“Beyond Weather Regimes”: Descriptors Monitoring Atmospheric Centers of Action. A case study for Aotearoa New Zealand

AbstractThis paper introduces a set of descriptors applied to weather regimes, that allow for a detailed monitoring of the location and intensity of their atmospheric centers of action (e.g. troughs and ridges) and the gradients between them, when applicable. Descriptors are designed to document the effect of climate variability and change in modulating the character of daily weather regimes, rather than merely their occurrence statistics.As a case study, the methodology is applied to Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ), using ERA5 ensemble reanalysis data for the period 1979-2019. Here, we analyze teleconnections between the regimes and their descriptors, and large-scale climate variability. Result…

Impacts d’une meilleure description de la végétation urbaine sur des résultats de modélisation du climat urbain

Cycles diurnes de rayonnement solaire et forets en Afrique Centrale.

The sunlightconditions prevailing in Central Africa, and their potential impact on forests traits and functioning, have neverbeen fully explored. Using satellite estimates documenting mostly the period 2005-2013, and accounting forscale interactions between the diurnal and annual cycles, we demonstrate that the seasonality of sunlight levelsstrongly vary across Central Africa forests. Gabon stands out with a main dry season strongly light-deficient,cool and moist. An original map of terra firme forest types developed by CIRAD shows that most of theevergreen forests of Central Africa develop in Gabon. We postulate that despite a mean annual precipitationamount below 2000 mm/yr, the Gabonese …

Recent climate variability around the Kerguelen Islands (Southern Ocean) seen through weather regimes

AbstractDaily weather regimes are defined around the Kerguelen Islands (Southern Ocean) based on daily 500 hPa geopotential height anomalies derived from the ERA5 ensemble reanalysis over the period 1979-2018. Ten regimes are retained as significant. Their occurrences are highly consistent across reanalysis ensemble members. Regimes show weak seasonality and non-significant long-term trends in their occurrences. Their sequences are usually short (1-3 days), with extreme persistence values above 10 days. Seasonal regime frequency is mostly driven by the phase of the Southern Annular Mode over Antarctica, mid-latitude dynamics over the Southern Ocean like the Pacific South American mode, and …

Étude des températures simulées avec Méso-NH : sensibilité à l’artificialisation des sols à Grenoble et Lyon.

International audience; La modélisation atmosphérique à très fine échelle permet d’analyser la dynamique de l’îlot dechaleur urbain en contexte de topographie complexe. Deux simulations (Urbaine et Non-Urbaine) mettenten évidence les effets associés à l'urbanisation. La taille des agglomérations, dans le cas de Lyon etGrenoble, n'influence pas la différence de température entre les deux simulations. Les conditions destabilité influencent fortement ces différences. L'ICU peut être intensifié par l'affaiblissement du vent oul’effet de piégeage et/ou le développement d’une couche d’inversion.

Régionalisation dynamique fine résolution du climat de l’Europe de l’ouest

Tester la possibilité de simuler le climat fine résolution (12km) du domaineEuroCordex sur une nouvelle grappe de serveurs du méso-Centre de Calcul del’Université de Bourgogne.

Dyvalocca : un projet pour l'étude des nuages bas de saison sèche sur la façade atlantique de l'Afrique centrale et de leur impact bioclimatique sur les forêts sempervirentes.

Low-level clouds are key components of the climate but are not well represented in weather and climate models. Recently it has been shown that an extensive low-level cloud cover develops during the June-September main dry season in western equatorial Africa, from the coastal plains of Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville to the inland plateaus downstream of the low-mountain crests. Such a cloudy main dry season is unique in the moist Tropics and is likely to explain the presence of the densest and evergreen forests of Central Africa as evapotranspiration is low and the quality of light is high. The ANR-DFG funded “DYVALOCCA” project will conduct from 2020 to 2022 a field campaign, raise existing in-…

Impacts d’une meilleure description de la végétation urbaine sur des simulations du climat urbain avec SURFEX-TEB.

Le réseau MUSTARDijon offre la possibilité de procéder à une cartographie fine des températureshoraires sur Dijon Métropole. La méthode proposée ici repose sur des régressions linéaires multiplesmobilisant deux familles de prédicteurs : des descripteurs du relief et des descripteurs de l’occupation dusol. L’application porte sur la canicule de l’été 2020 (6-9 août). Deux configurations sont comparées. L’une,en mode recherche, laisse la possibilité aux descripteurs de varier dynamiquement en fonction de leurpertinence statistique, l’autre, en mode opérationnel, impose les 5 mêmes descripteurs en entrée. Entermes de performance statistique ou de structure spatiale, l’impact de la méthode n’es…

The Urban Heat Island of a middle-size French city as seen by high-resolution numerical experiments and in situ measurements the case of Dijon, Burgundy

International audience; This work aims at characterizing the spatio-temporal variability and features of the urban heat island (UHI) over the agglomeration of Dijon (north-eastern France; 260,000 inhabitants) under present-day conditions and during the boreal summer season (June through September). To that end, two complementary approaches are used: • in situ measurements, using a network of 50 Hobo proV2 sensors measuring air temperature and specific humidity every 20 minutes, and implemented since June 2014 throughout the agglomeration; • high-resolution (150m horizontal resolution) meso-scale atmospheric simulations performed using the WRF/ARW model coupled with the BEP-BEM urban canopy …

Urban Heat Island and air quality, Dijon, winter 2014-2015.

For the 2014-2015 Winter, thetemperature patterns and the Air Quality measured over the Grand Dijon urban area are studied together.Meteorological conditions favoring the development of an Urban Heat Island (UHI) are distinguished fromthose giving rise to pollution episodes. Winter UHI are next characterized, with radiative situations followedafter the sunset by relatively strong UHI (about 3°C), and days with no insolation during which anthropogenicheat is suspected to produce a small UHI (few tenths of °C).

How relevant are local climate zones and urban climate zones for urban climate research? Dijon (France) as a case study.

17 pages; International audience; Several typologies of urban surface properties have been proposed, in recent years, for urban heat island studies and climate modeling. Some were specifically developed for cities and urban climate issues, like the Urban Climate Zones, and the more recent Local Climate Zones. The initial objective of this paper is to evaluate the capacity of these two typologies to identify thermal environments in and around cities, and to determine which typology best captures the daily spatio-temporal patterns of surface and urban canopy heat islands. To simulate urban climate with a model, LULC data based on a given typology are required. To avoid circularity, we combine…

Evolution of dry season low cloud cover over the Atlantic coast of Central Africa from diurnal to interannual scale

Despite its bioclimatic importance, few studies have focused on the stratiform low-level cloud cover ofthe dry season (June-September) of the Atlantic coast of Central Africa. Using in-situ data documenting theperiod 1971-2019, we show that this cloud cover is underestimated by SAFNWC satellite observations andCMIP6 models. We identify three types of days: clear, cloudy at night and totally cloudy, the latterbeing more frequent on the coast and inland, to the windward of the Cristal and Chaillu Mountains. Onan interannual scale, temperature anomalies in the South Tropical Atlantic, the equatorial Pacific and theCongo Basin, by modulating the meridional and zonal circulation cells, influence…

Comment et pour qui cartographier l’îlot de chaleur urbain (ICU) ?

Le réseau MUSTARDijon offre la possibilité de procéder à une cartographie fine des températureshoraires sur Dijon Métropole. La méthode proposée ici repose sur des régressions linéaires multiplesmobilisant deux familles de prédicteurs : des descripteurs du relief et des descripteurs de l’occupation dusol. L’application porte sur la canicule de l’été 2020 (6-9 août). Deux configurations sont comparées. L’une,en mode recherche, laisse la possibilité aux descripteurs de varier dynamiquement en fonction de leurpertinence statistique, l’autre, en mode opérationnel, impose les 5 mêmes descripteurs en entrée. Entermes de performance statistique ou de structure spatiale, l’impact de la méthode n’es…

Modelling three-dimensional distribution and evolution of rock wall permafrost in the Mont Blanc massif.

International audience

Relationship between weather regimes and atmospheric rivers in East Antarctica.

25 pages; International audience; Here, we define weather regimes in the East Antarctica—Southern Ocean sector based on daily anomalies of 700 hPa geopotential height derived from ERA5 reanalysis during 1979–2018. Most regimes and their preferred transitions depict synoptic-scale disturbances propagating eastwards off the Antarctic coastline. While regime sequences are generally short, their interannual variability is strongly driven by the polarity of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). Regime occurrences are then intersected with atmospheric rivers (ARs) detected over the same region and period. ARs are equiprobable throughout the year, but clearly concentrate during regimes associated with …

Évaluation des effets thermiques des leviers d'action visant à réduire l'îlot de chaleur urbain : l'exemple de Dijon.

Climate Change and Urban Heat Island (UHI) combine their effects and lead to increased frequencies and intensities of heat waves in urban environments. Considering the associated public health issues, several actions are possible: the color of the materials, the development of water surfaces or urban vegetation. In Dijon, a network of 60 stations makes it possible to evaluate the potential of these three actions. Analysis of the warm summer 2016 season reveals that the refreshing role of water only occurs during daytime, the effect of bright surfaces (concrete versus bitumen) on the air temperature is only a few tenths of a degree, while vegetation offers the largest refreshing potential. I…

A statistical-dynamical downscaling for the urban heat island and building energy consumption - Analysis of Its uncertainties.

AbstractHigh-resolution maps of the urban heat island (UHI) and building energy consumption are relevant for urban planning in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation. A statistical–dynamical downscaling for these parameters is proposed in the present study. It combines a statistical local weather type approach with dynamical simulations using the mesoscale atmospheric model Meso-NH coupled to the urban canopy model Town Energy Balance. The downscaling is subject to uncertainties related to the weather type approach (statistical uncertainty) and to the numerical models (dynamical uncertainty). These uncertainties are quantified for two French cities (Toulouse and Dijon) for …

Urban Heat Island (UHI) and heat waves: what relations?

With four years of measurements and alarge sample of stations, the MUSTARDijon network allows for a detailed characterization of the Urban HeatIsland (UHI), a warm season phenomenon. But UHI and maximum temperature values are out of phase at twodistinct time-scales. Seasonally, the maxima of UHI occur from May to July, i.e. before the annual peak oftemperature (July to August). At a daily time-scale, analysis of the two heat waves of July 2015 shows a lag of afew days between the peak of UHI and the heat wave. Two hypotheses are suggested to explain these lags:changes in radiative conditions and/or energy fluxes between the ground surface and the atmosphere.

Les Local Climate Zones face à la canicule de 2018 à Dijon.

Air temperatures measured by the MUSTARDijon network are analyzed during the summer 2018 (July 24 - August 8) heat wave. The WUDAPT method is applied to Dijon to identify Local Climate Zones (LCZs). Diurnal rhythms and nighttime mean temperatures are analyzed according to LCZs as well as to altitude and distance to the city center. During warm nights, altitude plays a negligible role. The temperatures depend to the distance of the city center. They are also associated to the anthropization summarized by the LCZs. Form of the building and vegetation are the two keys to understand and modulate the night temperatures which have the greatest impact on human health during heat waves.