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Abstract
With the impact of tropospheric ozone pollution on humankind, there is a compelling need for robust air quality forecasts. Here, we introduce a novel deep learning (DL) forecasting system called O3ResNet that produces a 4-day forecast for ground-level ozone. O3ResNet is based on a convolutional neural network with residual blocks. The model has been trained on 22 yr of ozone and nitrogen oxides in situ measurements and ERA5 reanalysis data from 2000 to 2021 at 328 stations in central Europe located in rural and suburban environments. Our model outperforms the state-of-the-art Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service regional forecast model ensemble for ground-level ozone with respect to the mean-square error and mean absolute error of the daily maximum 8-h running-average ozone, thus marking a major milestone for DL-based ozone prediction. O3ResNet has a very small bias without requiring additional postprocessing, and it generalizes well so that new stations can be added with no need to retrain the neural network. Because the model works on hourly data, it can be easily adapted to output other air quality metrics. We conclude that O3ResNet is sufficiently advanced and robust to become a test application for operational air quality forecasting with DL.
Significance Statement
In this paper, we introduce a novel deep learning approach to forecast ground-level ozone for rural and suburban environments on a local scale. Our model is able to outperform the state-of-the-art Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service regional ensemble forecast and is a major milestone toward a more reliable ozone prediction. This is important because local-scale ozone forecasts using conventional methods show significant bias or require site-dependent postprocessing. The findings suggest that the model presented in this article can become an important tool for air quality prediction.
Abstract
With the impact of tropospheric ozone pollution on humankind, there is a compelling need for robust air quality forecasts. Here, we introduce a novel deep learning (DL) forecasting system called O3ResNet that produces a 4-day forecast for ground-level ozone. O3ResNet is based on a convolutional neural network with residual blocks. The model has been trained on 22 yr of ozone and nitrogen oxides in situ measurements and ERA5 reanalysis data from 2000 to 2021 at 328 stations in central Europe located in rural and suburban environments. Our model outperforms the state-of-the-art Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service regional forecast model ensemble for ground-level ozone with respect to the mean-square error and mean absolute error of the daily maximum 8-h running-average ozone, thus marking a major milestone for DL-based ozone prediction. O3ResNet has a very small bias without requiring additional postprocessing, and it generalizes well so that new stations can be added with no need to retrain the neural network. Because the model works on hourly data, it can be easily adapted to output other air quality metrics. We conclude that O3ResNet is sufficiently advanced and robust to become a test application for operational air quality forecasting with DL.
Significance Statement
In this paper, we introduce a novel deep learning approach to forecast ground-level ozone for rural and suburban environments on a local scale. Our model is able to outperform the state-of-the-art Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service regional ensemble forecast and is a major milestone toward a more reliable ozone prediction. This is important because local-scale ozone forecasts using conventional methods show significant bias or require site-dependent postprocessing. The findings suggest that the model presented in this article can become an important tool for air quality prediction.
Abstract
We present an overview of recent work on using artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) techniques for forecasting convective weather and its associated hazards, including tornadoes, hail, wind, and lightning. These high-impact phenomena globally cause both massive property damage and loss of life, yet they are very challenging to forecast. Given the recent explosion in developing ML techniques across the weather spectrum and the fact that the skillful prediction of convective weather has immediate societal benefits, we present a thorough review of the current state of the art in AI and ML techniques for convective hazards. Our review includes both traditional approaches, including support vector machines and decision trees, as well as deep learning approaches. We highlight the challenges in developing ML approaches to forecast these phenomena across a variety of spatial and temporal scales. We end with a discussion of promising areas of future work for ML for convective weather, including a discussion of the need to create trustworthy AI forecasts that can be used for forecasters in real time and the need for active cross-sector collaboration on testbeds to validate ML methods in operational situations.
Significance Statement
We provide an overview of recent machine learning research in predicting hazards from thunderstorms, specifically looking at lightning, wind, hail, and tornadoes. These hazards kill people worldwide and also destroy property and livestock. Improving the prediction of these events in both the local space as well as globally can save lives and property. By providing this review, we aim to spur additional research into developing machine learning approaches for convective hazard prediction.
Abstract
We present an overview of recent work on using artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) techniques for forecasting convective weather and its associated hazards, including tornadoes, hail, wind, and lightning. These high-impact phenomena globally cause both massive property damage and loss of life, yet they are very challenging to forecast. Given the recent explosion in developing ML techniques across the weather spectrum and the fact that the skillful prediction of convective weather has immediate societal benefits, we present a thorough review of the current state of the art in AI and ML techniques for convective hazards. Our review includes both traditional approaches, including support vector machines and decision trees, as well as deep learning approaches. We highlight the challenges in developing ML approaches to forecast these phenomena across a variety of spatial and temporal scales. We end with a discussion of promising areas of future work for ML for convective weather, including a discussion of the need to create trustworthy AI forecasts that can be used for forecasters in real time and the need for active cross-sector collaboration on testbeds to validate ML methods in operational situations.
Significance Statement
We provide an overview of recent machine learning research in predicting hazards from thunderstorms, specifically looking at lightning, wind, hail, and tornadoes. These hazards kill people worldwide and also destroy property and livestock. Improving the prediction of these events in both the local space as well as globally can save lives and property. By providing this review, we aim to spur additional research into developing machine learning approaches for convective hazard prediction.
Abstract
Subseasonal forecasts are challenging for numerical weather prediction (NWP) and machine learning models alike. Forecasting 2-m temperature (t2m) with a lead time of 2 or more weeks requires a forward model to integrate multiple complex interactions, like oceanic and land surface conditions leading to predictable weather patterns. NWP models represent these interactions imperfectly, meaning that in certain conditions, errors accumulate and model predictability deviates from real predictability, often for poorly understood reasons. To advance that understanding, this paper corrects conditional errors in NWP forecasts with an artificial neural network (ANN). The ANN postprocesses ECMWF extended-range summer temperature forecasts by learning to correct the ECMWF-predicted probability that monthly t2m in western and central Europe exceeds the climatological median. Predictors are objectively selected from ECMWF forecasts themselves, and from states at initialization, i.e., the ERA5 reanalysis. The latter allows the ANN to account for sources of predictability that are biased in the NWP model itself. We attribute ANN corrections with two explainable artificial intelligence (AI) tools. This reveals that certain erroneous forecasts relate to tropical western Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures at initialization. We conjecture that the atmospheric teleconnection following this source of predictability is imperfectly represented by the ECMWF model. Correcting the associated conditional errors with the ANN improves forecast skill.
Significance Statement
We want to understand occasions in which a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model fails to forecast a predictable event existing in the real world. For forecasts of European summer weather more than 2 weeks in advance, real predictable events are rare. When misrepresented by the model, predicted future states become needlessly biased. We diagnose these missed opportunities with an explainable neural network. The neural network is aware of the initial state and learns to correct the NWP forecast on occasions when it misrepresents a teleconnection from the western tropical Pacific Ocean to Europe. The explainable architecture can be useful for other applications in which conditional model errors need to be understood and corrected.
Abstract
Subseasonal forecasts are challenging for numerical weather prediction (NWP) and machine learning models alike. Forecasting 2-m temperature (t2m) with a lead time of 2 or more weeks requires a forward model to integrate multiple complex interactions, like oceanic and land surface conditions leading to predictable weather patterns. NWP models represent these interactions imperfectly, meaning that in certain conditions, errors accumulate and model predictability deviates from real predictability, often for poorly understood reasons. To advance that understanding, this paper corrects conditional errors in NWP forecasts with an artificial neural network (ANN). The ANN postprocesses ECMWF extended-range summer temperature forecasts by learning to correct the ECMWF-predicted probability that monthly t2m in western and central Europe exceeds the climatological median. Predictors are objectively selected from ECMWF forecasts themselves, and from states at initialization, i.e., the ERA5 reanalysis. The latter allows the ANN to account for sources of predictability that are biased in the NWP model itself. We attribute ANN corrections with two explainable artificial intelligence (AI) tools. This reveals that certain erroneous forecasts relate to tropical western Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures at initialization. We conjecture that the atmospheric teleconnection following this source of predictability is imperfectly represented by the ECMWF model. Correcting the associated conditional errors with the ANN improves forecast skill.
Significance Statement
We want to understand occasions in which a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model fails to forecast a predictable event existing in the real world. For forecasts of European summer weather more than 2 weeks in advance, real predictable events are rare. When misrepresented by the model, predicted future states become needlessly biased. We diagnose these missed opportunities with an explainable neural network. The neural network is aware of the initial state and learns to correct the NWP forecast on occasions when it misrepresents a teleconnection from the western tropical Pacific Ocean to Europe. The explainable architecture can be useful for other applications in which conditional model errors need to be understood and corrected.
Abstract
Radial velocity estimates provided by Doppler weather radar are critical measurements used by operational forecasters for the detection and monitoring of life-impacting storms. The sampling methods used to produce these measurements are inherently susceptible to aliasing, which produces ambiguous velocity values in regions with high winds and needs to be corrected using a velocity dealiasing algorithm (VDA). In the United States, the Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) Open Radar Product Generator (ORPG) is a processing environment that provides a world-class VDA; however, this algorithm is complex and can be difficult to port to other radar systems outside the WSR-88D network. In this work, a deep neural network (DNN) is used to emulate the two-dimensional WSR-88D ORPG dealiasing algorithm. It is shown that a DNN, specifically a customized U-Net, is highly effective for building VDAs that are accurate, fast, and portable to multiple radar types. To train the DNN model, a large dataset is generated containing aligned samples of folded and dealiased velocity pairs. This dataset contains samples collected from WSR-88D Level-II and Level-III archives and uses the ORPG dealiasing algorithm output as a source of truth. Using this dataset, a U-Net is trained to produce the number of folds at each point of a velocity image. Several performance metrics are presented using WSR-88D data. The algorithm is also applied to other non-WSR-88D radar systems to demonstrate portability to other hardware/software interfaces. A discussion of the broad applicability of this method is presented, including how other Level-III algorithms may benefit from this approach.
Significance Statement
Accurate and timely estimates of wind within storms are critically important for a number of applications, including severe storm nowcasting, maritime operational planning, aviation forecasting, and public safety coordination. Velocity aliasing is a common artifact that requires data quality control. While velocity dealiasing algorithms (VDAs) have been developed for decades, they remain a computationally complex and challenging problem. This paper presents an application of deep neural networks (DNNs) to increase the computational efficiency and portability of VDAs. A DNN is trained to emulate an operational algorithm, and performance is quantified over a large dataset. This work gives a convincing example of the benefits that deep learning can provide for radar algorithms, and future work highlighting these opportunities is discussed.
Abstract
Radial velocity estimates provided by Doppler weather radar are critical measurements used by operational forecasters for the detection and monitoring of life-impacting storms. The sampling methods used to produce these measurements are inherently susceptible to aliasing, which produces ambiguous velocity values in regions with high winds and needs to be corrected using a velocity dealiasing algorithm (VDA). In the United States, the Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) Open Radar Product Generator (ORPG) is a processing environment that provides a world-class VDA; however, this algorithm is complex and can be difficult to port to other radar systems outside the WSR-88D network. In this work, a deep neural network (DNN) is used to emulate the two-dimensional WSR-88D ORPG dealiasing algorithm. It is shown that a DNN, specifically a customized U-Net, is highly effective for building VDAs that are accurate, fast, and portable to multiple radar types. To train the DNN model, a large dataset is generated containing aligned samples of folded and dealiased velocity pairs. This dataset contains samples collected from WSR-88D Level-II and Level-III archives and uses the ORPG dealiasing algorithm output as a source of truth. Using this dataset, a U-Net is trained to produce the number of folds at each point of a velocity image. Several performance metrics are presented using WSR-88D data. The algorithm is also applied to other non-WSR-88D radar systems to demonstrate portability to other hardware/software interfaces. A discussion of the broad applicability of this method is presented, including how other Level-III algorithms may benefit from this approach.
Significance Statement
Accurate and timely estimates of wind within storms are critically important for a number of applications, including severe storm nowcasting, maritime operational planning, aviation forecasting, and public safety coordination. Velocity aliasing is a common artifact that requires data quality control. While velocity dealiasing algorithms (VDAs) have been developed for decades, they remain a computationally complex and challenging problem. This paper presents an application of deep neural networks (DNNs) to increase the computational efficiency and portability of VDAs. A DNN is trained to emulate an operational algorithm, and performance is quantified over a large dataset. This work gives a convincing example of the benefits that deep learning can provide for radar algorithms, and future work highlighting these opportunities is discussed.
Abstract
Tropical cyclones are high-impact weather events that have large human and economic effects, so it is important to be able to understand how their location, frequency, and structure might change in a future climate. Here, a lightweight deep learning model is presented that is intended for detecting the presence or absence of tropical cyclones during the execution of numerical simulations for use in an online data reduction method. This will help to avoid saving vast amounts of data for analysis after the simulation is complete. With run-time detection, it might be possible to reduce the need for some of the high-frequency high-resolution output that would otherwise be required. The model was trained on ERA-Interim reanalysis data from 1979 to 2017, and the training was concentrated on delivering the highest possible recall rate (successful detection of cyclones) while rejecting enough data to make a difference in outputs. When tested using data from the two subsequent years, the recall or probability of detection rate was 92%. The precision rate or success ratio obtained was that of 36%. For the desired data reduction application, if the desired target included all tropical cyclone events, even those that did not obtain hurricane-strength status, the effective precision was 85%. The recall rate and the area under curve for the precision–recall (AUC-PR) compare favorably with other methods of cyclone identification while using the smallest number of parameters for both training and inference.
Abstract
Tropical cyclones are high-impact weather events that have large human and economic effects, so it is important to be able to understand how their location, frequency, and structure might change in a future climate. Here, a lightweight deep learning model is presented that is intended for detecting the presence or absence of tropical cyclones during the execution of numerical simulations for use in an online data reduction method. This will help to avoid saving vast amounts of data for analysis after the simulation is complete. With run-time detection, it might be possible to reduce the need for some of the high-frequency high-resolution output that would otherwise be required. The model was trained on ERA-Interim reanalysis data from 1979 to 2017, and the training was concentrated on delivering the highest possible recall rate (successful detection of cyclones) while rejecting enough data to make a difference in outputs. When tested using data from the two subsequent years, the recall or probability of detection rate was 92%. The precision rate or success ratio obtained was that of 36%. For the desired data reduction application, if the desired target included all tropical cyclone events, even those that did not obtain hurricane-strength status, the effective precision was 85%. The recall rate and the area under curve for the precision–recall (AUC-PR) compare favorably with other methods of cyclone identification while using the smallest number of parameters for both training and inference.
Abstract
We present and evaluate a deep learning first-guess front-identification system that identifies cold, warm, stationary, and occluded fronts. Frontal boundaries play a key role in the daily weather around the world. Human-drawn fronts provided by the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, Ocean Prediction Center, Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch, and Honolulu Forecast Office are treated as ground-truth labels for training the deep learning models. The models are trained using ERA5 data with variables known to be important for distinguishing frontal boundaries, including temperature, equivalent potential temperature, and wind velocity and direction at multiple heights. Using a 250-km neighborhood over the contiguous U.S. domain, our best models achieve critical success index scores of 0.60 for cold fronts, 0.43 for warm fronts, 0.48 for stationary fronts, 0.45 for occluded fronts, and 0.71 using a binary classification system (front/no front), whereas scores over the full unified surface analysis domain were lower. For cold and warm fronts and binary classification, these scores significantly outperform prior baseline methods that utilize 250-km neighborhoods. These first-guess deep learning algorithms can be used by forecasters to locate frontal boundaries more effectively and expedite the frontal analysis process.
Significance Statement
Fronts are boundaries that affect the weather that people experience daily. Currently, forecasters must identify these boundaries through manual analysis. We have developed an automated machine learning method for detecting cold, warm, stationary, and occluded fronts. Our automated method provides forecasters with an additional tool to expedite the frontal analysis process.
Abstract
We present and evaluate a deep learning first-guess front-identification system that identifies cold, warm, stationary, and occluded fronts. Frontal boundaries play a key role in the daily weather around the world. Human-drawn fronts provided by the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, Ocean Prediction Center, Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch, and Honolulu Forecast Office are treated as ground-truth labels for training the deep learning models. The models are trained using ERA5 data with variables known to be important for distinguishing frontal boundaries, including temperature, equivalent potential temperature, and wind velocity and direction at multiple heights. Using a 250-km neighborhood over the contiguous U.S. domain, our best models achieve critical success index scores of 0.60 for cold fronts, 0.43 for warm fronts, 0.48 for stationary fronts, 0.45 for occluded fronts, and 0.71 using a binary classification system (front/no front), whereas scores over the full unified surface analysis domain were lower. For cold and warm fronts and binary classification, these scores significantly outperform prior baseline methods that utilize 250-km neighborhoods. These first-guess deep learning algorithms can be used by forecasters to locate frontal boundaries more effectively and expedite the frontal analysis process.
Significance Statement
Fronts are boundaries that affect the weather that people experience daily. Currently, forecasters must identify these boundaries through manual analysis. We have developed an automated machine learning method for detecting cold, warm, stationary, and occluded fronts. Our automated method provides forecasters with an additional tool to expedite the frontal analysis process.
Abstract
The two-step U-Net model (TU-Net) contains a western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) prediction model and a precipitation prediction model fed by the WNPSH predictions, oceanic heat content, and surface temperature. The data-driven forecast model provides improved 4-month lead predictions of the WNPSH and precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (MLYR), which has important implications for water resources management and precipitation-related disaster prevention in China. When compared with five state-of-the-art dynamical climate models including the Climate Forecast System of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST-CFS1.0) and four models participating in the North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME) project, the TU-Net produces comparable skills in forecasting 4-month lead geopotential height and winds at the 500- and 850-hPa levels. For the 4-month lead prediction of precipitation over the MLYR region, the TU-Net has the best correlation scores and mean latitude-weighted RMSE in each summer month and in boreal summer [June–August (JJA)], and pattern correlation coefficient scores are slightly lower than the dynamical models only in June and JJA. In addition, the results show that the constructed TU-Net is also superior to most of the dynamical models in predicting 2-m air temperature in the MLYR region at a 4-month lead. Thus, the deep learning-based TU-Net model can provide a rapid and inexpensive way to improve the seasonal prediction of summer precipitation and 2-m air temperature over the MLYR region.
Significance Statement
The purpose of this study is to examine the seasonal predictive skill of the western North Pacific subtropical high anomalies and summer rainfall anomalies over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River region by means of deep learning methods. Our deep learning model provides a rapid and inexpensive way to improve the seasonal prediction of summer precipitation as well as 2-m air temperature. The work has important implications for water resources management and precipitation-related disaster prevention in China and can be extended in the future to predict other climate variables as well.
Abstract
The two-step U-Net model (TU-Net) contains a western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) prediction model and a precipitation prediction model fed by the WNPSH predictions, oceanic heat content, and surface temperature. The data-driven forecast model provides improved 4-month lead predictions of the WNPSH and precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (MLYR), which has important implications for water resources management and precipitation-related disaster prevention in China. When compared with five state-of-the-art dynamical climate models including the Climate Forecast System of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST-CFS1.0) and four models participating in the North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME) project, the TU-Net produces comparable skills in forecasting 4-month lead geopotential height and winds at the 500- and 850-hPa levels. For the 4-month lead prediction of precipitation over the MLYR region, the TU-Net has the best correlation scores and mean latitude-weighted RMSE in each summer month and in boreal summer [June–August (JJA)], and pattern correlation coefficient scores are slightly lower than the dynamical models only in June and JJA. In addition, the results show that the constructed TU-Net is also superior to most of the dynamical models in predicting 2-m air temperature in the MLYR region at a 4-month lead. Thus, the deep learning-based TU-Net model can provide a rapid and inexpensive way to improve the seasonal prediction of summer precipitation and 2-m air temperature over the MLYR region.
Significance Statement
The purpose of this study is to examine the seasonal predictive skill of the western North Pacific subtropical high anomalies and summer rainfall anomalies over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River region by means of deep learning methods. Our deep learning model provides a rapid and inexpensive way to improve the seasonal prediction of summer precipitation as well as 2-m air temperature. The work has important implications for water resources management and precipitation-related disaster prevention in China and can be extended in the future to predict other climate variables as well.
Abstract
Globally available environmental observations (EOs), specifically from satellites and coupled Earth system models, represent some of the largest datasets of the digital age. As the volume of global EOs continues to grow, so does the potential of these data to help Earth scientists discover trends and patterns in Earth systems at large spatial scales. To leverage global EOs for scientific insight, Earth scientists need targeted and accessible exposure to skills in reproducible scientific computing and spatiotemporal data science, and to be empowered to apply their domain understanding to interpret data-driven models for knowledge discovery. The Generalizable, Reproducible, Robust, and Interpreted Environmental (GRRIEn) analysis framework was developed to prepare Earth scientists with an introductory statistics background and limited/no understanding of programming and computational methods to use global EOs to successfully generalize insights from local/regional field measurements across unsampled times and locations. GRRIEn analysis is generalizable, meaning results from a sample are translated to landscape scales by combining direct environmental measurements with global EOs using supervised machine learning; robust, meaning that the model shows good performance on data with scale-dependent feature and observation dependence; reproducible, based on a standard repository structure so that other scientists can quickly and easily replicate the analysis with a few computational tools; and interpreted, meaning that Earth scientists apply domain expertise to ensure that model parameters reflect a physically plausible diagnosis of the environmental system. This tutorial presents standard steps for achieving GRRIEn analysis by combining conventions of rigor in traditional experimental design with the open-science movement.
Significance Statement
Earth science researchers in the digital age are often tasked with pioneering big data analyses, yet have limited formal training in statistics and computational methods such as databasing or computer programming. Earth science researchers often spend tremendous amounts of time learning core computational skills, and making core analytical mistakes, in the process of bridging this training gap, at risk to the reputability of observational geostatistical research. The GRRIEn analytical framework is a practical guide introducing community standards for each phase of the computational research pipeline (dataset engineering, model training, and model diagnostics) to promote rigorous, accessible use of global EOs in Earth systems research.
Abstract
Globally available environmental observations (EOs), specifically from satellites and coupled Earth system models, represent some of the largest datasets of the digital age. As the volume of global EOs continues to grow, so does the potential of these data to help Earth scientists discover trends and patterns in Earth systems at large spatial scales. To leverage global EOs for scientific insight, Earth scientists need targeted and accessible exposure to skills in reproducible scientific computing and spatiotemporal data science, and to be empowered to apply their domain understanding to interpret data-driven models for knowledge discovery. The Generalizable, Reproducible, Robust, and Interpreted Environmental (GRRIEn) analysis framework was developed to prepare Earth scientists with an introductory statistics background and limited/no understanding of programming and computational methods to use global EOs to successfully generalize insights from local/regional field measurements across unsampled times and locations. GRRIEn analysis is generalizable, meaning results from a sample are translated to landscape scales by combining direct environmental measurements with global EOs using supervised machine learning; robust, meaning that the model shows good performance on data with scale-dependent feature and observation dependence; reproducible, based on a standard repository structure so that other scientists can quickly and easily replicate the analysis with a few computational tools; and interpreted, meaning that Earth scientists apply domain expertise to ensure that model parameters reflect a physically plausible diagnosis of the environmental system. This tutorial presents standard steps for achieving GRRIEn analysis by combining conventions of rigor in traditional experimental design with the open-science movement.
Significance Statement
Earth science researchers in the digital age are often tasked with pioneering big data analyses, yet have limited formal training in statistics and computational methods such as databasing or computer programming. Earth science researchers often spend tremendous amounts of time learning core computational skills, and making core analytical mistakes, in the process of bridging this training gap, at risk to the reputability of observational geostatistical research. The GRRIEn analytical framework is a practical guide introducing community standards for each phase of the computational research pipeline (dataset engineering, model training, and model diagnostics) to promote rigorous, accessible use of global EOs in Earth systems research.
Abstract
Two distinct features of anthropogenic climate change, warming in the tropical upper troposphere and warming at the Arctic surface, have competing effects on the midlatitude jet stream’s latitudinal position, often referred to as a “tug-of-war.” Studies that investigate the jet’s response to these thermal forcings show that it is sensitive to model type, season, initial atmospheric conditions, and the shape and magnitude of the forcing. Much of this past work focuses on studying a simulation’s response to external manipulation. In contrast, we explore the potential to train a convolutional neural network (CNN) on internal variability alone and then use it to examine possible nonlinear responses of the jet to tropospheric thermal forcing that more closely resemble anthropogenic climate change. Our approach leverages the idea behind the fluctuation–dissipation theorem, which relates the internal variability of a system to its forced response but so far has been only used to quantify linear responses. We train a CNN on data from a long control run of the CESM dry dynamical core and show that it is able to skillfully predict the nonlinear response of the jet to sustained external forcing. The trained CNN provides a quick method for exploring the jet stream sensitivity to a wide range of tropospheric temperature tendencies and, considering that this method can likely be applied to any model with a long control run, could be useful for early-stage experiment design.
Abstract
Two distinct features of anthropogenic climate change, warming in the tropical upper troposphere and warming at the Arctic surface, have competing effects on the midlatitude jet stream’s latitudinal position, often referred to as a “tug-of-war.” Studies that investigate the jet’s response to these thermal forcings show that it is sensitive to model type, season, initial atmospheric conditions, and the shape and magnitude of the forcing. Much of this past work focuses on studying a simulation’s response to external manipulation. In contrast, we explore the potential to train a convolutional neural network (CNN) on internal variability alone and then use it to examine possible nonlinear responses of the jet to tropospheric thermal forcing that more closely resemble anthropogenic climate change. Our approach leverages the idea behind the fluctuation–dissipation theorem, which relates the internal variability of a system to its forced response but so far has been only used to quantify linear responses. We train a CNN on data from a long control run of the CESM dry dynamical core and show that it is able to skillfully predict the nonlinear response of the jet to sustained external forcing. The trained CNN provides a quick method for exploring the jet stream sensitivity to a wide range of tropospheric temperature tendencies and, considering that this method can likely be applied to any model with a long control run, could be useful for early-stage experiment design.
