Abstract
Moisture transport from its sources to surrounding continents is one of the most relevant topics in hydrology, and its role in extreme events is crucial for understanding several processes such as intense precipitation and flooding. In this study, we considered the Mediterranean Sea as the main water source and estimated its contribution to the monthly climatological and extreme precipitation events over the surrounding continental areas. To assess the effect of the Mediterranean Sea on precipitation, we used the Multi-Source Weighted-Ensemble Precipitation (MSWEP) database to characterize precipitation. The Lagrangian dispersion model known as FLEXPART was used to estimate the moisture contribution of this source. This contribution was estimated by tracking particles that leave the Mediterranean basin monthly and then calculating water loss (E − P < 0) over the continental region, which was modelled by FLEXPART. The analysis was conducted using data from 1980 to 2015 with a spatial resolution of 0.25°. The results showed that, in general, the spatial pattern of the Mediterranean source’s contribution to precipitation, unlike climatology, is similar during extreme precipitation years in the regions under study. However, while the Mediterranean Sea is usually not an important source of climatological precipitation for some European regions, it is a significant source during extreme precipitation years.
Highlights
Moisture transport from oceans to continents, precipitation, and evaporation are important elements in the hydrological cycle [1]
Water 2018, 10, 519 in the water cycle lead to major economic losses and human fatalities including in the Mediterranean area, which we study in this paper [6]
Knowledge of the behavior and the impact of extreme precipitation in the past and present is crucial to understanding future climate change effects, which could be more evident through extreme events [39] under study
Summary
Moisture transport from oceans to continents, precipitation, and evaporation are important elements in the hydrological cycle [1]. A dominant high-pressure system presents a strong positive geopotential anomaly in many parts of Europe including the area of the Mediterranean basin, which leads to a prevalence of dry conditions over the southern Mediterranean region [11]. These highlighted anomalies are associated with blocking conditions, subsidence, stability, a warm lower troposphere, and small pressure gradients at sea level as well as above-normal Mediterranean Sea surface temperatures [16]
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