Future projection of East Asian atmospheric rivers in high-resolution climate models

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) play a critical role in extreme precipitation in East Asia during the East Asian summer monsoon. While ARs are projected to increase in a warming climate, their regional changes in East Asia remain unclear partly due to the use of relatively coarse models. This study investi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yeeun Kwon, Seok-Woo Son
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Weather and Climate Extremes
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212094725000349
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Atmospheric rivers (ARs) play a critical role in extreme precipitation in East Asia during the East Asian summer monsoon. While ARs are projected to increase in a warming climate, their regional changes in East Asia remain unclear partly due to the use of relatively coarse models. This study investigates future changes in East Asian ARs using high-resolution climate model simulations. The results show a robust increase in AR frequency and associated precipitation in East Asia in the near future (2025–2050). ARs are also projected to become more intense and persistent with a considerable increase in extreme precipitation, although the quantitative change slightly differs depending on the AR detection algorithms. Such changes are primarily driven by thermodynamic processes, with dynamic processes playing a secondary role. However, the dynamic processes, especially low-frequency circulation changes, contribute significantly to the inter-model spread, determining the uncertainty in the future projections of East Asian ARs. This finding helps to better understand future changes in AR and associated extreme precipitation in East Asia.
ISSN:2212-0947