Large scale control on the climate of Patagonia René Garreaud 1, Paulina Lopez, 2 Marie Minvielle 1 and Maisa Rojas 1 1: Department of Geophysics, Universidad de Chile 2: Centro de Estudios Cientificos del Sur (CECS)
Current climate of Patagonia supports glaciers, ice fields, rain forests, and massive rivers. Biodiversity hotspot Large area, complex terrain Mounting evidence of contemporaneous climate-driven environmental changes Numerous paleorecords (lakes, glaciers, tree-rings) Meteorological data clearly insufficient to address climate change/variability Linking local climate variability ( SAT and P) with largescale circulation anomalies (e.g., U aloft ) will allow: (a) downscale large-scale signals (b) upscale local environmental changes.
The big picture 0 S Continental Low Level Jet S. Atlantic Anticyclone 30 S SE Pacific Anticyclone Midlat. Precip. Tropical rainfall SCu & Cold SST Midlatitude Storm track 60 S 120 W 90 W 60 W 30 W
Geographical setting: Large, diverse and under-sampled PRECIS-DGF Domain Topo. map Chiloé Is. Valdés Peninsula Taitao Peninsula NPI SPI Tierra del Fuego Is. 300 km Cape Horn
Regional Models (e.g., PRECIS; WRF) Solve governing equation in a limited domain L x dv + dt fkˆ 1 V = p F + g R ρ Lateral Boundary Conditions z L y ( + V ) T S ω = Q P t RAD ω V + = 0 p ( gz) RT = p p + Q Conv + Q Sfc y L z x x ~ y ~ 1-50 km z ~ 50-200 m t ~ seconds L x ~ L y ~ 100-5000 km L z ~ 15 km
PRECIS-DGF Simulation Period: 1978-2001 (avail: 1958-2001) Hor. Resolution: 25 km Area: Southern South America L x LBC: ERA-40 z L y y BBC: HadISST L z x
PRECIS-DGF mean state against observations good enough
PRECIS-DGF variability against observations good enough C Puerto Montt (SAT) C 7 6 mm PRECIS-DGF Station data Punta Arenas (SAT) 5 Puerto Montt (Precip) Punta Arenas (Precip) Years
Wind-precipitation covariability at daily timescale Windward orographic enhancement and leeward rainshadow Strong westerlies More precip. r(u850,p) Weak westerlies More precip. r(u850,p); r(v850,p)
Wind-precipitation and Wind-SAT covariability at annual timescale (year-to-year) a. r(u850,p) b. r(u850,sat) (a) R(P,U 850 ) Anual (a) R(T 2m,U 850 ) Anual -0.8-0.4 0 +0.4 +0.8 prescribed SST influences SAT
Co-variability of zonal wind and precipitation Point-to-point correlation between U850 (NNR) and precipitation (CMAP) Both data sets 2.5º 2.5º lat-lon, annual means, 1979-2005 Garreaud 2007 PAGES 2006
Co-variability of zonal wind and precipitation Correlation between U850 (NNR) and precipitation (station data) U850: NCEP-NCAR U850: ERA40
Wind-SAT covariability at annual timescale Strong westerlies cold summer Strong westerlies Warm winter
Let s consider windier (U > 0) years (Stronger Westerlies) Western Patagonia Eastern Patagonia Winter Enhanced ascent: more humid (P >0) Strong advection of warm, maritime air More clouds but little effect Slightly milder conditions (T >0) Enhanced subsidence: drier (P <0) Strong advection of warm, maritime air Unfavorable for cold-air pool formation Milder conditions (T >0) Summer Enhanced ascent: more humid (P >0) Strong advection of cold, maritime air More clouds and less insolation colder conditions (T <0) Enhanced subsidence: drier (P <0) Strong advection of cold, maritime air Slightly colder conditions (T <0) More humid year round Decreased SAT seasonality Drier year round Decreased SAT seasonality Note: SAT also depends strongly on T low troposphere
Stability of the Wind-P/SAT relationship IPSL GCM r(u850,p) annual r(u850,sat) summer r(u850,sat) winter LGM Run MC Run
Leading modes of U850 interannual variability EOF analysis performed each month using NNR & ERA40 First mode accounts for 40-50% of the variance r(pc1,aao) 0.7 (a) DJF -1-0.5 0 +0.5 +1 r(pc1,aao) 0.2 (b) JJA 0 60 E 120 E 180 120 W 60 W 0
Leading modes of U850 interannual variability EOF analysis performed each month using NNR & ERA40-0.8-0.6-0.4-0.2 +0.2 +0.4 +0.6 +0.8
Downscale the U-P, U-SAT relationships (a) ERA-40 (b) NNR -0.8-0.6-0.4-0.2 +0.2 +0.4 +0.6 +0.8 ms -1 /decade Linear trends in the annual mean zonal wind at the 850 hpa level using the (a) ERA-40 and (b) NCEP-NCAR reanalysis. Shading indicates the change between 1968 and 2001 of a linear least squares trend fit calculated at each grid-box
850 hpa zonal wind trend (1968-2001) U850 Trend @ 75-65 W South America Latitude Drake Passage Antarctic Peninsula -0.8-0.6-0.4-0.2 +0.2 +0.4 +0.6 +0.8 ms -1 /decade U850 EOF1 @ 75-65 W Mean Topography 0 4000 m ASL South America Latitude Drake Passage Antarctic Peninsula
Wind-congruent precipitation trends(1968-2001) P* = β U 850 (a) Congruent Precip. Trend [mm/dec] (b) Relative Precip. Trend [%mm/dec]
Observed (U.Delaware) Precip trend (1960-2000) Aravena & Luckman 2010
Conclusions Lower level (850 hpa) zonal flow strongly modulates precipitation and surface air temperature across Patagonia Substantial spatial and seasonal variability in correlations This approach can help to upscale local environmental records (and even select sites or proxy combinations) of past changes Likewise, it helps to reconstruct climate variability over the Patagonia during the last 50 years (downscaling) Wintertime monopole and summertime dipole in western Patagonia interannual variability and contemporaneous trend.
Todos aman la Patagonia
Comparación entre la precipitación de Pto. Montt y el caudal del Río Puelo (Fuente: Antonio Lara, UACH) Precipitación Caudal anual 900 r=0.7 1 2600 2400 2200 Caudal (m3/seg) 800 700 600 2000 1800 1600 1400 Precipitación (mm) 500 400 1200 1000 300 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Year