Rotated Empirical Orthogonal Function Research Articles

Investigating a novel feature of multi-phase rotated empirical orthogonal function to capture spatiotemporal temperature variations

Investigating a novel feature of multi-phase rotated empirical orthogonal function to capture spatiotemporal temperature variations

The role of large-scale atmospheric circulations on long-term variations of PM10 concentrations over Turkey.

PM10 is widely identified as an important atmospheric pollutant posing a serious threat to human health and environment as well as it influences the climate system. To unearth the mechanism involved in its sources and circulation behavior in environment, this study focuses on the role of large-scale atmospheric circulation on the long-term variability of PM10 over Turkey by applying rotated empirical orthogonal functions (REOF) analysis. As a result of the implementation of REOF to the daily PM10 data for 80 air quality stations throughout the period 2010-2020, first REOF mode (REOF1 44.9% in winter, 43.2% in spring, 39.5% in summer and 31.6% in fall) for all the four seasons indicated the role of local emission sources on the variations of PM10, which show high PM10 values in different geographical regions. The results of the second mode (REOF2, 17.9% in winter, 14.0% in spring, 14.0% in summer and 16.3% in fall) indicate the role of large-scale atmospheric circulations on the values of PM10. From the REOF2 analysis and extracted synoptic composite maps, the strength of southerly winds and the presence of southwesterly winds at low levels are very important in transporting of dust pollutants from the Arabian Peninsula and Northern Africa, respectively, to the eastern (EAR) and southeastern (SEAR) regions of Turkey during winter. In spring, sand particles in the interior terrestrial part of the country are carried to the northern regions by the effect of large-scale southerly winds, which cause above-normal PM10 concentrations in the Black Sea region of Turkey. In summer, dust particles together with warm dry air intrusion to the eastern region of Turkey by strong easterly winds are sourced by Caspian Sea and result in high PM10 values. Our findings emphasize that the long-term variations in air quality over Turkey are affected secondary by the variations in the large-scale atmospheric circulations with primary contributions from the changes in local emission sources.

Modes of North Atlantic Western boundary current variability at 36° N

The surface-intensified, poleward-flowing Gulf Stream (GS) encounters the equatorward-flowing Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) at 36° N off Cape Hatteras. In this study, daily output from a data-assimilative, high-resolution (800 m), regional ocean reanalysis was examined to quantify variability in the velocity structure of the GS and DWBC during 2017–2018. The validity of this reanalysis was confirmed with independent observations of ocean velocity and density that demonstrate a high level of realism in the model’s representation of the regional circulation. The model’s daily velocity time series across a transect off Cape Hatteras was examined using rotated Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis, and analysis suggests three leading modes that characterize the variability of the western boundary currents throughout the water column. The first mode, related to meandering of the GS current, accounts for 55.3% of the variance, followed by a “wind-forced mode”, which accounts for 12.5% of the variance. The third mode, influenced by the DWBC and upper-ocean eddies, accounts for 7.1% of the variance.

Diurnal Variation Characteristics of Summer Precipitation over the Northern Slope of the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, Northwest China: Basic Features and Responses to the Inhomogeneous Underlying Surface

The diurnal variation characteristics of precipitation in summer (June–August) during the period of 2015–2019 over the Northern Slope of the Tianshan Mountains (NSTM) was analyzed using hourly simulated data from Nanjing University’s real-time forecasting system (WRF_NJU) with 4 km resolution, Automatic Weather Station (AWS) data, and the ERA5-Land data through using methods such as the Rotated Empirical Orthogonal Function (REOF) and Coefficient of Variation (CV). The results show that the diurnal variation pattern of the precipitation over the NSTM simulated by WRF_NJU aligns closely with that of the observational AWS data, and it captured spatial distribution, peak values, and the times of precipitation reasonably well. The hourly precipitation amount (PA), precipitation frequency (PF), and precipitation intensity (PI) all show characteristics of being greater in the afternoon to nighttime than from early morning to noon, and the diurnal variations of precipitation in this region are significantly influenced by altitude. The PA, PF, and PI peak over the southern edge of the Junggar Basin (JB) below 1000 m occurred at around 2200 Local Solar Time (LST). In contrast, peak PA over the mountainous regions above 3000 m occurred at around 1500 LST. Further analysis with REOF and CV indicated that the difference in diurnal variations of precipitation between the mountainous regions and the JB is most pronounced likely due to the topographical influences. The peak PA over the mountainous regions mainly occurred at around 1500 LST, while that of the JB occurred at around 0100 LST. High CV regions for PI are predominantly found over the area near the central JB and the middle Tianshan mountains, whereas high CV regions for the PF are located in the central and northern parts of Urumqi and Changji. In addition, different land surface categories exhibit distinct patterns of diurnal precipitation variation, i.e., the forests, grasslands, and water bodies exhibit their peak PA in the period from early morning to noon, while the impervious surfaces, croplands, and barren lands exhibit their peak PA in the period from afternoon to nighttime.

Relationship between the North Atlantic sea surface temperature and the summer extreme high temperature in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China

Climate change influence on the economy and environment in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region. This study examined the variations of extreme high temperature days (EHDs) over the BTH region in summer during 1982 to 2021. The trend and frequency of EHDs has increased significantly during the last 40 years. The spatial and temporal variations of EHDs also indicate a significant increase by using the rotated empirical orthogonal functions (REOF) method. Furthermore, the singular value decomposition (SVD) method and correlation analysis are used to indicate the relationship between the EHDs in June–July-August (JJA) in the BTH region and North Atlantic sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in the March–April-May (MAM) during 1982–2021. The result shows that there was positive relationship between the North Atlantic SSTA in MAM and the EHDs in JJA in the BTH region. Composite analysis suggests that relationship between EHDs and SSTA are connected by associated atmospheric circulation through the wave activity flux.

Seasonal Tropical–Extratropical Teleconnections Originating from Tropical Rainfall Modes Independent of the Niño-3.4 Index in Northern Winters

Abstract This study, based on an analysis with observational and reanalysis data, highlights seasonal tropical–extratropical atmospheric teleconnections originating from tropical rainfall modes unrelated to the Niño-3.4 index for northern winters. The mode decomposition for tropical rainfall is done by first removing the Niño-3.4 index–related variability from the tropical rainfall and then applying rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF) analysis to the residual. The corresponding teleconnection patterns are obtained by regressing global atmospheric fields against the time series of the rainfall modes. Analyses of the tropical heating–atmospheric circulation relationship indicate that the circulation anomalies corresponding to the rainfall modes are forced responses to the corresponding rainfall mode. The teleconnection patterns reveal some new features and show that some intrinsic midlatitude patterns can be triggered by tropical forcing with different rainfall patterns. Results from this study are relevant to seasonal climate attribution and prediction analyses and climate model evaluation. As an illustration, the teleconnections from the rainfall modes, together with that related to the Niño-3.4 index and linear trend, are applied to the attribution analyses for the global circulation anomalies of 2019/20 winter and the California dry condition during the strong El Niño winter of 2015/16. The overall impact of these modes in the period of 1980–2021 is also discussed. Significance Statement This study highlights the seasonal tropical–extratropical atmospheric teleconnections independent of the Niño-3.4 index using tropical rainfall modes for northern winters. The reason for using rainfall rather than SST in the mode decomposition is that rainfall represents vertically integrated latent heat, which is the direct forcing of the tropical atmosphere, while SST may have no definite relationship with rainfall in the Indo-Pacific warm pool region. The results of this study are applicable to the analysis of climate attribution and prediction and climate model evaluation, and further, may also have the potential to help improve seasonal climate forecasts.

Diurnal Variation Characteristics of Summer Precipitation and Related Statistical Analysis in the Ili Region, Xinjiang, Northwest China

The diurnal variation characteristics and basic statistical features of summer precipitation (from June to August) in the Ili region from 2015 to 2019 were investigated based on 4 km resolution Weather Research and Forecasting model simulation data from Nanjing University (WRF_NJU). The results show that the overall diurnal variation characteristics of precipitation (DVCP) reflected by the WRF_NJU data were consistent with respect to the observations and reanalysis data. The total precipitation pattern exhibited high (low) values on the east (west), with higher (lower) values over the mountainous (valley) area. Hourly precipitation amount (PA), precipitation frequency (PF), and precipitation intensity (PI) show similar diurnal variation characteristics, with peaks occurring at around 1700 LST in the mountainous area and around 2000 LST in valleys. Furthermore, moderate to intense precipitation contributes up to 87.88% of the total precipitation. The peaks in the mountainous area occur earlier than the valleys, while the peaks in western part of the valleys occur earlier than the eastern part. The PA peaks over the valleys and slopes occurred from the evening to early morning and from the afternoon to evening, respectively. In addition, the rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF) analysis implied that the DVCP exhibits distinct differences between mountainous and valleys, and peak precipitation occurs during the evening in basin– and wedge–shaped areas, while the mountain peaks and foothill regions exhibit semi–diurnal variation characteristics. Among several basic meteorological factors, the vertical velocity (VV) and water vapor mixing ratio (WVMR) provided major contributions to the DVCP in both areas with high and low coefficients of variation, and the WVMR (VV) probably played a more significant role in mountainous (valleys) areas.

Identification and evolution characteristics of drought field in the Pearl River Basin based on REOF-ESMD

Abstract The traditional drought field studies are inadequate to study drought field characteristics from the perspective of trend and periodicity at the same time, especially to compare the interannual and interdecadal variations of different drought types in the drought field to reveal their similarity and difference patterns. The drought field in Pearl River Basin (PRB) was determined in this paper using the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) and the empirical orthogonal function (EOF)/rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF). Periodic characteristics and trend features of the drought field were recognized by extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition (ESMD) and other methods. The results showed that from the perspective of regional characteristics five different spatial modes may be used to categorize the interannual drought field of the PRB; there were interannual cycles associated with the southwest-type drought and the northwest-type drought. The central-south-, north-central- and eastern-type droughts had both interannual and interdecadal cycles; during the study period, the PRB's five types of drought revealed a changing tendency as opposed to a straightforward linear trend; from the interannual variation, the southwest-type drought was consistent with the northwest-type drought prior to 2000, and the north-central-type drought was consistent with the eastern-type drought before 2010.

Operational forecasting inundation extents using REOF analysis (FIER) over lower Mekong and its potential economic impact on agriculture

In the Lower Mekong River Basin floodplains, rice cultivation is highly crucial for regional and global food security. However, prolonged flooding can pose damage to rice cultivation and other socio-economic aspects. Yet, there is no rapid operational inundation forecasting system that can help decision-makers proactively mitigate flood damages. Here, we integrated the so-called Forecasting Inundation Extents using Rotated empirical orthogonal function analysis (FIER) framework with an altimetry-based operational Mekong River level forecasting system and built an operational web application, FIER-Mekong, (https://fier-mekong.streamlit.app/) that generates daily skillful forecasted inundation extents (>70% of critical success index) and depths in about 3 and 30 seconds, respectively, with up to 18-day lead times. One of its applications, predicting flood-induced rice economic losses, is also presented. Had FIER-Mekong being adopted, we estimated that the rice damages, up to 87 and 53 million US dollars during the 2020 and 2021 harvest time, respectively, could have been avoided.

Identifying spatio-temporal climatic characteristics and events of the South-Asian aerosol pollution transport to the Tibetan Plateau

South Asian aerosol pollutants can be transported to the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and affect the local atmospheric environment; however, few studies have produced statistical results for the long term. In this study, 41 years of pollution transport events from South Asia to the TP were screened based on Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis data using objective methods, and the main pollution transport mechanisms were revealed. We used the empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) and the rotated empirical orthogonal functions (REOF) methods to obtain the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the TP and the large loading regions of AOD variation from 1980 to 2020 and combined them with the backward trajectory to screen for severe pollution events in the TP influenced by transport from South Asia. The three regions (eastern, central and western regions) with large AOD loading variations in the southern TP are shown by the REOF. Based on the objectively defined AOD indices for the three regions, 2058 days of strong pollution were identified, of which 1702 days (82.7%) were affected by pollution transport from South Asia. Of these 1702 days, the central region had the highest number of days at 661 (38.8%), followed by the western and eastern regions with 544 (32%) and 497 (29.2%) days, respectively. The results obtained from the transport events in the three regions suggest that South Asian pollutants can be transported across the Himalayas to the TP by valley winds, north-south valley passages, and cyclonic uplift. These findings deepen the understanding of the aerosol pollution of the TP affected by pollution transport from South Asia.

Trend and spatial-temporal variation of drought characteristics over equatorial East Africa during the last 120 years

Centennial drought characteristics in Equatorial East Africa (EEA) is investigated using the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) derived from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) dataset. The spatial pattern of drought distribution, as well as drought duration, intensity and frequency, are analyzed for SPEI at a 3-month timescale for March-April-May (MAM) season. Rotated Empirical Orthogonal Function (REOF), Mann-Kendall method (MK), and wavelet analyses are used to study drought’s spatial pattern, trend, and periodicity. The result of the principal component analysis returned six homogenous drought sub-regions. A low drought frequency characterizes EEA (<20%). The drought in the MAM season lasts between 2.2 and 2.8 months. Overall, the result showed a weak long-term drying trend for most parts of EEA that were significant in some sub-regions and insignificant in others. An increase in drought areal extent after the 1980s could be ascribed to the increase in potential evapotranspiration (PET) and is consistent with the negative trend in SPEI value over the six sub-regions. The apparent increase is mainly attributed to the increase in moderate and severe droughts area rather than extreme drought areas. The spectral analysis further reveals that inter-annual drought variability with periodicities less than 8 years dominates in all sub-regions of Equatorial East Africa, which is associated with the critical role of El-Niño in driving the drought variations in EEA.

Decadal variability in the austral summer precipitation over the Central Andes: Observations and the empirical‐statistical downscaling model

AbstractThe decadal variability in summer precipitation over the Central Andes (10°–30°S) is investigated from 1921 to 2010 using low‐pass filtered time series of the central and eastern El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Pacific (C and E) indices, the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) index, the Atlantic SST indices, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index, North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, and ERA‐20C reanalysis. Additionally, an empirical‐statistical downscaling (ESD) model was built. A rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF) analysis shows that the first leading mode of precipitation (RPC1) represents 38.2% of the total decadal variance. RPC2, RCP3, and RPC4 represent 18.8, 12.8, and 9.7% of the total decadal variance, respectively. Furthermore, RPC1 features highest loadings over most of the region. RPC2 features a dipole of highest loadings over the southernmost Bolivian Altiplano and lowest loadings over the northwestern Argentinian Andes. Conversely, RPC3 presents highest loadings over the eastern‐central Bolivian Altiplano and northwestern Argentinian Andes. RPC4 features highest loadings over the southern Bolivian Andes. RPC1 and RPC3 wet summers are associated with moisture transport from the Amazon basin, but RPC1 features the strengthening upper‐level Bolivian high‐Nordeste low system over South America. Conversely, RPC2 and RPC4 wet summers are associated with local processes induced by southward displacement of the South Atlantic Convergence Zone and warm sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies over the Indian Ocean, respectively. According to the ESD model, the decadal variability in the central and eastern Pacific (CP and EP) and Atlantic Ocean reproduces the decadal component of the DJF precipitation over most of the Central Andes.

Interdecadal variability of the austral summer precipitation over the Central Andes

The impacts of the interdecadal variability of the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans on precipitation over the Central Andes during the austral summer (December-January-February, DJF) are investigated for the 1921–2010 period based on monthly gridded precipitation data and low-pass filtered time series of the Niño 4 index (IN4), the Niño 1 + 2 index with Niño 3.4 index removed (IN1+2*), Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), and Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) indices, and the three first rotated principal components of the interdecadal component of the sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies over the Atlantic Ocean. A rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF) analysis of precipitation in the Central Andes (10°S–30°S) yields two leading modes, RPC1 and RPC2, which represent 40.4% and 18.6% of the total variance, respectively. REOF1 features a precipitation dipole between the northern Bolivian and the Chilean Altiplano. REOF2 also features a precipitation dipole, with highest negative loading over the southern Peruvian Andes. The REOF1 positive phase is associated with moisture transport from the lowlands toward the Bolivian Altiplano, induced by upper-level easterly wind anomalies over the Central Andes. At the same time conditions tend to be dry over the southern Peruvian Andes. The positive phase of REOF2 is related to weakened moisture transport, induced by upper-level westerly wind anomalies over Peru. The IPO warm phase induces significant dry anomalies over the Bolivian Altiplano, albeit weaker than during the IN4 warm phase, via upper-level westerly wind anomalies over the Central Andes. No significant relationship was found between Central Andean precipitation and the AMO on interdecadal timescales.

Spatio-temporal analysis of aerosol optical depth using rotated empirical orthogonal function over the Maritime Continent from 2001 to 2020

The deterioration in the annual air quality of the Maritime Continent (MC) is mainly caused by biomass burning haze (BBH) and the surrounding atmospheric conditions. This study aims to investigate the spatial and temporal variations of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and its relationship with biomass burning and climate anomaly factors in the MC from 2001 to 2020. Using aerosol model reanalysis products from the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), values of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the MC were collected and processed to obtain a better understanding of the characteristics of the aerosol loading over the MC. Using the varimax rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF) approach, we assess the spatio-temporal distributions of the AOD over the MC from 2001 to 2020. The REOF maximized the variances explained for the primary modes and has shown clearer relationship between the spatiotemporal patterns of identified modes. The first three REOF modes of the AOD accounted for a total variance of 73.7%. The first mode (REOF1) explaining 35.8% is the main mode that represent fire burning that concentrated over the 0° latitude. REOF1 represents the emission from burning activities which primarily occurred in the Kalimantan and Sumatra based on their correlation with the total hotspots, which reach 0.73, which a certain extent of correlation with the climate anomalies, including El Niño, positive DM, and their coincidence. The second (REOF2) also explaining 35.8% represents the AOD distribution influenced by the biomass burning emission transported from the Indochina in the area to the north of 5°N which has an opposite mode with the general mode in MC except for Java area. Meanwhile, PC3 AOD has reduced to 2.2% in the rotation process and represent the influence of monsoon movement on the AOD level. In short, the study highlights spatial and temporal AOD distribution and the phenomena of burning mass and climate indices in the long-term MERRA reanalysis dataset to allow more understanding of the causal links of AOD in MC to the climate features.

Spatial and temporal characteristics of surface solar radiation in China and its influencing factors

The total-sky direct solar radiation at Earth’s surface (SRS) not only has an important impact on the earth’s climate and ecology, but also is a crucial parameter for solar photovoltaic power. SRS determines whether photovoltaic power plants can be built in the region and directly affects the efficiency of photovoltaic power generation. Therefore, the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of SRS have a very important guiding significance for the construction of photovoltaic power stations. This study discusses the temporal and spatial characteristics of SRS and its influencing factors in China during 1961–2020 using ERA5 data and the empirical orthogonal function (EOF), rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF), and ensemble empirical model decomposition (EEMD) methods. Our investigation reveals that the high-value SRS center is located on the southwestern Tibetan Plateau, while the low-value center occurs on the northeastern Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau and in the Sichuan Basin. Seasonal variability in SRS means that maximum values occur uniformly in summer, followed sequentially by spring, autumn, and winter. The spatial distribution of the leading SRS EOF mode exhibits a dipole pattern between the southern Tibetan Plateau and other regions. Combined with the time series, SRS in China underwent an interdecadal transition around the year 2000. The regression analysis shows that this pattern is mainly affected by surface air temperature, total precipitation, relative humidity and cloud cover. The time series evolution of SRS primarily reflects the interannual variability in annual-mean and four seasons; the variance contributions of decadal variability and secular trend are minor through the EEMD. The REOF separates Chinese SRS into 11 central regions, the top 5 being the western Tibetan Plateau, western Northwest China, the eastern Tibetan Plateau, northern Xinjiang, and North China. The relationship between SRS and meteorological parameters shows that SRS is positively correlated with surface air temperature and wind speed but negatively correlated with total precipitation, relative humidity, low and total cloud cover, and aerosol concentrations.

Understanding spatiotemporal variability of drought in recent decades and its drivers over identified homogeneous regions of India

AbstractDrought is a recurring hydroclimatic extreme whose frequency and intensity have increased over India in recent decades, with a detrimental effect on regional water resources. This study addresses the spatiotemporal variability of drought and its plausible mechanism over India from 1951 to 2018. Firstly, six drought‐homogeneous regions are adequately ascertained by applying rotated empirical orthogonal function analysis using the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index that captures most of the reported drought and regional hydroclimatic patterns. For the study period, a drying trend is witnessed across the regions though not significant, whereas in recent decades, northeast India (NEI) and some parts of the Indo‐Gangetic plain (IGP) exhibit higher drought frequency. This anomalous drying is attributed to a weakening of the monsoon circulation and accelerated warming caused by changes in the land‐use pattern. The interplay between El Niño Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean Dipole largely affects drought's interannual variability, which shows a modified response in recent decades. However, the long‐term decadal drought pattern is found to be strongly teleconnected with a newly discovered Southern Atlantic Oscillation (SAO) index, which reveals a statistically quite significant relationship (>50%) with drought variability. The positive phase of the SAO index is generally associated with drought across the regions except for IGP and NEI. Despite the recent overall wetting trend, drought frequency has enhanced over most of the regions, modulating the regional hydrological cycle.

Components of urban ground water recharge in Bengaluru, India

ABSTRACT This study investigates the various components of groundwater recharge in an urban hard-rock aquifer system of Bengaluru, India. Groundwater meets more than fifty percent of the water demand in the city. This has led to an endangered situation of groundwater. Urbanization changes the source and path of groundwater recharge. Understanding the components of groundwater recharge is the foremost important step in groundwater management in an urban environment. Rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF) analysis of ground water level data was used to identify the significant components of ground water level variation in the study area. Rainfall and pipeline leakage were identified as the major components of groundwater recharge in the study area. The stochastic interpolation method of ordinary kriging was used to regionalise the identified significant empirical orthogonal functions.

Impact of climate variability on household food security in Godere District, Gambella Region, Ethiopia

Agriculture and food security are most vulnerable to climate variability and extremes. Climate variability and extremes increased the risks of food security in Gambella region. The study examines the impact of climate variability on household food security in Godere district, Ethiopia. In this research data were collected from different set of sources using various tools such as questionnaire survey, key informant interview, and focus group discussion. Meteorological data from Ethiopian National Meteorological Agency were also used. Rotated Empirical Orthogonal Function (REOF) was used to investigate the spatio-temporal variation of rainfall, whereas, household data were analysed using correlation, percentage, mean and binary logistic regression. Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) tool was used to determine household food security status. The result reveals that the study site has experienced spatio-temporal rainfall variability with various degrees and widespread household food insecurity. The result shows that 11.2% and 88.8% of the sample households were food secure and food insecure respectively. The HFIAS result shows the households’ food insecurity ranges from severe (17.2%) to moderate (19%) and mild (17.2%) levels. The study concludes unfavourable climatic conditions combined with the lack of necessary households’ resource endowments, adversely affects the household’s food security. We argue that ensuring the household's food security status requires attention towards mitigating climate shocks and improving households’ access to basic infrastructure services and facilities.

ROTATED EMPIRICAL ORTHOGONAL FUNCTION ANALYSIS FOR SPATIO-TEMPORAL DATA ANALYSIS

Given any space-time field, Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis finds a set of orthogonal spatial patterns along with a set of associated uncorrelated time series or principal components (PCs). Spatial orthogonality and temporal uncorrelation of EOFs and PCs respectively impose limits on the physical interpretability of EOF patterns. This is because physical processes are not independent, and therefore physical modes are expected in general to be non-orthogonal. Rotated empirical orthogonal functions (REOF) were introduced to generate general localized structures by compromising some of the EOF properties such as orthogonality. EOF and REOF analysis are carried out for the significant wave height (SWH) data for the Bay of Bengal (BOB) region for the period 1958 to 2001. Separate experiments were conducted for all the months together and also for July and December representing the southwest and northeast monsoon periods. The first eigenmodes account for 84%, 68%, and 59% of the total variability for the above three cases respectively. The REOF proved to be more effective than EOF for the above region.

A global ozone profile climatology for satellite retrieval algorithms based on Aura MLS measurements and the MERRA-2 GMI simulation

Abstract. A new atmospheric ozone profile climatology has been constructed by combining daytime ozone profiles from the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research Applications version 2 (MERRA-2) Global Modeling Initiative (GMI) model simulation (M2GMI). The MLS and M2GMI ozone profiles are merged between 13 and 17 km (∼159 and 88 hPa), with MLS used for stratospheric and GMI for primarily tropospheric levels. The time record for profiles from MLS and GMI is August 2004–December 2016. The derived seasonal climatology consists of monthly zonal-mean ozone profiles in 5∘ latitude bands from 90∘ S to 90∘ N covering altitudes (in Z* log-pressure altitude) from zero to 80 km in 1 km increments. This climatology can be used as a priori information in satellite ozone retrievals, in atmospheric radiative transfer studies, and as a baseline to compare with other measured or model-simulated ozone. The MLS/GMI seasonal climatology shows a number of improvements compared with previous ozone profile climatologies based on MLS and ozonesonde measurements. These improvements are attributed mostly to continuous daily global coverage of GMI tropospheric ozone compared with sparse regional measurements from sondes. In addition to the seasonal climatology, we also derive an additive climatology to account for interannual variability in stratospheric zonal-mean ozone profiles which is based on a rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF) analysis of Aura MLS ozone profiles. This REOF climatology starts in 1970 and captures most of the interannual variability in global stratospheric ozone including quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) signatures.