Abstract
In a previous paper, we have shown that long-term cloud and solar observations (1965–2013) in Bergen, Norway (60.39°N, 5.33°E) are compatible with a largely cloud dominated radiative climate. Here, we explicitly address the relationship between the large scale circulation over Europe and local conditions in Bergen, identifying specific circulation shifts that have contributed to the observed cloud and solar variations. As a measure of synoptic weather patterns, we use the Grosswetterlagen (GWL), a daily classification of European weather for 1881–2013. Empirical models of cloud cover, cloud base, relative sunshine duration, and normalised global irradiance are constructed based on the GWL frequencies, extending the observational time series by more than 70 years. The GWL models successfully reproduce the observed increase in cloud cover and decrease in solar irradiance during the 1970s and 1980s. This cloud-induced dimming is traced to an increasing frequency of cyclonic and decreasing frequency of anticyclonic weather patterns over northern Europe. The changing circulation patterns in winter can be understood as a shift from the negative to the positive phase of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oscillation. A recent period of increasing solar irradiance is observed but not reproduce by the GWL models, suggesting this brightening is associated with factors other than large scale atmospheric circulation, possibly decreasing aerosol loads and local cloud shifts.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alheit J, Mollmann C, Dutz J, Kornilovs G, Loewe P, Mohrholz V, Wasmund N (1980) Synchronous ecological regime shifts in the central Baltic and the North Sea in the late. ICES J Mar Sci 62:1205–1215
Ambaum M (2001) Arctic oscillation or North Atlantic oscillation? J Clim 14:3495–3507
Baur F, Hess P, Nagel H (1944) Kalender der Großwetterlagen Europas 1881–1939. Tech. rep., Forschungsinstitut für langfristige Wettervorhersage, Bad Homburg
Brezowsky H, Flohn H, Hess P (1951) Some remarks on the climatology of blocking action. Tellus (1949)
Budikova D (2012) Northern hemisphere climate variability: character, forcing mechanisms, and significance of the North Atlantic/Arctic Oscillation. Geogr Compass 7:401–422
Chiacchio M, Ewen T, Wild M, Arabini E (2010) Influence of climate shifts on decadal variations of surface solar radiation in Alaska. J Geophys Res 115:D00D21. doi:10.1029/2009JD012533
de Laat A T J, Crok M (2013) A late 20th Century European climate shift: fingerprint of regional brightening? J Atmos Clim Sci 3:291–300
Gilgen H, Roesch A, Wild M, Ohmura A (2009) Decadal changes in shortwave irradiance at the surface in the period from 1960 to 2000 estimated from Global Energy Balance Archive Data. J Geophys Res 114:D00D08. doi:10.1029/2008JD011383
Hanssen-Bauer I (1967) A simple model for diffusion of SO2 in Bergen. Atmos Environ 19(3):415–422. doi:10.1016/0004-6981(85)90163-5
Houze R (2014) Chapter 12. Clouds and precipitation associated with hills and mountains. In: Cloud dynamics, 2nd edn. Academic Press, Elsevier, Amsterdam
Hurrell J W (1995) Decadal trends in the North Atlantic oscillation: regional temperatures and precipitation. Science 269:676–679
Hurrell J W, Deser C (2009) North Atlantic climate variability: the role of the North Atlantic Oscillation. J Mar Syst 78(1):28–41
Iqbal M (1983) An introduction to solar radiation, 1st edn. Academic Press Canada, Ontario
Jones P D, Jonsson T, Wheeler D (1997) Extension to the North Atlantic Oscillation using early instrumental pressure observations from Gibraltar and South-West Iceland. Int J Climatol 17:1433–1450
Kanamitsu M, Ebisuzaki W, Woollen J, Yang S K, Hnilo J J, Fiorino M, Potter G L (2002) NCEP-DOE AMIP-II Reanalysis (R-2). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, pp 1631–1643
Kopp G, Lean JL (2011) A new, lower value of total solar irradiance: evidence and climate significance. Geophys Res Lett 38(1), L01706. doi:10.1029/2010GL045777
Liepert B G (2002) Observed reductions of surface solar radiation at sites in the United States and worldwide from 1961 to 1990. Geophys Res Lett 29(10):1421. doi:10.1029/2002GL014910
Liley J B (2009) New Zealand dimming and brightening. J Geophys Res 114:D00D10. doi:10.1029/2008JD011401
Lund R, Reeves J (2002) Detection of undocumented changepoints: a revision of the two-phase regression model. J Clim 15:2547–2554
Olseth J A, Skartveit A (1993) Characteristics of hourly global irradiance modelled from cloud data. Solar Energy 51(3):197–204
Parding K, Olseth J A, Dagestad K F, Liepert B G (2014) Decadal variability of clouds, solar radiation and temperature at a high-latitude coastal site in Norway. Tellus B 66:25897. doi:10.3402/tellusb.v66.25897
Russak V (2009) Changes in solar radiation and their influence on temperature trend in Estonia (1955–2007). J Geophys Res 114:D00D01. doi:10.1029/2008JD010613
Stanhill G (2003) Through a glass brightly: some new light on the Campbell Stokes sunshine recorder. Weather 58 January
Stanhill G, Cohen S (2001) Global dimming: a review of the evidence for a widespread and significant reduction in global radiation with discussion of its probable causes and possible agricultural consequences. Agric For Meteorol 107(4):255–278
Stjern C W, Kristjánsson J E, Hansen A W (2009) Global dimming and global brightening—an analysis of surface radiation and cloud cover data in northern Europe. Int J Climatol 29:643–653
Thompson D W J, Wallace J M (1998) The Arctic Oscillation signature in the wintertime geopotential height and temperature field. Geophys Res Lett 25(9):1297–1300
Thompson D W J, Wallace J M (2000) Annular mode in the extratropical circulation. Part I: month-to-month variability. J Clim 13:1000–1016
Werner P C, Gerstengarbe F W (2010) Katalog der Großwetterlagen Europas (1881–2009) nach Paul Hess und Helmut Brezowsky, 7. verbesserte und erganzte Auflagë. PIK report 119
Wild M (2012) Enlightening global dimming and brightening. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 93(1):27–37. doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00074.1
Wild M, Gilgen H, Roesch A, Ohmura A, Long C N, Dutton E G, Forgan B, Kallis A, Russak V, Tsvetkov A (2005) From dimming to brightening: decadal changes in solar radiation at Earth’s surface. Science (New York NY) 308(5723):847–850. doi:10.1126/science.1103215. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15879214
WMO (2008) Observations of clouds. In: WMO guide to meteorological instruments and methods of observations. Part I. Measurements of meteorological variables, chap 15
Xu L, Jinqing Z U O (2013) Impact of the North Atlantic Sea surface temperature tripole on the East Asian Summer Monsoon. Adv Atmos Sci 30(4):1173–1186. doi:10.1007/s00376-012-2125-5
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Parding, K., Olseth, J.A., Liepert, B.G. et al. Influence of atmospheric circulation patterns on local cloud and solar variability in Bergen, Norway. Theor Appl Climatol 125, 625–639 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-015-1517-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-015-1517-8