High‐resolution climate characteristics of the Arabian Gulf based on a validated regional reanalysis

Abstract

The regional climate of the Arabian Gulf (AG) and its variability are examined based on a 40-year (1980-2019), 5-km regional reanalysis of the Arabian Peninsula (AP reanalysis). The AP reanalysis fields were first validated against the available observations over the AG, suggesting that this high-resolution reanalysis well reproduces the spatio-temporal features of the AG atmospheric circulations. The validated AP reanalysis fields were then analysed to examine the climatic characteristics over the AG including the monthly mean, maximum and minimum temperatures, and the seasonal variations in winds, relative humidity and rainfall over the AG. The AG climate is mostly dry between May and October, and experiences moderate rainfall between December and January. The higher (lower) pressure difference between the northwest and southeast AG during summer (winter) generates the northwesterly Shamal winds over the north (central) AG. The mean Shamal winds are relatively stronger (weaker) and prolonged (shorter) during summer (winter); however, the short lived Shamal jet events in winter can be occasionally stronger than summer. In terms of interannual variability, the Shamal winds are stronger and more persistent in summer during El Niño years and in winter during La Niña years. These differences are mainly associated with changes in temperature gradients between the eastern AG and northwestern AP.

Satellite derived trends and variability of CO2 concentrations in the Middle East during 2014–2023

“…After 22 LT, the CO 2 values decrease as the land-breeze advects cleaner (i.e., less CO 2 -rich) desert air into the site. As the local-scale circulations (e.g., Dasari et al, 2022) and the spatial distribution of CO 2 emissions (e.g., Farahat, 2016) in the Arabian Peninsula are highly heterogeneous, the variability of the CO 2 concentration on different timescales throughout the region is likely to differ from that of the station near Kuwait City mentioned above. A network of surface CO 2 observations is therefore needed to evaluate the estimates from remote sensing assets, which can exhibit considerable biases (e.g., Kulawik et al, 2016), and to further our understanding on the processes behind the observed variability.…”

Contribution of surface and lateral forcing to the Arabian Gulf warming trend

“…The model was forced with atmospheric fields of 5-km horizontal resolution generated by downscaling the ERA-Interim reanalysis (Dee et al, 2011) using the advanced research version of the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model, assimilating all available satellite and conventional observations in the region (Hoteit et al, 2021). It is important to note that the generation of these atmospheric fields was conducted independently of our study and is extensively described in Viswanadhapalli et al (2017) and Dasari et al (2022). Furthermore, comprehensive validations of these fields against available observations have been conducted and presented in Langodan et al (2017) and Viswanadhapalli et al (2017).…”