A new climate index controlling winter wave activity along the Atlantic coast of Europe: The West Europe Pressure Anomaly
Language
EN
Article de revue
This item was published in
Geophysical Research Letters. 2017-02-16, vol. 44, n° 3, p. 1384 - 1392
English Abstract
A pioneering and replicable method based on a 66-year numerical weather and wave hindcast is developed to optimize a climate index based on the sea level pressure (SLP) that best explains winter wave height variability ...Read more >
A pioneering and replicable method based on a 66-year numerical weather and wave hindcast is developed to optimize a climate index based on the sea level pressure (SLP) that best explains winter wave height variability along the coast of western Europe, from Portugal to UK (36–52 ∘ N). The resulting so-called Western Europe Pressure Anomaly (WEPA) is based on the sea level pressure gradient between the stations Valentia (Ireland) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands). The WEPA positive phase reflects an intensified and southward shifted SLP difference between the Icelandic low and the Azores high, driving severe storms that funnel high-energy waves toward western Europe southward of 52 ∘ N. WEPA outscores by 25–150% the other leading atmospheric modes in explaining winter-averaged significant wave height, and even by a largest amount the winter-averaged extreme wave heights. WEPA is also the only index capturing the 2013/2014 extreme winter that caused widespread coastal erosion and flooding in western Europe.Read less <
ANR Project
LabexMER Marine Excellence Research: a changing ocean - ANR-10-LABX-0019
Processus cross-shore et longshore combinés en morphodynamique littorale - ANR-14-ASTR-0004
Processus cross-shore et longshore combinés en morphodynamique littorale - ANR-14-ASTR-0004