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Saudi Arabia's summer surface air temperature and its association with circulation patterns
Author(s) -
Almazroui Mansour,
Hasanean Hosny M.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.6547
Subject(s) - hadley cell , walker circulation , climatology , atmospheric circulation , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , monsoon , circulation (fluid dynamics) , sea surface temperature , geology , general circulation model , oceanography , climate change , physics , thermodynamics
The summer season (June–July–August) surface air temperatures (SATs) over Saudi Arabia and its association with the atmospheric circulation cells were identified and analysed using the NCEP‐NCAR reanalyses and the NOAA extended reconstructed sea surface temperature (SST) datasets from 1948 to 2016. The pressure vertical velocity and divergent wind were utilized to determine the atmospheric circulation cells such as Hadley, Walker, and Ferrel cells. Possible mechanisms associated with changes in Saudi Arabia summer SAT were investigated, with particular focus on the uppermost and lowermost summers. Changes in SAT are mainly linked to the significant changes in the meridional and zonal atmospheric circulations. Partial correlations between SAT and atmospheric circulation showed that the effect of the Hadley and Walker circulations on the SAT was significant. There is no obvious connection between either the Hadley East Pacific circulation or the Ferrel circulation and SAT. Moreover, there is no dependency between summer SAT and the Atlantic Hadley and Atlantic Walker circulations, which could be detected in the summer season. The Hadley circulation may affect the Indian monsoon depression, whereas the Walker circulation has less effect. Also, a strong relationship between the Indian‐Pacific warm pool (IPWP) and both the Hadley and Walker circulations were found. Simultaneously, IPWP SST influenced Indian monsoon depression. Therefore, the Hadley circulation, Walker circulation, and IPWP all play key roles in the displacement and intensity of the Indian monsoon, which in turn strongly influences SAT variability over Saudi Arabia during summertime.