Assessing the Seasonal Predictability of Summer Precipitation over the Huaihe River Basin with Multiple APCC Models

Seasonal rainfall predictability over the Huaihe River basin is evaluated in this paper on the basis of 23-year(1981-2003) retrospective forecasts by 10 climate models from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) Climate Center(APCC) multi-model ensemble(MME) prediction system.It is found that the summer rainfall variance in this basin is largely internal,which leads to lower rainfall predictability for most individual climate models.By dividing the 10 models into three categories according to their sea surface temperature(SST) boundary conditions including observed,predicted,and persistent SSTs,the MME deterministic predictive skill of summer rainfall over Huaihe River basin is investigated.It is shown that the MME is effective for increasing the current seasonal forecast skill.Further analysis shows that the MME averaged over predicted SST models has the highest rainfall prediction skill,which is closely related to model’s capability in reproducing the observed dominant modes of the summer rainfall anomalies in Huaihe River basin.This result can be further ascribed to the fact that the predicted SST MME is the most effective model ensemble for capturing the relationship between the summer rainfall anomalies over Huaihe River basin and the SST anomalies(SSTAs) in equatorial oceans.     

Seasonal prediction of June rainfall over South China: Model assessment and statistical downscaling

The performances of various dynamical models from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) Climate Center(APCC) multi-model ensemble(MME) in predicting station-scale rainfall in South China(SC) in June were evaluated.It was found that the MME mean of model hindcasts can skillfully predict the June rainfall anomaly averaged over the SC domain.This could be related to the MME's ability in capturing the observed linkages between SC rainfall and atmospheric large-scale circulation anomalies in the Indo-Pacific region.Further assessment of station-scale June rainfall prediction based on direct model output(DMO) over 97 stations in SC revealed that the MME mean outperforms each individual model.However,poor prediction abilities in some in-land and southeastern SC stations are apparent in the MME mean and in a number of models.In order to improve the performance at those stations with poor DMO prediction skill,a station-based statistical downscaling scheme was constructed and applied to the individual and MME mean hindcast runs.For several models,this scheme can outperform DMO at more than 30 stations,because it can tap into the abilities of the models in capturing the anomalous Indo-Paciric circulation to which SC rainfall is considerably sensitive.Therefore,enhanced rainfall prediction abilities in these models should make them more useful for disaster preparedness and mitigation purposes.     

我国短期气候预测技术进展

经过近60年的发展,我国短期气候预测技术和方法也有了长足进步。近年来,一些新的预报技术和机理认识不断应用于短期气候预测业务。ARGO海洋观测资料的使用大大提高了业务模式的预测技巧,新一代气候预测模式系统已经投入准业务化运行,研发了多种模式降尺度释用技术,多模式气候预测产品解释应用集成系统(MODES)和动力-统计结合的季节预测系统(FODAS)逐渐应用于业务中,大气季节内振荡(MJO)逐步在延伸期预报中得到应用。近年来,对全球海洋、北极海冰、欧亚积雪、南半球环流系统对东亚季风影响的新认识也不断引入到短期气候预测业务中。这些新技术和新认识的应用极大提高了我国短期气候预测的业务能力。     

新疆夏季降水和冬季气温预测方法及效果评估

本文利用4个国内外先进的气候模式（国家气候中心、ECMWF、NCEP和JMA）业务预测数据,采用2种多模式集合方法（等权平均和超级集合）、3种降尺度方法（BP-CCA、EOF迭代、高相关回归集成）和3种统计方法（CCA、最优气候值、高相关回归集成）以及降尺度集成和降尺度-统计方法集成,分析了目前季节模式、多模式集合、降尺度、统计方法、降尺度-统计集合等目前常用气候预测技术对新疆夏季降水和冬季气温的业务预测能力。 研究表明,以上技术方法对新疆夏季降水和冬季气温的预测预测能力有较大差别。目前先进的气候业务模式的预测技巧普遍很低,多模式超级集合和降尺度方法的技巧常高于单个模式,并且最佳的降尺度方法通常技巧高于最佳多模式集合方法。同时,统计方法和降尺度方法的预测技巧通常较为接近,而对二者进行超级集合可以具有相对很高的预测技巧。此外,现有常用气候预测技术方法对新疆夏季降水和冬季气温的趋势有一定的预测能力,但对气候异常的空间分布基本无预测能力。建议新疆气候预测技术围绕统计和降尺度方法集合发展。     

Assessment of the APCC coupled MME suite in predicting the distinctive climate impacts of two flavors of ENSO during boreal winter

Forecast skill of the APEC Climate Center (APCC) Multi-Model Ensemble (MME) seasonal forecast system in predicting two main types of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), namely canonical (or cold tongue) and Modoki ENSO, and their regional climate impacts is assessed for boreal winter. The APCC MME is constructed by simple composite of ensemble forecasts from five independent coupled ocean-atmosphere climate models. Based on a hindcast set targeting boreal winter prediction for the period 1982–2004, we show that the MME can predict and discern the important differences in the patterns of tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly between the canonical and Modoki ENSO one and four month ahead. Importantly, the four month lead MME beats the persistent forecast. The MME reasonably predicts the distinct impacts of the canonical ENSO, including the strong winter monsoon rainfall over East Asia, the below normal rainfall and above normal temperature over Australia, the anomalously wet conditions across the south and cold conditions over the whole area of USA, and the anomalously dry conditions over South America. However, there are some limitations in capturing its regional impacts, especially, over Australasia and tropical South America at a lead time of one and four months. Nonetheless, forecast skills for rainfall and temperature over East Asia and North America during ENSO Modoki are comparable to or slightly higher than those during canonical ENSO events.     

中国夏季降水的组合统计降尺度模型预测研究

现阶段的动力气候模式尚不能满足东亚区域气候预测的实际需求,这就需要动力和统计相结合的方法,将动力模式中具有较高预测技巧的大尺度环流信息应用到降水等气象要素的统计预测模型当中,以改善后者预测效果。本文中所介绍的组合统计降尺度模型,可将动力气候模式预测的大尺度环流变量和前期观测的外强迫信号作为预测因子来预测中国夏季降水异常。交叉检验结果显示,组合统计降尺度预测模型的距平相关系数较原始模式结果有较大提高。在实时夏季降水预测中,2013～2018年平均的预测技巧相对较高,趋势异常综合检验（PS）评分平均为71.5分,特别是2015～2018年平均的PS评分预测技巧达到72.7分,总体上高于业务模式原始预测和业务发布预测的技巧。该组合统计降尺度模型预测性能稳定,为我国季节预测业务提供了一种有效参考。     

国家气候中心多模式解释应用集成预测

多模式集合和降尺度技术是提升模式预测能力的有效工具。该文对国家气候中心多模式解释应用集成预测 (MODES) 技术与业务应用现状进行了综合介绍。MODES采用欧洲中期天气预报中心、东京气候中心、美国国家环境预报中心和中国气象局国家气候中心4个气候业务季节预测模式输出场,利用EOF迭代、变形的典型相关分析、最优子集回归和高相关回归集成4种统计降尺度方法以及等权平均、经典超级集合等集成方法进行全国月及季节降水和气温预测。目前对MODES进行了夏季回报检验和约1年的实时业务应用。回报检验和业务应用表明,MODES对气温有较好的预测能力 (月预测平均PS评分为76),对降水有一定预测技巧 (月预测平均PS评分为68),具有短期气候预测业务应用价值。     

Statistical Downscaling Prediction of Summer Precipitation in Southeastern China

A statistical downscaling approach based on multiple-linear-regression (MLR) for the prediction of summer precipitation anomaly in southeastern China was established, which was based on the outputs of seven operational dynamical models of Development of a European Multi-model Ensemble System for Seasonal to Interannual Prediction (DEMETER) and observed data. It was found that the anomaly correlation coefficients (ACCs) spatial pattern of June-July-August (JJA) precipitation over southeastern China between the seven models and the observation were increased significantly; especially in the central and the northeastern areas, the ACCs were all larger than 0.42 (above 95% level) and 0.53 (above 99% level). Meanwhile, the root-mean-square errors (RMSE) were reduced in each model along with the multi-model ensemble (MME) for some of the stations in the northeastern area; additionally, the value of RMSE difference between before and after downscaling at some stations were larger than 1 mm d-1. Regionally averaged JJA rainfall anomaly temporal series of the downscaling scheme can capture the main characteristics of observation, while the correlation coefficients (CCs) between the temporal variations of the observation and downscaling results varied from 0.52 to 0.69 with corresponding variations from -0.27 to 0.22 for CCs between the observation and outputs of the models.     

Seasonal prediction and predictability of the Asian winter temperature variability

Efforts have been made to appreciate the extent to which we can predict the dominant modes of December–January–February (DJF) 2 m air temperature (TS) variability over the Asian winter monsoon region with dynamical models and a physically based statistical model. Dynamical prediction was made on the basis of multi-model ensemble (MME) of 13 coupled models with the November 1 initial condition for 21 boreal winters of 1981/1982–2001/2002. Statistical prediction was performed for 21 winters of 1981/1982–2001/2002 in a cross-validated way and for 11 winters of 1999/2000–2009/2010 in an independent verification. The first four observed modes of empirical orthogonal function analysis of DJF TS variability explain 69 % of the total variability and are statistically separated from other higher modes. We identify these as predictable modes, because they have clear physical meaning and the MME reproduces them with acceptable criteria. The MME skill basically originates from the models’ ability to capture the predictable modes. The MME shows better skill for the first mode, represented by a basin-wide warming trend, and for second mode related to the Arctic Oscillation. However, the statistical model better captures the third and fourth modes, which are strongly related to El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability on interannual and interdecadal timescales, respectively. Independent statistical forecasting for the recent 11-year period further reveals that the first and fourth modes are highly predictable. The second and third modes are less predictable due to lower persistence of boundary forcing and reduced potential predictability during the recent years. In particular, the notable decadal change in the monsoon–ENSO relationship makes the statistical forecast difficult.     

Advance and prospectus of seasonal prediction: assessment of the APCC/CliPAS 14-model ensemble retrospective seasonal prediction (1980–2004)

We assessed current status of multi-model ensemble (MME) deterministic and probabilistic seasonal prediction based on 25-year (1980–2004) retrospective forecasts performed by 14 climate model systems (7 one-tier and 7 two-tier systems) that participate in the Climate Prediction and its Application to Society (CliPAS) project sponsored by the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Climate Center (APCC). We also evaluated seven DEMETER models’ MME for the period of 1981–2001 for comparison. Based on the assessment, future direction for improvement of seasonal prediction is discussed. We found that two measures of probabilistic forecast skill, the Brier Skill Score (BSS) and Area under the Relative Operating Characteristic curve (AROC), display similar spatial patterns as those represented by temporal correlation coefficient (TCC) score of deterministic MME forecast. A TCC score of 0.6 corresponds approximately to a BSS of 0.1 and an AROC of 0.7 and beyond these critical threshold values, they are almost linearly correlated. The MME method is demonstrated to be a valuable approach for reducing errors and quantifying forecast uncertainty due to model formulation. The MME prediction skill is substantially better than the averaged skill of all individual models. For instance, the TCC score of CliPAS one-tier MME forecast of Niño 3.4 index at a 6-month lead initiated from 1 May is 0.77, which is significantly higher than the corresponding averaged skill of seven individual coupled models (0.63). The MME made by using 14 coupled models from both DEMETER and CliPAS shows an even higher TCC score of 0.87. Effectiveness of MME depends on the averaged skill of individual models and their mutual independency. For probabilistic forecast the CliPAS MME gains considerable skill from increased forecast reliability as the number of model being used increases; the forecast resolution also increases for 2 m temperature but slightly decreases for precipitation. Equatorial Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomalies are primary sources of atmospheric climate variability worldwide. The MME 1-month lead hindcast can predict, with high fidelity, the spatial–temporal structures of the first two leading empirical orthogonal modes of the equatorial SST anomalies for both boreal summer (JJA) and winter (DJF), which account for about 80–90% of the total variance. The major bias is a westward shift of SST anomaly between the dateline and 120°E, which may potentially degrade global teleconnection associated with it. The TCC score for SST predictions over the equatorial eastern Indian Ocean reaches about 0.68 with a 6-month lead forecast. However, the TCC score for Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) index drops below 0.40 at a 3-month lead for both the May and November initial conditions due to the prediction barriers across July, and January, respectively. The MME prediction skills are well correlated with the amplitude of Niño 3.4 SST variation. The forecasts for 2 m air temperature are better in El Niño years than in La Niña years. The precipitation and circulation are predicted better in ENSO-decaying JJA than in ENSO-developing JJA. There is virtually no skill in ENSO-neutral years. Continuing improvement of the one-tier climate model’s slow coupled dynamics in reproducing realistic amplitude, spatial patterns, and temporal evolution of ENSO cycle is a key for long-lead seasonal forecast. Forecast of monsoon precipitation remains a major challenge. The seasonal rainfall predictions over land and during local summer have little skill, especially over tropical Africa. The differences in forecast skills over land areas between the CliPAS and DEMETER MMEs indicate potentials for further improvement of prediction over land. There is an urgent need to assess impacts of land surface initialization on the skill of seasonal and monthly forecast using a multi-model framework.     

Evaluation of the ENSEMBLES multi-model seasonal forecasts of Indian summer monsoon variability

The performance of the new multi-model seasonal prediction system developed in the frame work of the ENSEMBLES EU project for the seasonal forecasts of India summer monsoon variability is compared with the results from the previous EU project, DEMETER. We have considered the results of six participating ocean-atmosphere coupled models with 9 ensemble members each for the common period of 1960–2005 with May initial conditions. The ENSEMBLES multi-model ensemble (MME) results show systematic biases in the representation of mean monsoon seasonal rainfall over the Indian region, which are similar to that of DEMETER. The ENSEMBLES coupled models are characterized by an excessive oceanic forcing on the atmosphere over the equatorial Indian Ocean. The skill of the seasonal forecasts of Indian summer monsoon rainfall by the ENSEMBLES MME has however improved significantly compared to the DEMETER MME. Its performance in the drought years like 1972, 1974, 1982 and the excess year of 1961 was in particular better than the DEMETER MME. The ENSEMBLES MME could not capture the recent weakening of the ENSO-Indian monsoon relationship resulting in a decrease in the prediction skill compared to the “perfect model” skill during the recent years. The ENSEMBLES MME however correctly captures the north Atlantic-Indian monsoon teleconnections, which are independent of ENSO.     

Statistical Downscaling of Pattern Projection Using Multi-Model Output Variables as Predictors

A pattern projection downscaling method is employed to predict monthly station precipitation. The predictand is the monthly precipitation at 1 station in China, 60 stations in Korea, and 8 stations in Thailand. The predictors are multiple variables from the output of operational dynamical models. The hindcast datasets span a period of 21 yr from 1983 to 2003. A downscaled prediction is made for each model separately within a leave-one-out cross-validation framework. The pattern projection method uses a moving window, which scans globally, in order to seek the most optimal predictor for each station. The final forecast is the average of the model downscaled precipitation forecasts using the best predictors and is referred to as DMME. It is found that DMME significantly improves the prediction skill by correcting the erroneous signs of the rainfall anomalies in coarse resolution predictions of general circulation models. The correlation coefficient between the prediction of DMME and the observation in Beijing of China reaches 0.71; the skill is improved to 0.75 for Korea and 0.61 for Thailand. The improvement of the prediction skills for the first two cases is attributed to three steps: coupled pattern selection, optimal predictor selection, and multi-model downscaled precipitation ensemble. For Thailand, we use the single-predictor prediction, which results in a lower prediction skill than the other two cases. This study indicates that the large-scale circulation variables, which are predicted by the current operational dynamical models, if selected well, can be used to make skillful predictions of local precipitation by means of appropriate statistical downscaling.     

Intercomparison of prediction skills of ensemble methods using monthly mean temperature simulated by CMIP5 models

This study focuses on an objective comparison of eight ensemble methods using the same data, training period, training method, and validation period. The eight ensemble methods are: BMA (Bayesian Model Averaging), HMR (Homogeneous Multiple Regression), EMOS (Ensemble Model Output Statistics), HMR+ with positive coefficients, EMOS+ with positive coefficients, PEA_ROC (Performance-based Ensemble Averaging using ROot mean square error and temporal Correlation coefficient), WEA_Tay (Weighted Ensemble Averaging based on Taylor’s skill score), and MME (Multi-Model Ensemble). Forty-five years (1961-2005) of data from 14 CMIP5 models and APHRODITE (Asian Precipitation- Highly-Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water Resources) data were used to compare the performance of the eight ensemble methods. Although some models underestimated the variability of monthly mean temperature (MMT), most of the models effectively simulated the spatial distribution of MMT. Regardless of training periods and the number of ensemble members, the prediction skills of BMA and the four multiple linear regressions (MLR) were superior to the other ensemble methods (PEA_ROC, WEA_Tay, MME) in terms of deterministic prediction. In terms of probabilistic prediction, the four MLRs showed better prediction skills than BMA. However, the differences among the four MLRs and BMA were not significant. This resulted from the similarity of BMA weights and regression coefficients. Furthermore, prediction skills of the four MLRs were very similar. Overall, the four MLRs showed the best prediction skills among the eight ensemble methods. However, more comprehensive work is needed to select the best ensemble method among the numerous ensemble methods.     

多模式集合优选方案在淮河流域夏季降水预测中的应用

基于国家气候中心提供的1981—2010年4种季节气候预测模式的资料,将两种互为补充的降尺度因子挑选方案应用于淮河流域夏季降水预测,利用距平符号一致率ASCR、等级评定PG、距平相关系数ACC方法,评定了每种模式及其所采用的两种降尺度方法对淮河流域夏季降水的预测效果,并采用了一种优选方案进行多模式集合。结果表明,从4种模式的降水预测效果来看,NCEP_CFSv2和TCC_CPS1模式的评分较高,NCC_CGCM1和ECMWF_SYSTEM4模式相对较低;采用2种基于最优子集回归的降尺度方法后,NCC_CGCM1、TCC_CPS1和ECMWF_SYSTEM4模式的降尺度方法相对于模式降水预测为正订正,NCEP_CFSv2模式为负订正;将模式和降尺度预测方案进行优选,其集合平均的评分不仅高于模式降水预测的集合平均,也优于降尺度方法的集合平均,该方法发挥了不同模式的区域性优势,改进了原始集合平均的效果,为提高多模式解释应用水平提供了一种参考性方案。      

最优子集回归方法在季节气候预测中的应用

利用DEMETER计划多个模式的模拟资料研究1959～2001年多模式集合预报的季节降水在中国区域的表现, 并结合最优子集回归(OSR)方法对中国区域的季节降水进行降尺度预报, 比较其与多模式集合预报的技巧。研究表明: 多个单模式在中国区域对季节降水的模拟性能普遍较差, 多元线性回归(MLR)集合的预报技巧不如集合平均(EM)。利用OSR方法进行降尺度预报可以极大改善中国区域季节降水的预报技巧。夏季, 降水距平相关系数(ACC)在长江以南、西藏以及内蒙古中部等地区提高很显著, ACC在中国区域的平均达到0.29, 明显高于多模式集合平均与多元线性回归集合。冬季, OSR方法可以改善多模式集合在中国北方地区较低的预报技巧。概率Brier技巧评分(BSS)也表明了OSR方法对季节降水预报的改善。需要说明的是, 虽然OSR方法在中国区域能明显提高季节降水的预报技巧, 但是其选取的预报因子与中国区域季节降水的物理机制问题仍有待于进一步的研究。     

Deficiencies and possibilities for long-lead coupled climate prediction of the Western North Pacific-East Asian summer monsoon

Long-lead prediction of waxing and waning of the Western North Pacific (WNP)-East Asian (EA) summer monsoon (WNP-EASM) precipitation is a major challenge in seasonal time-scale climate prediction. In this study, deficiencies and potential for predicting the WNP-EASM precipitation and circulation one or two seasons ahead were examined using retrospective forecast data for the 26-year period of 1981–2006 from two operational couple models which are the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Climate Forecast System (CFS) and the Bureau of Meteorology Research Center (BMRC) Predictive Ocean–Atmosphere Model for Australia (POAMA). While both coupled models have difficulty in predicting summer mean precipitation anomalies over the region of interest, even for a 0-month lead forecast, they are capable of predicting zonal wind anomalies at 850 hPa several months ahead and, consequently, satisfactorily predict summer monsoon circulation indices for the EA region (EASMI) and for the WNP region (WNPSMI). It should be noted that the two models’ multi-model ensemble (MME) reaches 0.40 of the correlation skill for the EASMI with a January initial condition and 0.75 for the WNPSMI with a February initial condition. Further analysis indicates that prediction reliability of the EASMI is related not only to the preceding El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) but also to simultaneous local SST variability. On other hand, better prediction of the WNPSMI is accompanied by a more realistic simulation of lead–lag relationship between the index and ENSO. It should also be noted that current coupled models have difficulty in capturing the interannual variability component of the WNP-EASM system which is not correlated with typical ENSO variability. To improve the long-lead seasonal prediction of the WNP-EASM precipitation, a statistical postprocessing was developed based on the multiple linear regression method. The method utilizes the MME prediction of the EASMI and WNPSMI as predictors. It is shown that the statistical postprocessing is able to improve forecast skill for the summer mean precipitation over most of the WNP-EASM region at all forecast leads. It is noteworthy that the MME prediction, after applying statistical postprocessing, shows the best anomaly pattern correlation skill for the EASM precipitation at a 4-month lead (February initial condition) and for the WNPSM precipitation at a 5-month lead (January initial condition), indicating its potential for improving long-lead prediction of the monsoon precipitation.     

How are seasonal prediction skills related to models’ performance on mean state and annual cycle?

Given observed initial conditions, how well do coupled atmosphere–ocean models predict precipitation climatology with 1-month lead forecast? And how do the models’ biases in climatology in turn affect prediction of seasonal anomalies? We address these questions based on analysis of 1-month lead retrospective predictions for 21 years of 1981–2001 made by 13 state-of-the-art coupled climate models and their multi-model ensemble (MME). The evaluation of the precipitation climatology is based on a newly designed metrics that consists of the annual mean, the solstitial mode and equinoctial asymmetric mode of the annual cycle, and the rainy season characteristics. We find that the 1-month lead seasonal prediction made by the 13-model ensemble has skills that are much higher than those in individual model ensemble predictions and approached to those in the ERA-40 and NCEP-2 reanalysis in terms of both the precipitation climatology and seasonal anomalies. We also demonstrate that the skill for individual coupled models in predicting seasonal precipitation anomalies is positively correlated with its performances on prediction of the annual mean and annual cycle of precipitation. In addition, the seasonal prediction skill for the tropical SST anomalies, which are the major predictability source of monsoon precipitation in the current coupled models, is closely link to the models’ ability in simulating the SST mean state. Correction of the inherent bias in the mean state is critical for improving the long-lead seasonal prediction. Most individual coupled models reproduce realistically the long-term annual mean precipitation and the first annual cycle (solstitial mode), but they have difficulty in capturing the second annual (equinoctial asymmetric) mode faithfully, especially over the Indian Ocean (IO) and Western North Pacific (WNP) where the seasonal cycle in SST has significant biases. The coupled models replicate the monsoon rain domains very well except in the East Asian subtropical monsoon and the tropical WNP summer monsoon regions. The models also capture the gross features of the seasonal march of the rainy season including onset and withdraw of the Asian–Australian monsoon system over four major sub-domains, but striking deficiencies in the coupled model predictions are observed over the South China Sea and WNP region, where considerable biases exist in both the amplitude and phase of the annual cycle and the summer precipitation amount and its interannual variability are underestimated.     

三个气候系统模式对500hPa高度场预报的检验对比分析

基于BCC_CSM1.1m,NCEP_CFSv2和ECMWF_System5模式的历史回报和中国全球大气再分析系统资料,对500hPa位势高度和西太平洋副热带高压进行预报性能评估和可预报性分析。结果表明:三个模式在热带地区均具有较高的预报能力,BCC模式表现最为突出,EC模式预报稳定性最好,NCEP模式预报技巧最低;三个模式预报的距平相关系数均表现出明显的年际变化,并且在超过中等强度的厄尔尼诺事件后,预报技巧有所提高,进一步证实ENSO是各模式对500hPa位势高度季节性尺度的可预测源;模式对西太副高脊线指数的预报技巧最高,其次是强度指数,再次是面积指数,对脊点指数的预报表现最差。      

Improve the prediction of summer precipitation in the Southeastern China by a hybrid statistical downscaling model

We attempt to apply year-to-year increment prediction to develop an effective statistical downscaling scheme for summer (JJA, June–July–August) rainfall prediction at the station-to-station scale in Southeastern China (SEC). The year-to-year increment in a variable was defined as the difference between the current year and the previous year. This difference is related to the quasi-biennial oscillation in interannual variations in precipitation. Three predictors from observations and six from three general circulation models (GCMs) outputs of the development of a European multi-model ensemble system for seasonal to interannual prediction (DEMETER) project were used to establish this downscaling model. The independent sample test and the cross-validation test show that the downscaling scheme yields better predicted skill for summer precipitation at most stations over SEC than the original DEMETER GCM outputs, with greater temporal correlation coefficients and spatial anomaly correlation coefficients, as well as lower root-mean-square errors.     

Seasonal Predictions of Summer Precipitation in the Middle-lower Reaches of the Yangtze River with Global and Regional Models Based on NUIST-CFS1.0

Accurate prediction of the summer precipitation over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (MLYR) is of urgent demand for the local economic and societal development. This study assesses the seasonal forecast skill in predicting summer precipitation over the MLYR region based on the global Climate Forecast System of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST-CFS1.0, previously SINTEX-F). The results show that the model can provide moderate skill in predicting the interannual variations of the MLYR rainbands, initialized from 1 March. In addition, the nine-member ensemble mean can realistically reproduce the links between the MLYR precipitation and tropical sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies, but the individual members show great discrepancies, indicating large uncertainty in the forecasts. Furthermore, the NUIST-CFS1.0 can predict five of the seven extreme summer precipitation anomalies over the MLYR during 1982–2020, albeit with underestimated magnitudes. The Weather Forecast and Research (WRF) downscaling hindcast experiments with a finer resolution of 30 km, which are forced by the large-scale information of the NUIST-CFS1.0 predictions with a spectral nudging method, display improved predictions of the extreme summer precipitation anomalies to some extent. However, the performance of the downscaling predictions is highly dependent on the global model forecast skill, suggesting that further improvements on both the global and regional climate models are needed.