Investigation of sea level trends and the effect of the north atlantic oscillation (NAO) on the black sea and the eastern mediterranean sea

Understanding variations in precipitation from a variety of aspects is important for the utilization of water resources. Based on daily precipitation records at 98 meteorological stations in Sichuan province, southwestern China, the spatial and temporal changes in wet/dry spells were investigated by using 14 precipitation indices. The Mann–Kendall trend test is used to detect trends in the index series. Results suggest that the decrease of precipitation in central and eastern Sichuan was significant in terms of decreasing tendencies of wet spell indices. However, the decreasing trend of dry spell indices suggested an increase in precipitation in western Sichuan province. A higher risk of droughts can be expected in autumn and wet spell indices in winter and spring are increasing, implying obvious seasonality and seasonal shifts of change in precipitation within this province. Wet/dry spells with short duration were accounted for a large proportion of spells in Sichuan. The occurrence and fractional contribution of short-duration wet spells were increasing. The same trend was found in dry spells with short and moderate duration in Sichuan     

Climatology of precipitation extremes in Estonia using the method of moving precipitation totals

A method of moving precipitation totals is described and applied for the analysis of precipitation extremes in Estonia. Numbers of extremely wet and extremely dry days and other indices of precipitation extremes were calculated using the daily precipitation data measured at 51 stations over Estonia during 1957–2009. Mean regularities of spatial and seasonal distribution were determined. Long-term changes were detected using Sen's method and Mann–Kendall test. The highest risk of heavy precipitation is in the regions of higher mean precipitation on the uplands and on the belt of higher precipitation in the western part of continental Estonia. Wet spells have their sharp maxima in July and August. The highest risk of droughts is observed in the coastal regions of West Estonia. In the coastal area, droughts appear mostly in the first half of summer, while in the eastern Estonia, they are usually observed during the second half of summer. Extreme precipitation events have become more frequent and intense. Statistically significant increasing trends were, first of all, found in the time series of winter extreme precipitation indices. In summer and autumn, trends existed in some indices, but in spring, there were no trends at all. There were no trends in time series of dryness indices in Estonia in 1957–2009.     

我国干旱半干旱地区现代降水量和历史干旱频率的变化

竺可桢根据我国丰富的历史记载,首先给出了我国近5000年的温度序列,对历史气候的研究作出了卓越的贡献。张家诚等组织完成了我国500年旱涝图集,並且作了许多历史气候的研究工作。但是受资料的限制,过去对我国干旱半干旱地区历史气候的研究较少。而现代气候(一般指使用现代气象仪器观测时期的气候)与历史气候的研究相比,我国现代气候的研究相对更少一些。 本文根据目前可能收集到的资料,整理出一套我国干旱半干旱地区现代气候和历史气候变化的资料,並着重分析其变化趋势和周期。     

Drought analysis in the Tons River Basin,India during 1969-2008

The primary focus of this study is the analysis of droughts in the Tons River Basin during the period 1969–2008. Precipitation data observed at four gauging stations are used to identify drought over the study area. The event of drought is derived from the standardized precipitation index (SPI) on a 3-month scale. Our results indicated that severe drought occurred in the Allahabad, Rewa, and Satna stations in the years 1973 and 1979. The droughts in this region had occurred mainly due to erratic behavior in monsoons, especially due to long breaks between monsoons. During the drought years, the deficiency of the annual rainfall in the analysis of annual rainfall departure had varied from ?26% in 1976 to ?60% in 1973 at Allahabad station in the basin. The maximum deficiency of annual and seasonal rainfall recorded in the basin is 60%. The maximum seasonal rainfall departure observed in the basin is in the order of ?60% at Allahabad station in 1973, while maximum annual rainfall departure had been recorded as ?60% during 1979 at the Satna station. Extreme dry events (z score <?2) were detected during July, August, and September. Moreover, severe dry events were observed in August, September, and October. The drought conditions in the Tons River Basin are dominantly driven by total rainfall throughout the period between June and November.     

Spatial and temporal characteristics of wet spells in the Yangtze River Basin from 1961 to 2003

Daily precipitation records of 147 meteorological stations over the Yangtze River Basin have permitted a detailed analysis of the spatio-temporal distribution of wet spells during the period 1961–2003 by distinguishing average daily amount thresholds of 90th and 95th percentiles. The analysis are based on several time series, namely the number of the days in wet spells, the longest wet spell and the precipitation amount in wet spells. Time series trends analyses are compiled for each station by means of the Mann-Kendall test, for four sub-regions. The results show that the annual precipitation in wet spells is higher in the southeast area and the eastern Tibetan Plateau than in the other parts. The longest wet spells are found in the eastern Tibetan Plateau for both the thresholds. The indices in wet spells for most stations have no significant trends. In contrast, only some stations in eastern Tibetan Plateau and the lower Yangtze River Basin increase significantly, while some in the middle reaches show significant decreasing trends. The regional trends analysis presents a noticeable downward trend in the middle Yangtze River Basin and upward trends in the eastern Tibetan Plateau for both 90th and 95th percentiles, however, the upward trend in the lower Yangtze River Basin and downward trends in the upper Jinshajiang River Basin are not significant.     

干湿持续期随机模拟

该文应用数据建模技术, 实现干湿期随机建模。主要包括:利用历史气象资料, 从中采集干湿期数据; 应用实测数据, 创建干湿期经验分布函数; 应用Monte Carlo方法和经验分布参数, 随机生成干湿期序列, 通过和Markov链模型输出的对比分析, 讨论生成序列的统计误差, 测试结果显示, 与两状态Markov链方法相比, 所建模型性能更好。     

基于SPEI的1960—2018年赣江流域干旱特征

基于赣江流域39个气象站点逐月降水和气温数据,计算不同时间尺度标准化降水蒸散发指数(SPEI),采用Mann-Kendall突变检验、主成分分析(PCA)等方法,分析了赣江流域1960—2018年干旱时空变化特征.研究表明:不同时间尺度SPEI均有微弱升高的趋势,干旱形势有所缓解,SPEI能够较好地表征赣江流域旱涝情况.赣江流域中部的轻旱和特旱发生频率要高于其他地区,中旱主要高发地区主要分布在南部和西部区域,重旱主要集中在东部和北部.赣江流域干旱的空间分布具有较好的一致性,旱涝变化整体保持一致,南部与北部旱涝状态存在相反的纵向差异,且中部与南部、北部旱状况涝存在空间差异.     

The impact of ecosystem functional type changes on the La Plata Basin climate

In this paper, the effects of land cover changes on the climate of the La Plata Basin in southern South America are investigated using the Weather and Research Forecasting (WRF) Model configured on a 30/10km two-way interactive nested grid. To assess the regional climate changes resulting from land surface changes, the standard land cover types are replaced by time-varying Ecosystem Functional Types (EFTs), which is a newly devised land-cover classification that characterizes the spatial and interannual variability of surface vegetation dynamics. These variations indicate that natural and anthropogenic activities have caused changes in the surface physical parameters of the basin, such as albedo and roughness length, that contributed to regional climate changes. EFTs are obtained from functional attributes of vegetation computed from properties of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to represent patches of the land surface with homogeneous energy and gas exchanges with the atmosphere. Four simulations are conducted, each experimental period ranging from September to November in two contrasting years, 1988 and 1998. The influence of an identical EFT change on the surface heat fluxes, 2-m temperature and humidity, 10-m winds, convective instabilities and large-scale moisture fluxes and precipitation are explored for 1988 (a dry year) and 1998 (a wet year). Results show that the surface and atmospheric climate has a larger response to the same EFT changes in a dry year for 2-m temperature and 10-m wind; the response is larger in a wet year for 2-m water vapor mixing ratio, convective available potential energy, vertically integrated moisture fluxes and surface precipitation. For EFTs with high productivity and a weak seasonal cycle, the nearsurface temperature during the spring of 1988 and 1998 increased by as much as 1℃ in the central and western portions of La Plata Basin. Additionally, for higher productivity EFTs, precipitation differences were generally positive in both dry and wet years, although the patterns are not uniform and exhibit certain patchiness with drier conditions.     

Spatial and temporal patterns of dry spell lengths in the Iberian Peninsula for the second half of the twentieth century

Summary Daily pluviometric records of 43 meteorological stations across the Iberian Peninsula have permitted a detailed analysis of dry spell patterns for the period 1951–2000 by distinguishing daily amount thresholds of 0.1, 1.0, 5.0 and 10.0 mm/day. The analyses are based on three annual series, namely the number of dry spells, N, the average dry spell length, L, and the extreme dry spell length, L _max. First, the statistical significance of local trends for the annual series of N, L and L _max has been investigated by means of the Mann-Kendall test and significant field trends have been established by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Clear signs of negative field trends are detected for N (1.0 and 10.0 mm/day) and L (0.1 mm/day). Second, the Weibull model fits well the empirical distributions of dry spell lengths for all the rain gauges, whatever the daily amount threshold, with a well ranged spatial distribution of their parameters u and k. On the basis of the Weibull distribution, return period maps for 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 years have been obtained for dry spell lengths with respect to the four daily threshold levels. While for 0.1 and 1.0 mm/day the longest dry spells are expected at the south of the Iberian Peninsula, for 5.0 and 10.0 mm/day they are mostly detected at the southeast. Finally, the elapsed time between consecutive dry spells has been analysed by considering the same rain amount thresholds and different dry spell lengths at increasing intervals of 10 days. This analysis makes evident a significant negative field trend of the elapsed time between consecutive dry spells of lengths ranging from 10 to 20 days for daily amount thresholds of 1.0, 5.0 and 10.0 mm/day. Authors’ addresses: X. Lana, C. Serra, Departament de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear, ETSEIB, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av. Diagonal 647 planta 11, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; M. D. Marínez, Departament de Física Aplicada, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; A. Burgue?o, Departament de Meteorologia i Astronomia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; J. Martín-Vide, L. Gómez, Grup de Climatologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.     

四川盆地干旱灾害统计特征

利用四川盆地1980—2009年17市103个县(市)实测逐日降水资料,按照四川省气象局制定的四川盆地的干旱地方标准DB51/T581—2007,对四川盆地近30年干旱灾害进行统计分析。结果表明:四川盆地夏旱出现的频率最高,夏旱的高发区集中在盆地西北部的成都、德阳和绵阳,伏旱的发生频率最低,强度最强。春、夏、伏旱的空间分布高发区依次从盆地西北部向东南转移。干旱发生的频率整体呈增长趋势,且严重干旱发生频次增长明显,与20世纪80年代相比90年代增幅达到110.3%,21世纪00年代在90年代的基础上又递增20.0%,21世纪00年代发生的严重干旱频次为80年代的2.5倍。     

Dry spell,onset and cessation of the wet season rainfall in the Upper Baro-Akobo Basin,Ethiopia

In this study, maximum dry spell length and number of dry spell periods of rainy seasons in the upper Baro-Akobo River basin which is a part of the Nile basin, Western Ethiopia, were investigated to analyse the drought trend. Daily rainfall records of the period 1972–2000 from eight rain gauge stations were used in the analysis, and Mann-Kendall test was used to test trends for significance. Furthermore, the beginning and end of the trend development in the dry spell were also tested using the sequential version of Mann-Kendall test. Results have shown that there is neither clear monotonic trend found in dry spell for the basin nor significant fluctuation in the onset, cession and duration of rainfall in the Baro-Akobo river basin. This sufficiently explains why rain-fed agriculture has suffered little in the western part of Ethiopia. The predictable nature of dry spell pattern may have allowed farmers to adjust to rainfall variability in the basin. Unlike many parts of Ethiopia, the Baro-Akobo basin climate variability is not a limiting factor for rain-fed agriculture productivity which may contribute significantly to national food security.     

Spatiotemporal characteristics of dryness and drought in the Republic of Moldova

This paper presents the results of a study on the estimation of climatic conditions of dryness and drought in the Republic of Moldova. The evaluation of drought was based on data from 18 weather stations, which were selected according to the length of the period of measurement (1945–2006) and from the Chisinau observatory, which has the longest statistical series from Moldova (1891–2006). Some of the basic principles in the selection of the drought identification indices were: to characterize the same period of time, provide information on the regional hydrothermic regime, and not to rely on constants that are specific to certain physical/geographical regions. Firstly, the registers of the droughts for spring, summer and autumn have been identified and processed. Secondly, the frequency, duration and tendency of the dryness and drought phenomena have been evaluated. Thirdly, the manifestation of dryness and drought, as well as their spatial distribution, have been estimated with a probability of 95%. As a result of the analysis of the drought register for a period of over 100 years, an increase in tendencies of frequency and intensities of the given phenomena after the 1980s was revealed. The longest drought periods were noticed at the beginning of the 1950s and 1960s, reaching their highest points in the decades of 1981–1990 and 1991–2001, with the lowest point in the 1970s. Accordingly, during the past 20 years, in 11 cases of drought, 9 of them were registered as being of either a severe or extreme intensity degree.     

Spatial and temporal analysis of dry spells in Greece

Summary ?A spatio-temporal analysis of the dry spells that occur in the Greek area is carried out for an extended period of 40 years (1958–1997). The dry spells can be defined as a number of consecutive days with no rain. The number of days defines the length of the dry spells. The longest spells are identified in central (Cyclades) and the south-east Aegean Sea whereas dry spells with the minimum length are shown over the north-west of the Greek area that reflects the significance of the latitude and the topography. Negative Binomial Distribution and Markov Chains of second order have been used to fit the duration of the dry spells of different lengths. The study of the seasonal and annual distribution of the frequency of occurrence of dry spells revealed that the dry spells in Greece depict a seasonal character, while medium and long sequences are associated with the duration and hazards of drought. Received February 20, 2002; revised September 5, 2002; accepted October 6, 2002     

Dry spell characteristics over India based on IMD and APHRODITE datasets

Selected characteristics of dry spells and associated trends over India during the 1951–2007 period is studied using two gridded datasets: the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Asian Precipitation-Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of the water resources (APHRODITE) datasets. Two precipitation thresholds, 1 and 3 mm, are used to define a dry day (and therefore dry spells) in this study. Comparison of the spatial patterns of the dry spell characteristics (mean number of dry days, mean number of dry spells, mean and maximum duration of dry spells) for the annual and summer monsoon period obtained with both datasets agree overall, except for the northernmost part of India. The number of dry days obtained with APHRODITE is larger for this region compared to IMD, which is consistent with the smaller precipitation for the region in APHRODITE. These differences are also visible in the spatial patterns of mean and maximum dry spell durations. Analysis of field significance associated with trends, at the level of 34 predefined meteorological subdivisions over the mainland, suggests better agreement between the two datasets in positive trends associated with number of dry days for the annual and summer monsoon period, for both thresholds. Important differences between the two datasets are noted in the field significance associated with the negative trends. While negative trends in annual maximum duration of dry spells appear field significant for the desert regions according to both datasets, they are found field significant for two regions (Punjab and South Interior Karnataka) for the monsoon period for both datasets. This study, in addition to providing information on the spatial and temporal patterns associated with dry spell characteristics, also allows identification of regions and characteristics where the two datasets agree/disagree.     

Climate change impact on precipitation for the Amazon and La Plata basins

We analyze the local and remote impacts of climate change on the hydroclimate of the Amazon and La Plata basins of South America (SA) in an ensemble of four 21st century projections (1970–2100, RCP8.5 scenario) with the regional climate model RegCM4 driven by the HadGEM, GFDL and MPI global climate models (GCMs) over the SA CORDEX domain. Two RegCM4 configurations are used, one employing the CLM land surface and the Emanuel convective schemes, and one using the BATS land surface and Grell (over land) convection schemes. First, we find considerable sensitivity of the precipitation change signal to both the driving GCM and the RegCM4 physics schemes (with the latter even greater than the first), highlighting the pronounced uncertainty of regional projections over the region. However, some improvements in the simulation of the annual cycle of precipitation over the Amazon and La Plata basins is found when using RegCM4, and some consistent change signals across the experiments are found. One is a tendency towards an extension of the dry season over central SA deriving from a late onset and an early retreat of the SA monsoon. The second is a dipolar response consisting of reduced precipitation over the broad Amazon and Central Brazil region and increased precipitation over the La Plata basin and central Argentina. An analysis of the relative influence on the change signal of local soil-moisture feedbacks and remote effects of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) over the Niño 3.4 region indicates that the former is prevalent over the Amazon basin while the latter dominates over the La Plata Basin. Also, the soil moisture feedback has a larger role in RegCM4 than in the GCMs.     

The role of SST on the South American atmospheric circulation during January, February and March 2001

Precipitation deficits were observed over southeastern, northeastern and Central Brazil during the 2001 Austral Summer. They contributed to the worsening of the energy crisis that was occurring in the country. A low-level anomalous anticyclonic circulation observed over eastern Brazil enhanced the deviation of moisture transport that usually occurs from the Amazon Basin to southeastern Brazil and inhibited the occurrence of South Atlantic Convergence Zone events in that period. However, an anomalous low-level northerly moisture flux was observed over the La Plata Basin, and positive precipitation anomalies occurred over Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina and southern Brazil. Using the ensemble technique, a numerical study was carried out to investigate the role of different sea surface temperature (SST) forcings observed over this anomalous South American atmospheric circulation. Reynolds SST monthly means were used as boundary conditions to study the influence of South Atlantic, South Indian, South Pacific and Equatorial Pacific oceans. The simulations were run from September 2000 to April 2001 using the Community Climate Model version 3.6 General Circulation Model. Ten integrations using different initial conditions were done to each experiment. Numerical experiments suggested that the combined influence of South Pacific and Equatorial Pacific oceans could be responsible for the drought observed over Central Brazil. These experiments simulated the low-level anticyclonic anomaly observed over eastern Brazil. However, both experiments have poorly reproduced the intensity of the anomalous low-level northerly moisture flux observed over the La Plata Basin. Therefore, the intensity of the simulated precipitation anomalies over the subtropical regions was much weaker than observed.     

RCP4.5情景下中国未来干湿变化预估

本文采用国际耦合模式比较计划第五阶段(CMIP5)中21个气候模式的试验数据, 利用土壤湿度以及由其他8个地表气象要素计算所得的干旱指数, 预估了RCP4.5(Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5)情景下21世纪中国干湿变化。结果表明:全球气候模式对1986～2005年中国现代干湿分布具备模拟能力, 尽管在西部地区模式与观测间存在一定的差异。在RCP4.5情景下, 21世纪中国区域平均的标准化降水蒸散发指数和土壤湿度均有减小趋势, 与之对应的是短期和长期干旱发生次数增加以及湿润区面积减小。从2016到2100年, 约1.5%～3.5%的陆地面积将从湿润区变成半干旱或半湿润区。空间分布上, 干旱化趋势明显的区域主要位于西北和东南地区, 同时短期和长期干旱发生次数在这两个地区的增加幅度也最大, 未来干旱化的发生时间也较其他地区要早;只在东北和西南地区未来或有变湿倾向, 但幅度较小。在季节尺度上, 北方地区变干主要发生在暖季, 南方则主要以冷季变干为主。造成中国干旱化的原因主要是由降水与蒸散发所表征的地表可用水量减少。     

An intercomparison of observed and simulated extreme rainfall and temperature events during the last half of the twentieth century: part 2: historical trends

We analyze historical simulations of variability in temperature and rainfall extremes in the twentieth century, as derived from various global models run informing the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-AR4). On the basis of three indices of climate extremes, we compare observed and modeled trends in time and space, including the direction and significance of the changes at the scale of South America south of 10° S. The climate extremes described warm nights, heavy rainfall amounts and dry spells. The reliability of the GCM simulations is suggested by similarity between observations and simulations in the case of warm nights and extreme rainfall in some regions. For any specific extreme temperature index, minor differences appear in the spatial distribution of the changes across models in some regions, while substantial differences appear in regions in the interior of tropical and subtropical South America. The differences are in the relative magnitude of the trends. Consensus and significance are less strong when regional patterns are considered, with the exception of the La Plata Basin, where observed and simulated trends in warm nights and extreme rainfall are evident.     

Spatial and temporal analysis of dry spells in Croatia

Systematic statistical analysis of dry day sequences, which are defined according to 0.1, 1, 5 and 10 mm of precipitation-per-day thresholds, is performed on seasonal and yearly basis. The data analysed come from 25 Croatian meteorological stations and cover the period 1961–2000. Climatological features of the mean and maximum dry spell durations, as well as the frequency of long dry spells (>20 days) are discussed. The results affirm the three main climatological regions in Croatia, with the highlands exhibiting shorter dry spells than the mainland, and the coastal region exhibiting longer dry spells. The prevailing positive trend of both mean and maximal durations is detected during winter and spring seasons, while negative trend dominate in autumn for all thresholds. Positive field significant trends of mean dry spell duration with 5 and 10 mm thresholds are found during spring and the same is valid for annual maximum dry spell duration with a 10 mm threshold. It is found that the Discrete Autoregressive Moving Average (DARMA(1,1)) model can be used to estimate the probabilities of dry spells in Croatia that are up to 20–30 days long.     

Revisiting wintertime cold air intrusions at the east of the Andes: propagating features from subtropical Argentina to Peruvian Amazon and relationship with large-scale circulation patterns

This study investigates the spatial and temporal characteristics of cold surges that propagates northward along the eastern flank of the Andes from subtropical to tropical South America analysing wintertime in situ daily minimum temperature observations from Argentina, Bolivia and Peru and ERA-40 reanalysis over the 1975–2001 period. Cold surges usually last 2 or 3 days but are generally less persistent in the southern La Plata basin compared to tropical regions. On average, three to four cold surges are reported each year. Our analysis reveals that 52 % of cold episodes registered in the south of La Plata basin propagate northward to the northern Peruvian Amazon at a speed of around 20 m s^?1. In comparison to cold surges that do not reach the tropical region, we demonstrate that these cold surges are characterized, before they reach the tropical region, by a higher occurrence of a specific circulation pattern associated to southern low-level winds progression toward low latitudes combined with subsidence and dry condition in the middle and low troposphere that reinforce the cold episode through a radiative effect. Finally, the relationship between cold surges and atmosphere dynamics is illustrated for the two most severe cold intrusions that reached the Peruvian and Bolivian Amazon in the last 20 years.