Relative impacts of increased greenhouse gas concentrations and land cover change on the surface climate in arid and semi-arid regions of China

Four dynamical downscaling simulations are performed with different combinations of land cover maps and greenhouse gas (GHG) levels using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model nested in the Community Earth System (CESM) model. A pseudo-global warming downscaling method is used to effectively separate the anthropogenic signals from the internal noises of climate models. Based on these simulations, we investigate the impacts of anthropogenic increase in GHG concentrations and land use and land cover change (LULCC) on mean climate and extreme events in the arid and semi-arid regions of China. The results suggest that increased GHG concentrations lead to significant increases in the surface air temperature at 2 m height (T2m) by 1–1.5 °C and greater increase in the warm day temperature (TX90p) than the cold day temperature (TX10p) in the arid and semi-arid regions. Moreover, precipitation increases by 30–50% in the arid region in cold season (November to March) due to the GHG-induced increase in moisture recycling rate and precipitation efficiency. LULCC leads to significant decreases in the T2m, TX90p, and TX10p by approximately 0.3 °C. The regional LULCC accounts for 66 and 68% decrease in T2m in warm and cold seasons, respectively. The rest changes in T2m results from the changes in lateral boundary condition induced by the global LULCC. In response to LULCC, both the warm and cold day temperatures show a significant decrease in cold seasons, which primarily results from the regional LULCC. LULCC-induced changes in precipitation are generally weak in the arid and semi-arid regions of China.     

土地利用变化对我国区域气候影响的数值试验

使用RegCM2区域气候模式单向嵌套澳大利亚CSIRO R21L9全球海-气耦合模式,通过将中国区域植被覆盖由理想状况改变为实际状况的数值试验对比分析,探讨了当代中国土地利用变化对中国区域气候的影响,并对结果进行了统计显著性检验。研究表明,土地利用的变化,会导致我国西北等地区年平均降水减少,导致年平均气温在内陆部分地区升高和在沿海个别地区降低,引起许多地方夏季日平均最高气温升高,而冬季日平均最低气温则在我国东部部分地区降低的同时在西北地区升高,土壤湿度的变化表现为大范围的降低。研究同时表明,相同的土地变化在不同的地理环境下引起的气候要素变化有一定的不一致性。     

我国干旱半干旱区气候变化特征及其对干湿波动的影响

气候干湿状况是表征区域气候特征的重要指标,是在全球气候变暖背景下,水循环与陆面蒸散发作用的综合结果。本文从湿润度指数入手,结合降水与潜在蒸散的时空变化,分析了我国干旱半干旱区气候特点与干湿变化特征及对土壤湿度的影响。分析发现：近50年来,我国干旱与半干旱区均呈变湿趋势。干旱区与半干旱区潜在蒸散与降水月差值在年内出现时间上存在不一致,且干旱区明显大于半干旱区;3～9月为干旱气候区潜在蒸散与降水差值大值期,3～6月半干旱区潜在蒸散明显大于降水,7月起差值明显减小。作用分析表明,在干旱区,降水对湿润度指数的影响更大,而对于半干旱区,降水与潜在蒸散作用相当。长期以来,我国整个干旱与半干旱区大部分土壤湿度在逐渐变干,尤其是农业耕作层的浅层土壤,几乎全区域一致呈现变干趋势,说明我国干旱半干旱区农牧业生产存在较大的潜在干旱风险。     

中国区域陆面覆盖变化的气候效应模拟研究

基于MODIS和CLCV陆面覆盖资料,利用区域气候模式RegCM4分别进行两组24年（1978-2001年）的数值模拟试验,研究中国区域陆面覆盖变化对区域气候的影响。结果表明,以荒漠化和植被退化为主要特征的陆面覆盖变化通过改变陆面能量、水分平衡与大尺度环流进而对气候要素产生重要影响。夏季,中国南方地区普遍降温,季风边缘区及藏北高原气温升高,降水减少;季风边缘区与西北地区气温年际波动加剧;内蒙古中东部地区西南风增强,进而水汽输送增强,一定程度上增加了该地区降水。冬季,中国东部地区偏北气流增强,更多干燥冷空气南下,使得黄河以南地区降水减少、气温降低。     

The Relative Impact of Regional Scale Land Cover Change and Increasing CO_2 over China

A series of 17-yr equilibrium simulations using the NCAR CCM3 (T42 resolution) were performed to investigate the regional scale impacts of land cover change and increasing CO2 over China. Simulations with natural and current land cover at CO2 levels of 280, 355, 430, and 505 ppmv were conducted. Results show statistically significant changes in major climate fields (e.g. temperature and surface wind speed) on a 15-yr average following     

The Relative Impact of Regional Scale Land Cover Change and Increasing CO2 over China

A series of 17-yr equilibrium simulations using the NCAR CCM3 (T42 resolution) were performed to investigate the regional scale impacts of land cover change and increasing CO2 over China. Simulations with natural and current land cover at CO2 levels of 280,355, 430, and 505 ppmv were conducted. Results show statistically significant changes in major climate fields (e.g. temperature and surface wind speed) on a 15-yr average following land cover change. We also found increases in the maximum temperature and in the diurnal temperature range due to land cover change. Increases in CO2 affect both the maximum and minimum temperature so that changes in the diurnal range are small. Both land cover change and CO2 change also impact the frequency distribution of precipitation with increasing CO2 tending to lead to more intense precipitation and land cover change leading to less intense precipitation-indeed, the impact of land cover change typically had the opposite effect versus the impacts of CO2. Our results provide support for the inclusion of future land cover change scenarios in long-term transitory climate inodelling experiments of the 21st Century. Our results also support the inclusion of land surface models that can represent future land cover changes resulting from an ecological response to natural climate variability or increasing CO2. Overall, we show that land cover change can have a significant impact on the regional scale climate of China, and that regionally, this impact is of a similar magnitude to increases in CO2 of up to about 430 ppmv. This means that that the impact of land cover change must be accounted for in detection and attribution studies over China.     

Satellite-Based Monitoring of Decadal Soil Salinization and Climate Effects in a Semi-arid Region of China

Soil salinization is a common phenomenon that affects both the environment and the socio-economy in arid and semi-arid regions; it is also an important aspect of land cover change. In this study, we integrated multi-sensor remote sensing data with a field survey to analyze processes of soil salinization in a semi-arid area in China from 1979 to 2009. Generally, the area of salt-affected soils increased by 0.28% per year with remarkable acceleration from 1999 to 2009 (0.42% increase per year). In contrast, the area of surface water bodies showed a decreasing trend (-0.08% per year) in the same period. Decreases in precipitation and increases in aridity due to annual (especially summer) warming provided a favorable condition for soil salinization. The relatively flat terrain favored waterlogging at the surface, and continuous drought facilitated upward movement of soil water and accumulation of surface saline and calcium. Meanwhile, land-use practices also played a crucial role in accelerating soil salinization. The conversion to cropland from natural vegetation greatly increased the demand for groundwater irrigation and aggravated the process of soil salinization. Furthermore, there are potential feedbacks of soil salinization to regional climate. The salinization of soils can limit the efficiency of plant water use as well as photosynthesis; therefore, it reduces the amount of carbon sequestrated by terrestrial ecosystem. Soil salinization also reduces the absorbed solar radiation by increasing land surface albedo. Such conversions of land cover significantly change the energy and water balance between land and atmosphere.     

The Observed and Simulated Major Summer Climate Features in Northwest China and Their Sensitivity to Land Surface Processes

Northwest China （NWC） is a typical arid and semi-arid region. In this study, the main summer climate features over NWC are presented and the performance of an atmospheric general circulation model （NCEP GCM/SSiB） over this region is evaluated. Satellite-derived vegetation products are applied in the model. Based on comparison with observational data and Reanalysis II data, the model generally captures major features of the NWC summer energy balance and circulation. These features include： a high surface tem- perature center dominating the planetary boundary layer; widespread descending motion; an anticyclone （cyclone） located in the lower and middle （upper） troposphere, covering most parts of central NWC; and the precipitation located mainly in the high elevation areas surrounding NWC.
The sensitivity of the summer energy balance and circulation over NWC and surrounding regions to land surface processes is assessed with specified land cover change. In the sensitivity experiment, the degradation over most parts of NWC, except the Taklimakan desert, decreases the surface-absorbed radiation and leads to weaker surface thermal effects. In northern Xinjiang and surrounding regions, less latent heating causes stronger anomalous lower-level anticyclonic circulation and upper-level cyclonic circulation, leading to less summer precipitation and higher surface temperature. Meanwhile, the dry conditions in the Hexi Corridor produce less change in the latent heat flux. The circulation change to the north of this area plays a domi- nant role in indirectly changing lower-level cyclonic conditions, producing more convergence, weaker vertical descending motion, and thus an increase in the precipitation over this region.     

Regional climate model projections for the State of Washington

Global climate models do not have sufficient spatial resolution to represent the atmospheric and land surface processes that determine the unique regional climate of the State of Washington. Regional climate models explicitly simulate the interactions between the large-scale weather patterns simulated by a global model and the local terrain. We have performed two 100-year regional climate simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). One simulation is forced by the NCAR Community Climate System Model version 3 (CCSM3) and the second is forced by a simulation of the Max Plank Institute, Hamburg, global model (ECHAM5). The mesoscale simulations produce regional changes in snow cover, cloudiness, and circulation patterns associated with interactions between the large-scale climate change and the regional topography and land-water contrasts. These changes substantially alter the temperature and precipitation trends over the region relative to the global model result or statistical downscaling. To illustrate this effect, we analyze the changes from the current climate (1970–1999) to the mid twenty-first century (2030–2059). Changes in seasonal-mean temperature, precipitation, and snowpack are presented. Several climatological indices of extreme daily weather are also presented: precipitation intensity, fraction of precipitation occurring in extreme daily events, heat wave frequency, growing season length, and frequency of warm nights. Despite somewhat different changes in seasonal precipitation and temperature from the two regional simulations, consistent results for changes in snowpack and extreme precipitation are found in both simulations.     

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TWO LAND SURFACE SCHEMES IN WRF MODEL OVER EASTERN CHINA

Two land surface models, Community Land Model (CLM3.5) and NOAH model, have been coupled to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and been used to simulate the precipitation, temperature, and circulation fields, respectively, over eastern China in a typical flood year (1998). The purpose of this study is to reveal the effects of land surface changes on regional climate modeling. Comparisons of simulated results and observation data indicate that changes in land surface processes have significant impact on spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation and temperature patterns in eastern China. Coupling of the CLM3.5 to the WRF model (experiment WRF-C) substantially improves the simulation results over eastern China relative to an older version of WRF coupled to the NOAH-LSM (experiment WRF-N). It is found that the simulation of the spatial pattern of summer precipitation in WRF-C is better than in WRF-N. WRF-C also significantly reduces the summer positive bias of surface air temperature, and its simulated surface air temperature matches more closely to observations than WRF-N does, which is associated with lower sensible heat fluxes and higher latent heat fluxes in WRF-C.     

干旱半干旱区气候变化研究综述

从干旱半干旱区气候的时空变化特征、陆气相互作用的观测试验以及气候变化的动力学机制等几个方面系统总结了近年来国内外干旱半干旱区气候变化的最新研究进展,指出目前干旱半干旱区气候变化研究以特定区域研究为主,缺乏对全球不同区域干旱半干旱区气候变化时空关联的系统性归纳研究,且野外观测试验持续时间较短,这在很大程度上限制了对干旱半干旱区气候变化机理的认识和陆面过程模式的发展。针对这些问题,从资料获取、资料分析及数值模拟3个方面提出未来干旱半干旱区气候变化研究的主要方向。     

Progress in Semi-arid Climate Change Studies in China

This article reviews recent progress in semi-arid climate change research in China.Results indicate that the areas of semiarid regions have increased rapidly during recent years in China,with an increase of 33%during 1994-2008 compared to 1948-62.Studies have found that the expansion rate of semi-arid areas over China is nearly 10 times higher than that of arid and sub-humid areas,and is mainly transformed from sub-humid/humid regions.Meanwhile,the greatest warming during the past 100 years has been observed over semi-arid regions in China,and mainly induced by radiatively forced processes.The intensity of the regional temperature response over semi-arid regions has been amplified by land-atmosphere interactions and human activities.The decadal climate variation in semi-arid regions is modulated by oceanic oscillations,which induce land-sea and north-south thermal contrasts and affect the intensities of westerlies,planetary waves and blocking frequencies.In addition,the drier climates in semi-arid regions across China are also associated with the weakened East Asian summer monsoon in recent years.Moreover,dust aerosols in semi-arid regions may have altered precipitation by affecting the local energy and hydrological cycles.Finally,semi-arid regions in China are projected to continuously expand in the 21st century,which will increase the risk of desertification in the near future.     

近30年全球干旱半干旱区的蒸散变化特征

全球变暖加剧了气候系统能量和水分循环相互作用的变化,水分平衡变化导致极端旱涝事件频发。地表蒸散是能量水分循环的重要过程,是理解气候变化的关键环节。本文基于1982~2011年FLUXNET-MTE观测资料和ERA-Interim再分析资料,分析了全球干旱半干旱区蒸散的时空变化特征及典型区域的变幅、趋势和季节变化。结果表明:（1）干旱半干旱区多年平均蒸散量小于300 mm。冬季蒸散量最小,夏季最大且变率也最强。1990年代前后,干旱半干旱区蒸散发生了明显的年代际转变,暖季的年代际差异尤为明显。（2）近30年来,东半球干旱半干旱区蒸散量呈增加趋势,西半球呈减小趋势。典型区域来看,南非呈显著增加趋势[25.14 mm（10 a）-1],美国西南部呈显著减小趋势[-19.86 mm（10 a）-1];萨赫勒、中国北部和澳大利亚呈增加趋势,阿根廷及智利南部呈减小趋势。（3）蒸散变化与温度、降水的变化联系密切,三者具有相似的年循环变化,但三者间相关性在干旱半干旱区具有显著的差异性。     

陆面过程模型CoLM与区域气候模式RegCM3的耦合及初步评估

陆面过程通过影响陆面和大气之间物质（如,水分）和能量的交换影响气候, 其参数化方案对数值天气预报、全球及区域气候模拟有重要影响。本研究利用对生物物理、生物化学过程考虑更全面的陆面模式Common Land Model(CoLM) 替代区域气候模式RegCM3原有的陆面模式BATS, 发展了耦合区域气候模式C－RegCM3; 将其应用于东亚地区典型洪涝年份夏季气候模拟以进行评估, 结果表明新耦合的模式C－RegCM3能合理模拟大尺度环流场、近地表气温和降水的分布特征, 对西北半干旱地区降水模拟比RegCM3有所改进。通过利用区域气候模式C－RegCM3及RegCM3对地表能量和水文过程模拟结果的比较, 发现在半干旱、半湿润过渡区C－RegCM3模拟的潜热增大、感热减小; 模拟的地表吸收太阳辐射差异较明显的地区位于模式模拟的主要雨区; C-RegCM3在上述过渡区模拟的夏季地表土壤湿度比RegCM3偏干, 这与它在过渡区降水模拟偏少、蒸散发模拟偏大相对应, 体现了该模式在半干旱、半湿润过渡带模拟出比RegCM3更明显的局地土壤湿度－降水－蒸散发之间的正反馈作用。     

Dryland expansion in northern China from 1948 to 2008

This study examines the expansion of drylands and regional climate change in northern China by analyzing the variations in aridity index(AI), surface air temperature(SAT), precipitation and potential evapotranspiration(PET) from 1948 to 2008.It is found that the drylands of northern China have expanded remarkably in the last 61 years. The area of drylands of the last 15 years(1994–2008) is 0.65 × 106km2(12%) larger than that in the period 1948–62. The boundary of drylands has extended eastward over Northeast China by about 2° of longitude and by about 1° of latitude to the south along the middleto-lower reaches of the Yellow River. A zonal band of expansion of semi-arid regions has occurred, stretching from western Heilongjiang Province to southern Gansu Province, while shifts to the east of semi-arid regions in dry subhumid regions have also occurred. Results show that the aridity trend of drylands in northern China is highly correlated with the long-term trend of precipitation and PET, and the expansion of semi-arid regions plays a dominant role in the areal extent of drylands, which is nearly 10 times larger than that in arid and subhumid regions.     

土地利用变化对20世纪中国地区气候干湿变化的影响

利用CMIP5耦合模式历史情景和土地利用情景结果,定量评估了模拟的土地利用变化对20世纪中国地区气候干湿变化的影响。结果表明,土地利用的变化加剧了20世纪中国地区干旱化的进程,其贡献约为1/3。其中,湿润区具有显著变干的趋势,土地利用变化的贡献约为35.4%;半干旱区显著变干,土地利用对半干旱地区变干的贡献不显著;两种情景下干旱区干湿变化都不显著。在土地利用情景下,中国地区土地利用的变化主要表现为一级土地的减少和牧草用地的增加,二者分别从国土面积的72.7%和12.9%(1901年)变为36.0%和41.9%(2004年),且1950年代之后变化速率显著增大。其中大面积显著的变化主要发生在青藏高原、内蒙古以及新疆北部地区,导致这些地区降水减少、温度降低,而降水减少带来的干旱化作用大于温度降低带来的变湿作用。     

复杂地形区陆面资料对WRF模式模拟性能的影响

本文利用WRF（Weather Research and Forecasting）模式耦合Noah陆面过程模式,对比研究了使用不同精度陆面资料:WRF默认陆面资料、中国1 km分辨率数字高程模型数据集、2006年MODIS（MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer）土地利用和植被覆盖度资料,WRF模式对兰州地区冬季气象场模拟结果的差异。结果表明,近地面气温对陆面资料的精度非常敏感,而风场对陆面资料的精度不敏感,WRF模式对气温的模拟效果好于对风场模拟。采用高精度且时效性好的陆面资料后,WRF模拟的近地面气温准确率提高了15.8%,模拟的夜间气温改进幅度较白天大。陆面资料可影响整个边界层温度场分布,准确的陆面资料对提高WRF模式模拟近地面乃至整个边界层气象场至关重要。尽管风速模拟误差较大,但总体上WRF模式能较准确地模拟出研究区的风场演变特征。使用新的陆面资料后WRF模拟的风速误差略有减小,风向误差略有增加。干旱半干旱区冬季数值模拟需要注意土壤湿度初值和模式初始积分时刻对模拟结果的影响。     

近50年中国干湿气候界线波动及其成因初探

文中在 10a际尺度上详细分析了中国干湿气候界线波动与气候的干湿变化 ,得出 :过去 5 0a中国干湿气候界线波动显著 ,区域差异大 ,呈现出整体移动和东西、南北相异波动的特征。 2 0世纪 6 0～ 70年代中国干湿气候存在一次突变 ,由较湿润变为干旱 ,但各地干旱程度不同。干湿气候界线波动与气候的干湿变化具有显著的年代际特征。在此基础上分析了气候界线波动的可能原因 ,中国干湿气候界线的波动与气候的干湿变化是西太平洋副热带高压强度位置导致的东南季风、孟加拉湾暖流所导致的西南季风以及高原季风、中纬度西风环流等综合作用的结果。中国各地区干湿位相变化不一致 ,区域差异大 ,是不同环流以及环流的不同强弱组合所致。东南季风、西南季风、高原季风、中纬度西风环流、西太平洋副热带高压的年代际变化是过去 5 0a中国干湿气候界线波动与气候干湿变化年代际变化的根本原因。 2 0世纪 6 0～ 70年代的干湿突变 ,是整个北半球大气环流异常的结果     

利用区域气候模式对我国南方百年气温和降水的动力降尺度模拟

本文采用NCAR的WRF3.5.1模式,以NOAA的20世纪再分析资料作为区域气候模式的初始场和侧边界场,对东亚地区进行了百年以上(1900~2010年)尺度、水平分辨率为50 km的动力降尺度数值模拟试验。通过与观测气候资料的对比,分析了驱动场(20世纪再分析资料)和区域气候模式对我国南方地区近50年(1961~2010年)气温和降水的气候平均态的模拟能力。结果表明:经过动力降尺度的区域气候模式试验结果能更好地模拟我国南方地区气温气候平均态和季节循环。WRF模式模拟的气温与观测的气温的空间相关系数均在0.97以上。年平均和夏季,WRF模式模拟的气温与观测的气温的偏差大多介于-1°C到+1°C之间。对于降水,WRF模式显著提高了我国南方降水的模拟能力。和驱动场相比,WRF模式模拟的降水与观测的偏差明显减小。夏季,WRF模式模拟的降水空间相关系数在0.5以上。由此延伸至对近百年我国南方地区三个子区域(华南地区、江淮地区和西南地区)四个时段(1914~1942年、1943~1971年、1972~2000年和2001~2010年)的分析,结果表明区域气候模式动力降尺度的结果在区域平均的气温和降水的模拟数值上与观测比较接近,夏季模拟能力有明显的提高,冬季存在气温模拟偏低的误差。对气温趋势分析表明,在20世纪40年代以后的两个时间段,区域气候模式明显提高了气温变化线性趋势的模拟性能。     

近20年中国土地利用变化影响区域气候的数值模拟

区域尺度土地利用/土地覆盖变化(LUCC)的气候效应以及土地覆盖数据的不确定性, 一直是LUCC研究不可忽视的关键问题。本研究基于最新的遥感资料, 采用新的区域气候模式RegCM4.0, 探讨了1990年至2010年中国LUCC对区域气候的影响。结果表明, 中国区域LUCC使得局地气温和日较差发生了显著改变, 而降水及低层环流场变化不显著;LUCC的影响存在季节性差异, 其中, 夏秋季响应程度较大且主要体现在边界层内。就LUCC对气候影响的机理各地区有所不同, 华北地区LUCC的气候效应主要受蒸散发作用主导, 而长江流域则由反照率与蒸散发共同作用。这些结果均说明, 较短时间尺度的LUCC气候效应主要体现在其局地范围, 且在不同的季节有所差异。