Climatic features of the Red Sea from a regional assimilative model

by V. Yesubabu, H. Dasari, S. Langodan, S. Challa, I. Hoteit
Year:2017

Bibliography

Climatic features of the Red Sea from a regional assimilative model
V. Yesubabu, H. Dasari, S. Langodan, S. Challa, and I. Hoteit
International Journal of Climatology, 37, 2563-2581, 2017

Abstract

​The Advanced Research version of Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF‐ARW) model was used to generate a downscaled, 10‐km resolution regional climate dataset over the Red Sea and adjacent region. The model simulations are performed based on two, two‐way nested domains of 30‐ and 10‐km resolutions assimilating all conventional observations using a cyclic three‐dimensional variational approach over an initial 12‐h period. The improved initial conditions are then used to generate regional climate products for the following 24 h. We combined the resulting daily 24‐h datasets to construct a 15‐year Red Sea atmospheric downscaled product from 2000 to 2014. This 15‐year downscaled dataset is evaluated via comparisons with various in situ and gridded datasets. Our analysis indicates that the assimilated model successfully reproduced the spatial and temporal variability of temperature, wind, rainfall, relative humidity and sea level pressure over the Red Sea region. The model also efficiently simulated the seasonal and monthly variability of wind patterns, the Red Sea Convergence Zone and associated rainfall. Our results suggest that dynamical downscaling and assimilation of available observations improve the representation of regional atmospheric features over the Red Sea compared to global analysis data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. We use the dataset to describe the atmospheric climatic conditions over the Red Sea region.

DOI: 10.1002/joc.4865

Keywords

Red Sea Reanalysis WRF Model Dynamical Downscaling Data Assimilation 3DVAR
KAUST

"KAUST shall be a beacon for peace, hope and reconciliation, and shall serve the people of the Kingdom and the world."

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, 1924 – 2015

Contact Us

  • 4700 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

    Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Al-Khwarizmi Building (1)

© King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. All rights reserved