Long-term evolution of cold air pools over the Madrid basin
Entity
UAM. Departamento de GeografíaPublisher
WileyDate
2022-05-16Citation
10.1002/joc.7700
International Journal of Climatology 43.1 (2023): 38-56
ISSN
0899-8418 (print); 1097-0088 (online)DOI
10.1002/joc.7700Funded by
Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación, Grant/Award Number: CGL2016-80154-RProject
Gobierno de España. CGL2016-80154-REditor's Version
https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.7700Subjects
cold air pools; North Atlantic Oscillation; Madrid Basin (Spain); GeografíaRights
© 2022 The Authors. International Journal of Climatology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Meteorological Society
Esta obra está bajo una licencia de Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional.
Abstract
Cold air pools (CAPs) are one of the most severe weather conditions experienced across many basins worldwide, related to episodes of extreme cold temperatures, poor air quality, and disruption of transportation networks. This
study offers a basic climatology of CAPs in the southern Spanish Plateau and
investigates its evolution since 1961 and their links with local, synoptic, and
large-scale climate variability. It is based on the comparison of meteorological
records from two stations, one in the Sistema Central Range (Navacerrada,
1,894 m asl) and another at the plain (Madrid-Barajas, 609 m asl). Accuracy
and representativeness of both locations to depict the spatial and temporal variability of CAPs was also tested. CAPs days (defined as the simultaneous occurrence of a daily minimum temperature difference above 0.1 C between both
stations) were found to occur year-round, but the most frequent and intense
occur in winter (NDJ). Some typical features of CAPs, such as local mesoscale
processes (katabatic and anabatic flows) in connection with synoptic (advection of mid-troposphere warm air masses during high-pressure regimes) and
hemispheric (a positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation) variability
were also observed, leading to a sheltered boundary layer at the bottom of
southern Spanish Plateau, decoupled from the free troposphere. By night,
CAPs have maintained both their frequency and intensity, which means that
the frequency of extremely cold nights on the plain has remained relatively stable (despite global warming). By day, an enhanced warming of the highelevation site has increased the temperature difference between the mountains
and the plain during CAP days
Files in this item
Google Scholar:Rasilla Álvarez, Domingo Fernando
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Martilli, Alberto
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Allende Álvarez, Fernando
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Fernández García, Felipe
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