• Dan Singh

Articles written in Journal of Earth System Science

• Observed linear trend in few surface weather elements over the Northwest Himalayas (NWH) during winter season

Linear trends in few surface weather variables such as air temperatures (maximum temperature, minimum temperature), snow and rainy days, snowfall and rainfall amounts, rainfall contribution to seasonal total precipitation amount, seasonal snow cover depth and snow cover days (duration) are examined from winter-time observations at 11 stations located over the Northwest Himalayas (NWH). This study indicates that snowfall tends to show a decline in this region, while the rainfall tends to increase during the winter months. Seasonal snow cover depth and seasonal snow cover days also tend to show a decline over the NWH. Decrease in seasonal snow cover depth and duration have reduced the winter period in terms of availability of seasonal snow cover over the NWH during the last 2–3 decades. Other surface weather variables also exhibited significant temporal changes in recent decades. Observed trends in temperature and precipitation over the NWH in recent decades are also supported by long data series of temperature over the western Himalayas (WH), north mountain India (NMI) rainfall data and reanalysis products.

• Consistent seasonal snow cover depth and duration variability over the Western Himalayas (WH)

Precipitation in solid form, i.e., snow, during winter season over theWestern Himalayas (WH) leads to the build-up of seasonal snow cover. Seasonal snow cover build-up (snow cover depth and duration) largely depends on atmospheric variables such as temperature, precipitation, radiation, wind, etc. Integrated(combined) influence of atmospheric variables on seasonal snow cover gets reflected in terms of spatial and temporal variability in seasonal snow cover build-up pattern. Hence spatial and temporal variability of seasonal snow cover build-up can serve as a good indicator of climate change in high altitude mountainousregions like the WH. Consistent seasonal snow cover depth and duration, delay days and early melt days of consistent seasonal snow cover at 11 stations spread across different mountain ranges over the WH were analyzed. Mean, maximum and percentiles (25th, 50th, 75th, 90th and 95th) of consistent seasonal snow cover depth and duration show decline over the WH in the recent past 2–3 decades. Consistent seasonal snow cover is found to melt early and snow cover build-up pattern is found to show changes over the WH. Decline in consistent seasonal snow cover depth, duration and changing snow cover buildup pattern over the WH in recent decades indicate that WH has undergone considerable climate changeand winter weather patterns are changing in the WH.

• The impacts of the approaching western disturbances (WDs) on the surface meteorological variables over the north-west Himalaya (NWH), India

Eastward-moving upper air troughs in the subtropical westerlies, commonly known as the western disturbances (WDs) in the Asian subcontinent, are primary sources of precipitation over the north-west Himalayan (NWH) region and the northern plains of India during winter. Many simulation case studies with the help of numerical weather prediction models and a few observational case studies have been conducted to understand the spatial structure, dynamics, energy and weather associated with the WDs over the NWH in the past. However, studies using in situ observations on the impacts of the approaching WDs on various surface meteorological variables at a local scale in the high-altitude mountainous regions of the NWH are lacking. The objectives of this study are to examine the impacts of the approaching WDs on various surface meteorological variables for 11 stations in the NWH and the associated precipitation amount in a 24-hr time interval. Changes (departures) in the values of various meteorological variables are examined on the first precipitation day of the occurrence of active WDs to study the impacts of the approaching WDs and the associated precipitation amount in the 24-hr time interval which are found to depend on the altitude and geographic location of a station. The mean drop in the maximum and ambient air temperatures are found to be 2.0$^{\circ}$ and 0.7$^{\circ}$C, respectively, while the mean rise in the minimum air temperature was found to be 0.8$^{\circ}$C. A mean drop in the surface atmospheric pressure and a mean increase in the relative humidity are found to be 0.9 hPa and 19.5%, respectively, in a 24-hr time interval. The mean precipitation amount and mean maximum precipitation amount associated with the active WDs in the 24-hr time interval are found to be 8.9 and 68.8 mm, respectively. The results are briefly discussed in the paper. The findings of this study can be useful for operational weather forecasting and a selection of precursor variables for developing a real-time local scale weather forecast model(s) for remote areas of the NWH for the winter season.

• Quality of local scale surface weather analogs over the north-west Himalaya (NWH), India

An analog ensemble system was developed for the realisation of local-scale surface meteorological variables for independent test data (test data) at six stations over the north-west Himalaya (NWH), India. Extreme values (the maximum value and the minimum value) and the mean value in 10 analog days (the analog mean) and the climatological mean of each surface meteorological variable were compared with its corresponding observed values on the same day ($d0$, lead time 0 hour (h)), $d1 (d0 + 1$, lead time 24 h), $d2 (d0 + 2$, lead time 48 h) and $d3 (d0 + 3$, lead time 72 h) of test data. Pearson correlation coefficients(CCs), Mean Absolute Differences (MADs) and Root Mean Square Differences (RMSDs) of the extreme values in analog days, and the analog mean and climatological mean of each meteorological variable on $d0$ with its corresponding observed values on $d0, d1, d2$ and $d3$ of test data were computed at six stations over the NWH. CCs of extreme values in analog days and the analog mean of each meteorological variable on d0 with its observed values on $d0, d1, d2$ and $d3$ were found to be higher than the CCs of the climatological mean of each meteorological variable on d0 with its observed values on $d0, d1, d2$ and $d3$. MADs (RMSDs) of extreme values in analog days and the analog mean of each meteorological variable on $d0$ with its observed values on $d0, d1, d2$ and $d3$ were found to be lesser than the MADs (RMSDs) of the climatological mean of each meteorological variable on d0 with its observed values on $d0, d1, d2$ and $d3$. However, the MADs (RMSDs) of the extreme values of each meteorological variable in analog days were found to be higher than the MADs (RMSDs) of its analog mean. Results show that the analog mean of each meteorological variable holds better predictive skill than the extreme values in analog days and its climatological mean. MADs (RMSDs) of different surface meteorological variables in surface weather analogs comparable to Mean Absolute Errors (MAEs) and RootMean Square Errors (RMSEs) for their prediction with the help of different types of weather forecast models show that the surface weather analogs hold good promise for the local-scale prediction of surface meteorological variables over the NWH.

• Spatio-temporal variability of binary weather patterns and precipitation amounts of short time intervals during winter period over the north-west Himalaya (NWH)

Spatio-temporal variability of binary weather patterns (precipitation event/no-precipitation event) and precipitation amounts of short time intervals of 15, 24, 48 and 72 hours (h) are examined by analysing data on the observed precipitation amount of 3377 common days of different winters (winter 1993–winter 2015) at 12 stations in the north-west Himalaya (NWH). Surface meteorological variables over the NWH are collected daily at 0300 and 1200 UTC and data on the precipitation amount collected daily at 0300 UTC are taken to conduct this study. Data on the precipitation amount collected at 0300 UTC daily represent the cumulative precipitation amount of a short time interval of the previous 15 h (1200–0300 UTC) hence the precipitation amount of the 15 h time interval is considered in addition to the precipitation amounts of 24, 48 and 72 h time intervals to examine the Spatio-temporal variability of the precipitation amounts at 12 stations over the NWH. The spatio-temporal variability in the binary weather patterns of short time intervals is examined by computing the normalised percentage differences in the observed precipitation events of short time intervals at 11 stations from corresponding observed precipitation events at a reference station and Spatio-temporal variability in the precipitation amount of short time interval at 12 stations is examined by computing Mean Absolute Differences (MADs) and Root Mean Square Differences (RMSDs) of observed precipitation amounts of short time intervals at each station from corresponding observed precipitation amounts at a reference station. Normalised percentage difference in precipitation events and MAD (RMSD) of the precipitation amount of 24 h time intervals at 11 stations from a reference station fall in the range $(-) 50.0%–(+) 20.7%$ and 4.2–7.2 mm (12.2–18.5 mm), respectively. The maximum difference in binary weather patterns is found for 24 h time interval and simultaneous precipitation events are not found up to 72 h time interval at 12 stations over the NWH. The spatial variability of binary weather patterns is found to decrease and the spatial variability of the precipitation amount is found to increase with the increasing length of short time intervals, i.e., 15–72 h. These findings show that binary weather patterns and precipitation amounts of short time intervals exhibit large Spatio-temporal variability over the NWH. Results of this study can be useful for various applications directly (or indirectly) influenced by weather and/or precipitation amounts of short time intervals over the NWH during the winter period.

• # Journal of Earth System Science

Volume 130, 2021
All articles
Continuous Article Publishing mode

• # Editorial Note on Continuous Article Publication

Posted on July 25, 2019