Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Impacts of orography on large-scale atmospheric circulation: application of a regional climate model

  • Published:
Climate Dynamics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Orography has considerable impacts on the large-scale atmospheric circulation, emphasizing the necessity of adequate representation of the impacts of orography in numerical models. The regional climate model version 4 (RegCM4) is used to investigate the impacts of orography on the large-scale atmospheric circulation. Three numerical experiments in four different years for winter and summer have been conducted over a large geographical area, covering Eurasia, Africa and Oceania. These experiments include control simulations using the real orography, simulations with the removed orography of the whole domain and simulations with the removed orography of the whole domain except the Tibetan Plateau. In winter, the Tibetan Plateau prevents the development of the sea-level high pressure in South Asia and contributes to the intensification of the Siberian high through blocking cold air advection from Siberia toward India. The Tibetan Plateau is also responsible for the southward displacement of low-level easterly flows in the North Indian Ocean, such that elimination of this Plateau is associated with more zonal orientation and intensification of easterly winds, as well as an increase of moisture flux over India and the Arabian Sea. Descending motions associated with lee waves of the Western Ghat Mountains contribute to a decrease of precipitation over the Arabian Sea. In summer, the Tibetan Plateau reinforces the South Asian low-pressure system and pushes the South Asian monsoon to South Asia. Both the tropical easterly jet stream over the southern Tibetan Plateau and the subtropical westerly jet stream over the Tibetan Plateau are weakened when the whole orography is removed. Removal of the whole orography is associated with a considerable equatorward displacement of the intertropical convergence zone over South Asia. In austral winter, low-level subtropical anticyclones in Southern Africa and Australia are intensified when the whole orography is removed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abe M, Kitoh A, Yasunari T (2003) An evolution of the Asian summer monsoon associated with mountain uplift-simulation with the MRI atmosphere–ocean coupled GCM. J Meteorol Soc Jpn Ser II 81(5):909–933

    Google Scholar 

  • Alizadeh-Choobari O (2017) Contrasting global teleconnection features of the eastern Pacific and central Pacific El Ni ño events. Dyn Atmos Oceans 80:139–154

  • Alizadeh-Choobari O, Adibi P, Irannejad P (2018) Impact of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation on the climate of Iran using ERA-Interim data. Clim Dyn 81:2897–2911

  • Arushi PV, Chakraborty A, Nanjundiah RS (2017) Orographic control of the Bay of Bengal cold pool rainfall. J Earth Syst Sci 126(8):1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Barry RG (2008) Mountain Weather and Climate, 3rd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolin B (1950) On the influence of the Earth’s orography on the general character of the westerlies. Tellus 2(3):184–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Boos WR, Kuang Z (2010) Dominant control of the South Asian monsoon by orographic insulation versus plateau heating. Nature 463(7278):218–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Broccoli AJ, Manabe S (1992) The effects of orography on midlatitude Northern Hemisphere dry climates. J Clim 5(11):1181–1201

    Google Scholar 

  • Cash BA, Kushner PJ, Vallis GK (2005) Zonal asymmetries, teleconnections, and annular patterns in a GCM. J Atmos Sci 62(1):207–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Charney JG, Eliassen A (1949) A numerical method for predicting the perturbations of the middle latitude westerlies. Tellus 1(2):38–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen NY, Boos WR (2017) The influence of orographic rossby and gravity waves on rainfall. Q J R Meteorol Soc 143(703):845–851

    Google Scholar 

  • Deng J, Xu H, Shi N, Zhang L, Ma J (2017) Impacts of northern Tibetan Plateau on East Asian summer rainfall via modulating midlatitude transient eddies: impacts of TP on transient eddies. J Geophys Res Atmos 122(16):8667–8685

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickinson RE, Errico R, Giorgi F, Bates G (1989) A regional climate model for the western United States. Clim Change 15(3):383–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickinson RE, Henderson-Sellers A, Kennedy PJ (1993) Biosphere-atmosphere transfer scheme (BATS) version 1e as coupled to the NCAR Community Climate Model (No. NCAR/TN-387+STR). University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. https://doi.org/10.5065/D67W6959

  • Fritsch JM, Chappell CF (1980) Numerical prediction of convectively driven mesoscale pressure systems. Part II. Mesoscale model. J Atmos Sci 37(8):1734–1762

    Google Scholar 

  • Giorgi F (1989) Two-dimensional simulations of possible mesoscale effects of nuclear war fires: 1. Model description. J Geophys Res Atmos 94(D1):1127–1144

    Google Scholar 

  • Giorgi F, Coppola E, Solmon F, Mariotti L, Sylla MB, Bi X, Elguindi N, Diro GT, Nair V, Giuliani G, Turuncoglu UU, Cozzini S, Güttler I, O’Brien TA, Tawfik AB, Shalaby A, Zakey AS, Steiner AL, Stordal F, Sloan LC, Brankovic C (2012) RegCM4: model description and preliminary tests over multiple CORDEX domains. Clim Res 52:7–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Grell GA (1993) Prognostic evaluation of assumptions used by cumulus parameterizations. Mon Weather Rev 121(3):764–787

    Google Scholar 

  • Grell GA, Dudhia J, Stauffer D (1994) A description of the fifth-generation Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5) (No. NCAR/TN-398+STR). University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. https://doi.org/10.5065/D60Z716B

  • Hahn DG, Manabe S (1975) The role of mountains in the South Asian monsoon circulation. J Atmos Sci 32(8):1515–1541

    Google Scholar 

  • Held IM, Ting M, Wang H (2002) Northern winter stationary waves: theory and modeling. J Clim 15(16):2125–2144

    Google Scholar 

  • Holtslag AAM, De Bruijn EIF, Pan HL (1990) A high resolution air mass transformation model for short-range weather forecasting. Mon Weather Rev 118(8):1561–1575

    Google Scholar 

  • Inatsu M, Mukougawa H, Xie SP (2002) Stationary eddy response to surface boundary forcing: idealized GCM experiments. J Atmos Sci 59(11):1898–1915

    Google Scholar 

  • Insel N, Poulsen CJ, Ehlers TA (2010) Influence of the Andes Mountains on South American moisture transport, convection, and precipitation. Clim Dyn 35(7):1477–1492

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanehama T, Sandu I, Beljaars A, Niekerk A, Lott F (2019) Which orographic scales matter most for medium-range forecast skill in the Northern Hemisphere winter? J Adv Model Earth Syst 11(12):3893–3910

    Google Scholar 

  • Keshtgar B, Alizadeh-Choobari O, Irannejad P (2020) Seasonal and interannual variations of the intertropical convergence zone over the Indian ocean based on an energetic perspective. Clim Dyn 54:3627–3639

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiehl JT, Hack JJ, Bonan GB, Boville BA, Briegleb BP, Williamson DL, Rasch PJ (1996) Description of the NCAR community climate model (CCM3) (No. NCAR/TN-420+STR). University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. https://doi.org/10.5065/D6FF3Q99

  • Kim GU, Seo KH, Chen D (2019) Climate change over the Mediterranean and current destruction of marine ecosystem. Sci Rep 9(1):1881318813–18819

    Google Scholar 

  • Lott F, Miller M (1997) A new subgrid orographic drag parameterization: Its formulation and testing. J Clim 123(537):101–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutsko NJ, Baldwin JW, Cronin TW (2019) The impact of large-scale orography on Northern Hemisphere winter synoptic temperature variability. J Clim 32(18):5799–5814

    Google Scholar 

  • Manabe S, Terpstra TB (1974) The effects of mountains on the general circulation of the atmosphere as identified by numerical experiments. J Atmos Sci 31(1):3–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall J, Donohoe A, Ferreira D, McGee D (2014) The ocean’s role in setting the mean position of the inter-tropical convergence zone. Clim Dyn 42(7):1967–1979

    Google Scholar 

  • Mintz Y (1968) Very long-term global integration of the primitive equations of atmospheric motion: An experiment in climate simulation. In: Mitchell J.M. (eds) Causes of Climatic Change. American Meteorological Society, pp 20–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-935704-38-6_3

  • Ogwang BA, Chen H, Li X, Gao C (2014) The influence of topography on East African October to December climate: sensitivity experiments with RegCM4. Adv Meteorol 2014:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Pal JS, Small EE, Eltahir EAB (2000) Simulation of regionalscale water and energy budgets: Representation of subgrid cloud and precipitation processes within RegCM. J Geophys Res Atmos 105(D24):29594–29594

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer TN, Shutts GJ, Swinbank R (1986) Alleviation of a systematic westerly bias in general circulation and numerical weather prediction models through an orographic gravity wave drag parametrization. Q J R Meteorol Soc 112(474):1001–1039

    Google Scholar 

  • Park HS, Xie SP, Son SW (2013) Poleward stationary eddy heat transport by the Tibetan Plateau and equatorward shift of westerlies during northern winter. J Atmos Sci 70(10):3288–3301

    Google Scholar 

  • Qadimi M, Alizadeh O, Irannejad P (2020) Impacts of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation on the strength and duration of the Indian summer monsoon. Meteorol Atmos Phys. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00,703-020-00,767-w (In press)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodwell MJ, Hoskins BJ (1996) Monsoons and the dynamics of deserts. Q J R Meteorol Soc 122(534):1385–1404

    Google Scholar 

  • Saurral RI, Camilloni IA, Ambrizzi T (2015) Links between topography, moisture fluxes pathways and precipitation over South America. Clim Dyn 45(3):777–789

    Google Scholar 

  • Shi Z, Liu X, Liu Y, Sha Y, Xu T (2015) Impact of Mongolian Plateau versus Tibetan Plateau on the westerly jet over North Pacific Ocean. Clim Dyn 44:3067–3076

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinha P, Mohanty UC, Kar SC, Kumari S (2014) Role of the Himalayan orography in simulation of the Indian summer monsoon using RegCM3. Pure Appl Geophys 171(7):1385–1407

    Google Scholar 

  • Son JH, Seo KH, Wang B (2019) Dynamical control of the Tibetan Plateau on the East Asian summer monsoon. Geophys Res Lett 46(13):7672–7679

    Google Scholar 

  • Teixeira MAC (2014) The physics of orographic gravity wave drag. Front Phys 2:1–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiwari PR, Kar SC, Mohanty UC, Dey S, Sinha P, Shekhar MS (2017) Sensitivity of the Himalayan orography representation in simulation of winter precipitation using Regional Climate Model (RegCM) nested in a GCM. Clim Dyn 49(11):4157–4170

    Google Scholar 

  • White RH, Battisti DS, Roe GH (2017) Mongolian mountains matter most: impacts of the latitude and height of Asian orography on Pacific wintertime atmospheric circulation. J Clim 30(11):4065–4082

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu Z, Qian Y, Fu C (2010) The role of land-sea distribution and orography in the Asian monsoon. Part II: orography. Adv Atmos Sci 27(3):528–542

    Google Scholar 

  • Yasunari T, Saito K, Takata K (2006) Relative roles of large-scale orography and land surface processes in the global hydroclimate: part I: impacts on monsoon systems and the tropics. J Hydrometeorol 7(4):626–641

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeng X, Zhao M, Dickinson RE (1998) Intercomparison of bulk aerodynamic algorithms for the computation of sea surface fluxes using TOGA COARE and TAO data. J Clim 11(10):2628–2644

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The ERA-Interim data used in this study have been obtained from the ECMWF data server: https://apps.ecmwf.int/datasets/, while GPCP data have been obtained from https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.gpcp.html.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Morteza Babaei, Omid Alizadeh & Parviz Irannejad

Authors
  1. Morteza Babaei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Omid Alizadeh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Parviz Irannejad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Omid Alizadeh.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Babaei, M., Alizadeh, O. & Irannejad, P. Impacts of orography on large-scale atmospheric circulation: application of a regional climate model. Clim Dyn 57, 1973–1992 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05790-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05790-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation