Tiina Nygård

Finnish Meteorological Institute · Meteorology Unit

Despite the general warming trend, wintertime cold-air outbreaks in Europe have remained nearly as extreme and as common as decades ago. In this study, we identify six principal 850 hPa cold anomaly types over Europe in 1979–2020 using self-organizing maps (SOMs). Based on extensive analysis of atmospheric large-scale circulation patterns combined...

Despite the general warming trend, wintertime cold air outbreaks in Europe have remained nearly as extreme and as common as decades ago. In this study, we identify six principal 850 hPa cold anomaly types over Europe in 1979–2020 using self-organizing maps (SOMs). Based on extensive analysis of atmospheric large-scale circulation patterns combined...

Thermodynamic profiles are affected by both the large-scale dynamics and the local processes, such as radiation, cloud formation and turbulence. Based on ERA5 reanalysis, radiosoundings and cloud cover observations from winters 2009–2018, this study demonstrates manifold impacts of large-scale circulation on temperature and specific humidity profil...

The transport and distribution of short-lived climate forcers in the Arctic are influenced by the prevailing atmospheric circulation patterns. Understanding the coupling between pollutant distribution and dominant atmospheric circulation types is therefore important, not least to understand the processes governing the local processing of pollutants...

Thermodynamic profiles are affected by both the large scale dynamics and the local processes, such as radiation, cloud formation and turbulence. Based on ERA5 reanalysis, radiosoundings and cloud cover observations from winters 2009–2018, this study demonstrates manifold impacts of large scale circulation on temperature and specific humidity profil...

Atmospheric moisture is a key component in the water cycle and radiative transfer. In this study, a comprehensive picture of air moisture climatology and related physical processes is presented for the first time for the circumpolar area south of 50°S. The results are based on the most modern global reanalysis, ERA-5, which manages reasonably well...

It is widely recognized that numerical weather prediction (NWP) results for the Antarctic are relatively poor compared to the mid‐latitudes. In this study, we evaluate output from three operational NWP systems: the ECMWF, Global Forecast System (GFS) and Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS), for the Austral winter (June‐August) of 2013 for...

Along with the amplified warming and dramatic sea ice decline, the Arctic has experienced regionally and seasonally variable moistening of the atmosphere. Based on reanalysis data, this study demonstrates that the regional moistening patterns during the last four decades, 1979– 2018, were predominantly shaped by the strong trends in horizontal mois...

This study gives a comprehensive picture of how atmospheric large-scale circulation is related to moisture transport and to distributions of moisture, clouds, and surface downward longwave radiation in the Arctic in winter. Anomaly distributions of the abovementioned variables are compared in 30 characteristic wintertime atmospheric circulation reg...

Arctic trends of integrated water vapor were analyzed based on four reanalyses and radiosonde data over 1979–2016. Averaged over the region north of 70°N, the Arctic experiences a robust moistening trend that is smallest in March (0.07 ± 0.06 mm decade ⁻¹ ) and largest in August (0.33 ± 0.18 mm decade ⁻¹ ), according to the reanalyses’ median and o...

Plain Language Summary The radiosounding network is a crucial part of the atmospheric observing system, because radiosoundings provide accurate direct information on vertical profiles of temperature, humidity and winds. However, the radiosounding network is sparse in the Arctic; 76 sounding stations are located on continents and islands north of 60...

Horizontal moisture transport has a manifold role in the Arctic climate system as it distributes atmospheric water vapour and thereby shapes the radiative and hydrological conditions. Moisture transport between the Arctic and the mid‐latitudes was examined based on ERA‐Interim reanalysis. The meridional net transport is only a small part of the wat...

The occurrence and characteristics of Arctic specific humidity inversions (SHIs) were examined on the basis of two reanalyses (ERA-Interim and JRA-55) and radiosonde sounding data from 2003 to 2014. Based on physical properties, the SHIs were divided into two main categories: SHIs below and above the 800-hPa level. Above the 800-hPa level, SHIs occ...

The occurrence, properties and temporal variations of temperature inversions over Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, were examined on the basis of tethersonde and 10-m tower measurements during the austral summer 2010–2011. Temperature inversions occurred in 96% of the observed tethersonde profiles, and a surface-based inversion in 58% of the profiles...

Dynamics of atmosphere–ice–ocean interactions in the high latitudes. What: Scientists from 13 countries involved with modeling and observing the coupled high-latitude weather and climate system discussed our current understanding and challenges in polar prediction, extreme events, and coupled processes on scales ranging from cloud and turbulent pro...

Eight atmospheric reanalyses were compared against observed vertical profiles of temperature, specific humidity and wind speed collected by two research aircraft in February–March 2010 in the Antarctic Peninsula region. These data offered a rare possibility to validate reanalyses against independent in-situ data which have not been assimilated into...

An analysis of Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) satellite data reveals that the Whaler’s Bay polynya north of Svalbard was considerably larger in the three winters from 2012 to 2014 compared to the previous 20 years. This increased polynya size leads to strong atmospheric convection during cold air outbreaks in a region north of Svalbard tha...

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The Arctic climate system includes numerous highly interactive small-scale physical processes in the atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean. During and since the International Polar Year 2007–2009, significant advances have been made in understanding these processes. Here, these recent advances are reviewed, synthesized, and discussed. In atmospheric physi...

An analysis of SSM/I satellite data reveals that the Whaler's Bay Polynya north of Svalbard was considerably larger in the last three winters from 2012 to 2014 compared to the previous 20 years. This increased polynya size leads to strong atmospheric convection during cold air outbreaks in a region north of Svalbard that typically was ice covered i...

Humidity inversions have a high potential importance in the Arctic climate system, especially for cloud formation and maintenance, in wide spatial and temporal scales. Here we investigate the climatology and characteristics of humidity inversions in the Arctic, including their spatial and temporal variability, sensitivity to the methodology applied...

The summer atmospheric boundary layer over a fjord in the High Arctic has been investigated during three consecutive years (2008–2010). Measurements of turbulent surface layer fluxes of momentum and sensible heat using a sonic anemometer and slow-response instruments were taken from a tower on the coast of Isfjorden, Svalbard, and analysed for seas...

Humidity inversions have a high potential importance in the Arctic climate system, especially for cloud formation and maintenance, in wide spatial and temporal scales. Here we investigate the climatology and characteristics of humidity inversions in the Arctic, including their spatial and temporal variability, sensitivity to the methodology applied...

Humidity inversions are nearly permanently present in the coastal Antarctic atmosphere. This is shown based on an investigation of statistical characteristics of humidity inversions at 11 Antarctic coastal stations using radiosonde data from the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA) from 2000 to 2009. The humidity inversion occurrence was hig...

The vertical structure of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), simulated with the mesoscale model Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) as well as with its polar optimized version Polar WRF, was compared to tethered balloon soundings and mast observations taken in March and April 2009 from two Arctic fjords in Svalbard. From twelve short (48 h) s...

Numerical weather prediction and climate models continue to have large errors for stable boundary layers (SBL). To understand and to improve on this, so far three atmospheric boundary layer model inter-comparison studies have been organised within the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). T...

Air temperature and specific humidity inversions and low-level jets were studied over two Svalbard fjords, Isfjorden and Kongsfjorden, applying three tethersonde systems. Tethersonde operation practices notably affected observations on inversion and jet properties. The inversion strength and depth were strongly affected by weather conditions at the...

Momentum and sensible heat exchange are studied in an Arctic fjord system in Spitsbergen, Svalbard (Norway), based on tower measurements taken in January–June 2008. Due to ice-free conditions, the surface layer was unstable for most of the time, occasionally very unstable. The shape of the fjord and the surrounding topography have a large influence...

The spatial variability of near-surface variables and turbulent surface fluxes was investigated in three Arctic fjords in Svalbard applying the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model. Ten real cases from winter and spring 2008, representing the most common large-scale flow directions, were simulated at 9, 3 and 1 km resolutions for...

The atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) over Arctic fjords is poorly understood and many processes occur on spatial scales that cannot be resolved by climate and weather prediction models. The meteorological conditions over a fjord are largely affected by surrounding complex topography, sea ice cover and oceanographic phenomena. This study addresses t...

The recurrence of heavy precipitation, dry spells and deep snow cover were estimated based on observations at about ten stations in Finland during about five decades. The 10-year return levels were assessed by means of the so-called "peak over threshold" (POT) method. The return levels of the annual maximum snow depth ranged from about 65 cm in sou...

Rainfall data, collected with a continuously-recording rain gauge in Helsinki, southern Finland, during the summers of the period 1951-2000 were used to study the climatology of the transient characteristics of summer precipitation. Despite some missing data and erroneous values, the quality of the data proved to be good. According to the observati...

The atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) in polar areas is poorly understood, especially where complex topography has an influence on its structure. Air-ice-sea interactions have been studied during several field campaigns (e.g. SHEBA, Uttal et al., 2002) that usually took place further away from coast and from significant influence of topography. In a...