Collaborative Research: Atmospheric Ridging over Western North America in Current and Future Climates

合作研究：当前和未来气候下北美西部的大气脊

• 批准号: 2206996
• 负责人: Deepti Singh
• 金额: $ 63.37万
• 依托单位: Washington State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2206996&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Atmospheric; Ridging; over

Atmospheric ridges are elongated regions of high pressure relative to their surroundings that are typically associated with warm and dry conditions at the surface. Such atmospheric features have contributed to notable extreme events in the region, including the 2021 Northwest Heatwave, droughts, and the 2020 Labor Day Fires that burned across Oregon and Washington. While ridges are a normal part of the mid-latitude atmospheric circulation, their occurrence over western North America is influenced by multiple unique factors including proximity to the Pacific Ocean, interactions between the Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere and the complex topography of western North America. The overarching goal of this project is to advance our basic understanding of the components of the Earth system that influence atmospheric ridges over western North America, which could help identify sources for their seasonal to sub-seasonal predictions and investigate how and why ridges will respond to continued global warming. The project will target three key questions using a combination of observations and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) climate model simulations: (1) How do various atmosphere, ocean and land-surface conditions influence characteristics of atmospheric ridges such as their extent, frequency, persistence and amplitude? (2) How are simulated changes in ridge characteristics influenced by changes in these physical drivers? and (3) How do potential changes in ridge characteristics interact with warming to influence surface climate and extremes in the region? In addition, detailed analyses of the physical mechanisms associated with extreme ridges (very large, very amplified, and/or very persistent ridges) will be conducted, as they are likely associated with the most significant climate impacts. Together, the proposed work will provide an understanding of the physical mechanisms associated with weather and climate extremes that are associated with major societal impacts, in current and future warmer climates.The proposed work will advance the understanding of how and why natural climate variability and anthropogenic climate change influences this important atmospheric feature. Findings will facilitate the evaluation of implications of current and future weather and climate extremes that affect various sectors including human health, water resources, infrastructure, the regional economy, and emergency management resources. The outcomes of this work are directly translatable to impacts on society and the environment, thus aiding planning and adaptation measures. The proposed work will address gaps in scientific literature about how factors such as natural climate variability modes such as El Niño Southern Oscillation and anomalous soil-moisture conditions influence ridging in this region. The methods, framework, and insights developed from this work will be extensible to other mid-latitude regions. The project will involve training a postdoctoral researcher and a graduate student, who will be directly supported by the project, as well as undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds at Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV) and Portland State University (PSU). It will directly contribute to building STEM research infrastructure at WSUV, which is a primarily undergraduate institution with ~44% first-generation students, ~55% women and ~33% students of color. The investigators, postdoc, and graduate student will participate in the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) Science Communication Fellowship program that involves creating hands-on activities to demonstrate our research to the museum visitors and for the team's outreach efforts with local educators, schools, community groups and stakeholders. Finally, this project will provide a basic science underpinning for recent applied climate research by the PSU Climate Science Lab in partnership local water utilities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

大气脊是相对于周围环境的细长高压区域，通常与地表温暖干燥的条件有关。这样的大气特征导致了该地区显著的极端事件，包括2021年的西北热浪、干旱，以及2020年席卷俄勒冈州和华盛顿州的劳动节大火。虽然脊是中纬度大气环流的正常组成部分，但它们在北美西部的出现受到多种独特因素的影响，包括靠近太平洋、太平洋与大气之间的相互作用以及北美西部复杂的地形。该项目的首要目标是促进我们对影响北美西部大气脊的地球系统组成部分的基本理解，这可以帮助确定季节性和次季节性预测的来源，并调查脊如何以及为什么会对持续的全球变暖做出反应。该项目将结合观测和耦合模式比对项目（CMIP6）气候模式模拟，针对三个关键问题：(1)不同的大气、海洋和陆地表面条件如何影响大气脊的范围、频率、持续时间和幅度等特征？(2)这些物理驱动因素的变化如何影响脊特征的模拟变化？(3)山脊特征的潜在变化如何与变暖相互作用，从而影响该地区的地表气候和极端事件？此外，将对与极端脊（非常大、非常放大和/或非常持久的脊）相关的物理机制进行详细分析，因为它们可能与最显著的气候影响有关。总之，拟议的工作将使人们了解在当前和未来变暖的气候中与重大社会影响相关的天气和气候极端事件的物理机制。拟议的工作将促进对自然气候变率和人为气候变化如何以及为什么影响这一重要大气特征的理解。调查结果将有助于评估当前和未来影响人类健康、水资源、基础设施、区域经济和应急管理资源等各个部门的极端天气和气候的影响。这项工作的成果可直接转化为对社会和环境的影响，从而有助于规划和适应措施。拟议的工作将解决科学文献中关于诸如厄尔Niño南方涛动等自然气候变率模式和异常土壤湿度条件等因素如何影响该地区脊状隆起的空白。从这项工作中开发的方法、框架和见解将扩展到其他中纬度地区。该项目将包括培训一名博士后研究员和一名研究生，他们将由该项目直接支持，以及来自华盛顿州立大学温哥华分校（WSUV）和波特兰州立大学（PSU）代表性不足背景的本科生。它将直接为WSUV的STEM研究基础设施建设做出贡献，WSUV主要是一所本科院校，其中约44%是第一代学生，约55%是女性，约33%是有色人种。研究人员、博士后和研究生将参加俄勒冈科学与工业博物馆（OMSI）科学传播奖学金计划，该计划包括创建动手活动，向博物馆游客展示我们的研究，并为团队与当地教育工作者、学校、社区团体和利益相关者的推广工作做准备。最后，该项目将为PSU气候科学实验室与当地水务公司合作开展的近期应用气候研究提供基础科学支撑。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。