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Spatial Patterns and Trends in Surface Air Temperatures and Implied Changes in Atmospheric Moisture Across the Hawaiian Islands, 1905–2017
Author(s) -
KagawaViviani A. K.,
Giambelluca T. W.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1029/2019jd031571
Subject(s) - lapse rate , environmental science , climatology , cloud cover , elevation (ballistics) , atmospheric sciences , wind speed , sea surface temperature , climate change , air temperature , global warming , atmospheric temperature , geography , geology , meteorology , oceanography , cloud computing , geometry , mathematics , computer science , operating system
While the Hawaiian Islands are experiencing long‐term warming, spatial and temporal patterns are poorly characterized. Drawing on daily temperature records from 309 stations (1905–2017), we explored relationships of surface air temperatures ( T max , T min , T avg , and diurnal temperature range) to atmospheric, oceanic, and land surface variables. Statistical modeling of spatial patterns (2006–2017) highlighted the strong negative influence of elevation and moisture on air temperature and the effects of distance inland, cloud frequency, wind speed, and the local trade wind inversion on the elevation dependence of surface air temperature. We developed time series of sea level air temperature and surface lapse rate by modeling surface air temperature as a simple function of elevation and found a strong long‐term (1905–2017) warming trend in sea level T min , twice that of T max (+0.17 vs +0.07°C/decade), suggesting regional warming, possibly enhanced by urbanization and cloud cover effects. Removing this trend, sea level T max and T min tracked SST and rainfall at decadal time scales, while T max increased with periods of weakened trade winds. Sea level air temperatures correlated with North Pacific climate indices, reflecting the influence of regional circulation via SST, rain, clouds, and trade winds that modulate environmental warming across the Hawaiian Islands. Increasing (steeper) T max surface lapse rates for the 0‐ to 1,600‐m elevation range (into the cloud zone) over 1978–2017 coincide with observations of marine boundary layer drying and rising cloud base heights, suggesting a need to better understand elevation‐dependent warming in this tropical/subtropical maritime environment and associated changes to cloud formation and persistence.