Seasonal characteristics of the large-scale moisture flux transport over the Arabian Peninsula

Abstract

The relationship between the lower tropospheric (1000 to 850 hPa) large-scale moisture flux transport and the precipitation over the Arabian Peninsula (AP), on a seasonal basis, using the NCEP–NCAR gridded dataset for the 53-year period (1958–2010), is investigated. The lower tropospheric moisture flux divergence occurs due to the Hadley cell-based descending air over the AP, as well as due to the presence of Somali jet in dry season (June to September) for the southern (≤22° N) AP domain, leading to significantly reduced precipitation in the AP. The AP thus acts more as a net transporter of moisture flux from adjacent Sea areas to nearby regions. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Artic Oscillation (AO) climatic indices are found to modulate significantly the net seasonal moisture flux into the AP region animating from the Mediterranean Sea, and the Arabian Sea, both for the northern (≥22° N) and southern AP domains.