Atmospheric rivers (ARs) traveling thousands of kilometers over arid North Africa could interact with the highlands of the Near East (NE), and thus affect the region's hydrometeorology and water resources. Here, we use a state‐of‐the‐art AR tracking database, and reanalysis and observational datasets to investigate the climatology (1979–2017) and influences of these ARs in snowmelt season (March–April). The Red Sea and northeast Africa are found to be the major source regions of these ARs, which are typically associated with the eastern Mediterranean trough positioned over the Balkan Peninsula and a blocking anticyclone over the NE‐Caspian region, triggering southwesterly air flow toward the NE's highlands. Approximately 8% of the ARs are relatively strong (integrated water vapor transport >∼275 kg m⁻¹ s⁻¹). AR days exhibit enhanced precipitation over the crescent‐shaped orography of the NE region. Mean AR days indicate wetter (up to + 2 mm day⁻¹) and warmer (up to + 1.5°C) conditions than all‐day climatology. On AR days, while snowpack tends to decrease (up to 30%) in the Zagros Mountains, it can show decreases or increases in the Taurus Mountains depending largely on elevation. A further analysis with the observations and reanalysis indicates that extreme ARs coinciding with large scale sensible heat transport can significantly increase the daily discharges. These results suggest that ARs can have notable impacts on the hydrometeorology and water resources of the region, particularly of lowland Mesopotamia, a region that is famous with great floods in the ancient narratives.

中文翻译：

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非洲大气河流对近东高地降水和融雪的影响

穿越干旱北非数千公里的大气河流（AR）可能与近东（NE）的高地相互作用，从而影响该地区的水文气象学和水资源。在这里，我们使用了最先进的AR跟踪数据库，并通过重新分析和观测数据集来研究气候（1979-2017）及其在融雪季节（3月至4月）的影响。已发现红海和非洲东北部是这些AR的主要来源地区，通常与位于巴尔干半岛上方的东地中海海槽和NE-里海地区上方的阻塞性反气旋相关，从而触发了向NE西南方向的气流。高地。大约8％的AR相对较强（水蒸气综合输送>〜275 kg m ^-1 s^-1）。在东北地区的新月形地形上，AR天表现出增强的降水。平均AR天数表示比全天气候更潮湿（最高达+ 2 mm ^-1天）和更温暖（最高达+ 1.5°C）的条件。在AR日，扎格罗斯山脉的积雪量倾向于减少（最多30％），而在金牛座山脉中，积雪量可能减少或增加，这主要取决于海拔高度。通过观察和重新分析的进一步分析表明，极端AR与大规模显热传输相吻合可以显着增加每日排放量。这些结果表明，AR对该地区的水文气象和水资源，特别是低地美索不达米亚的水文气象和水资源有显着影响，该地区在古代叙述中以大洪水闻名。