Atlantic Ocean Variability and European Alps Winter Precipitation
Winter precipitation (snowpack) in the European Alps provides a critical source of freshwater to major river basins such as the Danube, Rhine, and Po. Previous research identified Atlantic Ocean variability and hydrologic responses in the European Alps. The research presented here evaluates Atlantic...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/23/3377 |
| _version_ | 1797507125157560320 |
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| author | Giuseppe Formetta Jonghun Kam Sahar Sadeghi Glenn Tootle Thomas Piechota |
| author_facet | Giuseppe Formetta Jonghun Kam Sahar Sadeghi Glenn Tootle Thomas Piechota |
| author_sort | Giuseppe Formetta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Winter precipitation (snowpack) in the European Alps provides a critical source of freshwater to major river basins such as the Danube, Rhine, and Po. Previous research identified Atlantic Ocean variability and hydrologic responses in the European Alps. The research presented here evaluates Atlantic Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) and European Alps winter precipitation variability using Singular Value Decomposition. Regions in the north and mid-Atlantic from the SSTs were identified as being tele-connected with winter precipitation in the European Alps. Indices were generated for these Atlantic SST regions to use in prediction of precipitation. Regression and non-parametric models were developed using the indices as predictors and winter precipitation as the predictand for twenty-one alpine precipitation stations in Austria, Germany, and Italy. The proposed framework identified three regions in the European Alps in which model skill ranged from excellent (West Region–Po River Basin), to good (East Region) to poor (Central Region). A novel approach for forecasting future winter precipitation utilizing future projections of Atlantic SSTs predicts increased winter precipitation until ~2040, followed by decreased winter precipitation until ~2070, and then followed by increasing winter precipitation until ~2100. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:42:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-22bfb13c80414536ad7791b7c33ecf22 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:42:16Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-22bfb13c80414536ad7791b7c33ecf222023-11-23T03:14:36ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412021-11-011323337710.3390/w13233377Atlantic Ocean Variability and European Alps Winter PrecipitationGiuseppe Formetta0Jonghun Kam1Sahar Sadeghi2Glenn Tootle3Thomas Piechota4Department of Civil, Environmental, and Mechanical Engineering, Università degli Studi di Trento (UNITN), 77-38123 Trento, ItalyDivision of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang 37673, KoreaDepartment of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, The University of Alabama (UA), Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USADepartment of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, The University of Alabama (UA), Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USASchmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USAWinter precipitation (snowpack) in the European Alps provides a critical source of freshwater to major river basins such as the Danube, Rhine, and Po. Previous research identified Atlantic Ocean variability and hydrologic responses in the European Alps. The research presented here evaluates Atlantic Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) and European Alps winter precipitation variability using Singular Value Decomposition. Regions in the north and mid-Atlantic from the SSTs were identified as being tele-connected with winter precipitation in the European Alps. Indices were generated for these Atlantic SST regions to use in prediction of precipitation. Regression and non-parametric models were developed using the indices as predictors and winter precipitation as the predictand for twenty-one alpine precipitation stations in Austria, Germany, and Italy. The proposed framework identified three regions in the European Alps in which model skill ranged from excellent (West Region–Po River Basin), to good (East Region) to poor (Central Region). A novel approach for forecasting future winter precipitation utilizing future projections of Atlantic SSTs predicts increased winter precipitation until ~2040, followed by decreased winter precipitation until ~2070, and then followed by increasing winter precipitation until ~2100.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/23/3377climatesea surface temperaturessnowpackprecipitationforecastingindices |
| spellingShingle | Giuseppe Formetta Jonghun Kam Sahar Sadeghi Glenn Tootle Thomas Piechota Atlantic Ocean Variability and European Alps Winter Precipitation Water climate sea surface temperatures snowpack precipitation forecasting indices |
| title | Atlantic Ocean Variability and European Alps Winter Precipitation |
| title_full | Atlantic Ocean Variability and European Alps Winter Precipitation |
| title_fullStr | Atlantic Ocean Variability and European Alps Winter Precipitation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Atlantic Ocean Variability and European Alps Winter Precipitation |
| title_short | Atlantic Ocean Variability and European Alps Winter Precipitation |
| title_sort | atlantic ocean variability and european alps winter precipitation |
| topic | climate sea surface temperatures snowpack precipitation forecasting indices |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/23/3377 |
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