The effects of diachronous surface uplift of the European Alps on regional climate and the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation

Boateng, Daniel; Ballian, Armelle; Meijers, Maud J.M.; Methner, Katharina; Botsyun, Svetlana; Mulch, Andreas; Ehlers, Todd A.

doi:10.5194/esd-2022-48

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…To validate the model's ability to represent WAM dynamics, we compared the present‐day (PD) simulation conducted by Boateng et al. (2023) with observed and reanalysis precipitation and near‐surface temperature data sets. The PD simulation setup follows the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) protocol, using prescribed annual means of SST and SIC from 1979 to 2014.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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West African Monsoon Dynamics and Its Control on the Stable Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Precipitation in the Late Cenozoic

Boateng,

Aryee,

Baidu

et al. 2024

JGR Atmospheres

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This study presents an overview of the Late Cenozoic evolution of the West African Monsoon (WAM), and the associated changes in atmospheric dynamics and oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation (δ18Op). This evolution is established by using the high‐resolution isotope‐enabled GCM ECHAM5‐wiso to simulate the climatic responses to paleoenvironmental changes during the Mid‐Holocene (MH), Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and Mid‐Pliocene (MP). The simulated responses are compared to a set of GCM outputs from Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project Phase 4 (PMIP4) to assess the added value of a high resolution and model consistency across different time periods. Results show WAM magnitudes and pattern changes that are consistent with PMIP4 models and proxy reconstructions. ECHAM5‐wiso estimates the highest WAM intensification in the MH, with a precipitation increase of up to 150 mm/month reaching 25°N during the monsoon season. The WAM intensification in the MP estimated by ECHAM5‐wiso (up to 80 mm/month) aligns with the mid‐range of the PMIP4 estimates, while the LGM dryness magnitude matches most of the models. Despite an enhanced hydrological cycle in MP, MH simulations indicate a ∼50% precipitation increase and a greater northward extent of WAM than the MP simulations. Strengthened conditions of the WAM in the MH and MP result from a pronounced meridional temperature gradient driving low‐level westerly, Sahel‐Sahara vegetation expansion, and a northward shift of the Africa Easterly Jet. The simulated δ18Op values patterns and their relationship with temperature and precipitation are non‐stationarity over time, emphasizing the implications of assuming stationarity in proxy reconstruction transfer functions.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The pre‐industrial simulation (the reference year 1850) was also obtained from Boateng et al. (2023). The model was simulated with prescribed SST and SIC from a transient coupled ocean‐atmosphere model (Lorenz & Lohmann, 2004).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

West African Monsoon Dynamics and Its Control on the Stable Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Precipitation in the Late Cenozoic

Boateng,

Aryee,

Baidu

et al. 2024

JGR Atmospheres

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“…The current version of pyESD includes functions for the extraction of EOF-based index time series for dominant extra-tropical teleconnection patterns in the Northern Hemisphere (pyESD.teleconnections). More specifically, it allows the computation of index values for the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), East Atlantic (EA), Scandinavian (SCAN), and East Atlantic/Western Russian (EAWR) oscillation patterns (e.g., Boateng et al, 2022). It will be expanded to consider Southern Hemisphere patterns in future versions.…”

Section: Predictor Selection and Constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

pyESDv1.0.1: An open-source Python framework for empirical-statistical downscaling of climate information

Boateng

2023

Preprint

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Abstract. The nature and severity of climate change impacts vary significantly from region to region. Consequently, high-resolution climate information is needed for meaningful impact assessments and the design of mitigation strategies. This demand has led to an increase in the coupling of Empirical Statistical Downscaling (ESD) models to General Circulation Model (GCM) simulations of future climate. In contrast to dynamical downscaling, the Perfect Prognosis ESD (PP-ESD) approach has several benefits, including low computation costs, the prevention of the propagation of GCM specific errors, and high compatibility with different GCMs. Despite their advantages, the use of ESD models and the resulting data products is hampered by (1) the lack of accessible and user-friendly downscaling software packages that implement the entire downscaling cycle, (2) difficulties to reproduce existing data products and assess their credibility, and (3) difficulties to reconcile different ESD-based predictions for the same region. We address these issues with a new open-source Python PP-ESD modeling framework pyESD. pyESD implements the entire downscaling cycle, i.e., routines for data preparation, predictor selection and construction, model selection and training, evaluation, utility tools for relevant statistical tests, visualization, and more. The package includes a collection of well-established Machine Learning algorithms and allows the user to choose a variety of estimators, cross-validation schemes, objective function measures, hyperparameter optimization, etc., in relatively few lines of code. The package is well documented, highly modular, and flexible. It allows quick and reproducible downscaling of any climate information, such as precipitation, temperature, wind speed, or even short-term glacier length and mass changes. We demonstrate the use and the effectiveness of the new PP-ESD framework by generating weather station-based downscaling products for precipitation and temperature in complex mountainous terrain in Southwest Germany. The application example covers all important steps of the downing cycle and different levels of experimental complexity. All scripts and datasets used in the case study are publicly available to (1) ensure the reproducibility and replicability of the modeled results, and (2) simplify learning to use the software package.

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The effects of diachronous surface uplift of the European Alps on regional climate and the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation

Boateng,

Mutz,

Ballian

et al. 2023

Earth Syst. Dynam.

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Abstract. This study presents the simulated response of regional climate and the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation (δ18Op) to different along-strike topographic evolution scenarios. These simulations are conducted to determine if the previously hypothesized diachronous surface uplift in the Western and Eastern Alps would produce δ18Op signals in the geologic record that are sufficiently large and distinct to be detected using stable isotope paleoaltimetry. We present a series of topographic sensitivity experiments conducted with the water-isotope-tracking atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) ECHAM5-wiso. The topographic scenarios are created from the variation of two free parameters, (1) the elevation of the Western–Central Alps and (2) the elevation of the Eastern Alps. The results indicate Δδ18Op values (i.e., the difference between δ18Op values at the low- and high-elevation sites) of up to −8 ‰ along the strike of the Alps for the diachronous uplift scenarios, primarily due to changes in orographic precipitation and adiabatic lapse rate driven localized changes in near-surface variables. These simulated magnitudes of Δδ18Op values suggest that the expected isotopic signal would be significant enough to be preserved and measured in geologic archives. Moreover, the simulated slight δ18Op differences of 1 ‰–2 ‰ across the low-elevation sites support the use of the δ–δ paleoaltimetry approach and highlight the importance of sampling far-field low-elevation sites to differentiate between the different surface uplift scenarios. The elevation-dependent rate of change in δ18Op (“isotopic lapse rate”) varies depending on the topographic configuration and the extent of the surface uplift. Most of the changes are significant (e.g., −1.04 ‰ km−1 change with slope error of ±0.09 ‰ km−1), while others were within the range of the statistical uncertainties (e.g., −0.15 ‰ km−1 change with slope error of ±0.13 ‰ km−1). The results also highlight the plausible changes in atmospheric circulation patterns and associated changes in moisture transport pathways in response to changes in the topography of the Alps. These large-scale atmospheric dynamics changes can complicate the underlying assumption of stable isotope paleoaltimetry and therefore require integration with paleoclimate modeling to ensure accurate reconstruction of the paleoelevation of the Alps.

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The effects of diachronous surface uplift of the European Alps on regional climate and the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation

Cited by 3 publications

References 106 publications

West African Monsoon Dynamics and Its Control on the Stable Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Precipitation in the Late Cenozoic

West African Monsoon Dynamics and Its Control on the Stable Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Precipitation in the Late Cenozoic

pyESDv1.0.1: An open-source Python framework for empirical-statistical downscaling of climate information

The effects of diachronous surface uplift of the European Alps on regional climate and the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation

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