loading page

Climatology of the Heat Low and the Intertropical Discontinuity in the Arabian Peninsula
  • +1
  • Ricardo Fonseca,
  • Diana Francis,
  • Narendra Nelli,
  • Mohan Thota
Ricardo Fonseca
Khalifa University
Author Profile
Diana Francis
Khalifa University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Narendra Nelli
Khalifa University
Author Profile
Mohan Thota
NCMWF
Author Profile

Abstract

In this paper, the climatological state and the seasonal variability of the Arabian Heat Low (AHL) and the Intertropical Discontinuity (ITD) are investigated over the Arabian Peninsula using the 1979-2019 ERA-5 reanalysis data. The AHL is a summertime feature, mostly at 15º-35ºN and 40º-60ºE, exhibiting a clear strengthening over the last four decades in line with the observed increase in surface temperature. However, no clear shift in its position is detected. The AHL, driven by both thermodynamic and dynamic forcing, is broader and stronger during daytime, and exhibits considerable variability on day-to-day time-scales, likely due to the convection associated with the Asian summer monsoon. The ITD is the boundary between the hot and dry desert air and the cooler and more moist air from the Arabian Sea. It lies along the Arabian Peninsula’s southern coastline in the cold season but reaches up to 28º N between 50º - 60º E in the summer months. While in the former it has a rather small diurnal variability, in the latter it shows daily fluctuations of up to 10º in latitude. The presence of the Sarawat Mountains over southwestern Saudi Arabia preclude a northward migration of the ITD in this area. The ITD exhibited a weak northward migration in the 41-year period, likely due to the increased sea surface temperatures in the Arabian Sea. On inter-annual timescales, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the Indian Ocean Dipole, and solar-geomagnetic effects play an important role in the AHL’s and ITD’s variability.
Feb 2022Published in International Journal of Climatology volume 42 issue 2 on pages 1092-1117. 10.1002/joc.7291