Monthly Extended Predicting Experiments with Nonlinear Regional Prediction.PartⅠ:Prediction of Zonal Mean Flow

Systematic errors have recently been founded to be distinct in the zonal mean component forecasts, which account for a large portion of the total monthly-mean forecast errors. To overcome the difficulty of numerical model, the monthly pentad-riean nonlinear dynamic regional prediction models of the zonal mean geopotential height at 200, 300, 500, and 700 hPa based on a large number of historical data (NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data) were constituted by employing the local approximation of the phase space reconstruction theory and nonlinear spatio-temporal series prediction method. The 12-month forecast experiments of 1996 indicated that the results of the nonlinear model are better than those of the persistent, climatic prediction, and T42L9 model either over the high- and mid-latitude areas of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres or the tropical area. The root-mean-square of the monthly-mean height of T42L9 model was considerably decreased with a change of 30.4%, 26.6%, 82.6%, and 39.4%, respectively, over the high- and mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, over the high- and mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere, over the tropics and over the globe, and also the corresponding anomaly correlation coefficients over the four areas were respectively increased by 0.306-0.312, 0.304-0.429, 0.739-0.746, and 0.360-0.400 (averagely a relative change of 11.0% over the globe) by nonlinear correction after integration, implying that the forecasts given by nonlinear model include more useful information than those of T42L9 model.     

Statistically Downscaled Summer Rainfall over the Middle-Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River

The summer rainfall over the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley (YRSR) has been estimated with a multi-linear regression model using principal atmospheric modes derived from a 500 hPa geopotential height and a 700 hPa zonal vapor flux over the domain of East Asia and the West Pacific.The model was developed using data from 1958 92 and validated with an independent prediction from 1993 2008.The independent prediction was efficient in predicting the YRSR with a correlation coefficient of 0.72 and a relative root mean square error of 18%.The downscaling model was applied to two general circulation models (GCMs) of Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System Model (FGOALS) and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory coupled climate model version 2.1 (GFDL-CM2.1) to project rainfall for present and future climate under B1 and A1B emission scenarios.The downscaled results pro-vided a closer representation of the observation compared to the raw models in the present climate.In addition,compared to the inconsistent prediction directly from dif-ferent GCMs,the downscaled results provided a consistent projection for this half-century,which indicated a clear increase in the YRSR.Under the B1 emission scenario,the rainfall could increase by an average of 11.9% until 2011 25 and 17.2% until 2036 50 from the current state;under the A1B emission scenario,rainfall could increase by an average of 15.5% until 2011 25 and 25.3% until 2036 50 from the current state.Moreover,the increased rate was faster in the following decade (2011 25) than the latter of this half-century (2036 50) under both emissions.     

A New Prediction Model for Tropical Storm Frequency over the Western North Pacific Using Observed Winter-Spring Precipitation and Geopotential Height at 500 hPa

A new seasonal prediction model for annual tropical storm numbers(ATSNs)over the western North Pacific was developed using the preceding January-February(JF)and April-May(AM)grid-point data at a resolution of 2.5°×2.5°.The JF and AM mean precipitation and the AM mean 500-hPa geopotential height in the Northern Hemisphere,together with the JF mean 500-hPa geopotential height in the Southern Hemisphere,were employed to compose the ATSN forecast model via the stepwise multiple linear regression technique.All JF and AM mean data were confined to the Eastern Hemisphere.We established two empirical prediction models for ATSN using the ERA40 reanalysis and NCEP reanalysis datasets,respectively,together with the observed precipitation.The performance of the models was verified by cross-validation.Anomaly correlation coefficients(ACC)at 0.78 and 0.74 were obtained via comparison of the retrospective predictions of the two models and the observed ATSNs from 1979 to 2002.The multi-year mean absolute prediction errors were 3.0 and 3.2 for the two models respectively,or roughly 10% of the average ATSN.In practice,the final prediction was made by averaging the ATSN predictions of the two models.This resulted in a higher score,with ACC being further increased to 0.88,and the mean absolute error reduced to 1.92,or 6.13% of the average ATSN.     

An Approach for Improving Short-Term Prediction of Summer Rainfall over North China by Decomposing Interannual and Decadal Variability简

A statistical downscaling approach was developed to improve seasonal-to-interannual prediction of summer rainfall over North China by considering the effect of decadal variability based on observational datasets and dynamical model outputs.Both predictands and predictors were first decomposed into interannual and decadal components.Two predictive equations were then built separately for the two distinct timescales by using multivariate linear regressions based on independent sample validation.For the interannual timescale,850-hPa meridional wind and 500-hPa geopotential heights from multiple dynamical models＇ hindcasts and SSTs from observational datasets were used to construct predictors.For the decadal timescale,two well-known basin-scale SST decadal oscillation （the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation） indices were used as predictors.Then,the downscaled predictands were combined to represent the predicted/hindcasted total rainfall.The prediction was compared with the models＇ raw hindcasts and those from a similar approach but without timescale decomposition.In comparison to hindcasts from individual models or their multi-model ensemble mean,the skill of the present scheme was found to be significantly higher,with anomaly correlation coefficients increasing from nearly neutral to over 0.4 and with RMSE decreasing by up to 0.6 mm d-1.The improvements were also seen in the station-based temporal correlation of the predictions with observed rainfall,with the coefficients ranging from-0.1 to 0.87,obviously higher than the models＇ raw hindcasted rainfall results.Thus,the present approach exhibits a great advantage and may be appropriate for use in operational predictions.     

Hindcast Experiment of Extraseasonal Short-Term Summer Climate Prediction over China with RegCM3_IAP9L-AGCM

The regional climate model RegCM3 has been one-way nested into IAP9L-AGCM,the nine-level atmospheric general circulation model of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,to perform a 20-yr(1982-2001)hindcast experiment on extraseaonal short-term prediction of China summer climate.The nested prediction system is referred to as RegCM3_IAP9L-AGCM in this paper.The results show that hindcasted climate fields such as 500-hPa geopotential height,200-and 850-hPa zonal winds from RegCM3_IAP9L-AGCM have positive anomaly correlation coefficients (ACCs) with the observations,andare better than those from the stand-alone IAP9L-AGCM.Except for the 850-hPa wind field,the positive ACCs of the other two fields with observations both pass the 90% confidence level and display a zonal distribution.The results indicate that the positive correlation of summer precipitation anomaly percentage between the nested prediction system and observations covers most parts of China except for downstream of the Yangtze River and north of Northeast and Northwest China.The nested prediction system and the IAP9L-AGCM exhibit different hindcast skills over different regions of China,and the former demonstrates a higher skill over South China than the latter in predicting the summer precipitation.     

A STATISTICAL MODEL FOR PREDICTION OF INTENSITY AND FREQUENCY OF TROPICAL CYCLONES MAKING LANDFALL ON CHINA

Based on NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data and Yearbook of China landfalling tropical cyclones(hereafter CLTC) from 1949 to 2008,correlation between CLTC frequency/intensity and 500 hPa height field and sea surface temperature(SST) fields are investigated and employed for TC statistical prediction.A prediction model for yearly and monthly intensity and frequency of CLTC is established with binomial curve fitting by choosing the gridpoints with high correlation coefficients as composite factors.Good performance of the model in experiments shows that the model could be used in routine forecast.     

INFLUENCE OF THE SURFACE AIR TEMPERATURE OVER ASIAN-PACIFIC REGION ON THE SUMMERTIME NORTHEASTERN ASIAN BLOCKING HIGH*

Synthesis analysis and singular value decomposition (SVD) methods were used to study the impact of surface air temperature (SAT) over Asian-Pacific region on the summertime northeastern Asian blocking high (NABH) with NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Data.The results showed that 500 hPa geopotential height and SAT fields over Asian-Pacific region shared the similar pattern of East Asian Pacific (EAP) wave train;there was steady remote response relationship between the EAP wave train in summer and the "+-+" pattern of tropical SAT in zonal direction from former winter to summer;there were two relative negative(positive) Walker circulations over the tropical Indian Ocean and Pacific when being more(less) summertime NABH. The influence of sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) on the summertime NABH was possibly as follows.The special distribution of SSTA in tropical zonal direction continuously forced the tropical convection and zonal circulation from former winter to summer,and led them to act anomaly.Finally the abnormal conditions were transported to middle-high latitudes through EAP wave train and yielded the advantageous or disadvantageous atmospheric circulation background for the summertime NABH.     

THE STRONG DRAGON BOAT RACE PRECIPITATION OF GUANGDONG IN 2008 AND QUASI-10-DAY OSCILLATION

Guangdong suffered from the most serious precipitation of its corresponding time during the dragon-boat race of 2008 since 1951.The relationship between the strong dragon-boat precipitation in 2008 and atmospheric low-frequency oscillation was analyzed with the methods of wavelet analysis,correlation and Lanczos filter.Results showed that the daily rainfall exhibits a significant 7 to 12-day quasi-periodic oscillation(namely quasi-10-day oscillation) during the precipitation,the daily 500 hPa height over Guangdong exhibits a significant 8 to 13-day quasi-periodic oscillation,and the daily 850 hPa zonal wind averaged over the north of the South China Sea presents a significant quasi-12-day periodic oscillation.The Guangdong rainfall during the annually first rainy season is most closely correlated with monsoon over the north of South China Sea,and less closely with an upper-level trough at 500 hPa affecting Guangdong.Strong monsoon surges induced two heavy rainfall processes in 2008.The monsoon surges joined with a westward-propagating quasi-10-day oscillation that originated from the central Pacific and was enhanced in a strong convective region east of the Philippines and a northward-propagating monsoon that originated from the southern South China Sea was enhanced.With composite analysis of typical phases,the common evolution characteristics of atmospheric circulation of the two heavy rainfall processes were analyzed for different phases.These features can be used as reference for medium prediction of heavy rainfall processes in Guangdong.     

VALIDATION OF NEAR-SURFACE WINDS OBTAINED BY A HYBRID WRF/CALMET MODELING SYSTEM OVER A COASTAL ISLAND WITH COMPLEX TERRAIN

The results from a hybrid approach that combines a mesoscale meteorological model with a diagnostic model to produce high-resolution wind fields in complex coastal topography are evaluated.The diagnostic wind model(California Meteorological Model,CALMET) with 100-m horizontal spacing was driven with outputs from the Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF) model to obtain near-surface winds for the 1-year period from 12 September 2003 to 11 September 2004.Results were compared with wind observations at four sites.Traditional statistical scores,including correlation coefficients,standard deviations(SDs) and mean absolute errors(MAEs),indicate that the wind estimates from the WRF/CALMET modeling system are produced reasonably well.The correlation coefficients are relatively large,ranging from 0.5 to 0.7 for the zonal wind component and from 0.75 to 0.85 for the meridional wind component.MAEs for wind speed range from 1.5 to 2.0 m s-1 at 10 meters above ground level(AGL) and from 2.0 to 2.5 m s-1 at 60 m AGL.MAEs for wind direction range from 30 to 40 degrees at both levels.A spectral decomposition of the time series of wind speed shows positive impacts of CALMET in improving the mesoscale winds.Moreover,combining the CALMET model with WRF significantly improves the spatial variability of the simulated wind fields.It can be concluded that the WRF/CALMET modeling system is capable of providing a detailed near-surface wind field,but the physics in the diagnostic CALMET model needs to be further improved.     

Some Experiments with Multivariate Objective Analysis Scheme of Heights and Winds Using Optimum Interpolation

A two-dimensional, multitvariate objective analysis scheme for simultaneous analysis of geopotential height and wind fields has been developed over Indian and adjoining region for use in numerical weather prediction. The height-height correlations calculated using daily data of four July months (1976-1979), are used to derive the other autocorrelations and cross-correlations assuming geostropic relationship. A Gaussian function is used to model the autocorrelation function. Since the scheme is multivariate the regression coefficients (weights) are matrix.Near the equator, the geostrophic approximation relating mass and wind is decoupled in a way similar to Bergman (1979). The objective analyses were made over Indian and adjoining region for 850, 700, 500, 300 and 200 hPa levels for the period from 4 July to 8 July 1979, 12 GMT. The analyses obtained using multivariate optimum interpolation scheme depict the synoptic situations satisfactorily. The analyses were also compared with the FGGE analyses (from     

CHARACTERISTICS OF MIDDLE EAST JET STREAM DURING SEASONAL TRANSITION AND ITS RELATION WITH INDIAN SUMMER MONSOON ONSET?

By using the NCEP/NCAR pentad reanalysis data from 1968 to 2009, the variation characteristics of Middle East jet stream(MEJS) and its thermal mechanism during seasonal transition are studied. Results show that the intensity and south-north location of MEJS center exhibit obvious seasonal variation characteristics. When MEJS is strong, it is at 27.5°N from the 67 th pentad to the 24 th pentad the following year; when MEJS is weak, it is at 45°N from the 38 th pentad to the 44 th pentad. The first Empirical Orthogonal Function(EOF) mode of 200-hPa zonal wind field shows that MEJS is mainly over Egypt and Saudi Arabia in winter and over the eastern Black Sea and the eastern Aral Sea in summer. MEJS intensity markedly weakens in summer in comparison with that in winter. The 26th-31 st pentad is the spring-summer transition of MEJS, and the 54th-61 st pentad the autumn-winter transition. During the two seasonal transitions, the temporal variations of the 500-200 hPa south-north temperature difference(SNTD) well match with 200-hPa zonal wind velocity, indicating that the former leads to the latter following the principle of thermal wind. A case analysis shows that there is a close relation between the onset date of Indian summer monsoon and the transition date of MEJS seasonal transition. When the outbreak date of Indian summer monsoon is earlier than normal, MEJS moves northward earlier because the larger SNTD between 500-200 hPa moves northward earlier, with the westerly jet in the lower troposphere over 40°-90°E appearing earlier than normal, and vice versa.     

A New Statistical Downscaling Scheme for Predicting Winter Precipitation in China

An effective statistical downscaling scheme was developed on the basis of singular value decomposition to predict boreal winter(December-January-February)precipitation over China.The variable geopotential height at 500 hPa(GH5)over East Asia,which was obtained from National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s Coupled Forecast System(NCEP CFS),was used as one predictor for the scheme.The preceding sea ice concentration(SIC)signal obtained from observed data over high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere was chosen as an additional predictor.This downscaling scheme showed significantly improvement in predictability over the original CFS general circulation model(GCM)output in cross validation.The multi-year average spatial anomaly correlation coefficient increased from–0.03 to 0.31,and the downscaling temporal root-mean-square-error(RMSE)decreased significantly over that of the original CFS GCM for most China stations.Furthermore,large precipitation anomaly centers were reproduced with greater accuracy in the downscaling scheme than those in the original CFS GCM,and the anomaly correlation coefficient between the observation and downscaling results reached～0.6 in the winter of 2008.     

Notes on extended–range atmospheric prediction in the Northern Hemisphere winter

We examined the characteristic feature and predictability of low frequency variability (LFV) of the atmosphere in the Northern Hemisphere winter (January and February) by using the empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) of the geopotential height at 500 hPa. In the discussion, we used the EOFs for geostrophic zonal wind (Uznl) and the height deviation from the zonal mean (Zeddy). The set of EOFs for Uznl and Zeddy was denoted as Uznl-1. Uznl-2, …, Zeddy-1, Zeddy-2…, respectively. We used the data samples of 396 pentads derived from 33 years of NMC, ECMWF and JMA analyses, from January 1963 to 1995. From the calculated scores for Uznl-1, Uznl-2, Zeddy-1, Zeddy-2 and so on we found that Uznl-1 and Zeddy-1 were statistically stable and their scores were more persistent than those of the other EOFs. A close relationship existed between the scores of Uznl-1 and those of Zeddy-1 30-day forecast experiments were carried out with the medium resolution version of JMA global spectral model for 20 cases in January and February for the period of 1984-1992. Results showed that Zeddy-1 was more predicta?ble than the other EOFs for Zeddy Considering these results, we argued that prediction of the Zeddy-1 was to be one of the main target of extended range forecasting     

The Interdecadal Variation of the Western Pacific Subtropical High as Measured by 500 hPa Eddy Geopotential Height

The interdecadal variation of the summer western Pacific subtropical high(WPSH)during1948–2009 is investigated in this study.Compared with most previous works,which focused on the 500 h Pa geopotential height,the interdecadal variation of the horizontal winds,relative vorticity,and eddy geopotential height over the western Pacific are all analyzed.The weakened anticyclone and decreased negative relative vorticity at middle-low levels over the western Pacific suggest that the WPSH weakened during 1979–2009 relative to1948–78.After subtracting the zonal belt mean height between 0°and 40°N,the 500 hP a eddy geopotential height with significant negative anomalies over the western Pacific can correctly depict this weakened interdecadal variation of the WPSH.The illusory westward extension signal reflected by the 500 h Pa geopotential height may derive from the significant increment of the geopotential height at middle and lower latitudes in the late 1970s under global warming.     

Use of Surface Observations to Estimate Upper Air Humidity for the Objective Analysis of Relative Humidity over Indian Region

In the present study objective analyses of relative humidity (RH) at surface and at the levels of 850,700 and 500 hPa have been made using Gandin’s (1963) optimum interpolation scheme. As the horizontal resolution of the radiosonde stations is rather inadequate for upper air humidity analysis, a scheme has been developed, following Rasmussen (1982) to estimate the upper air RH from the surface observations like surface RH, present weather and cloud cover. The relative humidities at the levels 850, 700 and 500 hPa were related to the surface observations through three separate regression relations. The RH values at 850, 700 and 500 hPa levels were estimated from the surface RH, cloud coverage and present weather using the above regression relations and subsequently the objective analyses at 00 GMT for the period from 4 July to 8 July 1979, were made using these estimated data along with the observed radiosonde data. Objective analyses were also made for the same period using only the radiosonde data for comparison to study the impact of those estimated data. Root mean square errors were computed for all the five days by interpolating RH at the observing stations from the objectively analysed field and comparing them with the actually observed RH to examine how best the analyses (with and without estimated data) fitted the observations. Lastly they were compared with satellite cloud pictures. This study shows that the estimated upper air RH values have positive impact on the analysis of upper air RH and could be used over radiosonde date sparse region and even over oceanic regions.     

Monthly Mean Temperature Prediction Based on a Multi－level Mapping Model of Neural Network BP Type

In terms of 34-year monthly mean temperature series in 1946-1979, the multi-level mapping model of neural network BP type was applied to calculate the system’s fractual dimension D0 = 2.8, leading to a three-level model of this type with i × j = 3 × 2, k = 1, and the 1980 monthly mean temperture prediction on a long-term basis were pre-pared by steadily modifying the weighting coefficient, making for the correlation coefficient of 97% with the measurements. Furthermore, the weighting parameter was modified for each month of 1980 by means of observations, therefore constructing monthly mean temperature forecasts from January to December of the year, reaching the correlation of 99.9% with the measurements. Likewise, the resulting 1981 monthly predictions on a long-range basis with 1946-1980 corresponding records yielded the correlation of 98% and the month-to month forecasts of 99.4%.     

A Climatological Perspective on Extratropical Synoptic-Scale Transient Eddy Activity Response to Western Pacific Tropical Cyclones

An observational study focusing on the contribution of tropical cyclones(TCs)that form over the western North Pacific(WNP)to the synoptic-scale transient eddy activity(STEA)over the North Pacific during the boreal autumn and early winter in the period 1979–2019 is presented in this paper.Statistical results show that WNP TCs entering the midlatitudinal North Pacific provide significant positive effects on the pentad mean strength of STEA,which is primarily concentrated over the Kuroshio/Oyashio Extensions(KOE)and regions from east of Japan to 160°W in the lower and midto-upper troposphere,respectively.TC intensity is highly indicative of the subsequent STEA with a correlation coefficient of 0.37/0.33/0.45 at 300 hPa/500 hPa/850 hPa exceeding the 99%confidence level for the period 1979–2019.The strength of STEA in the upper troposphere associated with TCs presents a more significant linear growth with TC intensity than that at the mid-to-lower levels after the cyclones enter the KOE region,suggesting that the impact of TCs on STEA gradually increases with height.Further analyses reveal that the contribution of TCs accounts for 4%–6%of the total STEA change over the KOE region during the late autumn and early winter.In addition,the influence of TCs on STEA experienced an interdecadal decrease from the early 2000 s through the early 2010 s.     

Impact of 4DVAR Assimilation of AIRS Total Column Ozone Observations on the Simulation of Hurricane Earl

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder(AIRS) provides twice-daily global observations of brightness temperature, which can be used to retrieve the total column ozone with high spatial and temporal resolution.In order to apply the AIRS ozone data to numerical prediction of tropical cyclones, a four-dimensional variational(4DVAR) assimilation scheme on selected model levels is adopted and implemented in the mesoscale non-hydrostatic model MM5. Based on the correlation between total column ozone and potential vorticity(PV), the observation operator of each level is established and five levels with highest correlation coefficients are selected for the 4DVAR assimilation of the AIRS total column ozone observations. The results from the numerical experiments using the proposed assimilation scheme for Hurricane Earl show that the ozone data assimilation affects the PV distributions with more mesoscale information at high levels first and then influences those at middle and low levels through the so-called asymmetric penetration of PV anomalies.With the AIRS ozone data being assimilated, the warm core of Hurricane Earl is intensified, resulting in the improvement of other fields near the hurricane center. The track prediction is improved mainly due to adjustment of the steering flows in the assimilation experiment.     

Use of Surface Observations to Estimate Upper Air Humidity for the Objective Analysis of Relative Humidity over Indian Region

In the present study objective analyses of relative humidity (RH) at surface and at the levels of 850, 700 and 500 hPa have been made using Gandin's (1963) optimum interpolation scheme. As the horizontal resolution of the radiosonde stations is rather inadequate for upper air humidity analysis, a scheme has been developed, following Rasmussen (1982) to estimate the upper air RH from the surface observations like surface RH, present weather and cloud cover. The relative humidities at the levels 850, 700 and 500 hPa were related to the surface observations through three separate regression relations. The RH values at 850, 700 and 500 hPa levels were estimated from the surface RH, cloud coverage and present weather using the above regression relations and subsequently the objective analyses at 00 GMT for the period from 4 July to 8 July 1979, were made using these estimated data along with the observed radiosonde data. Objective analyses were also made for the same period using only the radiosonde data for     

Oscillation of Surface PM_(2.5) Concentration Resulting from an Alternation of Easterly and Southerly Winds in Beijing: Mechanisms and Implications

We used simultaneous measurements of surface PM_(2.5) concentration and vertical profiles of aerosol concentration,temperature, and humidity, together with regional air quality model simulations, to study an episode of aerosol pollution in Beijing from 15 to 19 November 2016. The potential effects of easterly and southerly winds on the surface concentrations and vertical profiles of the PM_(2.5) pollution were investigated. Favorable easterly winds produced strong upward motion and were able to transport the PM_(2.5) pollution at the surface to the upper levels of the atmosphere. The amount of surface PM_(2.5) pollution transported by the easterly winds was determined by the strength and height of the upward motion produced by the easterly winds and the initial height of the upward wind. A greater amount of PM_(2.5) pollution was transported to upper levels of the atmosphere by upward winds with a lower initial height. The pollutants were diluted by easterly winds from clean ocean air masses. The inversion layer was destroyed by the easterly winds and the surface pollutants and warm air masses were then lifted to the upper levels of the atmosphere, where they re-established a multi-layer inversion. This region of inversion was strengthened by the southerly winds, increasing the severity of pollution. A vortex was produced by southerly winds that led to the convergence of air along the Taihang Mountains. Pollutants were transported from southern–central Hebei Province to Beijing in the boundary layer. Warm advection associated with the southerly winds intensified the inversion produced by the easterly winds and a more stable boundary layer was formed. The layer with high PM_(2.5) concentration became dee-per with persistent southerly winds of a certain depth. The polluted air masses then rose over the northern Taihang Mountains to the northern mountainous regions of Hebei Province.