An EU-funded initiative is underway to develop an integrated marine observation and monitoring strategy at a regional scale in Galicia, Spain, an area highly dependent on marine resources and known for its complex ecosystem within a dynamic upwelling system.To develop this strategy, over 200 marine researchers from diverse fields and from 14 research institutions across Galicia are collaborating through a participative approach involving the quintuple helix—government, academia, industry, civil society, and the natural environment— on four coastal and marine system key areas:i) advancing new observation technologies, tools, and platforms with a high degree of automation, enabling extensive and sustained collection of essential data for comprehensive ecosystem management. This effort particularly targets variables for which commercial technology is currently limited or unavailable;ii) creating an integrated marine big data platform that ensures high standards of data storage and standardization, adhering to FAIR principles and connecting with other ongoing international data platforms. A Marine Virtual Laboratory is also being developed within this platform to allow end-users to visualize and utilize the data effectively;iii) constructing a multi-scale, transdisciplinary marine simulator, a crucial tool for integrating data from multiple sources to generate insights and provide a structured framework to tackle environmental, social, and economic challenges. This simulator will aid in exploring and predicting the impacts of global change on the marine environment and will support knowledge-based decision-making processes for sustainable management of marine uses and resources; andiv) planning through a participatory approach the governance of marine monitoring in Galicia by fostering synergies among stakeholders, enhancing existing systems and services, increasing visibility, coordinating ongoing and future initiatives, implementing new monitoring strategies, developing services, refining data policies, and facilitating national and international collaborations in Galician observation efforts.The goal of this strategic plan is to lead to better-informed decision-making for the modernization and reinforcement of marine observation and monitoring as a foundation for a robust social, economic and environmental resilience, enabling sustainable use of Galicia’s marine environment ecosystems.

Drought can be considered an atmospheric condition, which rapidly goes beyond to affect multiple fields of the environment and human activities. The persistence of these atmospheric conditions can affect the recharge of surface and groundwater bodies due to a decrease in the volume of runoff and seepage, thus affecting human and environmental activities. In this context, the main aim of this work is to characterize the occurrence and variability of future droughts in Galicia over the twenty-first century. The methodology followed is based on the calculation and analysis of the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) in three-time scales (3, 6, and 12 months), using daily outputs of precipitation data from one RCM provided by the EURO-CORDEX project for different periods (reference from 1971 to 2005, and future from 2025 to 2060 and 2061 to 2096) and scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). Using SPI-3, SPI-6, and SPI-12 projections, drought trends and potential changes in their characteristics were explored under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios. In both scenarios, throughout the twenty-first century, a decreasing trend in SPI indicates an intensification of drought conditions over Galicia. Moreover, at the beginning of the century, under RCP 4.5, drought events will increase and will be slightly more intense but less persistent, while under RCP 8.5, the number of events will be almost the same, but shorter and less severe. Toward the end of the century, drought events are expected to be more numerous, less durable, and more intense under both scenarios.

Droughts affect the environment, the economy, and society causing socioeconomic problems derived from water scarcity, and actions are therefore required to mitigate them. To efficiently manage water resources, and prevent and mitigate the consequences of water scarcity, it is important to identify and characterize drought events. A study of the evolution of drought episodes over Galicia (NW Iberian Peninsula) from 1960 to 2020 was conducted based on data from several rain gauges in the region. The standardized precipitation index (SPI) at different time scales was used to characterize drought conditions. The results revealed an increase in the number of periods under drought conditions and the intensity of drought events towards the end of the period analyzed. The events tended to become longer over time, with a clear increase in the worst drought conditions.

This article presents MERLIN, a tool for flood hazard evaluation, which forecasts discharges and water depths in flood prone areas of the Galicia Costa district. The warning system operates in two stages. During the hindcast stage, hydrological models of the basins included in the system assimilate hydro-meteorological data in order to characterize soil infiltration capacity. During the forecast stage, hydrological models are fed with meteorological predictions and discharge forecasts along the basins. Forecasted discharges define boundary conditions of hydraulic models, which compute the flood extent and the water depths over the upcoming days. The performance of MERLIN was evaluated in 4 areas using discharge data from the winter months of 2019-2020. Results proved MERLIN's ability of predicting the discharges observed afterwards.

This manuscript applies the recently-created atmospheric river intensity and impacts scale (AR Scale) to the European continent. The AR Scale uses an Eulerian perspective based solely upon the time series of integrated vapor transport (IVT) over a given geographic location (often represented by a model or reanalysis “grid cell”). The scale assigns events with persistent, strong IVT at that location to one of five levels (AR1 to AR5), or if the IVT is too weak or short-lived it is determined not to be an AR. AR1 events are primarily beneficial, AR2, 3 and 4 include a mix of beneficial and hazardous impacts, while AR5s are primarily hazardous. The frequency of occurrence, the associated probability of anomalous precipitation and the amount of precipitation explained by each AR rank are provided across Europe for the extended winter season (from October through March). AR1 and AR2 events are the most frequent and explain most of the observed precipitation, but they are associated with a low probability of extreme rainfall. Although AR3, AR4 and AR5 events are much less frequent, and normally provide a smaller fraction of annual precipitation, they are associated with a high probability of extreme rainfall. These results show remarkable variability among the different regions of the European continent. This manuscript also provides an AR detection catalog over Europe for the period 1980–2019, and a simplified version of the algorithm used to rank the events from AR1 to AR5.

Este artículo presenta MERLIN, una nueva herramienta para estimar el riesgo de inundaciones a partir de predicciones de caudales y calados en Áreas de Riesgo Potencial Significativo de Inundaciones (ARPSIS) de la demarcación hidrográfica Galicia-Costa. El sistema MERLIN opera en dos fases. Durante una primera fase de inicialización, modelos hidrológicos de las cuencas incluidas en el sistema asimilan datos hidro-meteorológicos para caracterizar la capacidad de infiltración del terreno. Durante la fase de predicción, los modelos hidrológicos previamente inicializados se alimentan con predicciones meteorológicas para determinar los caudales esperados durante los próximos días. Las predicciones de caudal alimentan a modelos hidráulicos de las ARPSIS que determinan los calados y la extensión de zonas inundadas. El funcionamiento de MERLIN se evaluó en 4 cuencas piloto a partir de los caudales registrados durante los temporales del invierno del 2019-2020, mostrando una buena capacidad de predecir los valores posteriormente observados.

Here, the capability of the chemical weather forecasting model CHIMERE (version 2017r4) to reproduce surface ozone, particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide concentrations in complex terrain is investigated for the period from 21 June to 21 August 2018. The study area is the northwestern Iberian Peninsula, where both coastal and mountain climates can be found in direct vicinity and a large fraction of the land area is covered by forests. Driven by lateral boundary conditions from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Composition Integrated Forecast System, anthropogenic emissions from two commonly used top-down inventories and meteorological data from the Weather Research and Forecasting Model, CHIMERE's performance with respect to observations is tested with a range of sensitivity experiments. We assess the effects of (1) an increase in horizontal resolution, (2) an increase in vertical resolution, (3) the use of distinct model chemistries, and (4) the use of distinct anthropogenic emissions inventories, downscaling techniques and land use databases. In comparison with the older HTAP emission inventory downscaled with basic options, the updated and sophistically downscaled EMEP inventory only leads to partial model improvements, and so does the computationally costly horizontal resolution increase. Model performance changes caused by the choice of distinct chemical mechanisms are not systematic either and rather depend on the considered anthropogenic emission configuration and pollutant. Although the results are thus heterogeneous in general terms, the model's response to a vertical resolution increase confined to the lower to middle troposphere is homogeneous in the sense of improving virtually all verification aspects. For our study region and the two aforementioned top-down emission inventories, we conclude that it is not necessary to run CHIMERE on a horizontal mesh much finer than the native grid of these inventories. A relatively coarse horizontal mesh combined with 20 model layers between 999 and 500 hPa is sufficient to yield balanced results. The chemical mechanism should be chosen as a function of the intended application.

Rías Baixas is a coastal region located in northwestern Spain (Galicia), between Cape Fisterra and the Portugal-Spain border. Its rich natural resources, which are key for the welfare of the region, are highly vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic stress. In this study, the operational ocean forecasting system developed at the meteorological agency of the Galician government (MeteoGalicia) is presented focussing on the Rías Baixas region. This system includes four models providing daily output data: the hydrodynamic models ROMS and MOHID, the atmospheric model WRF and the hydrological model SWAT. Here, MOHID’s implementation for the Rías Baixas region is described and the model’s performance with respect to observations is shown for those locations where Current-Temperature-Depth (CTD) profiles are obtained weekly by the Technological Institute for the Monitoring of the Marine Environment in Galicia (INTECMAR). Although the hydrodynamical conditions of this region are complex, the model skillfully reproduces these CTDs. The model results and derived products are publicly available through MeteoGalicia’s web page and data server ( www.meteogalicia.gal ).

Abstract. Here, the capability of the chemical weather forecasting model CHIMERE (version 2017r4) to reproduce summertime surface ozone, particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide concentrations in complex terrain is investigated. The study area is the northwestern Iberian Peninsula, where both coastal and mountain climates can be found in direct vicinity and a large fraction of the land area is covered by forests. Fed by lateral boundary conditions from the ECMWF Composition Integrated Forecast System, meteorological data from the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) and the HTAP v2.2 emission inventory, CHIMERE's performance compared to observations is tested with a range of sensitivity experiments, exploring the role of horizontal and vertical resolution and the effects of applying distinct chemistry mechanisms. Using a high horizontal and vertical resolution yields the most balanced verification results. If both the daily maximum and minimum values are important for the given application, then the full Melchior mechanism should be used. If, however, the daily maxima are considered more important than the minima, SAPRC should be used instead. In any case, model performance for nitrogen dioxide is clearly not satisfactory for our study region, probably indicating deficiencies in the emission inventory.

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) – long and narrow structures of anomalously high water vapor flux located in the warm sector of extratropical cyclones – have been shown to be closely related to extreme precipitation and flooding. In this paper we analyze the connection between ARs and flooding in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia under a variety of synoptic conditions represented by the so-called “weather types”, a classification of daily sea-level pressure patterns obtained by means of a simple scheme that adopts the subjective procedure of Lamb. Flood events are identified from official reports conducted by the Spanish emergency management agency (Protección Civil) from 1979 to 2010. Our results suggest that, although most flood events in Galicia do not coincide with the presence of an overhead AR, ARs are present in the majority of severe cases, particularly in coastal areas. Flood events associated with ARs are connected to cyclonic weather types with westerly and southwesterly flows, which occur mostly in winter months. The link between ARs and severe flooding is not very apparent in inland areas or during summer months, in which case heavy precipitation is usually not frontal in nature but rather convective. Nevertheless, our results show that, in general, the amount of precipitation in flood events in Galicia more than doubles when an AR is present.

Cosmic rays originating from extraterrestrial sources are permanently arriving at Earth atmosphere, where they produce up to billions of secondary particles. The analysis of the secondary particles reaching to the surface of the Earth may provide a very valuable information about the Sun activity, changes in the geomagnetic field and the atmosphere, among others. In this article, we present the first preliminary results of the analysis of the cosmic rays measured with a high resolution tracking detector, TRAGALDABAS, located at the Univ. of Santiago de Compostela, in Spain.

The link between various pathologies and atmospheric conditions has been a constant topic of study over recent decades in many places across the world; knowing more about it enables us to pre-empt the worsening of certain diseases, thereby optimizing medical resources. This study looked specifically at the connections in winter between respiratory diseases and types of atmospheric weather conditions (Circulation Weather Types, CWT) in Galicia, a region in the north-western corner of the Iberian Peninsula. To do this, the study used hospital admission data associated with these pathologies as well as an automatic classification of weather types. The main result obtained was that weather types giving rise to an increase in admissions due to these diseases are those associated with cold, dry weather, such as those in the east and south-east, or anticyclonic types. A second peak was associated with humid, hotter weather, generally linked to south-west weather types. In the future, this result may help to forecast the increase in respiratory pathologies in the region some days in advance.

Research on cosmic rays is of big interest either for getting a better understanding about their origin and properties or because they offer very valuable information about the galactic, the solar and the Earth's environment. In order to improve our knowledge of all those fields, a high resolution cosmic ray tracking detector, TRAGALDABAS, is being commissioned at the Faculty of Physics of the Univ. of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). In this article we make overview of the main performances of the detector and we present some very preliminary results showing that the detector is taking good data, and that we are gathering a valuable sample of events, ready to be analyzed.

This study analyzes the influence of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on the second mode of atmospheric variability in the north Atlantic/European sector, namely the East-Atlantic (EA) pattern, for the period 1950-2012. For this purpose, lead-lag relationships between SSTs and the EA pattern, ranging from 0 to 3 seasons, were assessed. As a main result, anomalies of the EA pattern in boreal summer and autumn are significantly related to SST anomalies in the Indo-Pacific Ocean during the preceding seasons. A statistical forecasting scheme based on multiple linear regression was used to hindcast the EA-anomalies with a lead-time of 1 to 2 months. The results of a one-year-out cross-validation approach indicate that the phases of the EA in summer and autumn can be properly hindcast.

Cosmic rays of a wide range of energies are arriving permanently to the Earth coming from the Sun or beyond our solar system. Their study is of interest for many fields of research. A high granularity and high time resolution cosmic ray tracking detector, TRAGALDABAS, based on timing RPC cells, has been recently installed at the Faculty of Physics of the Univ. of Santiago de Compostela, in Spain, in order to go deeper into the understanding of the cosmic rays arriving to the Earth surface. In this article, the layout and the main performances of the detector are shown together and some of the expected research fields are discussed.

Coastal upwelling is a phenomenon of great importance both for the study of ocean dynamics and for the development of fish production in some coastal regions. Our study region, the Galician coast, lies at the northern end of the Canary–Iberian Peninsula upwelling system. Knowing the changes provoked by climate change on this upwelling system is particularly relevant for the future of this area taking into account the social and economic importance of fishing activities in this region. In this paper we study the trends in the intensity and frequency of upwelling in the Galician coast and the expected changes in this phenomenon for the next decades using three regional models implemented within the European project ENSEMBLES. As a main result, we observe that the models show a positive trend in both the intensity and frequency of upwelling phenomenon for the future, particularly significant in spring and summer which are the seasons favorable for upwelling. In autumn and winter there are no significant changes.

Climate exerts an important role on grape production and wine quality. For one of the main areas protected under the denomination of origin Rías Baixas, in Galicia, Spain, we explore the relationships among grape production, wine quality, rainfall and temperature for the period 1987–2005. The influence of climatic variability was analysed in terms of the relationship between the productivity of the grapevines and the main meteorological teleconnection patterns affecting the North Atlantic region. We also investigate the daily variation in atmospheric circulation through the study of the influence of weather types derived using an automated daily classification. We consider three bioclimatic indices for viticultural zoning, Winkler and Huglin, and the hydrothermic index of Branas, Bernon and Levadoux. While significant trends were identified in the Winkler and Huglin indices, there were no significant trends in the Branas, Bernon and Levadoux index, for the period 1958–2005. For the coming decades, using the scenario A1B evaluated by the regional climate models used in the ENSEMBLES project, the positive trends of Winkler and Huglin indices continue, while Branas, Bernon and Levadoux implies a negative trend. In all cases, these trends induce significant changes in the viticulture of the region.