Simulating the Pineapple Express in the half degree Community Climate System Model, CCSM4

Shields, Christine A.; Kiehl, Jeffrey T.

doi:10.1002/2016GL069476

Title: Simulating the Pineapple Express in the half degree Community Climate System Model, CCSM4

Journal Article · Fri Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069476· OSTI ID:1469328

Shields, Christine A. ^[1]; Kiehl, Jeffrey T. ^[1]

National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)

Atmospheric rivers are recognized as major contributors to the poleward transport of water vapor. Upon reaching land, these phenomena also play a critical role in extreme precipitation and flooding events. The Pineapple Express (PE) is defined as an atmospheric river extending out of the deep tropics and reaching the west coast of North America. In this paper, Community Climate System Model (CCSM4) high-resolution ensemble simulations for the twentieth and 21st centuries are diagnosed to identify the PE. Analysis of the twentieth century simulations indicated that the CCSM4 accurately captures the spatial and temporal climatology of the PE. Analysis of the end 21st century simulations indicates a significant increase in storm duration and intensity of precipitation associated with landfall of the PE. Finally, only a modest increase in the number of atmospheric rivers of a few percent is projected for the end of 21st century.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF); National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: FC02-97ER62402; AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1469328

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 14; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 39 works

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Global Analysis of Climate Change Projection Effects on Atmospheric Rivers Espinoza, Vicky; Waliser, Duane E.; Guan, Bin Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 45, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1029/2017gl076968	journal	May 2018
Global Climate Model Ensemble Approaches for Future Projections of Atmospheric Rivers Massoud, E. C.; Espinoza, V.; Guan, B. Earth's Future, Vol. 7, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019ef001249	journal	October 2019
Meridional Heat Transport During Atmospheric Rivers in High‐Resolution CESM Climate Projections Shields, Christine A.; Rosenbloom, Nan; Bates, Susan Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 46, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl085565	journal	December 2019
Greenhouse- and orbital-forced climate extremes during the early Eocene Kiehl, Jeffrey T.; Shields, Christine A.; Snyder, Mark A. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 376, Issue 2130 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2017.0085	journal	September 2018
Atmospheric River Tracking Method Intercomparison Project (ARTMIP): project goals and experimental design Shields, Christine A.; Rutz, Jonathan J.; Leung, Lai-Yung Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 11, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2455-2018	journal	January 2018
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