahMP model chain and investigates impacts on precipitation quantities and underlying convective processes. Simulations of five square ABS of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 km sizes were made on four one-day cases over a 24-hour period. These were compared with a Control model run, with no land use change, to quantify impacts. The ABS themselves were simulated by altering land cover static data, and prescribing a unique set of land surface parameters like albedo and roughness length. On all four days, rainfall is enhanced by low-albedo surfaces of 20 km or larger, primarily through a reduction of convection inhibition and production of convergence lines and buoyant updrafts. The 10 km square ABS had very little impact. From 20 km upwards there is a strong scale-dependency, with ABS size influencing the strength of convective processes and volume of rainfall. In terms of rainfall increases, the 20 km produces a mean rainfall increase, over the Control simulation, of 571,616 m3 day-1, 30 km (~1 mil. m3 day-1), 40 km (~1.5 mil. m3 day-1), and 50 km (~ 2.3 mil. m3 day-1). If we assume that such rainfall events happen only in 10 days in a year, this would equate to respective annual water supplies for >31,000, >50,000, >79,000, and >125,000 extra people yr-1, at UAE per capita consumption rates. Thus, artificial heat islands made from black panels or solar PV offer a means of enhancing rainfall in arid regions like the UAE, and should be made a high priority for further research.

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“…Remarkably, to our knowledge, no studies have examined the equilibrium (months or longer) precipitation response to a mesoscale albedo anomaly in isolation , that is, without coincident anomalies in surface roughness or other land surface properties (see Figure S1 in Supporting Information for an overview of how this study relates to previous literature (Charney, 1975; Devaraju et al., 2015; Evans et al., 2017; Hales et al., 2004; Li et al., 2018; Mostamandi et al., 2022; Oleson et al., 2010; Ouyang et al., 2022; Physick & Tapper, 1990; Sharma et al., 2016; Taylor et al., 2022; Vahmani et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2000; Xue & Shukla, 1993; Zonato et al., 2021)). This response is of fundamental interest, but also has important practical relevance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anomalously Darker Land Surfaces Become Wetter Due To Mesoscale Circulations

Cheng,

Hu,

McColl

2023

Geophysical Research Letters

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Abstract“Land radiative management” (LRM)—intentionally increasing land surface albedo to reduce regional temperatures—has been proposed as a form of geoengineering. Its effects on local precipitation and soil moisture over long timescales are not well understood. We use idealized cloud‐permitting simulations and a conceptual model to understand the response of precipitation and soil moisture to a mesoscale albedo anomaly at equilibrium. Initially, differential heating between a high‐albedo anomaly and the lower‐albedo surrounding environment drives mesoscale circulations, increasing precipitation and soil moisture in the surrounding environment. However, over time, increasing soil moisture reduces the differential heating, eliminating the mesoscale circulations. At equilibrium, the fractional increase in simulated soil moisture is up to 1.3 times the fractional increase in co‐albedo (one minus albedo). Thus, LRM may increase precipitation and soil moisture in surrounding regions, enhancing evaporative cooling and spreading the benefits of LRM over a wider region than previously recognized.

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Sea Breeze Geoengineering to Increase Rainfall over the Arabian Red Sea Coastal Plains

Cited by 10 publications

References 83 publications

Simulation of a Dust‐And‐Rain Event Across the Red Sea Using WRF‐Chem

Simulation of a Dust‐And‐Rain Event Across the Red Sea Using WRF‐Chem

Scaling Artificial Heat Islands to Enhance Precipitation in Arid Regions

Anomalously Darker Land Surfaces Become Wetter Due To Mesoscale Circulations

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