Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Diagnosis of Tropospheric Moisture over Saudi Arabia and Influences of IOD and ENSO

Arun Chakraborty Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, and Advanced Technology Research Center, Mitsubishi Heavy Industry Ltd., Kanagawa, Japan

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Swadhin K. Behera Frontier Research Center for Global Change/JAMSTEC, Tokyo, Japan

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Milind Mujumdar Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, India

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Ryohji Ohba Mitsubishi Nagasaki R&D Centre, Mitsubishi Heavy Industry Ltd., Nagasaki, Japan

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Toshio Yamagata Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, and Frontier Research Center for Global Change/JAMSTEC, Tokyo, Japan

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Print Publication:
01 Feb 2006
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR3085.1
Page(s):
598–617
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Abstract

A diagnostic study of atmospheric moisture data over Saudi Arabia derived from a 43-yr National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP–NCAR) reanalysis revealed that moisture convergence in the lower troposphere and divergence in and above the middle troposphere occurs throughout the year. Although the amount of precipitable water content in the middle troposphere is high, precipitation is less than expected over this semiarid region during a boreal summer monsoon season because of strong moisture divergence. The net tropospheric moisture flux over the arid and semiarid regions of Saudi Arabia shows seasonal and interannual variability. The seasonal variability has a strong semiannual signal with its primary peak February–April and its secondary peak June–August. This pattern is consistent with a similar semiannual signal observed in rainfall climatology. The restricted moisture supply to southwestern Saudi Arabia during summer presumably explains the lack of precipitation in other areas of the country. Winter precipitation, however, is widespread. The increased transport of net atmospheric moisture flux is higher during El Niño and positive Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) phenomena. During these events, influx across the Red Sea (west) side of Saudi Arabia increases. The net flux to the region is reduced by a slight increase of outflux across the Persian Gulf (east) side. Reanalysis data and model-sensitivity experiments show that El Niño or a concurrent positive IOD and El Niño event more strongly amplify net transport than does an independent positive IOD event. The partial-lag correlation analysis with net moisture flux from the Red Sea side shows that the positive IOD mode has a peak correlation coefficient of ∼0.5 with close to a 5-month lead and that El Niño has a peak correlation coefficient of ∼0.6 with close to a 2-month lead.

Corresponding author address: Arun Chakraborty, Global Hydrological Project, Room 1-23-9-907, Nezu, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo 113 0031, Japan. Email: arun@eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Abstract

A diagnostic study of atmospheric moisture data over Saudi Arabia derived from a 43-yr National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP–NCAR) reanalysis revealed that moisture convergence in the lower troposphere and divergence in and above the middle troposphere occurs throughout the year. Although the amount of precipitable water content in the middle troposphere is high, precipitation is less than expected over this semiarid region during a boreal summer monsoon season because of strong moisture divergence. The net tropospheric moisture flux over the arid and semiarid regions of Saudi Arabia shows seasonal and interannual variability. The seasonal variability has a strong semiannual signal with its primary peak February–April and its secondary peak June–August. This pattern is consistent with a similar semiannual signal observed in rainfall climatology. The restricted moisture supply to southwestern Saudi Arabia during summer presumably explains the lack of precipitation in other areas of the country. Winter precipitation, however, is widespread. The increased transport of net atmospheric moisture flux is higher during El Niño and positive Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) phenomena. During these events, influx across the Red Sea (west) side of Saudi Arabia increases. The net flux to the region is reduced by a slight increase of outflux across the Persian Gulf (east) side. Reanalysis data and model-sensitivity experiments show that El Niño or a concurrent positive IOD and El Niño event more strongly amplify net transport than does an independent positive IOD event. The partial-lag correlation analysis with net moisture flux from the Red Sea side shows that the positive IOD mode has a peak correlation coefficient of ∼0.5 with close to a 5-month lead and that El Niño has a peak correlation coefficient of ∼0.6 with close to a 2-month lead.

Corresponding author address: Arun Chakraborty, Global Hydrological Project, Room 1-23-9-907, Nezu, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo 113 0031, Japan. Email: arun@eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp

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