Trends in air mass frequencies across Europe

Petrou, Ilias; Kassomenos, Pavlos; Lee, Cameron C.

doi:10.1007/s00704-022-03921-z

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The role of forest in temperature mitigation assumes a great relevance especially in the context of climate change. The increase in frequency of heat waves [38] and warm air masses [39] observed in Europe in the last four decades underlines the urgent importance to implement mitigation and adaptation actions. The cooling effect of forests may also have an important economic value, quantifiable by, e.g., combining simple meteorological data and regional electrical cooling costs [40]; such economic value represents an exploitable asset, for instance to further valorize forest ecosystem services and promote forested territories with a particular touristic vocation, enhancing their attractiveness as summer destination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forests Attenuate Temperature and Air Pollution Discomfort in Montane Tourist Areas

Gottardini

Cristofolini

Cristofori

et al. 2023

Forests

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Forests deliver many ecosystem services, from provisioning to regulating and cultural services. We aimed at demonstrating microclimatic regulation and pollutant removal as especially relevant ecosystem services when considering the tourism vocation of the Alpine regions. A study was realized along an altitudinal gradient (900–1600 m a.s.l.) in Trentino, northern Italy, an area with high touristic presence (ca. 9.3 million overnight stays in summer 2021). Nitrogen dioxide (NO2, µg m−3), ozone (O3, µg m−3) concentrations, air temperature (T, °C), and relative humidity (RH, %) were simultaneously measured in three open-field sites (OF) and below-canopy Norway spruce forest stands (FO) during the period 23 May–7 August 2013. The temperature–humidity index (THI) was calculated. We found a distinct mitigating effect of forest on T, with lower maximum (−30.6%) and higher minimum values (+6.3%) in FO than in OF. THI supported a higher comfort sensation in FO than in OF, especially in the central part of the day. NO2 concentrations did not differ between OF and FO; ozone concentrations were lower in FO than OF. This study confirms the role of forests in providing several ecosystem services beneficial for forest users, especially relevant for promoting nature-based tourism in the Alpine region.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forests Attenuate Temperature and Air Pollution Discomfort in Montane Tourist Areas

Gottardini

Cristofolini

Cristofori

et al. 2023

Forests

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“…Due to the typical size of AMs (synoptic‐scale) and the remoteness of many tree‐ring sites, a tree‐ring based reconstruction of AMs would be particularly beneficial at filling in spatial gaps in the historical record. Such reconstructions would allow quantification and contextualization of recent trends in AM frequencies (e.g., Lee, 2020b; Lee & Sheridan, 2018; Petrou et al., 2022) that are not achievable from instrumental records alone, and—considering the known relationships between AMs and internal climate oscillations (Lee, 2020b; Senkbeil et al., 2007; Sheridan, 2002)—could facilitate a more‐robust (and longer‐term) estimate of these key drivers of interannual climate variability. Moreover, an AM reconstruction would allow for a longer period of study for the multitude of various applied climate projects for which AMs have historically been used.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…

Introduction and BackgroundVariability in mid-latitude surface weather is largely controlled by the ridges and troughs embedded in the hemispheric-scale circulation of the polar front jet stream, and the movement and persistence of accompanying synoptic-scale air masses (AMs). Significant trends in the frequency of various AMs have occurred over the last several decades (Lee, 2020b;Petrou et al, 2022), with general increases in warm-type AMs at the expense of coldtype AMs (Lee & Sheridan, 2018). However, the instrumental and reanalysis record of atmospheric circulation and near-surface weather (on which AM classifications depend) generally cover only the past half-century, and recent trends in AM frequencies must still be contextualized within a multi-century climate history.

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confidence: 99%

Frequencies of Multivariate Air Masses Drive Tree Growth

Lee

Dannenberg

2023

JGR Biogeosciences

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Midlatitude surface meteorological conditions are embedded within—and affected by—synoptic‐scale systems, including the movement and persistence of air masses (AMs). Changes in AM frequencies (number of daily occurrences) over the past several decades could have large effects on ecosystems: each organism is exposed to the synergistic effects of the entire suite of atmospheric variables acting upon it—an inherently multivariate environment—which is best captured using AMs. Utilizing a global‐scale AM classification system and a large network of tree‐ring chronologies, we investigate how variation in AM frequency impacts tree growth at over 900 locations. We find that AM frequencies are well‐correlated with tree growth, especially in the 12‐month period from July in the year prior to growth through June in the year of growth. The most impactful AMs are Dry‐Warm and Humid‐Cool AMs, which exhibit average correlations of ρ = −0.4 and ρ = +0.4 with tree growth, respectively, for certain tree species, with correlations at some sites exceeding ρ = ±0.8 in some seasons. Compared to empirical models based solely on temperature and precipitation, modeling using only AM frequencies proved superior at nearly 60% of the sites and for over 80% of the well‐sampled (n ≥ 10) species. These results should provide a foundation for using AMs to improve forecasts of tree growth, tree stress and wildfire potential. Long‐term reconstructions of AM frequencies back several centuries may also be feasible using tree‐ring data, which will help contextualize and temporally extend multivariate perspectives of climate change that utilize such air masses.

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“…Recently, a similar approach was used in the Gridded Weather Typing Classification (GWTC). This is a system for defining weather types or air masses, which can be thought of as multivariate “weather situations” (e.g., hot and humid, or cold and dry) occurring near the surface (Lee, 2019; 2020; Petrou et al ., 2022). In Polish literature on the subject, the geostrophic wind vector is used as an objective measure of the direction and intensity of air flow (IMWM‐NRI, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the frequency and temperature of air masses over east‐central Europe

Bartoszek

Kaszewski²

2022

Intl Journal of Climatology

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The study specifies the circulation conditions, the frequency of occurrence, long-term changes, and thermal characteristics of air masses over east-central Europe in the years 1951-2020. The division of air masses utilized by The Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management was used, where, based on the geographical location of the source areas, Arctic (A), Polar maritime fresh (mPf), Polar maritime old (transformed) (mPo), Polar maritime warm (mPw), Polar continental (cP), and Tropical (T) air masses are distinguished. It has been shown that western circulation dominates in this area (60% of days on average), during which the advection of maritime air masses occurs. The share of Arctic air mass flowing from the north (about 12% of days a year) and Tropical air mass from the southern sector (4% of days) is clearly smaller. The results of the research have shown that the frequency of the majority of the analysed air masses was subject to short-term changes in the studied period. On the other hand, long-term changes in this frequency concerned two air masses flowing from lower latitudes (mPw and T). In the case of mPw, in the period 1951-2020 there was a significant increase in frequency, not only on a yearly basis, but also in all seasons. In the last two decades, the frequency of Tropical air mass has also increased significantly, while the increase took place only in the summer period. Therefore, the increase in air temperature recorded in east-central Europe since the 1990s, mainly in the warm half of the year, should to a large extent be attributed to both the greater frequency of the inflow of air masses from lower latitudes (mPw and T) and the increase in temperature in virtually all separated air masses, which in turn is a result of progressing global warming.

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Trends in air mass frequencies across Europe

Cited by 7 publications

References 42 publications

Forests Attenuate Temperature and Air Pollution Discomfort in Montane Tourist Areas

Forests Attenuate Temperature and Air Pollution Discomfort in Montane Tourist Areas

Frequencies of Multivariate Air Masses Drive Tree Growth

Changes in the frequency and temperature of air masses over east‐central Europe

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