• Atmosphere
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.307-317
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• 2023

This study investigates the physical mechanisms that contributed to the 2022 European record-breaking heatwave throughout May-August (MJJA). The European climate has experienced surface warming and drying in the recent decade (1979~2022) which influences the development of the 2022 European heatwave. Since its spatial pattern resembles the 2003 European heatwave which is a well-known case developed by the strong coupling of near-surface conditions to land surface processes, the 2022 heatwave is compared with the 2003 case. Understanding heatwave development is carried out by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis version 5 (ERA5) and daily maximum surface temperature released by NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) CPC (Climate Prediction Center). The results suggest that the persistent high pressure along with clear sky tends to increase the downward shortwave radiation which leads to enhanced sensible heat flux with the land surface dryness. Terrestrial Coupling Index (TCI), a process-based multivariate metric, is employed to quantitatively measure segmented feedback processes, separately for the land, atmosphere, and two-legged couplings, which appears to the development of the 2022 heatwave, can be viewed as an expression of the recent trends, amplified by internal land-atmosphere interactions.