Tropical, Subtropical, and Extratropical Atmospheric Rivers in the Australian Region

KIMBERLEY J. REID; ANDREW D. KING; TODD P. LANE; Debra Hudson

doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0606.1

Tropical, Subtropical, and Extratropical Atmospheric Rivers in the Australian Region

KIMBERLEY J. REID
, ANDREW D. KING
, TODD P. LANE
, Debra Hudson

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

42 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Studies of atmospheric rivers (ARs) over Australia have, so far, only focused on northwest cloudband-type weather systems. Here we perform a comprehensive analysis of AR climatology and impacts over Australia that includes not only northwesterly systems, but easterly and extratropical ARs also. We quantify the impact of ARs on mean and extreme rainfall including assessing how the origin location of ARs can alter their precipitation outcomes. We found a strong relationship between ARs and extreme rainfall in the agriculturally significant Murray-Daring basin region. We test the hypothesis that the tropical and subtropical originating ARs we observe in Australasia differ from canonical extratropical ARs by examining the vertical structure of ARs grouped by origin location. We found that in the moisture abundant tropics and subtropics, wind speed drives the intensity of ARs, while in the extratropics, the strength of an AR is largely determined by moisture availability. Finally, we examine the modulation of AR frequency by different climate modes. We find weak (but occasionally significant) correlations between ARs frequency and El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the Indian Ocean dipole, and the southern annular mode. However, there is a stronger relationship between the phases of the Madden-Julian oscillation and tropical AR frequency, which is an avenue for potential skill in forecasting ARs on subseasonal time scales.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2697-2708
Number of pages	12
Journal	Journal of Climate
Volume	35
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0606.1
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2022
Externally published	Yes

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action

Keywords

Atmospheric river
Australia
Mass fluxes/transport
Rainfall
Synoptic climatology

Access to Document

10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0606.1Licence: Unspecified

Cite this

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title = "Tropical, Subtropical, and Extratropical Atmospheric Rivers in the Australian Region",

abstract = "Studies of atmospheric rivers (ARs) over Australia have, so far, only focused on northwest cloudband-type weather systems. Here we perform a comprehensive analysis of AR climatology and impacts over Australia that includes not only northwesterly systems, but easterly and extratropical ARs also. We quantify the impact of ARs on mean and extreme rainfall including assessing how the origin location of ARs can alter their precipitation outcomes. We found a strong relationship between ARs and extreme rainfall in the agriculturally significant Murray-Daring basin region. We test the hypothesis that the tropical and subtropical originating ARs we observe in Australasia differ from canonical extratropical ARs by examining the vertical structure of ARs grouped by origin location. We found that in the moisture abundant tropics and subtropics, wind speed drives the intensity of ARs, while in the extratropics, the strength of an AR is largely determined by moisture availability. Finally, we examine the modulation of AR frequency by different climate modes. We find weak (but occasionally significant) correlations between ARs frequency and El Ni{\~n}o-Southern Oscillation, the Indian Ocean dipole, and the southern annular mode. However, there is a stronger relationship between the phases of the Madden-Julian oscillation and tropical AR frequency, which is an avenue for potential skill in forecasting ARs on subseasonal time scales.",

keywords = "Atmospheric river, Australia, Mass fluxes/transport, Rainfall, Synoptic climatology",

author = "REID, \{KIMBERLEY J.\} and KING, \{ANDREW D.\} and LANE, \{TODD P.\} and Debra Hudson",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments. The work of K. J. Reid was funded by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship and the Australian Research Council (ARC; DE180100638), the work of A. D. King was funded by the ARC (DE180100638), and the work of T.P. Lane was funded by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CE170100023). This research was undertaken with the assistance of resources from the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI Australia) supported by the Australian government. We wish to thank Prof. Julie Arblaster for useful discussions. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 American Meteorological Society.",

year = "2022",

month = may,

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doi = "10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0606.1",

language = "English",

volume = "35",

pages = "2697--2708",

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AU - REID, KIMBERLEY J.

AU - KING, ANDREW D.

AU - LANE, TODD P.

AU - Hudson, Debra

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments. The work of K. J. Reid was funded by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship and the Australian Research Council (ARC; DE180100638), the work of A. D. King was funded by the ARC (DE180100638), and the work of T.P. Lane was funded by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CE170100023). This research was undertaken with the assistance of resources from the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI Australia) supported by the Australian government. We wish to thank Prof. Julie Arblaster for useful discussions. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 American Meteorological Society.

PY - 2022/5/1

Y1 - 2022/5/1

N2 - Studies of atmospheric rivers (ARs) over Australia have, so far, only focused on northwest cloudband-type weather systems. Here we perform a comprehensive analysis of AR climatology and impacts over Australia that includes not only northwesterly systems, but easterly and extratropical ARs also. We quantify the impact of ARs on mean and extreme rainfall including assessing how the origin location of ARs can alter their precipitation outcomes. We found a strong relationship between ARs and extreme rainfall in the agriculturally significant Murray-Daring basin region. We test the hypothesis that the tropical and subtropical originating ARs we observe in Australasia differ from canonical extratropical ARs by examining the vertical structure of ARs grouped by origin location. We found that in the moisture abundant tropics and subtropics, wind speed drives the intensity of ARs, while in the extratropics, the strength of an AR is largely determined by moisture availability. Finally, we examine the modulation of AR frequency by different climate modes. We find weak (but occasionally significant) correlations between ARs frequency and El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the Indian Ocean dipole, and the southern annular mode. However, there is a stronger relationship between the phases of the Madden-Julian oscillation and tropical AR frequency, which is an avenue for potential skill in forecasting ARs on subseasonal time scales.

AB - Studies of atmospheric rivers (ARs) over Australia have, so far, only focused on northwest cloudband-type weather systems. Here we perform a comprehensive analysis of AR climatology and impacts over Australia that includes not only northwesterly systems, but easterly and extratropical ARs also. We quantify the impact of ARs on mean and extreme rainfall including assessing how the origin location of ARs can alter their precipitation outcomes. We found a strong relationship between ARs and extreme rainfall in the agriculturally significant Murray-Daring basin region. We test the hypothesis that the tropical and subtropical originating ARs we observe in Australasia differ from canonical extratropical ARs by examining the vertical structure of ARs grouped by origin location. We found that in the moisture abundant tropics and subtropics, wind speed drives the intensity of ARs, while in the extratropics, the strength of an AR is largely determined by moisture availability. Finally, we examine the modulation of AR frequency by different climate modes. We find weak (but occasionally significant) correlations between ARs frequency and El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the Indian Ocean dipole, and the southern annular mode. However, there is a stronger relationship between the phases of the Madden-Julian oscillation and tropical AR frequency, which is an avenue for potential skill in forecasting ARs on subseasonal time scales.

KW - Atmospheric river

KW - Australia

KW - Mass fluxes/transport

KW - Rainfall

KW - Synoptic climatology

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85128486186

U2 - 10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0606.1

DO - 10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0606.1

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85128486186

SN - 0894-8755

VL - 35

SP - 2697

EP - 2708

JO - Journal of Climate

JF - Journal of Climate

IS - 9

ER -

Tropical, Subtropical, and Extratropical Atmospheric Rivers in the Australian Region

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

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ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes

Cite this