ABSTRACT Defining a reference climate for precipitation is an important requirement in the development of climate change scenarios to support climate adaptation strategies. It is also important for many hydrological and water resource applications. This, however, remains a challenge in regions that are poorly covered by meteorological stations, such as northern Canada or mountainous regions. Reanalyses

ABSTRACT Although it is an important branch of the global overturning circulation, the deep western boundary current (DWBC) in the Pacific was poorly understood because of sparse observations. Six state-of-the-art global ocean model outputs were used herein to evaluate their performance in simulating the DWBC in the Melanesian Basin (MB) and the Central Pacific Basin (CPB). These model outputs were

An ocean wave model for the northwest Atlantic Ocean based on WAVEWATCH III is used to evaluate four different source term packages (known as ST2, ST3, ST4, and ST6) for the wind input and wave dissipation. The performance of ST2, ST3, ST4, and ST6 is assessed using available measurements from buoy stations and satellite altimeters. The model results for significant wave height ( H s ), mean wave period

Existing scientific literature and international assessments, such as those by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, provide a wide range of projections for global mean sea level rise (SLR) in the twenty-first century. At the local scale, the ranges or uncertainties of projections are even larger. There is a pressing need to compile plausible local SLR scenarios to aid coastal communities

This study explores the causes of a severe thunderstorm outbreak north of 70°N on 24–25 July 2014 and provides the first characterization of lightning over the Canadian Arctic Islands. Lightning data were obtained from the Global Lightning Dataset (GLD360) network. Convective available potential energy calculated using representative soundings and surface conditions indicated high instability that

ABSTRACT The quality of ensemble forecasts is significantly affected by sample quality. In this paper, the influence of sample quality on simulation results is analyzed by optimizing the distribution of ensemble members. As part of our research, simulated and observed tracks are compared; samples with smaller track errors are retained, and samples with larger track errors are eliminated in order to

ABSTRACT Topographic features, stratification, and barotropic tidal currents are three factors that determine internal tide (IT) generation. However, the mechanism of the impacts of stratification variation on IT generation in Luzon Strait (LS) has not been extensively explored. A three-dimensional high-resolution model is used to simulate the M2 ITs in the northern South China Sea (SCS) under different

ABSTRACT This study modelled physical and biological changes in the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the exclusive economic zone around Sri Lanka by examining the relationships between sea surface temperature (SST) and a range of biological and physical variables allowing prediction of the changes in the variables studied with changing temperature. Datasets were extracted from satellite data from

The Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada, is an important ocean region in which wave and weather conditions can vary rapidly in time and space because of the complex mountain topography that surrounds it. Here we analyze existing observational data and a newly developed near real-time numerical wave model, forced by modelled local winds and ocean currents, to characterize the surface wave conditions

Using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction–Department of Energy Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project 2 daily reanalysis datasets, the present study reveals that an upper tropospheric vertical thermal contrast (VTC) exists between pressure levels at 100 and 250 hPa over the Mediterranean region (MR) during the midsummer monsoon. An increase and decrease in the tropospheric temperature

This study investigates the possible reasons for the cold events over central and eastern China (CEC) in early 2008 and 2016. The Arctic is dramatically warming, in particular over the Barents–Kara Seas region and notable cold events were observed over CEC although La Niña and El Niño events occurred in early 2008 and 2016, respectively. At the same time, the westerlies decelerated at middle latitudes

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) plays an important role in pre-flood season (PFS) precipitation over South China. In this work, the analysis of observational and reanalysis data shows that PFS precipitation is closely related to the onset time of El Niño events. The PFS precipitation tended to be higher (lower) than normal for spring (summer) El Niño events during the 1979–2016 period. Our

ABSTRACT This study presents the development of a new dataset of homogenized temperature for use in trend analysis and monitoring climate change in Canada. This dataset contains daily data for 780 locations across the country: 508 locations with an active station (current observations) and long record (starting prior to 1990); 53 locations with an active station and short record (starting after 1990);

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) plays an important role in pre-flood season (PFS) precipitation over South China. In this work, the analysis of observational and reanalysis data shows that PFS precipitation is closely related to the onset time of El Niño events. The PFS precipitation tended to be higher (lower) than normal for spring (summer) El Niño events during the 1979–2016 period. Our

This study investigates the possible reasons for the cold events over central and eastern China (CEC) in early 2008 and 2016. The Arctic is dramatically warming, in particular over the Barents–Kara Seas region and notable cold events were observed over CEC although La Niña and El Niño events occurred in early 2008 and 2016, respectively. At the same time, the westerlies decelerated at middle latitudes

Using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction–Department of Energy Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project 2 daily reanalysis datasets, the present study reveals that an upper tropospheric vertical thermal contrast (VTC) exists between pressure levels at 100 and 250 hPa over the Mediterranean region (MR) during the midsummer monsoon. An increase and decrease in the tropospheric temperature

A three-dimensional regional circulation model is used to investigate the internal M2 tide structure in the Strait of Canso located in eastern Nova Scotia, Canada. The embayment, an active shipping port, was found to have M2 baroclinic velocities occasionally reaching 0.15 m s−1 and typically faster than the barotropic tide. An internal tide spatial structure develops, characterized by the first vertical

In the present work, sensitivity experiments for two parameter schemes are conducted using the Regional Climate Model System, version 4.6, to improve the model capability for reproducing rainfall over the Maritime Continent (MC). One parameter is the warm cloud auto-conversion threshold in the Emanuel convective scheme, and the other parameter is the relative humidity threshold of cloudiness in the

The interannual variability of the summertime Northwest Pacific (NWP) subtropical anticyclone (NWPSA) has been widely investigated for its important role in the variability and predictability of the East Asian summer monsoon. A preceding El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event influences the NWPSA by anchoring ocean memory in the North Indian Ocean, NWP region, etc. This study reveals a discontinuity

Based on the daily Japanese 55-year Reanalysis data, the characteristics of the summer (June–July–August) quasi-biweekly oscillation (QBWO) of atmospheric apparent heat sources over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and its surrounding areas (TPSR) are investigated. The first three leading modes of the atmospheric intraseasonal heat source over the TPSR reflect two independent propagation features of the QBWO

Cyclone Nilofar was the third-strongest cyclone in the Arabian Sea. It was a category 4 cyclone that arrived in last week of October 2014. It lingered in the Arabian Sea for 10 days and caused a significant phytoplankton bloom that was detected by satellite observation. In this study, the authors investigated the ocean biological and physical responses to cyclone Nilofar using chlorophyll a (chl a)

Urban areas are large sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere. Measurements of atmospheric GHGs in urban areas provide information on these emissions, which can complement bottom-up estimates. Here, we present an Open-Path Fourier Transform Infrared (OP-FTIR) spectroscopy system for GHG monitoring in Toronto, Canada. We describe the installation of the OP-FTIR and retrieval of CO2, CO

Atmospheric response to mid-latitude sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies is a long-standing and perplexing problem. There have been extensive studies on the issue of atmospheric response to mid-latitude SST anomalies from observational, theoretical, and modelling perspectives. This paper serves as a brief review focusing on large-scale SST anomalies. Here, convincing new observational evidence

A pan-Arctic sea-ice–ocean prediction system is assessed in terms of its ability to predict sea-ice velocity. This system is based on the Regional Ice Ocean Prediction System running operationally at the Canadian Centre for Meteorological and Environmental Prediction. A form drag parameterization is implemented in the system to allow spatially and temporally varying neutral drag coefficients depending

The components, sources, and seasonal and spatial changes of fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) in the continental shelf area of the East China Sea (ECS), were determined by excitation and emission matrices (EEM) spectroscopy and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). The PARAFAC model identified four FDOM components from 234 samples in June and October 2014. The four components consisted of

We assess how weather events on the Canadian Prairies during the 2012 growing season were temporally and spatially represented by a high-resolution, non-World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standard private provider network, Earth Networks (EN), relative to the WMO standard climate stations operated by federal and provincial governments. We found that there was a large amount of missing station

This study reveals the spatial and temporal variations of summer extreme heat (EH) distribution in China under the background of anthropogenic climate change. Using data from 1542 meteorological stations in China during the 1961–2018 period, both the interannual and interdecadal variations of the frequency and intensity of EH are analyzed. Variations in the temporal and spatial distribution of EH in

Summer precipitation in the northern China monsoon region (NCMR; 35°–55°N, 108°–135°E) shows significant intraseasonal variability. The early-summer (June) and late-summer (July–August) precipitation patterns show clear differences in their formation mechanisms and the systems that affect them. We used empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis to investigate the two leading modes of July–August

The science of understanding severe thunderstorms and developing techniques for their prediction is relatively young, with most fundamental research having been carried out only during the last 75 years. Though it is not widely known, Canada has played an important role in such research and development, and some of Canada’s atmospheric scientists have been pioneers globally in a number of areas. This

This study investigates the response of the subtropical gyre circulation in the North Pacific Ocean to quadrupled CO2 using the Community Earth System Model, version 1 (CESM1). In particular, an overriding technique is applied to isolate and quantify the effects of wind stress and thermal warming caused by CO2 emissions. Results show that, in response to the increase in CO2, the total mass transport

(2019). V. Fortin, G. Roy, T. Stadnyk, K. Koenig, N. Gasset, and A. Mahidjiba. Ten Years of Science Based on the Canadian Precipitation Analysis: A CaPA System Overview and Literature Review. Atmosphere-Ocean: Vol. 57, No. 4, pp. 318-318.

(2019). Introduction to the Special Issue on the Year of Tropics–Midlatitude Interactions and Teleconnections (YTMIT) Atmosphere-Ocean: Vol. 57, No. 3, pp. 157-160.

The authors propose a modified complementary method to estimate regional evapotranspiration (ET) under different climatic and physical conditions using only meteorological data. The purpose of this study is to investigate the applicability of the modified complementary method for estimating global ET distribution and corresponding water balance. Gridded data from the Climate Research Unit, University

Intervention experiments using the Coupled Forecast System model, version 2 (CFSv2), have been performed in which various Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) evolutions were added to the model’s internally generated heating: Slow Repeated Cycles, Slow Single Cycle, Fast Repeated Cycles, and Fast Single Cycle. In each experiment, one of these specified MJO evolutions of tropical diabatic heating was added

This study evaluates the 1981–2010 spatiotemporal differences in six available climate datasets (daily total precipitation and mean air temperature) over the Lower Nelson River Basin (LNRB) in ten of its sub-watersheds at seasonal and annual time scales. We find that the Australian National University spline interpolation (ANUSPLIN), and inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolated observations from

Offshore wind energy has the potential to ease energy and environmental crises, improve people’s living standards on remote islands, and, finally, make contributions to sustainable development. Accurate energy evaluations should be performed before the exploitation of offshore wind energy; this includes not only assessments of the resource’s historical characteristics but also a focused effort on understanding

A detailed analysis is performed on an inland-penetrating atmospheric river (AR) driven by and coupled to a Colorado cyclone in the first week of February 2016. This winter weather system was initiated by a trough of low pressure moving across the Rocky Mountains from the California coast. The low-level jet ahead of the trough was capable of extracting water vapour from the Gulf of Mexico to feed a

The impact of cloud representation on the simulation of mid-latitude recurrent large-scale flows and forecast skill of mid-latitude atmospheric teleconnections is evaluated using the Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4), and the super-parameterized CCSM4 (SP-CCSM4). Patterns of low-level atmospheric circulation anomalies and convection associated with the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO)

Sea surface temperature (SST) from four Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO) model simulations is analyzed to study the bulk flux parameterization to compute SST over the Hudson Bay Complex (HBC) for the summer months (August and September) from 2002 to 2009. The NEMO simulation was forced with two atmospheric forcing sets with different resolutions: the Coordinated Ocean-ice Reference

The developmental stages of Sargassum along with physicochemical factors affect the Sargassum biomass and, thus, affect the size of the habitat used by various fauna and flora. In this study, Sargassum spp. were collected from four stations in Kuwait coastal waters that are mainly distinguished by their levels of turbidity. Investigations revealed that the effects of season (i.e., temperature and sunlight)

In situ observations of snow water equivalent (SWE) from manual snow surveys and automated sensors are made at approximately 1000 sites across Canada in support of water resource planning for flood control and hydroelectricity production. These data represent an important source of information for research (e.g., validation of hydrological and climate models), for applied studies (e.g., ground snow

The North Open Water polynya is a recurring polynya and is a significant feature of northern Baffin Bay in the winter. An area of open water remains as the sea ice grows around it in the fall, and in the spring the polynya gradually expands as the thinner ice surrounding it melts. It is an important overwintering area for various bird and animal species. With climate change affecting the Arctic in

(2019). Introduction to the Special Section on the Aquatic Climate Change Adaptation Services Program. Atmosphere-Ocean: Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 1-2.

The potential influence of a developing La Niña on Arctic sea-ice annual variability is investigated using both observational data and an atmospheric general circulation model. It is found that during the developing phase of an eastern Pacific (EP) La Niña event in June, July, and August (JJA) and September, October, and November (SON), the sea-ice concentration (SIC) over the Barents–Kara Seas declines

Freezing rain occurs in complex atmospheric conditions when the temperature is close to 0°C. To better understand how its occurrence will change in the future, there is a need to assess how well regional climate models can reproduce those conditions. The goal of the present study is to investigate the influence of horizontal resolution on the simulation of freezing rain using the fifth generation of

Weather and climate are major factors influencing worldwide wildfire activity. This study assesses surface and atmospheric conditions associated with the 2014 extreme wildfires in the Northwest Territories (NWT) of Canada. Hot and dry conditions led to the NWT experiencing the most severe wildfire season in its recorded history. The season included a record number of cloud-to-ground lightning flashes

The change in the zonal sea surface temperature gradient (ZSSTG) across the equatorial Pacific plays an important role in the global climate system. However, there has not yet been a consensual conclusion about the changing ZSSTG at either a short-term (from 20 to 90 years) or a long-term time scale (longer than 90 years) in the literature. In this study, the uncertainty of the trend in ZSSTG for different

Satellite observations revealed that there is a close relationship between perturbations of sea surface temperature (SST) and wind stress (τ) induced by tropical instability waves (TIWs; SSTTIW and τ TIW). Using the empirical relationship observed between TIW-induced wind stress divergence (curl) and downwind (crosswind) SST gradients, this study establishes a TIW-induced wind stress field perturbation

South Indian Ocean Rossby waves (SIO-RW) are identified in the Global Ocean Data Assimilation System (GODAS) 1.5–7 yr filtered sea surface height (SSH) time series. There is a persistent three-year oscillation in the 5°–15°S latitude band from 55° to 85°E. Field correlations show little coupling at 90°E, but as the SIO-RW undulates westward at approximately 0.19 m s−1 across the mid-basin, a northwest–southeast

Three years of hourly traffic collision data and associated weather data for the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, were analyzed. Using a matched-pair analysis to compare periods of adverse weather with similar periods without adverse weather, the effect of weather on traffic collisions in Edmonton was assessed. Adverse weather took the form of strong winds (>35 km h−1), precipitation (>0.10 mm h−1)

Severe damage was caused by a flooding event across eastern Canada during the first week of May 2017. Thousands of residences were affected, and many people were evacuated from their homes in southern Quebec and eastern Ontario. This event was mainly caused by persistent heavy rainfall during that week. In this study, the ability to make a useful prediction of this flooding event about two weeks in

This paper examines the spatiotemporal impact of changing local precursor emissions on a subset of air quality monitors in the coastal Lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada, over a 25-year period (1990–2014) marked by substantial emissions reductions. The analysis examines summertime (JJA) trends in ambient reactivity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), , ozone, and odd oxygen ( ; defined

In the past decade, floating macroalgae blooms have been increasing on a global scale. Sub-pixel coverage of floating macroalgae in a remote-sensing image is a crucial parameter for the estimation of biomass. In this study, in situ spectra of green macroalgae (Ulva prolifera), brown macroalgae (Sargassum horneri), and sea water were collected, and they were used to simulate the spectra of macroalgae–seawater

Trends in indices based on daily temperature and precipitation are examined for two periods: 1948–2016 for all stations in Canada and 1900–2016 for stations in the south of Canada. These indices, a number of which reflect extreme events, are considered to be impact relevant. The results show changes consistent with warming, with larger trends associated with cold temperatures. The number of summer

The impact of climate change is often demonstrated by rainfall and its attributes. Consequently, this study analyzes rainfall concentration, temporal trends, and rates of change in the savannah zones of Nigeria. Rainfall data were acquired from the archives of the Environmental Management Programme, Federal University of Technology, Minna, for 13 synoptic stations at annual, seasonal, and monthly time

(2018). Preface: Coastal-Ocean Issues and Inland Water Pollution Effects on Environmental Change. Atmosphere-Ocean: Vol. 56, Coastal-Ocean Issues and Inland Water Pollution Effects on Environmental Change / Les enjeux côte-océan et les incidences de la pollution des eaux intérieures sur les changements environnementaux, pp. 197-198.

Ensemble forecasting is widely used in numerical weather prediction. However, the ensemble may not satisfy a perfect Gaussian probability distribution because of a limited number of members, with some members significantly deviating from the true atmospheric state. Such outliers (belonging to low probability events) may downgrade the accuracy of an ensemble forecast. In this study, the observed track

Springtime fetch in the Cape Bathurst Polynya System may present opportunities for winds to generate waves capable of propagating into the thick pack ice formed over the winter. A waves-in-ice event at a study site located on the Canadian Shelf in the southern Beaufort Sea that occurred 22–23 May 2011 is presented and analyzed for wave energy attenuation and dissipation characteristics. The event was

Near real-time quantitative precipitation estimates are required for many applications including weather forecasting, flood forecasting, crop management, forest fire prevention, hydropower production, and dam safety. Since April 2011, such a product has been available from Environment and Climate Change Canada for a domain covering all North America. This product, known as the Regional Deterministic

This study was carried out to quantify the physical processes of lakes in the Tibetan Plateau using the Community Land Model, version 4.5 (CLM4.5), coupled with a physically based, 10-layer lake model developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The CLM was forced with 10 km resolution reanalysis data to attempt to understand detailed lake processes and how these processes affect lake