Articles | Volume 16, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-1169-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-1169-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
21 Jul 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 21 Jul 2025
| 21 Jul 2025
Leveraging the satellite-based climate data record CLARA-A3 to understand the climatic trend regimes relevant for solar energy applications over Europe
Abhay Devasthale
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Meteorological Research Unit, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Folkborgvägen 17, 60176 Norrköping, Sweden
Sandra Andersson
Community Planning Service, SMHI, Folkborgvägen 17, 60176 Norrköping, Sweden
Erik Engström
Community Planning Service, SMHI, Folkborgvägen 17, 60176 Norrköping, Sweden
Frank Kaspar
Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Frankfurter Str. 135, 63067, Offenbach, Germany
Jörg Trentmann
Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Frankfurter Str. 135, 63067, Offenbach, Germany
Anke Duguay-Tetzlaff
Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss), 8058 Zürich, Switzerland
Jan Fokke Meirink
R&D Satellite Observations, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), 3731 GA De Bilt, the Netherlands
Erik Kjellström
Rossby Centre, SMHI, 601 76 Norrköping, Sweden
Bolin Center for Climate Research, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Tomas Landelius
Meteorological Research Unit, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Folkborgvägen 17, 60176 Norrköping, Sweden
Manu Anna Thomas
Meteorological Research Unit, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Folkborgvägen 17, 60176 Norrköping, Sweden
Karl-Göran Karlsson
Meteorological Research Unit, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Folkborgvägen 17, 60176 Norrköping, Sweden
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Gustav Strandberg, August Thomasson, Lars Bärring, Erik Kjellström, Michael Sahlin, Renate Wilcke, and Grigory Nikulin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2002, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2002, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Weather and Climate Dynamics (WCD).
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Job I. Wiltink, Hartwig Deneke, Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, and Jan Fokke Meirink
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Jippe J. A. Hoogeveen, Jan Fokke Meirink, and Frank M. Selten
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Karl-Göran Karlsson, Nina Håkansson, Salomon Eliasson, Erwin Wolters, and Ronald Scheirer
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Uwe Pfeifroth, Jaqueline Drücke, Steffen Kothe, Jörg Trentmann, Marc Schröder, and Rainer Hollmann
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 5243–5265, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5243-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5243-2024, 2024
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Colin G. Jones, Fanny Adloff, Ben B. B. Booth, Peter M. Cox, Veronika Eyring, Pierre Friedlingstein, Katja Frieler, Helene T. Hewitt, Hazel A. Jeffery, Sylvie Joussaume, Torben Koenigk, Bryan N. Lawrence, Eleanor O'Rourke, Malcolm J. Roberts, Benjamin M. Sanderson, Roland Séférian, Samuel Somot, Pier Luigi Vidale, Detlef van Vuuren, Mario Acosta, Mats Bentsen, Raffaele Bernardello, Richard Betts, Ed Blockley, Julien Boé, Tom Bracegirdle, Pascale Braconnot, Victor Brovkin, Carlo Buontempo, Francisco Doblas-Reyes, Markus Donat, Italo Epicoco, Pete Falloon, Sandro Fiore, Thomas Frölicher, Neven S. Fučkar, Matthew J. Gidden, Helge F. Goessling, Rune Grand Graversen, Silvio Gualdi, José M. Gutiérrez, Tatiana Ilyina, Daniela Jacob, Chris D. Jones, Martin Juckes, Elizabeth Kendon, Erik Kjellström, Reto Knutti, Jason Lowe, Matthew Mizielinski, Paola Nassisi, Michael Obersteiner, Pierre Regnier, Romain Roehrig, David Salas y Mélia, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Michael Schulz, Enrico Scoccimarro, Laurent Terray, Hannes Thiemann, Richard A. Wood, Shuting Yang, and Sönke Zaehle
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 1319–1351, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-1319-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-1319-2024, 2024
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Job I. Wiltink, Hartwig Deneke, Yves-Marie Saint-Drenan, Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, and Jan Fokke Meirink
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6003–6024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6003-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6003-2024, 2024
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Aerosol–cloud interactions occur at a range of spatio-temporal scales. While evaluating recent developments in EC-Earth3-AerChem, this study aims to understand the extent to which the Twomey effect manifests itself at larger scales. We find a reduction in the warm bias over the Southern Ocean due to model improvements. While we see footprints of the Twomey effect at larger scales, the negative relationship between cloud droplet number and liquid water drives the shortwave radiative effect.
Erik Holmgren and Erik Kjellström
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Associating extreme weather events with changes in the climate remains difficult. We have explored two ways these relationships can be investigated: one using a more common method and one relying solely on long-running records of meteorological observations.
Our results show that while both methods lead to similar conclusions for two recent weather events in Sweden, the commonly used method risks underestimating the strength of the connection between the event and changes to the climate.
Johannes Meuer, Laurens M. Bouwer, Frank Kaspar, Roman Lehmann, Wolfgang Karl, Thomas Ludwig, and Christopher Kadow
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1392, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1392, 2024
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Our study focuses on filling in missing precipitation data using an advanced neural network model. Traditional methods for estimating missing climate information often struggle in large regions where data is scarce. Our solution, which incorporates recent advances in machine learning, captures the intricate patterns of precipitation over time, especially during extreme weather events. Our model shows good performance in reconstructing large regions of missing rainfall radar data.
Nicole Docter, Anja Hünerbein, David P. Donovan, Rene Preusker, Jürgen Fischer, Jan Fokke Meirink, Piet Stammes, and Michael Eisinger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2507–2519, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2507-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2507-2024, 2024
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MSI is the imaging spectrometer on board EarthCARE and will provide across-track information on clouds and aerosol properties. The MSI solar channels exhibit a spectral misalignment effect (SMILE) in the measurements. This paper describes and evaluates how the SMILE will affect the cloud and aerosol retrievals that do not account for it.
Alejandro Baró Pérez, Michael S. Diamond, Frida A.-M. Bender, Abhay Devasthale, Matthias Schwarz, Julien Savre, Juha Tonttila, Harri Kokkola, Hyunho Lee, David Painemal, and Annica M. L. Ekman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4591–4610, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4591-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4591-2024, 2024
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We use a numerical model to study interactions between humid light-absorbing aerosol plumes, clouds, and radiation over the southeast Atlantic. We find that the warming produced by the aerosols reduces cloud cover, especially in highly polluted situations. Aerosol impacts on drizzle play a minor role. However, aerosol effects on cloud reflectivity and moisture-induced changes in cloud cover dominate the climatic response and lead to an overall cooling by the biomass burning plumes.
Fredrik Lagergren, Robert G. Björk, Camilla Andersson, Danijel Belušić, Mats P. Björkman, Erik Kjellström, Petter Lind, David Lindstedt, Tinja Olenius, Håkan Pleijel, Gunhild Rosqvist, and Paul A. Miller
Biogeosciences, 21, 1093–1116, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1093-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1093-2024, 2024
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The Fennoscandian boreal and mountain regions harbour a wide range of ecosystems sensitive to climate change. A new, highly resolved high-emission climate scenario enabled modelling of the vegetation development in this region at high resolution for the 21st century. The results show dramatic south to north and low- to high-altitude shifts of vegetation zones, especially for the open tundra environments, which will have large implications for nature conservation, reindeer husbandry and forestry.
Victoria A. Flood, Kimberly Strong, Cynthia H. Whaley, Kaley A. Walker, Thomas Blumenstock, James W. Hannigan, Johan Mellqvist, Justus Notholt, Mathias Palm, Amelie N. Röhling, Stephen Arnold, Stephen Beagley, Rong-You Chien, Jesper Christensen, Makoto Deushi, Srdjan Dobricic, Xinyi Dong, Joshua S. Fu, Michael Gauss, Wanmin Gong, Joakim Langner, Kathy S. Law, Louis Marelle, Tatsuo Onishi, Naga Oshima, David A. Plummer, Luca Pozzoli, Jean-Christophe Raut, Manu A. Thomas, Svetlana Tsyro, and Steven Turnock
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1079–1118, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1079-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1079-2024, 2024
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It is important to understand the composition of the Arctic atmosphere and how it is changing. Atmospheric models provide simulations that can inform policy. This study examines simulations of CH4, CO, and O3 by 11 models. Model performance is assessed by comparing results matched in space and time to measurements from five high-latitude ground-based infrared spectrometers. This work finds that models generally underpredict the concentrations of these gases in the Arctic troposphere.
Anja Hünerbein, Sebastian Bley, Hartwig Deneke, Jan Fokke Meirink, Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff, and Andi Walther
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 261–276, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-261-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-261-2024, 2024
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The ESA cloud, aerosol and radiation mission EarthCARE will provide active profiling and passive imaging measurements from a single satellite platform. The passive multi-spectral imager (MSI) will add information in the across-track direction. We present the cloud optical and physical properties algorithm, which combines the visible to infrared MSI channels to determine the cloud top pressure, optical thickness, particle size and water path.
Nikos Benas, Irina Solodovnik, Martin Stengel, Imke Hüser, Karl-Göran Karlsson, Nina Håkansson, Erik Johansson, Salomon Eliasson, Marc Schröder, Rainer Hollmann, and Jan Fokke Meirink
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5153–5170, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5153-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5153-2023, 2023
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This paper describes CLAAS-3, the third edition of the Cloud property dAtAset using SEVIRI, which was created based on observations from geostationary Meteosat satellites. CLAAS-3 cloud properties are evaluated using a variety of reference datasets, with very good overall results. The demonstrated quality of CLAAS-3 ensures its usefulness in a wide range of applications, including studies of local- to continental-scale cloud processes and evaluation of climate models.
Thomas Spangehl, Michael Borsche, Deborah Niermann, Frank Kaspar, Semjon Schimanke, Susanne Brienen, Thomas Möller, and Maren Brast
Adv. Sci. Res., 20, 109–128, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-20-109-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-20-109-2023, 2023
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The quality of the global reanalysis ERA5, the regional reanalysis COSMO-REA6 and a successor version (R6G2), the new Copernicus European Regional Re-Analysis (CERRA) and a regional downscaling simulation with COSMO-CLM (HoKliSim-De) is assessed for offshore wind farm planning in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the North Sea. The quality is assessed using in-situ wind measurements at the research platform FINO1 and satellite-based data of the near-surface wind speed as reference.
Karl-Göran Karlsson, Martin Stengel, Jan Fokke Meirink, Aku Riihelä, Jörg Trentmann, Tom Akkermans, Diana Stein, Abhay Devasthale, Salomon Eliasson, Erik Johansson, Nina Håkansson, Irina Solodovnik, Nikos Benas, Nicolas Clerbaux, Nathalie Selbach, Marc Schröder, and Rainer Hollmann
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 4901–4926, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4901-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-4901-2023, 2023
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This paper presents a global climate data record on cloud parameters, radiation at the surface and at the top of atmosphere, and surface albedo. The temporal coverage is 1979–2020 (42 years) and the data record is also continuously updated until present time. Thus, more than four decades of climate parameters are provided. Based on CLARA-A3, studies on distribution of clouds and radiation parameters can be made and, especially, investigations of climate trends and evaluation of climate models.
Gustav Strandberg, Jie Chen, Ralph Fyfe, Erik Kjellström, Johan Lindström, Anneli Poska, Qiong Zhang, and Marie-José Gaillard
Clim. Past, 19, 1507–1530, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1507-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1507-2023, 2023
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The impact of land use and land cover change (LULCC) on the climate around 2500 years ago is studied using reconstructions and models. The results suggest that LULCC impacted the climate in parts of Europe. Reconstructed LULCC shows up to 1.5 °C higher temperature in parts of Europe in some seasons. This relatively strong response implies that anthropogenic LULCC that had occurred by the late prehistoric period may have already affected the European climate by 2500 years ago.
John Erik Engström, Lennart Wern, Sverker Hellström, Erik Kjellström, Chunlüe Zhou, Deliang Chen, and Cesar Azorin-Molina
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2259–2277, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2259-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2259-2023, 2023
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Newly digitized wind speed observations provide data from the time period from around 1920 to the present, enveloping one full century of wind measurements. The results of this work enable the investigation of the historical variability and trends in surface wind speed in Sweden for
the last century.
Aart Overeem, Else van den Besselaar, Gerard van der Schrier, Jan Fokke Meirink, Emiel van der Plas, and Hidde Leijnse
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1441–1464, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1441-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1441-2023, 2023
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EURADCLIM is a new precipitation dataset covering a large part of Europe. It is based on weather radar data to provide local precipitation information every hour and combined with rain gauge data to obtain good precipitation estimates. EURADCLIM provides a much better reference for validation of weather model output and satellite precipitation datasets. It also allows for climate monitoring and better evaluation of extreme precipitation events and their impact (landslides, flooding).
Katharina Lengfeld, Paul Voit, Frank Kaspar, and Maik Heistermann
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 1227–1232, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1227-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1227-2023, 2023
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Estimating the severity of a rainfall event based on the damage caused is easy but highly depends on the affected region. A less biased measure for the extremeness of an event is its rarity combined with its spatial extent. In this brief communication, we investigate the sensitivity of such measures to the underlying dataset and highlight the importance of considering multiple spatial and temporal scales using the devastating rainfall event in July 2021 in central Europe as an example.
Cynthia H. Whaley, Kathy S. Law, Jens Liengaard Hjorth, Henrik Skov, Stephen R. Arnold, Joakim Langner, Jakob Boyd Pernov, Garance Bergeron, Ilann Bourgeois, Jesper H. Christensen, Rong-You Chien, Makoto Deushi, Xinyi Dong, Peter Effertz, Gregory Faluvegi, Mark Flanner, Joshua S. Fu, Michael Gauss, Greg Huey, Ulas Im, Rigel Kivi, Louis Marelle, Tatsuo Onishi, Naga Oshima, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Jeff Peischl, David A. Plummer, Luca Pozzoli, Jean-Christophe Raut, Tom Ryerson, Ragnhild Skeie, Sverre Solberg, Manu A. Thomas, Chelsea Thompson, Kostas Tsigaridis, Svetlana Tsyro, Steven T. Turnock, Knut von Salzen, and David W. Tarasick
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 637–661, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-637-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-637-2023, 2023
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This study summarizes recent research on ozone in the Arctic, a sensitive and rapidly warming region. We find that the seasonal cycles of near-surface atmospheric ozone are variable depending on whether they are near the coast, inland, or at high altitude. Several global model simulations were evaluated, and we found that because models lack some of the ozone chemistry that is important for the coastal Arctic locations, they do not accurately simulate ozone there.
Alberto Caldas-Alvarez, Markus Augenstein, Georgy Ayzel, Klemens Barfus, Ribu Cherian, Lisa Dillenardt, Felix Fauer, Hendrik Feldmann, Maik Heistermann, Alexia Karwat, Frank Kaspar, Heidi Kreibich, Etor Emanuel Lucio-Eceiza, Edmund P. Meredith, Susanna Mohr, Deborah Niermann, Stephan Pfahl, Florian Ruff, Henning W. Rust, Lukas Schoppa, Thomas Schwitalla, Stella Steidl, Annegret H. Thieken, Jordis S. Tradowsky, Volker Wulfmeyer, and Johannes Quaas
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3701–3724, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3701-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3701-2022, 2022
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In a warming climate, extreme precipitation events are becoming more frequent. To advance our knowledge on such phenomena, we present a multidisciplinary analysis of a selected case study that took place on 29 June 2017 in the Berlin metropolitan area. Our analysis provides evidence of the extremeness of the case from the atmospheric and the impacts perspectives as well as new insights on the physical mechanisms of the event at the meteorological and climate scales.
Eva Sebok, Hans Jørgen Henriksen, Ernesto Pastén-Zapata, Peter Berg, Guillaume Thirel, Anthony Lemoine, Andrea Lira-Loarca, Christiana Photiadou, Rafael Pimentel, Paul Royer-Gaspard, Erik Kjellström, Jens Hesselbjerg Christensen, Jean Philippe Vidal, Philippe Lucas-Picher, Markus G. Donat, Giovanni Besio, María José Polo, Simon Stisen, Yvan Caballero, Ilias G. Pechlivanidis, Lars Troldborg, and Jens Christian Refsgaard
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 5605–5625, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5605-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5605-2022, 2022
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Hydrological models projecting the impact of changing climate carry a lot of uncertainty. Thus, these models usually have a multitude of simulations using different future climate data. This study used the subjective opinion of experts to assess which climate and hydrological models are the most likely to correctly predict climate impacts, thereby easing the computational burden. The experts could select more likely hydrological models, while the climate models were deemed equally probable.
Changgui Lin, Erik Kjellström, Renate Anna Irma Wilcke, and Deliang Chen
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 1197–1214, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-1197-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-1197-2022, 2022
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This study endorses RCMs' added value on the driving GCMs in representing observed heat wave magnitudes. The future increase of heat wave magnitudes projected by GCMs is attenuated when downscaled by RCMs. Within the downscaling, uncertainties can be attributed almost equally to choice of RCMs and to the driving data associated with different GCMs. Uncertainties of GCMs in simulating heat wave magnitudes are transformed by RCMs in a complex manner rather than simply inherited.
Cheng You, Michael Tjernström, and Abhay Devasthale
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8037–8057, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8037-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8037-2022, 2022
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In winter when solar radiation is absent in the Arctic, the poleward transport of heat and moisture into the high Arctic becomes the main contribution of Arctic warming. Over completely frozen ocean sectors, total surface energy budget is dominated by net long-wave heat, while over the Barents Sea, with an open ocean to the south, total net surface energy budget is dominated by the surface turbulent heat.
Chunlüe Zhou, Cesar Azorin-Molina, Erik Engström, Lorenzo Minola, Lennart Wern, Sverker Hellström, Jessika Lönn, and Deliang Chen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 2167–2177, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2167-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2167-2022, 2022
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To fill the key gap of short availability and inhomogeneity of wind speed (WS) in Sweden, we rescued the early paper records of WS since 1925 and built the first 10-member centennial homogenized WS dataset (HomogWS-se) for community use. An initial WS stilling and recovery before the 1990s was observed, and a strong link with North Atlantic Oscillation was found. HomogWS-se improves our knowledge of uncertainty and causes of historical WS changes.
Cynthia H. Whaley, Rashed Mahmood, Knut von Salzen, Barbara Winter, Sabine Eckhardt, Stephen Arnold, Stephen Beagley, Silvia Becagli, Rong-You Chien, Jesper Christensen, Sujay Manish Damani, Xinyi Dong, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Nikolaos Evangeliou, Gregory Faluvegi, Mark Flanner, Joshua S. Fu, Michael Gauss, Fabio Giardi, Wanmin Gong, Jens Liengaard Hjorth, Lin Huang, Ulas Im, Yugo Kanaya, Srinath Krishnan, Zbigniew Klimont, Thomas Kühn, Joakim Langner, Kathy S. Law, Louis Marelle, Andreas Massling, Dirk Olivié, Tatsuo Onishi, Naga Oshima, Yiran Peng, David A. Plummer, Olga Popovicheva, Luca Pozzoli, Jean-Christophe Raut, Maria Sand, Laura N. Saunders, Julia Schmale, Sangeeta Sharma, Ragnhild Bieltvedt Skeie, Henrik Skov, Fumikazu Taketani, Manu A. Thomas, Rita Traversi, Kostas Tsigaridis, Svetlana Tsyro, Steven Turnock, Vito Vitale, Kaley A. Walker, Minqi Wang, Duncan Watson-Parris, and Tahya Weiss-Gibbons
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5775–5828, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5775-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5775-2022, 2022
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Air pollutants, like ozone and soot, play a role in both global warming and air quality. Atmospheric models are often used to provide information to policy makers about current and future conditions under different emissions scenarios. In order to have confidence in those simulations, in this study we compare simulated air pollution from 18 state-of-the-art atmospheric models to measured air pollution in order to assess how well the models perform.
H. E. Markus Meier, Madline Kniebusch, Christian Dieterich, Matthias Gröger, Eduardo Zorita, Ragnar Elmgren, Kai Myrberg, Markus P. Ahola, Alena Bartosova, Erik Bonsdorff, Florian Börgel, Rene Capell, Ida Carlén, Thomas Carlund, Jacob Carstensen, Ole B. Christensen, Volker Dierschke, Claudia Frauen, Morten Frederiksen, Elie Gaget, Anders Galatius, Jari J. Haapala, Antti Halkka, Gustaf Hugelius, Birgit Hünicke, Jaak Jaagus, Mart Jüssi, Jukka Käyhkö, Nina Kirchner, Erik Kjellström, Karol Kulinski, Andreas Lehmann, Göran Lindström, Wilhelm May, Paul A. Miller, Volker Mohrholz, Bärbel Müller-Karulis, Diego Pavón-Jordán, Markus Quante, Marcus Reckermann, Anna Rutgersson, Oleg P. Savchuk, Martin Stendel, Laura Tuomi, Markku Viitasalo, Ralf Weisse, and Wenyan Zhang
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 457–593, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-457-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-457-2022, 2022
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Based on the Baltic Earth Assessment Reports of this thematic issue in Earth System Dynamics and recent peer-reviewed literature, current knowledge about the effects of global warming on past and future changes in the climate of the Baltic Sea region is summarised and assessed. The study is an update of the Second Assessment of Climate Change (BACC II) published in 2015 and focuses on the atmosphere, land, cryosphere, ocean, sediments, and the terrestrial and marine biosphere.
Erika Médus, Emma D. Thomassen, Danijel Belušić, Petter Lind, Peter Berg, Jens H. Christensen, Ole B. Christensen, Andreas Dobler, Erik Kjellström, Jonas Olsson, and Wei Yang
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 693–711, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-693-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-693-2022, 2022
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We evaluate the skill of a regional climate model, HARMONIE-Climate, to capture the present-day characteristics of heavy precipitation in the Nordic region and investigate the added value provided by a convection-permitting model version. The higher model resolution improves the representation of hourly heavy- and extreme-precipitation events and their diurnal cycle. The results indicate the benefits of convection-permitting models for constructing climate change projections over the region.
Terhikki Manninen, Emmihenna Jääskeläinen, Niilo Siljamo, Aku Riihelä, and Karl-Göran Karlsson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 879–893, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-879-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-879-2022, 2022
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A new method for cloud-correcting observations of surface albedo is presented for AVHRR data. Instead of a binary cloud mask, it applies cloud probability values smaller than 20% of the A3 edition of the CLARA (CM SAF cLoud, Albedo and surface Radiation dataset from AVHRR data) record provided by the Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF) project of EUMETSAT. According to simulations, the 90% quantile was 1.1% for the absolute albedo error and 2.2% for the relative error.
Wim C. de Rooy, Pier Siebesma, Peter Baas, Geert Lenderink, Stephan R. de Roode, Hylke de Vries, Erik van Meijgaard, Jan Fokke Meirink, Sander Tijm, and Bram van 't Veen
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 1513–1543, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1513-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1513-2022, 2022
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This paper describes a comprehensive model update to the boundary layer schemes. Because the involved parameterisations are all built on widely applied frameworks, the here-described modifications are applicable to many NWP and climate models. The model update contains substantial modifications to the cloud, turbulence, and convection schemes and leads to a substantial improvement of several aspects of the model, especially low cloud forecasts.
Anna Rutgersson, Erik Kjellström, Jari Haapala, Martin Stendel, Irina Danilovich, Martin Drews, Kirsti Jylhä, Pentti Kujala, Xiaoli Guo Larsén, Kirsten Halsnæs, Ilari Lehtonen, Anna Luomaranta, Erik Nilsson, Taru Olsson, Jani Särkkä, Laura Tuomi, and Norbert Wasmund
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 251–301, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-251-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-251-2022, 2022
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A natural hazard is a naturally occurring extreme event with a negative effect on people, society, or the environment; major events in the study area include wind storms, extreme waves, high and low sea level, ice ridging, heavy precipitation, sea-effect snowfall, river floods, heat waves, ice seasons, and drought. In the future, an increase in sea level, extreme precipitation, heat waves, and phytoplankton blooms is expected, and a decrease in cold spells and severe ice winters is anticipated.
H. E. Markus Meier, Christian Dieterich, Matthias Gröger, Cyril Dutheil, Florian Börgel, Kseniia Safonova, Ole B. Christensen, and Erik Kjellström
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 159–199, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-159-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-159-2022, 2022
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In addition to environmental pressures such as eutrophication, overfishing and contaminants, climate change is believed to have an important impact on the marine environment in the future, and marine management should consider the related risks. Hence, we have compared and assessed available scenario simulations for the Baltic Sea and found considerable uncertainties of the projections caused by the underlying assumptions and model biases, in particular for the water and biogeochemical cycles.
Ole Bøssing Christensen, Erik Kjellström, Christian Dieterich, Matthias Gröger, and Hans Eberhard Markus Meier
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 133–157, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-133-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-133-2022, 2022
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The Baltic Sea Region is very sensitive to climate change, whose impacts could easily exacerbate biodiversity stress from society and eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. Therefore, there has been a focus on estimations of future climate change and its impacts in recent research. Models show a strong warming, in particular in the north in winter. Precipitation is projected to increase in the whole region apart from the south during summer. New results improve estimates of future climate change.
Manu Anna Thomas, Abhay Devasthale, and Michael Kahnert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 119–137, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-119-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-119-2022, 2022
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The Southern Ocean (SO) covers a large area of our planet and its boundary layer is dominated by sea salt aerosols during winter. These aerosols have large implications for the regional climate through their direct and indirect effects. Using satellite and reanalysis data, we document if and how the aerosol properties over the SO are dependent on different local meteorological parameters. Such an observational assessment is necessary to improve the understanding of atmospheric aerosol processes.
Marcus Reckermann, Anders Omstedt, Tarmo Soomere, Juris Aigars, Naveed Akhtar, Magdalena Bełdowska, Jacek Bełdowski, Tom Cronin, Michał Czub, Margit Eero, Kari Petri Hyytiäinen, Jukka-Pekka Jalkanen, Anders Kiessling, Erik Kjellström, Karol Kuliński, Xiaoli Guo Larsén, Michelle McCrackin, H. E. Markus Meier, Sonja Oberbeckmann, Kevin Parnell, Cristian Pons-Seres de Brauwer, Anneli Poska, Jarkko Saarinen, Beata Szymczycha, Emma Undeman, Anders Wörman, and Eduardo Zorita
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 1–80, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-1-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-1-2022, 2022
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As part of the Baltic Earth Assessment Reports (BEAR), we present an inventory and discussion of different human-induced factors and processes affecting the environment of the Baltic Sea region and their interrelations. Some are naturally occurring and modified by human activities, others are completely human-induced, and they are all interrelated to different degrees. The findings from this study can largely be transferred to other comparable marginal and coastal seas in the world.
Manu Anna Thomas, Abhay Devasthale, and Tiina Nygård
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16593–16608, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16593-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16593-2021, 2021
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The impact of transported pollutants and their spatial distribution in the Arctic are governed by the local atmospheric circulation or weather states. Therefore, we investigated eight different atmospheric circulation types observed during the spring season in the Arctic. Using satellite and reanalysis datasets, this study provides a comprehensive assessment of the typical circulation patterns that can lead to enhanced or reduced pollution concentrations in the different sectors of the Arctic.
Hartwig Deneke, Carola Barrientos-Velasco, Sebastian Bley, Anja Hünerbein, Stephan Lenk, Andreas Macke, Jan Fokke Meirink, Marion Schroedter-Homscheidt, Fabian Senf, Ping Wang, Frank Werner, and Jonas Witthuhn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5107–5126, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5107-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5107-2021, 2021
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The SEVIRI instrument flown on the European geostationary Meteosat satellites acquires multi-spectral images at a relatively coarse pixel resolution of 3 × 3 km2, but it also has a broadband high-resolution visible channel with 1 × 1 km2 spatial resolution. In this study, the modification of an existing cloud property and solar irradiance retrieval to use this channel to improve the spatial resolution of its output products as well as the resulting benefits for applications are described.
Ulas Im, Kostas Tsigaridis, Gregory Faluvegi, Peter L. Langen, Joshua P. French, Rashed Mahmood, Manu A. Thomas, Knut von Salzen, Daniel C. Thomas, Cynthia H. Whaley, Zbigniew Klimont, Henrik Skov, and Jørgen Brandt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10413–10438, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10413-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10413-2021, 2021
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Future (2015–2050) simulations of the aerosol burdens and their radiative forcing and climate impacts over the Arctic under various emission projections show that although the Arctic aerosol burdens are projected to decrease significantly by 10 to 60 %, regardless of the magnitude of aerosol reductions, surface air temperatures will continue to increase by 1.9–2.6 ℃, while sea-ice extent will continue to decrease, implying reductions of greenhouse gases are necessary to mitigate climate change.
Erik Johansson, Abhay Devasthale, Michael Tjernström, Annica M. L. Ekman, Klaus Wyser, and Tristan L'Ecuyer
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 4087–4101, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-4087-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-4087-2021, 2021
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Understanding the coupling of clouds to large-scale circulation is a grand challenge for the climate community. Cloud radiative heating (CRH) is a key parameter in this coupling and is therefore essential to model realistically. We, therefore, evaluate a climate model against satellite observations. Our findings indicate good agreement in the seasonal pattern of CRH even if the magnitude differs. We also find that increasing the horizontal resolution in the model has little effect on the CRH.
Alejandro Baró Pérez, Abhay Devasthale, Frida A.-M. Bender, and Annica M. L. Ekman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6053–6077, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6053-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6053-2021, 2021
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We study the impacts of above-cloud biomass burning plumes on radiation and clouds over the southeast Atlantic using data derived from satellite observations and data-constrained model simulations. A substantial amount of the aerosol within the plumes is not classified as smoke by the satellite. The atmosphere warms more with increasing smoke aerosol loading. No clear influence of aerosol type, loading, or moisture within the overlying aerosol plumes is detected on the cloud top cooling rates.
Renate Anna Irma Wilcke, Erik Kjellström, Changgui Lin, Daniela Matei, Anders Moberg, and Evangelos Tyrlis
Earth Syst. Dynam., 11, 1107–1121, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-1107-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-1107-2020, 2020
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Two long-lasting high-pressure systems in summer 2018 led to heat waves over Scandinavia and an extended summer period with devastating impacts on both agriculture and human life. Using five climate model ensembles, the unique 263-year Stockholm temperature time series and a composite 150-year time series for the whole of Sweden, we found that anthropogenic climate change has strongly increased the probability of a warm summer, such as the one observed in 2018, occurring in Sweden.
Ina Neher, Susanne Crewell, Stefanie Meilinger, Uwe Pfeifroth, and Jörg Trentmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12871–12888, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12871-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12871-2020, 2020
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Photovoltaic power is one current option to meet the rising energy demand with low environmental impact. Global horizontal irradiance (GHI) is the fuel for photovoltaic power installations and needs to be evaluated to plan and dimension power plants. In this study, 35 years of satellite-based GHI data are analyzed over West Africa to determine their impact on photovoltaic power generation. The major challenges for the development of a solar-based power system in West Africa are then outlined.
Christopher W. Frank, Frank Kaspar, Jan D. Keller, Till Adams, Miriam Felkers, Bernd Fischer, Marcus Handte, Pedro José Marrón, Hinrich Paulsen, Markus Neteler, Jochen Schiewe, Marvin Schuchert, Christian Nickel, Richard Wacker, and Richard Figura
Adv. Sci. Res., 17, 183–190, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-17-183-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-17-183-2020, 2020
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Access to high quality weather and climate data is crucial for a wide range of societal and economic issues. It allows optimising industrial processes with respect to efficiency. The goal of the research project FAIR is to simplify the information exchange between the DWD and economical players. This paper summarizes the results of the requirement analysis of three use cases and presents the deduced technical architecture and FAIR services aiming at a user-friendly exchange of weather data.
Frank Kaspar, Deborah Niermann, Michael Borsche, Stephanie Fiedler, Jan Keller, Roland Potthast, Thomas Rösch, Thomas Spangehl, and Birger Tinz
Adv. Sci. Res., 17, 115–128, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-17-115-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-17-115-2020, 2020
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Reanalyses are long-term meteorological datasets that are based on numerical weather prediction models and the assimilation of historic observations. The regional model COSMO of Germany’s national meteorological service (Deutscher Wetterdienst) has been used to develop regional reanalyses with spatial resolution of up to 2 km. In this paper, we provide an overview of evaluation results and application examples at the European and national German level with a focus on renewable energy.
Minchao Wu, Grigory Nikulin, Erik Kjellström, Danijel Belušić, Colin Jones, and David Lindstedt
Earth Syst. Dynam., 11, 377–394, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-377-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-377-2020, 2020
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Regional Climate Models constitute a downscaling tool to provide high-resolution data for impact and adaptation studies. However, there is no unique definition of the added value of downscaling as it depends on many factors. We investigate the impact of spatial resolution and model formulation on downscaled rainfall in Africa. Our results show that improvements in downscaled rainfall compared to the driving reanalysis are often related to model formulation and not always to higher resolution.
Danijel Belušić, Hylke de Vries, Andreas Dobler, Oskar Landgren, Petter Lind, David Lindstedt, Rasmus A. Pedersen, Juan Carlos Sánchez-Perrino, Erika Toivonen, Bert van Ulft, Fuxing Wang, Ulf Andrae, Yurii Batrak, Erik Kjellström, Geert Lenderink, Grigory Nikulin, Joni-Pekka Pietikäinen, Ernesto Rodríguez-Camino, Patrick Samuelsson, Erik van Meijgaard, and Minchao Wu
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 1311–1333, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1311-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1311-2020, 2020
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A new regional climate modelling system, HCLIM38, is presented and shown to be applicable in different regions ranging from the tropics to the Arctic. The main focus is on climate simulations at horizontal resolutions between 1 and 4 km, the so-called convection-permitting scales, even though the model can also be used at coarser resolutions. The benefits of simulating climate at convection-permitting scales are shown and are particularly evident for climate extremes.
Salomon Eliasson, Karl-Göran Karlsson, and Ulrika Willén
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 297–314, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-297-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-297-2020, 2020
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This paper describes a new satellite simulator. Its purpose is to simulate the CLARA-A2 climate data record from a climate model atmosphere. We explain how the simulator takes into account the regionally variable cloud detection skill of the observations. The simulator makes use of the long/lat-gridded validation between CLARA-A2 and the CALIOP satellite-borne lidar dataset. Using the EC-Earth climate model, we show a sizable impact on climate model validation, especially at high latitudes.
Nikos Benas, Jan Fokke Meirink, Karl-Göran Karlsson, Martin Stengel, and Piet Stammes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 457–474, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-457-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-457-2020, 2020
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In this study we analyse aerosol and cloud changes over southern China from 2006 to 2015 and investigate their possible interaction mechanisms. Results show decreasing aerosol loads and increasing liquid cloud cover in late autumn. Further analysis based on various satellite data sets shows consistency with the aerosol semi-direct effect, whereby less absorbing aerosols in the cloud layer would lead to an overall decrease in the evaporation of cloud droplets, thus increasing cloud amount.
Manu Anna Thomas, Abhay Devasthale, Tristan L'Ecuyer, Shiyu Wang, Torben Koenigk, and Klaus Wyser
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 3759–3772, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-3759-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-3759-2019, 2019
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Snow cover significantly influences the surface albedo and radiation budget. Therefore, a realistic representation of snowfall in climate models is important. Here, using decade-long estimates of snowfall derived from the satellite sensor, four climate models are evaluated to assess how well they simulate snowfall in the Arctic. It is found that light and median snowfall is overestimated by the models in comparison to the satellite observations, and extreme snowfall is underestimated.
Lisa Hannak, Karsten Friedrich, Florian Imbery, and Frank Kaspar
Adv. Sci. Res., 16, 175–183, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-16-175-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-16-175-2019, 2019
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In order to analyze the impact on long time series by the transition from manual to automatic sunshine duration devices, parallel measurements of German climate reference stations are used. The different measurement principles (glass sphere and photodiode) cause systematic differences between the observations. With a linear regression model (used to adjust the automatic measurements) we want to prevent breaks in long time series of daily sunshine duration.
Frank Kaspar, Michael Borsche, Uwe Pfeifroth, Jörg Trentmann, Jaqueline Drücke, and Paul Becker
Adv. Sci. Res., 16, 119–128, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-16-119-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-16-119-2019, 2019
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In this study, we assess balancing effects between photovoltaics and wind energy. On average, the seasonal cycles complement each other in Germany as well as in Europe. The frequency of events with a risk of low electricity generation is analyzed. The results illustrate that the number of such events is reduced when offshore regions are included, or when a combined system of PV and wind energy is considered. A European-wide analysis also leads to a distinct reduction of such events.
Frank Kaspar, Frank Kratzenstein, and Andrea K. Kaiser-Weiss
Adv. Sci. Res., 16, 75–83, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-16-75-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-16-75-2019, 2019
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During recent years, Germany’s national meteorological service has significantly expanded the open access to its climate observations. To improve the interactive and user-friendly access to the data, a new data portal has been developed. The portal serves a variety of user requirements that result from the broad range of applications of DWD’s climate data. The focus of the recent developments was on improved access to German station data.
Nikos Benas, Jan Fokke Meirink, Martin Stengel, and Piet Stammes
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2863–2879, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2863-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2863-2019, 2019
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Cloud glory and bow phenomena cause irregularities in satellite-based retrievals of cloud optical and microphysical properties. Here we combine two geostationary satellites over the same areas to analyze retrievals under those conditions. Results show a high sensitivity of retrievals to the assumed width of the cloud droplet size distribution and provide insights into possible improvements in satellite retrievals by appropriately adjusting this assumed parameter.
Manu Anna Thomas, Abhay Devasthale, Torben Koenigk, Klaus Wyser, Malcolm Roberts, Christopher Roberts, and Katja Lohmann
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 1679–1702, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-1679-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-1679-2019, 2019
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Cloud processes occur at scales ranging from few micrometres to hundreds of kilometres. Their representation in global climate models and their fidelity are thus sensitive to the choice of spatial resolution. Here, cloud radiative effects simulated by models are evaluated using a satellite dataset, with a focus on investigating the sensitivity to spatial resolution. The evaluations are carried out using two approaches: the traditional statistical comparisons and the process-oriented evaluation.
Salomon Eliasson, Karl Göran Karlsson, Erik van Meijgaard, Jan Fokke Meirink, Martin Stengel, and Ulrika Willén
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 829–847, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-829-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-829-2019, 2019
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To enable fair comparisons of clouds between climate models and the
ESA Cloud_cci climate data record (CDR), we present a tool called the
Cloud_cci simulator. The tool takes into account the geometry and
cloud detection capabilities of the Cloud_cci CDR to allow fair
comparisons. We demonstrate the simulator on two climate models. We
find the impact of time sampling has a large effect on simulated cloud
water amount and that the simulator reduces the cloud cover by about
10 % globally.
Martin Stengel, Cornelia Schlundt, Stefan Stapelberg, Oliver Sus, Salomon Eliasson, Ulrika Willén, and Jan Fokke Meirink
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 17601–17614, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17601-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17601-2018, 2018
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We present a new approach to evaluate ERA-Interim reanalysis clouds using satellite observations. A simplified satellite simulator was developed that uses reanalysis fields to emulate clouds as they would have been seen by those satellite sensors which were used to compose Cloud_cci observational cloud datasets. Our study facilitates an adequate evaluation of modelled ERA-Interim clouds using observational datasets, also taking into account systematic uncertainties in the observations.
Chellappan Seethala, Jan Fokke Meirink, Ákos Horváth, Ralf Bennartz, and Rob Roebeling
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 13283–13304, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13283-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13283-2018, 2018
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We compared the microphysical properties of South Atlantic stratocumulus (Sc) from three different satellite instruments (SEVIRI, TMI, MODIS). The liquid water path (LWP) and its diurnal cycle from the three datasets agreed very well in overcast, smoke-free scenes. LWP showed a decrease from an early morning peak to a late afternoon minimum, after which it increased until morning. The presence of smoke aloft Sc, however, negatively biased the LWP retrieved by the visible/near-infrared technique.
Mélodie Trolliet, Jakub P. Walawender, Bernard Bourlès, Alexandre Boilley, Jörg Trentmann, Philippe Blanc, Mireille Lefèvre, and Lucien Wald
Ocean Sci., 14, 1021–1056, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1021-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1021-2018, 2018
Johan Friberg, Bengt G. Martinsson, Sandra M. Andersson, and Oscar S. Sandvik
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11149–11169, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11149-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11149-2018, 2018
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During 2006–2015 volcanism contributed 40 % of the stratospheric aerosol load. We compute the AOD (aerosol optical depth) of the stratosphere (from the tropopause to 35 km altitude) using new techniques of handling CALIOP data. Regional and global AODs are presented for the entire stratosphere in relation to transport patterns, and the AOD is presented for three stratospheric layers: the LMS, the potential temperature range of 380 to 470 K, and altitudes above the 470 K isentrope.
Nikos Benas, Jan Fokke Meirink, Karl-Göran Karlsson, Martin Stengel, and Piet Stammes
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-554, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-554, 2018
Preprint withdrawn
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In this study we analyse aerosol and cloud changes over South China and investigate their possible interactions. The results show decreasing aerosol loads and increasing liquid clouds. Further analysis of these changes based on various satellite data sets show consistency with the aerosol semi-direct effect, whereby less absorbing aerosols in the cloud layer would lead to an overall decrease in evaporation of cloud droplets, thus increasing cloud amount and cover.
Stephen Blenkinsop, Hayley J. Fowler, Renaud Barbero, Steven C. Chan, Selma B. Guerreiro, Elizabeth Kendon, Geert Lenderink, Elizabeth Lewis, Xiao-Feng Li, Seth Westra, Lisa Alexander, Richard P. Allan, Peter Berg, Robert J. H. Dunn, Marie Ekström, Jason P. Evans, Greg Holland, Richard Jones, Erik Kjellström, Albert Klein-Tank, Dennis Lettenmaier, Vimal Mishra, Andreas F. Prein, Justin Sheffield, and Mari R. Tye
Adv. Sci. Res., 15, 117–126, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-15-117-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-15-117-2018, 2018
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Measurements of sub-daily (e.g. hourly) rainfall totals are essential if we are to understand short, intense bursts of rainfall that cause flash floods. We might expect the intensity of such events to increase in a warming climate but these are poorly realised in projections of future climate change. The INTENSE project is collating a global dataset of hourly rainfall measurements and linking with new developments in climate models to understand the characteristics and causes of these events.
Quentin Bourgeois, Annica M. L. Ekman, Jean-Baptiste Renard, Radovan Krejci, Abhay Devasthale, Frida A.-M. Bender, Ilona Riipinen, Gwenaël Berthet, and Jason L. Tackett
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 7709–7720, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7709-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7709-2018, 2018
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The altitude of aerosols is crucial as they can impact cloud formation and radiation. In this study, satellite observations have been used to characterize the global aerosol optical depth (AOD) in the boundary layer and the free troposphere. The free troposphere contributes 39 % to the global AOD during daytime. Overall, the results have implications for the description of budgets, sources, sinks and transport of aerosol particles as presently described in the atmospheric model.
Erik Kjellström, Grigory Nikulin, Gustav Strandberg, Ole Bøssing Christensen, Daniela Jacob, Klaus Keuler, Geert Lenderink, Erik van Meijgaard, Christoph Schär, Samuel Somot, Silje Lund Sørland, Claas Teichmann, and Robert Vautard
Earth Syst. Dynam., 9, 459–478, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-9-459-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-9-459-2018, 2018
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Based on high-resolution regional climate models we investigate European climate change at 1.5 and 2 °C of global warming compared to pre-industrial levels. Considerable near-surface warming exceeding that of the global mean is found for most of Europe, already at the lower 1.5 °C of warming level. Changes in precipitation and near-surface wind speed are identified. The 1.5 °C of warming level shows significantly less change compared to the 2 °C level, indicating the importance of mitigation.
Tomas Landelius, Magnus Lindskog, Heiner Körnich, and Sandra Andersson
Adv. Sci. Res., 15, 39–44, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-15-39-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-15-39-2018, 2018
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During recent years the strong decrease in the prices of solar panels has lead to an increasing interest in harvesting solar energy. In this paper solar radiation forecasts from a global and a regional numerical weather prediction model are compared. The result is that regional ensemble models can indeed provide added value compared to global models when it comes to forecasting solar radiation available for power production.
Uwe Pfeifroth, Jedrzej S. Bojanowski, Nicolas Clerbaux, Veronica Manara, Arturo Sanchez-Lorenzo, Jörg Trentmann, Jakub P. Walawender, and Rainer Hollmann
Adv. Sci. Res., 15, 31–37, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-15-31-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-15-31-2018, 2018
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Measuring solar radiation and analysing its interaction with clouds are essential for the understanding of the climate system. Trends in EUMETSAT CM SAF satellite-based climate data records of solar radiation and clouds are analysed during 1992–2015 in Europe. More surface solar radiation and less top-of-atmosphere reflected radiation and cloud cover is found. This study indicates that one of the main reasons for the positive trend in surface solar radiation is a decrease in cloud cover.
Karl-Göran Karlsson and Nina Håkansson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 633–649, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-633-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-633-2018, 2018
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Data from the high-sensitivity CALIOP cloud lidar onboard the CALIPSO satellite have been used to evaluate cloud amounts estimated from satellite imagery and, specifically, from the climate data record CLARA-A2. The main purpose has been to study the limit of how thin clouds that can be detected efficiently (i.e., detected at the 50 % level) in CLARA-A2 data and how this limit varies globally. The study revealed very large geographical differences in the cloud detection efficiency.
Martin Stengel, Stefan Stapelberg, Oliver Sus, Cornelia Schlundt, Caroline Poulsen, Gareth Thomas, Matthew Christensen, Cintia Carbajal Henken, Rene Preusker, Jürgen Fischer, Abhay Devasthale, Ulrika Willén, Karl-Göran Karlsson, Gregory R. McGarragh, Simon Proud, Adam C. Povey, Roy G. Grainger, Jan Fokke Meirink, Artem Feofilov, Ralf Bennartz, Jedrzej S. Bojanowski, and Rainer Hollmann
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 9, 881–904, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-9-881-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-9-881-2017, 2017
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We present new cloud property datasets based on measurements from the passive imaging satellite sensors AVHRR, MODIS, ATSR2, AATSR and MERIS. Retrieval systems were developed that include cloud detection and cloud typing followed by optimal estimation retrievals of cloud properties (e.g. cloud-top pressure, effective radius, optical thickness, water path). Special features of all datasets are spectral consistency and rigorous uncertainty propagation from pixel-level data to monthly properties.
Manu Anna Thomas and Abhay Devasthale
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12071–12080, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12071-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12071-2017, 2017
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Episodes of extreme pollution events of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) can seriously hamper air quality. But under which meteorological conditions do such extreme pollution events occur over Scandinavia? Using observational and reanalysis data it is shown that south-westerly winds (sustained for at least a few days) dominate during extreme events and cause an increase in humidity and clouds. South-easterly winds have the second largest contribution and the pollution transport is rapid when they prevail.
Lars Norin, Abhay Devasthale, and Tristan S. L'Ecuyer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3249–3263, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3249-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3249-2017, 2017
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For a high-latitude country like Sweden snowfall is an important contributor to the regional water cycle. For Sweden, large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns, or weather states, are important for precipitation variability. In this work we investigate the sensitivity of snowfall to weather states over Sweden to eight selected weather states. The analysis is based on measurements from ground-based radar, satellite observations, spatially interpolated in situ observations, and reanalysis data.
Nikos Benas, Stephan Finkensieper, Martin Stengel, Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff, Timo Hanschmann, Rainer Hollmann, and Jan Fokke Meirink
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 9, 415–434, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-9-415-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-9-415-2017, 2017
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This study focuses on an evaluation of CLAAS-2 (Cloud property dAtAset using SEVIRI, Edition 2), which was created based on observations from geostationary Meteosat satellites. Using a variety of reference datasets, very good overall agreement is found. This suggests the usefulness of CLAAS-2 in applications ranging from high spatial and temporal resolution cloud process studies to the evaluation of regional climate models.
Stefano Federico, Rosa Claudia Torcasio, Paolo Sanò, Daniele Casella, Monica Campanelli, Jan Fokke Meirink, Ping Wang, Stefania Vergari, Henri Diémoz, and Stefano Dietrich
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2337–2352, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2337-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2337-2017, 2017
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In this paper we evaluate the performance of two estimates of the global horizontal irradiance (GHI), one derived from the Meteosat Second Generation and one from a meteorological model (Regional Atmospheric Modeling System) forecast. The focus area is Italy, and the performance is evaluated for 12 pyranometers spanning a range of climate conditions, from Mediterranean maritime to Alpine.
Kai-Uwe Eiselt, Frank Kaspar, Thomas Mölg, Stefan Krähenmann, Rafael Posada, and Jens O. Riede
Adv. Sci. Res., 14, 163–173, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-14-163-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-14-163-2017, 2017
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As one element of the SASSCAL initiative (a cooperation of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, South Africa and Germany) networks of automatic weather stations have been installed or improved in Southern Africa. Here we compare interpolation methods for monthly minimum and maximum temperatures which were calculated from hourly measurements. The best interpolation results have been achieved combining multiple linear regression with three dimensional inverse distance weighted interpolation.
Karl-Göran Karlsson, Kati Anttila, Jörg Trentmann, Martin Stengel, Jan Fokke Meirink, Abhay Devasthale, Timo Hanschmann, Steffen Kothe, Emmihenna Jääskeläinen, Joseph Sedlar, Nikos Benas, Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff, Cornelia Schlundt, Diana Stein, Stefan Finkensieper, Nina Håkansson, and Rainer Hollmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5809–5828, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5809-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5809-2017, 2017
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The paper presents the second version of a global climate data record based on satellite measurements from polar orbiting weather satellites. It describes the global evolution of cloudiness, surface albedo and surface radiation during the time period 1982–2015. The main improvements of algorithms are described together with some validation results. In addition, some early analysis is presented of some particularly interesting climate features (Arctic albedo and cloudiness + global cloudiness).
Adrianus de Laat, Eric Defer, Julien Delanoë, Fabien Dezitter, Amanda Gounou, Alice Grandin, Anthony Guignard, Jan Fokke Meirink, Jean-Marc Moisselin, and Frédéric Parol
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1359–1371, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1359-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1359-2017, 2017
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In-flight icing is an important aviation hazard which is still poorly understood, but consensus is that the presence of high ice water content is a necessary condition. For the European High Altitude Ice Crystals project a geostationary satellite remote-sensing mask has been developed for detection of atmospheric cloud environments where high ice water content is likely to occur. The mask performs satisfactory when compared against independent satellite ice water content measurements.
Frank Kaspar, Lisa Hannak, and Klaus-Jürgen Schreiber
Adv. Sci. Res., 13, 163–171, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-13-163-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-13-163-2016, 2016
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Germany's national meteorological service (DWD) operates a network of so-called climate reference stations. At these stations parallel measurements are performed in order to allow the comparison of manual and automatic observations. We present an analysis of parallel measurements of temperature at 2 m height. It is shown that the automation of stations did not cause an artificial increase in the series of daily mean temperature. A bias occurs for maximum temperature in specific configurations.
Michael Borsche, Andrea K. Kaiser-Weiss, and Frank Kaspar
Adv. Sci. Res., 13, 151–161, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-13-151-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-13-151-2016, 2016
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Wind speeds derived from the regional reanalysis COSMO-REA6 and from two global reanalyses of ECMWF (ERA-Interim and ERA-20C) have been compared to tower measurements covering heights from 10 m up to 140 m, located in the North Sea, in The Netherlands, and in Northeast Germany. In general, the monthly and hourly mean values of COSMO-REA6 are at least as close to the measurements as the global reanalyses, and in the correlation of daily means an added value of COSMO-REA6 is found.
Rafael Posada, Domingos Nascimento, Francisco Osvaldo S. Neto, Jens Riede, and Frank Kaspar
Adv. Sci. Res., 13, 97–105, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-13-97-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-13-97-2016, 2016
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To respond to the challenges of climate change, Angola, Botswana, Germany, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia have initiated the regional competence centre SASSCAL. As part of the initiative, Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) cooperates with the meteorological services of Angola, Botswana and Zambia to improve the management of climate data. First results of the cooperation between DWD and the Angolan Meteorological Services (INAMET) are presented in order to provide hints for comparable activities.
L. Norin, A. Devasthale, T. S. L'Ecuyer, N. B. Wood, and M. Smalley
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 5009–5021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5009-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5009-2015, 2015
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The ability to estimate snowfall accurately is important for both weather and climate applications. In this work we have intercompared snowfall estimates from two observing systems: the space-based Cloud Profiling Radar on board NASA's CloudSat satellite and Swerad, the ground-based Swedish national weather radar network. The intercomparison shows encouraging agreement between these two observing systems despite their different sensitivities and user applications.
E. Andersson, M. Kahnert, and A. Devasthale
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 3747–3763, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-3747-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-3747-2015, 2015
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This study investigate the representation of hemispheric transport in a regional chemical transport model (CTM) in terms of lateral boundary conditions (LBCs). We evaluate the LBCs both directly with satellite retrievals and indirectly by forcing a regional CTM with LBCs and compare to in-domain observations. We believe that our work makes an important contribution to the methodology of validating LBCs for regional modelling.
M. Borsche, A. K. Kaiser-Weiss, P. Undén, and F. Kaspar
Adv. Sci. Res., 12, 207–218, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-12-207-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-12-207-2015, 2015
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Within the European Union’s seventh Framework Programme project Uncertainties in Ensembles of Regional Re-Analyses (UERRA), ensembles of RRAs covering the European area are produced and their uncertainties are quantified. In this study, we discuss different methods for quantifying the uncertainty of RRAs in order to answer the question to which extent the smaller scale information (or resulting statistics) provided by the RRAs can be relied on.
E. Johansson, A. Devasthale, T. L'Ecuyer, A. M. L. Ekman, and M. Tjernström
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11557–11570, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11557-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11557-2015, 2015
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Both radiative and latent heat components of total diabatic heating influence Indian monsoon dynamics. This study investigates radiative component in detail, focusing on various cloud types that have largest radiative impact during summer monsoon over the Indian subcontinent. The vertical structure of radiative heating and its intra-seasonal variability is investigated with particular emphasis on the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) region.
D. Chang, Y. Cheng, P. Reutter, J. Trentmann, S. M. Burrows, P. Spichtinger, S. Nordmann, M. O. Andreae, U. Pöschl, and H. Su
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10325–10348, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10325-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10325-2015, 2015
V. Marécal, V.-H. Peuch, C. Andersson, S. Andersson, J. Arteta, M. Beekmann, A. Benedictow, R. Bergström, B. Bessagnet, A. Cansado, F. Chéroux, A. Colette, A. Coman, R. L. Curier, H. A. C. Denier van der Gon, A. Drouin, H. Elbern, E. Emili, R. J. Engelen, H. J. Eskes, G. Foret, E. Friese, M. Gauss, C. Giannaros, J. Guth, M. Joly, E. Jaumouillé, B. Josse, N. Kadygrov, J. W. Kaiser, K. Krajsek, J. Kuenen, U. Kumar, N. Liora, E. Lopez, L. Malherbe, I. Martinez, D. Melas, F. Meleux, L. Menut, P. Moinat, T. Morales, J. Parmentier, A. Piacentini, M. Plu, A. Poupkou, S. Queguiner, L. Robertson, L. Rouïl, M. Schaap, A. Segers, M. Sofiev, L. Tarasson, M. Thomas, R. Timmermans, Á. Valdebenito, P. van Velthoven, R. van Versendaal, J. Vira, and A. Ung
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 2777–2813, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2777-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2777-2015, 2015
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This paper describes the air quality forecasting system over Europe put in place in the Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate projects. It provides daily and 4-day forecasts and analyses for the previous day for major gas and particulate pollutants and their main precursors. These products are based on a multi-model approach using seven state-of-the-art models developed in Europe. An evaluation of the performance of the system is discussed in the paper.
A. K. Kaiser-Weiss, F. Kaspar, V. Heene, M. Borsche, D. G. H. Tan, P. Poli, A. Obregon, and H. Gregow
Adv. Sci. Res., 12, 187–198, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-12-187-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-12-187-2015, 2015
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Wind speed measured at the German stations correlate well with reanalysis fields. Monthly means from two global reanalyses (ERA-20C, ERA-Interim) and one regional reanalysis (COSMO-REA6) were analysed and correlate well for the majority of the German stations. Thus we conclude that the monthly and seasonal anomalies recorded at these stations can be understood as representative for a spatial area comparable to the resolution of the reanalyses, at least for the recent years.
F. Kaspar, J. Helmschrot, A. Mhanda, M. Butale, W. de Clercq, J. K. Kanyanga, F. O. S. Neto, S. Kruger, M. Castro Matsheka, G. Muche, T. Hillmann, K. Josenhans, R. Posada, J. Riede, M. Seely, C. Ribeiro, P. Kenabatho, R. Vogt, and N. Jürgens
Adv. Sci. Res., 12, 171–177, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-12-171-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-12-171-2015, 2015
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One task of the “Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management” (www.sasscal.org) is the provision of climate data for Southern Africa. Extension and improvements of observational networks in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and South Africa are supported. This effort is complemented by an improvement of climate data management at national weather authorities, capacity building activities and an extension of the data bases with historical climate data.
M. A. Thomas, M. Kahnert, C. Andersson, H. Kokkola, U. Hansson, C. Jones, J. Langner, and A. Devasthale
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 1885–1898, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-1885-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-1885-2015, 2015
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We have showed that a coupled modelling system is beneficial in the sense that more complex processes can be included to better represent the aerosol processes starting from their formation, their interactions with clouds and provide better estimate of radiative forcing. Using this model set up, we estimated an annual mean 'indirect' radiative forcing of -0.64W/m2. This means that aerosols, solely by their capability of altering the microphysical properties of clouds can cool the Earth system.
H. Gregow, P. Poli, H. M. Mäkelä, K. Jylhä, A. K. Kaiser-Weiss, A. Obregon, D. G. H. Tan, S. Kekki, and F. Kaspar
Adv. Sci. Res., 12, 63–67, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-12-63-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-12-63-2015, 2015
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Many users of climate information are unaware of the availability of reanalysis feedback data and input observations, and uptake of feedback data is rather low. The most important factors limiting the use of this data is that the users feel that there is no easy interface to get the data or they do not find it at all. The relevant communities should invest resources to develop tools and provide training to bridge the gap between current capabilities and comprehensive exploitation of the data.
F. Kaspar, B. Tinz, H. Mächel, and L. Gates
Adv. Sci. Res., 12, 57–61, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-12-57-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-12-57-2015, 2015
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Germany’s national meteorological service (Deutscher Wetterdienst, DWD) houses in Offenbach and Hamburg huge archives of historical handwritten journals of weather observations. They comprise not only observations from Germany, but also of the oceans and land stations in many parts of the world. DWD works on the digitisation and quality control of these archives. The paper presents the current status.
F. Kaspar, K. Zimmermann, and C. Polte-Rudolf
Adv. Sci. Res., 11, 93–99, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-11-93-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-11-93-2014, 2014
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Plant phenology is the study of periodically recurring patterns of growth and development of plants during the year. First plant phenological observations have been performed in Germany already in the 18th century. Today, Germany’s national meteorological service (Deutscher Wetterdienst, DWD) maintains a dense phenological observation network and a database with phenological observations.
C. Andersson, R. Bergström, C. Bennet, L. Robertson, M. Thomas, H. Korhonen, K. E. J. Lehtinen, and H. Kokkola
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 171–189, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-171-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-171-2015, 2015
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We have integrated the sectional aerosol dynamics model SALSA into the European scale chemistry-transport model MATCH. The combined model reproduces observed higher particle number concentration (PNCs) in central Europe and lower concentrations in remote regions; however, the total PNC is underestimated. The low nucleation rate coefficient used in this study is an important reason for the underestimation.
M. A. Thomas and A. Devasthale
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 11545–11555, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11545-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11545-2014, 2014
P. Reutter, J. Trentmann, A. Seifert, P. Neis, H. Su, D. Chang, M. Herzog, H. Wernli, M. O. Andreae, and U. Pöschl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 7573–7583, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7573-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7573-2014, 2014
A. Devasthale and L. Norin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1605–1617, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1605-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1605-2014, 2014
G. Strandberg, E. Kjellström, A. Poska, S. Wagner, M.-J. Gaillard, A.-K. Trondman, A. Mauri, B. A. S. Davis, J. O. Kaplan, H. J. B. Birks, A. E. Bjune, R. Fyfe, T. Giesecke, L. Kalnina, M. Kangur, W. O. van der Knaap, U. Kokfelt, P. Kuneš, M. Lata\l owa, L. Marquer, F. Mazier, A. B. Nielsen, B. Smith, H. Seppä, and S. Sugita
Clim. Past, 10, 661–680, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-661-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-661-2014, 2014
T. Koenigk, A. Devasthale, and K.-G. Karlsson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1987–1998, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1987-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1987-2014, 2014
K. Steffens, M. Larsbo, J. Moeys, E. Kjellström, N. Jarvis, and E. Lewan
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 479–491, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-479-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-479-2014, 2014
J. F. Meirink, R. A. Roebeling, and P. Stammes
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2495–2508, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2495-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2495-2013, 2013
F. Kaspar, G. Müller-Westermeier, E. Penda, H. Mächel, K. Zimmermann, A. Kaiser-Weiss, and T. Deutschländer
Adv. Sci. Res., 10, 99–106, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-10-99-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-10-99-2013, 2013
A. Devasthale, J. Sedlar, T. Koenigk, and E. J. Fetzer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 7441–7450, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7441-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7441-2013, 2013
K.-G. Karlsson, A. Riihelä, R. Müller, J. F. Meirink, J. Sedlar, M. Stengel, M. Lockhoff, J. Trentmann, F. Kaspar, R. Hollmann, and E. Wolters
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 5351–5367, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-5351-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-5351-2013, 2013
K.-G. Karlsson and E. Johansson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 1271–1286, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1271-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1271-2013, 2013
A. Riihelä, T. Manninen, V. Laine, K. Andersson, and F. Kaspar
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 3743–3762, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-3743-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-3743-2013, 2013
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Chief editor
This paper provides novel results on solar radiation and solar energy conditions over Europe. It shows, for example, increasing trends in surface incoming solar radiation over large parts of Europe in spring/summer, and elucidates how these trends are driven by changes in cloudiness. The results provide valuable metrics for both the evaluation of climate models that have a dynamically integrated solar energy component and for long-term planning of solar-based renewable energy systems.
This paper provides novel results on solar radiation and solar energy conditions over Europe. It...
Short summary
By compositing trends in multiple climate variables, this study presents emerging regimes that are relevant for solar energy applications. It is shown that the favourable conditions for exploiting solar energy are emerging during spring and early summer. The study also underscores the increasingly important role of clouds in regulating surface solar radiation as the aerosol concentrations are decreasing over Europe and the societal value of satellite-based climate monitoring.
By compositing trends in multiple climate variables, this study presents emerging regimes that...
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