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Three researchers from the Regional Atmospheric Modeling group, belonging to the Earth Physics Area of the University of Murcia (UMU), have carried out a study on the sensitivity of atmospheric rivers to the treatment of aerosols in regional climate simulations. This research, published in the renowned journal Geoscientific Model Developmentreveals what they have cataloged as “significant discoveries that could have important implications in the understanding and prediction of these phenomena.”
The study focused on the Iberian Peninsula during the period from 1991 to 2010, using three different experiments to examine the influence of aerosols. They ranged from the consideration of predefined aerosols to the inclusion of the effects caused by aerosol and radiation or aerosol and cloud interactions. A highlight of the research was the development of an innovative regional-scale atmospheric river identification algorithm, called AIRA, which allowed the identification of around 250 rivers in each experiment.
The results obtained revealed that atmospheric rivers are responsible for up to 30% of the total rainfall accumulated in some points on the west coast of the peninsula, and the most intense and long-lasting events occurred during spring and autumn. Furthermore, it was observed that the inclusion of aerosol effects redistributes precipitation, with increases in impact areas.
The main conclusion of this research is that the sensitivity of atmospheric rivers to different aerosol treatments is relevant. Depending on their configuration in the model, spatial deviations and modifications in the magnitude of water vapor transport of atmospheric rivers were induced compared to the reference simulation. These results highlight the importance of including the effects of aerosols in the simulation of the behavior of atmospheric rivers, especially at a regional scale, in order to refine meteorological predictions.
Every year around 10 atmospheric rivers impact the Iberian Peninsula, filamentous structures more than 1,000 km long that transport large amounts of water vapor from the equatorial Atlantic. Its arrival allows the regeneration of water resources, but it can also trigger major floods in the impact areas. On the other hand, aerosols, small particles suspended in the atmosphere, interact with solar radiation, absorbing and dispersing, and play a fundamental role as condensation nuclei, facilitating the formation of clouds.
As indicated in the group, “this study represents a significant advance in our understanding of the interaction between aerosols and atmospheric rivers, highlighting the need to consider these factors in climate models to improve the accuracy of simulations.”
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This work has been carried out thanks to a predoctoral scholarship awarded to Raluy-López by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (reference FPU21/02464).
Acceso al artículo: Raluy-López, E., Montávez, J. P., and Jiménez-Guerrero, P.: Sensitivity of atmospheric rivers to aerosol treatment in regional climate simulations: insights from the AIRA identification algorithm, Geoscientific Model Development, 17, 1469–1495, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1469-20242024.
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