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Simulated winter circulation types in the North Atlantic and European region for preindustrial and glacial conditions
Author(s) -
Hofer D.,
Raible C. C.,
Merz N.,
Dehnert A.,
Kuhlemann J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2012gl052296
Subject(s) - glacial period , climatology , precipitation , geology , atmospheric circulation , ice sheet , circulation (fluid dynamics) , last glacial maximum , oceanography , geography , meteorology , geomorphology , physics , thermodynamics
Winter circulation types under preindustrial and glacial conditions are investigated and used to quantify their impact on precipitation. The analysis is based on daily mean sea level pressure fields of a highly resolved atmospheric general circulation model and focuses on the North Atlantic and European region. We find that glacial circulation types are dominated by patterns with an east‐west pressure gradient, which clearly differs from the predominantly zonal patterns for the recent past. This is also evident in the frequency of occurrence of circulation types when projecting preindustrial circulation types onto the glacial simulations. The elevation of the Laurentide ice sheet is identified as a major cause for these differences. In areas of strong precipitation signals in glacial times, the changes in the frequencies of occurrence of the circulation types explain up to 60% of the total difference between preindustrial and glacial simulations.