Spatial differentiation of air temperature in Poland using circulation types and GIS

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the synoptic-climatic analysis with the application of circulation types and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Construction of daily climatic air temperature maps for the Polish territory was the main aim of the work. Analysis was based on the mean daily temperature data from all synoptic and some climatological stations (73 stations totally) for the 50-year period of 1951-2000. The synoptic-climatic analysis was done using a well known circulation calendar developed by the German Meteorological Service 'Grosswetterlagen'. Residual kriging was chosen for the map constructions. Several geographic parameters, including elevation, latitude, longitude, and distance to the Baltic coast, were used as predictor variables for air temperature. However, the particular circulation type was the crucial predictor. Maps were created for all months for the Grosswetterlagen circulation types, which occurred more than 30 times during 1951-2000. Special attention was paid to the extreme thermal months of January and July. Maps constructed in the way described confirmed that application of circulation types was quite a good tool for improving accuracy of thermal daily maps. Accuracy was much higher for most of the maps constructed for particular circulation types than for the maps created without application of circulation types. There was only one exception: non-advective anticyclonic types during winter time. Then, relatively large variability of the temperature can be observed in the concave landforms and the constructed maps have only approximate meaning.

Influence of the persistence of circulation patterns on warm and cold temperature anomalies in Europe: Analysis over the 20th century

“…Bárdossy and Caspary, 1990;Werner et al, 2000;Kyselý and Huth, 2006) as well as in examining links between circulation types and surface climatic variables over many regions in Europe, ranging from western to northeastern and southeastern Europe (Buishand and Brandsma, 1997;Keevallik et al, 1999;Kyselý, 2002;Pryor and Barthelmie, 2003;Domonkos et al, 2003;Tu et al, 2005;Ustrnul, 2006).…”

The main characteristics of atmospheric circulation over East-Central Europe from 1871 to 2010

“…Atmospheric circulation in this part of Europe largely contributes to the spatial and temporal variability of meteorological elements, particularly in the cold part of the year (Bednorz 2002;Ustrnul 2006;Falarz 2007). In winters with a higher than the long-term frequency of easterly air flow, i.e., from the cooled interior of the Eurasian continent, considerable negative air temperature anomalies and long-term persistence of snow cover are typical.…”

“…In this group, the best known ones include the Grossweterlagen classification developed for Central Europe (Baur 1937;Hess and Brezowsky 1977;Werner and Gerstengarbe 2010), the Lamb classification referring to the region of the British Islands (Lamb 1972) and the Vangengeim-Girs classification developed for the north-east part of Europe (Vangengeim 1935;Girs 1971). They were used in numerous climatological studies (e.g., Bárdossy and Caspary 1990;Keevallik et al 1999;Kaszewski and Filipiuk 2003;Stehlík and Bárdossy 2003;Ustrnul 2006;Hoy et al 2012Hoy et al , 2013. The assessment of the effect of atmospheric circulation on the variability of atmospheric conditions in Poland frequently involves the application of manual classifications by Osuchowska-Klein (1978) and Niedźwiedź (1981).…”

Circulation types classification for hourly precipitation events in Lublin (East Poland)

“…A total of thirty CTs were distinguished, additionally grouped in Grosswettertypen (GWT) by air mass advection [37]. The typology has been used in numerous papers investigating Central Europe [38][39][40][41][42]. The ECE d and GWL classifications differ in the method of determining the CTs, and in the number of weather types distinguished.…”