Impact of ocean–atmosphere coupling on future projection of Medicanes in the Mediterranean sea. (15th December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gutiérrez‐Fernández, Jesús; González‐Alemán, Juan J.; de la Vara, Alba; Cabos, William; Sein, Dmitry V.; Gaertner, Miguel Ángel
• Is Part Of: International journal of climatology. Volume 41:Number 4(2021)
• Page Start: 2226
• Page End: 2238
• Publication Date: 2020-12-15
• Subjects: air‐sea coupling -- climate change -- Medicanes -- regional climate model -- tropical‐like cyclones; Climatology -- Periodicals; Climat -- Périodiques; Climatologie -- Périodiques; 551.605
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.6955
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0899-8418

Abstract

Abstract: Cyclones with tropical characteristics called medicanes ("Mediterranean Hurricanes") eventually develop in the Mediterranean Sea. They have large harmful potential and a correct simulation of their evolution in climate projections is important for an adequate adaptation to climate change. Different studies suggest that ocean–atmosphere coupled models provide a better representation of medicanes, especially in terms of intensity and frequency. In this work, we use the regionally‐coupled model ROM to study how air‐sea interactions affect the evolution of medicanes in future climate projections. We find that under the RCP8.5 scenario our climate simulations show an overall frequency decrease which is more pronounced in the coupled than in the uncoupled configuration, whereas the intensity displays a different behaviour depending on the coupling. In the coupled run, the relative frequency of higher‐intensity medicanes increases, but this is not found in the uncoupled simulation. Also, this study indicates that the coupled model simulates better the summer minimum in the occurrence of medicanes, avoiding the reproduction of unrealistically intense events that can be found in summer in the uncoupled model. Abstract : We study the impact of air‐sea interactions on the evolution of Medicanes in future climate projections. Our results show that, in the future, Medicanes will experience a frequency decrease, especially in the coupled run. In future climate, the coupled model predicts an increase of the windspeed while windspeed intensity decreases in the uncoupled run.