A proposal for medicane detection in long high-resolution climate model simulations with a minimal amount of data
Authors: de la Vara Alba , Gutiérrez-Fernández Jesús , González-Alemán Juan Jesús , Gaertner Miguel Ángel 
Published: March 2021

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Medicanes are tropical-like cyclones that &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;form&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; in the Mediterranean Sea. Due to their harmful potential, the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;characterization&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; of medicanes has &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;become an increasingly-studied topic within the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; scientific community. In the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;current&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; context of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;climate change&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;, their future characterization &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;from a climatological perspective&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; can only be &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;attained&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; using &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;high resolution &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;climate model output. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;T&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;he thermal structure of medicanes is &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;generally examined with&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; the Cyclone Phase Space (CPS) described &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;in&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Hart (2003)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;. This &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;necessitates&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; geopotential data from 300 hPa to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;9&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;00 hPa every 50 hPa. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Notwiths&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;t&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;anding&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;, in long, high-resolution climate simulations, model output requires very high storage space and only data from a few geopotential levels are &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;typically&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; saved. To overcome the lack of geopotential data at some levels, available &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;model&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; data are vertically interpolated &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;in order &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;to obtain data for the 13 levels required. In this work, we use high&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; horizontal &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;resolution data from the ERA-5 reanalysis (1979 - 2018) to analyze the climatology of medicanes simulated using the 13 vertical levels required &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;based on&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Hart (2003)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;, as well as different combinations of geopotential data from a few selected levels. Our results allow us to propose, for the first time, a limited se&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;t&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; of recommended geopotential levels &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;needed&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;to adequately &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;detect&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; medicanes in long, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;high resolution&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; climate change simulations, taking into account the associated limitations of output data sto&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;rage&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;