Understanding summer wind systems over the eastern Mediterranean in a high‐resolution climate simulation

Abstract

Regional and local wind systems are often complex, particularly near coastal areas with a highly variable orography. Thus, the realistic representation of regional wind systems in weather and climate models is of strong relevance. Here, we evaluate the ability of a 13‐year convection‐permitting climate simulation in reproducing the interaction of several regional summer wind systems over the complex orography in the eastern Mediterranean region. The COSMO‐CLM simulations are driven by hourly ERA‐5 reanalysis and have a spatial resolution of 2.8 and 7.0 km. The simulated near‐surface wind fields are compared with unique very high‐resolution wind observations collected within the “Dead Sea Research Venue” project (DESERVE) and data from the Israel Meteorological Service synop network. The high‐resolution COSMO‐CLM simulations largely reproduce the main characteristics of the regional wind systems (Mediterranean and Dead Sea breeze, slope winds in the Judean Mountains and winds along the Jordan Rift valley), whereas ERA‐5 is only able to represent the Mediterranean Sea breeze. The high‐resolution simulations substantially improve the representation of regional winds, particularly over complex orography. Indeed, the 2.8 km simulation outperforms the 7.0 km run, on 88% of the days. Two mid‐July 2015 case studies show that only the 2.8 simulation can realistically simulate the penetration of the Mediterranean Sea Breeze into the Jordan Rift valley and complex interactions with other wind systems like the Dead Sea breeze. Our results may have profound implications for regional weather and climate prediction since very high‐resolution information seems to be necessary to reproduce the main summertime climatic features in this region. We envisage that such simulations may also be required at other regions with complex orography.

Preliminary Model Study for Forecasting a Hot Weather Process in Guangdong Province Using CMA-TRAMS

“…They found that the high-resolution model significantly improved the forecasting of extreme weather events. Latt et al [5] found that the high-resolution COSMO-CLM (Continuous Consortium for Scale Modeling in Climate Mode) model simulation portrayed the main characteristics of regional winds, with the regional climate numerical model per-forming better in regions with complex topography. For certain extreme weather conditions and regions with complex terrain, higher model resolution leads to some improvement in simulation results.…”

High-resolution projection of wind energy in the Middle East’s summer

“…The Middle East, renowned for its hot and arid summer climate, offers a dynamic setting for wind projections influenced by numerous climatic factors (Ziv et al, 2004;Harpaz et al, 2014;Hochman et al, 2021). The region's summer months are marked by high temperatures and dry landscapes, creating a complex interaction of atmospheric dynamics that significantly influence wind patterns (Hochman et al, 2022;Latt et al, 2022). Key regional weather systems, such as the subtropical high and the Persian Trough, play a crucial role in shaping these prevailing winds (Alpert et al, 2004a,b;Hochman et al, 2018b,c;Alpert et al, 1990).…”

“…Additionally, the region's summer climate is characterized by frequent dust storms, further complicating wind dynamics (Rezazadeh et al, 2013;Crouvi et al, 2017;Baltaci, 2021;Gasch et al, 2017). Strong diurnal temperature variations and the development of thermal low-pressure systems contribute to localized wind patterns, such as sea breezes and mountain-valley winds (Kunin et al, 2019;Latt et al, 2022;El-Geziry et al, 2021). Integrating these climatic details into high-resolution models is essential for maximizing the region's wind energy potential (Latt et al, 2022).…”

“…Strong diurnal temperature variations and the development of thermal low-pressure systems contribute to localized wind patterns, such as sea breezes and mountain-valley winds (Kunin et al, 2019;Latt et al, 2022;El-Geziry et al, 2021). Integrating these climatic details into high-resolution models is essential for maximizing the region's wind energy potential (Latt et al, 2022).…”

“…This task necessitates advanced modeling techniques, such as Regional Circulation Models (RCM) and dynamical down-scaling (Tapiador et al, 2020;Hochman et al, 2018a;Krichak et al, 2010). RCMs provide a detailed depiction of atmospheric circulation at finer spatial resolutions, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of localscale features crucial for precise wind assessments (Latt et al, 2022;Kulkarni et al, 2019;Reale et al, 2022). Complementing RCMs, dynamical down-scaling enhances coarse-scale Global Circulation Models (GCM) by incorporating high-resolution topographic and land-use data, thus capturing site-specific conditions more accurately (Giorgi et al, 2009;Giorgi and Gutowski Jr, 2015).…”