Complex networks help explain extreme rainfall events
Synchronization structure of extreme rainfall reveals how climate systems connect on a global scale
Date:
April 26, 2022
Source:
American Institute of Physics
Summary:
Researchers propose using a complex-network-based clustering
workflow to search for synchronized structures of extreme rainfall
events within the context of atmospheric chaos. By doing this, they
were able to reconstruct a functional climate network to encode
the underlying interaction of the climate system. Clusters on the
network revealed regions of similar climatological behaviors. This
means extreme rainfalls within different locations are not
independent of each other but have a certain degree of similarity.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== Precipitation extremes are very likely to become more frequent
in most locations, according to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released in February 2022. Thus, exploring extreme rainfall patterns -- occurrences of natural hazards
like floods or landslides - - on a global scale is elevated to an issue
of great societal importance.
========================================================================== InChaos, from AIP Publishing, researchers in Germany propose using a
complex- network-based clustering workflow to search for synchronized structures of extreme rainfall events within the context of atmospheric
chaos.
By doing this, they were able to reconstruct a functional climate network
to encode the underlying interaction of the climate system. Clusters on
the network revealed regions of similar climatological behaviors.
For example, monsoons describe atmospheric circulation seasonal changes,
and while they are distributed on different continents, their occurrences
are usually accompanied by precipitation extremes.
"Although global-scale atmospheric circulation within the tropics
and subtropics forms connections between different monsoons, they are essentially driven, synchronized, and coordinated by the annual cycle of
solar radiation," said Zhen Su at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact
Research and Humboldt Universita"t zu Berlin. "Synchronization can also
occur between extreme rainfalls, even when they are not occurring within monsoon regions." This means extreme rainfalls within different locations
are not independent of each other but have a certain degree of similarity.
"In this regard, it still remains unclear what the global-scale
synchronization pattern of extreme rainfall will look like, for example,
during the summer season of the Northern Hemisphere," Su said. "We aim
to find the answer from observational precipitation data." The global synchronization of extreme rainfall has two main distributions with
independent temporal and spatial characteristics. "One occurs mainly
from early June to mid-July," said Su. "The other happens primarily from mid-July to late August." Between these periods, a monsoon "jump" occurs
-- a northward movement of the rain belt of monsoons with time. With
this monsoon jump, the spatial distribution of synchronization also
undergoes a northward shift. The researchers noticed both of the spatial distributions cover monsoon regions and also oceanic and inland areas.
"The synchronization structure of extreme rainfall tells us how the
climate system is interconnected on a global scale," said Su. "It also
provides insights for improving corresponding interaction processes in
general circulation models, which are mostly used for estimating the
state of our future climate."
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Institute_of_Physics. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Zhen Su, Henning Meyerhenke, Ju"rgen Kurths. The climatic
interdependence
of extreme-rainfall events around the globe. Chaos: An
Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, 2022; 32 (4):
043126 DOI: 10.1063/5.0077106 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220426153701.htm
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