Fingerprinting Mediterranean hurricanes using pre-event thermal drops in seawater temperature
Abstract Extreme atmospheric-marine events, known as medicanes (short for “Mediterranean hurricanes”), have affected the Mediterranean basin in recent years, resulting in extensive coastal flooding and storm surges, and have occasionally been responsible for several casualties. Considering that the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58335-w |
| _version_ | 1827291570518360064 |
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| author | Giovanni Scardino Mario Marcello Miglietta Alok Kushabaha Elisa Casella Alessio Rovere Giovanni Besio Alfio Marco Borzì Andrea Cannata Gianfranco Mazza Gaetano Sabato Giovanni Scicchitano |
| author_facet | Giovanni Scardino Mario Marcello Miglietta Alok Kushabaha Elisa Casella Alessio Rovere Giovanni Besio Alfio Marco Borzì Andrea Cannata Gianfranco Mazza Gaetano Sabato Giovanni Scicchitano |
| author_sort | Giovanni Scardino |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Extreme atmospheric-marine events, known as medicanes (short for “Mediterranean hurricanes”), have affected the Mediterranean basin in recent years, resulting in extensive coastal flooding and storm surges, and have occasionally been responsible for several casualties. Considering that the development mechanism of these events is similar to tropical cyclones, it is plausible that these phenomena are strongly affected by sea surface temperatures (SSTs) during their development period (winter and autumn seasons). In this study, we compared satellite data and the numerical reanalysis of SSTs from 1969 to 2023 with in situ data from dataloggers installed at different depths off the coast of southeastern Sicily as well as from data available on Argo floats on the Mediterranean basin. A spectral analysis was performed using a continuous wavelet transform (CWT) for each SST time series to highlight the changes in SSTs prior to the occurrence of Mediterranean Hurricanes as well as the energy content of the various frequencies of the SST signal. The results revealed that decreases in SST occurred prior to the formation of each Mediterranean hurricane, and that this thermal drop phenomenon was not observed in intense extra-tropical systems. The spectral analyses revealed that high CWT coefficients representing high SST energy contents were observed before the occurrence of a Mediterranean hurricane. This information may provide a useful fingerprint for distinguishing Mediterranean hurricanes from common seasonal storms at the onset of these events. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T12:40:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-384a3f723b8845359a9c6e2ad65cd6e7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T12:40:17Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-384a3f723b8845359a9c6e2ad65cd6e72024-04-07T11:17:42ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-04-0114111310.1038/s41598-024-58335-wFingerprinting Mediterranean hurricanes using pre-event thermal drops in seawater temperatureGiovanni Scardino0Mario Marcello Miglietta1Alok Kushabaha2Elisa Casella3Alessio Rovere4Giovanni Besio5Alfio Marco Borzì6Andrea Cannata7Gianfranco Mazza8Gaetano Sabato9Giovanni Scicchitano10Department of Earth and Geoenvironmental Sciences, University of Bari Aldo MoroDepartment of Earth and Geoenvironmental Sciences, University of Bari Aldo MoroDepartment of Earth and Geoenvironmental Sciences, University of Bari Aldo MoroDepartment of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of VeniceDepartment of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of VeniceDepartment of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of GenoaDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of CataniaDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of CataniaArea Marina Protetta del PlemmirioDepartment of Earth and Geoenvironmental Sciences, University of Bari Aldo MoroDepartment of Earth and Geoenvironmental Sciences, University of Bari Aldo MoroAbstract Extreme atmospheric-marine events, known as medicanes (short for “Mediterranean hurricanes”), have affected the Mediterranean basin in recent years, resulting in extensive coastal flooding and storm surges, and have occasionally been responsible for several casualties. Considering that the development mechanism of these events is similar to tropical cyclones, it is plausible that these phenomena are strongly affected by sea surface temperatures (SSTs) during their development period (winter and autumn seasons). In this study, we compared satellite data and the numerical reanalysis of SSTs from 1969 to 2023 with in situ data from dataloggers installed at different depths off the coast of southeastern Sicily as well as from data available on Argo floats on the Mediterranean basin. A spectral analysis was performed using a continuous wavelet transform (CWT) for each SST time series to highlight the changes in SSTs prior to the occurrence of Mediterranean Hurricanes as well as the energy content of the various frequencies of the SST signal. The results revealed that decreases in SST occurred prior to the formation of each Mediterranean hurricane, and that this thermal drop phenomenon was not observed in intense extra-tropical systems. The spectral analyses revealed that high CWT coefficients representing high SST energy contents were observed before the occurrence of a Mediterranean hurricane. This information may provide a useful fingerprint for distinguishing Mediterranean hurricanes from common seasonal storms at the onset of these events.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58335-w |
| spellingShingle | Giovanni Scardino Mario Marcello Miglietta Alok Kushabaha Elisa Casella Alessio Rovere Giovanni Besio Alfio Marco Borzì Andrea Cannata Gianfranco Mazza Gaetano Sabato Giovanni Scicchitano Fingerprinting Mediterranean hurricanes using pre-event thermal drops in seawater temperature Scientific Reports |
| title | Fingerprinting Mediterranean hurricanes using pre-event thermal drops in seawater temperature |
| title_full | Fingerprinting Mediterranean hurricanes using pre-event thermal drops in seawater temperature |
| title_fullStr | Fingerprinting Mediterranean hurricanes using pre-event thermal drops in seawater temperature |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fingerprinting Mediterranean hurricanes using pre-event thermal drops in seawater temperature |
| title_short | Fingerprinting Mediterranean hurricanes using pre-event thermal drops in seawater temperature |
| title_sort | fingerprinting mediterranean hurricanes using pre event thermal drops in seawater temperature |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58335-w |
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