Hydrological Research Letters
Online ISSN : 1882-3416
ISSN-L : 1882-3416
Future changes in extreme precipitation intensities associated with temperature under SRES A1B scenario
Sridhara NayakKoji Dairaku
Author information
JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2016 Volume 10 Issue 4 Pages 139-144

Details
Abstract

Recent studies have argued that extreme precipitation intensities are increased in many regions across the globe due to atmospheric warming. This argument is based on the principle of the Clausius-Clapeyron (CC) relationship, which states that the atmosphere can hold more moisture in warmer air temperatures (~7%°C–1). In this study, we investigate the future changes of extreme precipitation intensities associated with temperature over Japan, by analyzing multimodel ensemble downscaling experiments of three RCMs (NHRCM, NRAMS, WRF) driven by one GCM (MIROC3.2) for two climate periods (1981–2000 and 2081–2100, SRES A1B). We find that extreme precipitation intensities are significantly increased by 5–15 mm d–1 for temperatures above ~21°C in the future, compared to the current climate. The extreme precipitation intensities for lower (higher) temperatures below (above) 8–10°C (19–24°C) exhibit super-CC (negative-CC) scaling. The rate of increase of extreme precipitation intensities is also increased by ~2%°C–1 under the SRES A1B scenario (3.4–4.4%°C–1 during 1981–2000 and 5.5–6.5%°C–1 during 2081–2100). We find that the increase of extreme precipitation intensities is associated with strong vertical velocity and substantial increase of water vapor under the future scenario.

Content from these authors
© 2016 Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources
Previous article
feedback
Top