Due to the server upgrades and relocation, this website will undergo extensive downtime on Monday and Tuesday, May 20-21.
It will become inaccessible beginning Monday afternoon or evening, and then remain off-line until late Tuesday.

Publication Abstracts

Romanou et al. 2010

Romanou, A., G. Tselioudis, C.S. Zerefos, C.-A. Clayson, J.A. Curry, and A. Andersson, 2010: Evaporation-precipitation variability over the Mediterranean and the Black Seas from satellite and reanalysis estimates. J. Climate, 23, 5268-5287, doi:10.1175/2010JCLI3525.1.

Satellite retrievals of surface evaporation and precipitation from the HOAPS-3 dataset are used to document the distribution of evaporation, precipitation and freshwater flux over the Mediterranean and Black Seas. An analysis is provided of the major scales of temporal and spatial variability of the freshwater budget (E-P) and the atmospheric processes responsible for the water flux changes. The satellite evaporation fluxes are compared with fields from three different reanalysis datasets (ERA-40, ERA Interim, and NCEP).

The results show a water deficit in the Mediterranean region that averages to about 2.4 mm/day but with a significant east-west asymmetry ranging from 3.5 mm/day in the eastern part to about 1.1 mm/day in the western part of the basin. The zonal asymmetry in the water deficit is driven by evaporation differences that are in turn determined by variability in the air-sea humidity difference in the different parts of the Mediterranean basin. The Black Sea freshwater deficit is 0.5 mm/day, with maxima off the northern coast (0.9 mm/day) that attributed to both evaporation maxima there as well as precipitation minima.

The trend analysis of the freshwater budget shows that the freshwater deficit increases in the 1988-2005 period. The prominent increase in the eastern part of the basin is present in the satellite and all three reanalysis datasets. The water deficit is due to increases in evaporation driven by increasing sea surface temperature, while precipitation does not show any consistent trends in the period. Similarly, in the Black Sea, trends in the freshwater deficit are due to evaporation mainly, although year-to-year variability is due to precipitation patterns.

Export citation: [ BibTeX ] [ RIS ]

BibTeX Citation

@article{ro08010f,
  author={Romanou, A. and Tselioudis, G. and Zerefos, C. S. and Clayson, C.-A. and Curry, J. A. and Andersson, A.},
  title={Evaporation-precipitation variability over the Mediterranean and the Black Seas from satellite and reanalysis estimates},
  year={2010},
  journal={Journal of Climate},
  volume={23},
  pages={5268--5287},
  doi={10.1175/2010JCLI3525.1},
}

[ Close ]

RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - ro08010f
AU  - Romanou, A.
AU  - Tselioudis, G.
AU  - Zerefos, C. S.
AU  - Clayson, C.-A.
AU  - Curry, J. A.
AU  - Andersson, A.
PY  - 2010
TI  - Evaporation-precipitation variability over the Mediterranean and the Black Seas from satellite and reanalysis estimates
JA  - J. Climate
JO  - Journal of Climate
VL  - 23
SP  - 5268
EP  - 5287
DO  - 10.1175/2010JCLI3525.1
ER  -

[ Close ]

• Return to 2010 Publications

• Return to Publications Homepage