Analysis of the Trends of Thunderstorms in 1951–2007 in Jiangsu Province

Based on the 1951–2007 thunderstorms in Jiangsu, a study is conducted for their climate trends, periodicity, spatiotemporal patterns, and the distributions of the first and last days of the thunderstorms at different guarantee rates (GRs) using climate tendency rate, wavelet analysis, and GR for diagnosis. Results suggest that the inter-annual number of thunderstorm days (TSDs) exhibits a decreasing trend in this province. The trend is displayed mainly in the decreasing TSD number in summer and autumn except in spring, when the variation is not significant in the study period. In this province, the TSD number declines by ~2 days per 10 years. On an inter-annual basis, the pronounced positive departures of the number take place chiefly in the early 1960s, the late 1960s to the early-mid-1970s, the late 1980s, and the late 1990s compared with the negative anomalies dominant in the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, the mid-to-late-1990s, and the late 1990s to 2007. There are vast differences in the initial and ending days at diverse GRs in different areas of the province. At 50% GR, the earliest (last) days occur from mid-March to early April (early to late September) while at 80% GR, the initial (last) days are from late March to early May (early to late October). For the distribution of periods, the periods >8–10 years are relatively stable for the entire province. Based on 1951–2007 period analysis, the region north (south) of the Huaihe River experiences TSDs less (more) than normal days in recent years.     

Overview of Advances in Synoptic Meteorology： Four Stages of Development in Conceptual Models of Frontal Cyclones

The advance of fluid dynamics may be divided into four stages： ancient, classical, neoteric, and contem- porary. A similar four-stage framework can be used to describe the advance of synoptic meteorology, such as the conceptual models of extratropical cyclones and their attendant fronts. The first conceptual model of extratropical cyclones was proposed by Admiral FitzRoy in 1863. Based purely on Admiral FitzRoy＇s personal experience （although it does contain some scientific essentials）, this model represents the “ancient” stage of synoptic meteorology. The Norwegian cyclone model was developed based on Newtonian mechanics about 100 yr ago, and represents the classical stage of synoptic meteorology. This model was based on the idea that weather changes are primarily caused by baroclinicity, but contain some serious flaws. In particu- lar, the Norwegian model regards fronts as zeroth-order discontinuities in density, which is inconsistent with the continuity principle of fluid dynamics. The Chicago three-dimensional conceptual model of fronts and cyclones, which was developed approximately 50 yr ago by using quasi-geostrophic theory, can be thought of as representing the neoteric stage of synoptic meteorology. The Chicago model was replaced in the late 20th century by a model of extratropical cyclones characterized by back-bent and wrap-up warm fronts. This model has been developed with massive numerical calculations, and represents the contemporary stage of synoptic meteorology. In the era of large data, contemporary synoptic meteorology should be careful to maintain and make full use of the profound physical understanding generated during the neoteric stage of synoptic meteorology.     

Effect of Counter-Gradient in the Computation of Turbulent Fluxes of Heat and Moisture in a Regional Model

The counter-gradient terms in the computations of turbulent fluxes of heat and moisture have been included in the PBL parameterization of a regional model for monsoon prediction. Results show that inclusion of counter-gradient terms has a marginal impact in the prediction of large scale monsoon circulation and rainfall rates.     

Long-term variability of occurrence of precipitation forms in winter in Kraków, Poland

The paper discusses long-term change in snowfall, rainfall and mixed precipitation viewed in conjunction with air temperature and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in winter (December–February). In the study of contemporary climate change and its effect on the hydrological cycle it is useful to focus on winter precipitation forms. A 146-year secular observation series from Kraków, spanning the period 1863–2008, was used to extract data on the number of days with precipitation and on precipitation amount broken down by form. Statistically significant trends were found in total and mixed precipitation, but not in snowfall and rainfall. The climate warming effect has contributed to a material decrease in the snowfall to total winter precipitation ratio during the second half of the 20th c. The highest impact of air temperature was found in the wintertime variation in number of days with snowfall while the NAO had a significant influence on the frequency and amount of both rainfall and snowfall.     

Analysis of temperature variability in the mountain regions of the North Caucasus in 1961–2013

Annual and seasonal series of temperature values are analyzed using the data of Akhty, Teberda, and Terskol weather stations (the height above the sea level is >1000 m) for 1961-2013 as well as from 1976 to 2013 in order to reveal changes in the mountain climate in the period of contemporary global warming. Mean values, standard deviations, norms, and anomalies of annual and seasonal values of temperature as well as the rate of their variation in the mentioned periods are obtained. It is found that the temperature rise is observed in all seasons and for the year as a whole at the mountain weather stations except Terskol station. According to the results of studying temperature variability, Akhty and Teberda weather stations were united into the group “mountain weather stations” with the subsequent averaging of climatic variables. Terskol weather station was singled out as an independent high-mountain weather station.     

The Role of Topography and Diabatic Heating in the Formation of Dipole Blocking in the Atmosphere

In this paper, the nonlinear stationary waves forced by topography and diabatic heating are investigated. It is pointed out that (1) the nonlinear interaction of different stationary waves forced only by topography might form dipole blocking in the atmosphere, this might explain the dipole blocking appeared in the Pacific and Atlantic regions; (2) the dipole blocking could not be caused by the nonlinear interaction of the different stationary waves forced by the diabatic heating alone; (3) the nonlinear interaction of the diffferent stationary waves forced by both topography and diabatic heating could initiate dipole blocking in the atmosphere. In winter, the dipole blocking mainly occurs in the west regions of the Pacific and the Atlantic, and the heat source over the western part of the two oceans is advantageous to the formation of dipole blocking in the west of two oceans. However, in summer, the dipole blocking could be formed in the east part of the two oceans, and the heat source over the eastern     

Seasonal characteristics of waves in the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea in 2008–2009

Presented are the characteristics of waves in the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea obtained from the results of continuous instrumental observations in 2008–2009 on the offshore oil-and-gas platform. Discussed are the conditions and prerequisites for the formation of extreme waves.     

Analysis of a regional change in the sign of the SAM�Ctemperature relationship in Antarctica

This study examines regional atmospheric circulation changes associated with a reversal in the sign of the relationship between the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and near-surface temperatures at Halley station, East Antarctica, during the 1980s. We show that the key factor affecting the regional SAM?Ctemperature relationship (STR) is the relative magnitude of two climatological low pressure centres to the west and east of the area, which determines the source region of air masses advected into the locality. The principal difference affecting the STR is shown to be a trend towards a significantly weaker climatological low (higher pressure) at ~20°E during a positive phase of the SAM. Specifically, it is variations in the phase and magnitude of the wave number three patterns of atmospheric circulation, the non-annular component of the SAM, which are the principal factors governing the regional STR. A similar reversal is observed in the sign of the correlation between the SAM and oxygen-isotope values from an ice core located some 1,200?km east of Halley. This relationship is examined throughout the 20th Century, by comparing the isotope data to SAM reconstructions, and demonstrates marked decadal variability. Thus, these data suggest that switches in the STR are more likely to reflect natural variability in the long-wave patterns over the Southern Ocean rather than the influence of an anthropogenic forcing. This finding is important when considering the potential utility of Antarctic isotope data as a proxy for the SAM.     

Analysis of a Group of Weak Small-Scale Vortexes in the Planetary Boundary Layer in the Mei-yu Front

A mei-yu front process in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River on 23 June 1999 was simulated by using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University-NCAR （PSU/NCAR） Mesoscale Model （MM5） with FDDA （Four Dimension Data Assimilation）. The analysis shows that seven weak small mesoscale vortexes of tens of kilometers, correspondent to surface low trough or mesoscale centers, in the planetary boundary layer （PBL） in the mei-yu front were heavily responsible for the heavy rainfall. Sometimes, several weak small-scale vortexes in the PBL could form a vortex group, some of which would weaken locally, and some would develop to be a meso-α-scale low vortex through combination. The initial dynamical triggering mechanism was related to two strong currents： one was the northeast flow in the PBL at the rear of the mei-yu front, the vortexes occurred exactly at the side of the northeast flow; and the other was the strong southwest low-level jet （LLJ） in front of the Mei-yu front, which moved to the upper of the vortexes. Consequently, there were notable horizontal and vertical wind shears to form positive vorticity in the center of the southwest LLJ. The development of mesoscale convergence in the PBL and divergence above, as well as the vertical positive vorticity column, were related to the small wind column above the nose-shaped velocity contours of the northeast flow embedding southwestward in the PBL, which intensified the horizontal wind shear and the positive vorticity column above the vortexes, baroclinicity and instability.     

Constructions and Applied Examinations of a Kind of Square-Conservative Schemes in High Precision in the Time Direction

In order to meet the needs of work in numerical weather forecast and in numerical simulations for climate change and ocean current, a kind of difference scheme in high precision in the time direction developed from the completely square-conservative difference scheme in explicit way is built by means of the Taylor expansion. A numerical test with 4-wave Rossby-Haurwitz waves on them and an application of them on the monthly mean current the of South China Sea are carried out, from which, it is found that not only do the new schemes have high harmony and approximate precision but also can the time step of the schemes be lengthened and can much computational time be saved. Therefore, they are worth generalizing and applying.     

Variations of characteristics of the mean atmospheric energy level in the area of the Franz Josef Land archipelago in 1935–2012

Proposed is a method for computing the average temperature of the vertical column of the atmosphere (the temperature of the average energy level) based on some features of energy characteristics of the atmosphere and using the radiosonde data within the mid-troposphere. The modem database is supplemented with the data of radio sounding carried out at Russian upper-air stations in 1934–1959. Variations of average annual values of temperature of the mean atmospheric energy level are observed with the period of several decades and with the amplitude of 4°C in 1935–2012. Intensive decrease in the mean annual values of height-integrated temperature has been registered in recent years. Long-period variations of its average seasonal values of the same nature are registered. They are most pronounced in winter and transition seasons and are significantly reduced in summer. The observed oscillations indicate the existence of disturbance sources of long-term scale that is typical of the evolution of the anomalies of the sea surface temperature in the North Atlantic. The nature of long-term changes in the temperature of the mean energy level enables to assume the existence of a local attractor in atmospheric changes near the Franz Josef Land archipelago associated with the features of the thermal state of the North European basin and with the ice regime, first of all, in the Barents Sea. The temperature of the mean energy level depends weakly on local greenhouse effects that allows distinguishing natural (nonantropogenic) causes of atmospheric disturbances in a more explicit form.     

Propagation of Envelope Solitons in Baroclinic Atmosphere

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Some Analyses and Numerical Simulations of Meiyu in East Asia in 1983

In this paper the differences between Meiyu and Baiu front in 1983 have firstly been analysed, the trajectories of air on and to the north side of Meiyu and Baiu fronts during the Meiyu period have then been traced, and the forecasting and simulating of 4 sets of Meiyu onset of the year have finally been run utilizing the global model at UK Me-leorological Office. The results show: 1) Meiyu fronts are different from Baiu ones in temperature, humidity and stratification fields in lower atmosphere; and the possibly reasons for it are explained. 2) The Bay of Bengal is the main moisture source for Meiyu front, the South China Sea and the Pacific, for Baiu ones; and some existed arguments on it are also discussed. 3) The onset of Meiyu and its rainfall and rain belts are sensitive to the Tibetan Plateau, and the water vapour conditions over the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea, but not sensitive to the SST over the equatorial area or to the East of Japan.     

Warming of intermediate layers in the upper Oyashio in 1953–2007

Considerable variations in intermediate water characteristics were found in the upper Oyashio based on the oceanographic data from 1953 to 2007. The long-term temperature trend at the 26.75σ_? isopycnal is 0.03°C/year. This temperature trend is considerably higher than that determined earlier for the Sea of Okhotsk intermediate water and much higher than the World Ocean temperature trend. The westward transport of warm and salty water of the Alaskan Stream is most likely to cause the changes in the Kamchatka Current and upper Oyashio. It is established that Aleutian mesoscale eddies move westward from the location of their formation south of the Blizhniy Strait and transport warm water (3.8–4.2°C) in their core (100–600 m, ～26.75σ_?)). As the trajectory of eddies is quite stable, the westward flow of warm and salty intermediate waters considerably influences the upper Oyashio characteristics.     

Determination of Kolmogorov Entropy of Chaotic Attractor Included in One-Dimensional Time Series of Meteorological Data

The 1970-1985 day to day averaged pressure dataset of Shanghai and the extension method in phase space are used to calculate the correlation dimension D and the second-order Renyi entropy K2 of the approximation of Kolmogorov's entropy, the fractional dimension D = 7.7-7.9 and the positive value K2 - 0.1 are obtained. This shows that the attractor for the short-term weather evolution in the monsoon region of China exhibits a chaotic motion. The estimate of K2 yields a predictable time scale of about ten days. This result is in agreement with that obtained earlier by the dynamic-statistical approach.The effects of the lag time i on the estimate of D and K2 are investigated. The results show that D and K2 are convergent with respect to i. The day to day averaged pressure series used in this paper are treated for the extensive phase space with T = 5, the coordinate components are independent of each other; therefore, the dynamical character quantities of the system are stable and reliable.     

Prediction of Monthly Mean Surface Air Temperature in a Region of China

In conventional time series analysis, a process is often modeled as three additive components： linear trend, seasonal effect, and random noise. In this paper, we perform an analysis of surface air temperature in a region of China using a decomposition method in time series analysis. Applications to the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/the National Center for Atmospheric Research （NCEP/NCAR） Collaborative Reanalysis data in this region of China are discussed. The main finding was that the surface air temperature trend estimated for January 1948 to February 2006 was not statistically significant at 0.5904℃ （100 yr）^-1. Forecasting aspects are also considered.     

Future frost risks in the Tohoku region of Japan under a warming climate—interpretation of regional diversity in terms of seasonal warming

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - We investigated future frost risks in the Tohoku Region of Japan under climate change. We focused on the processes governing regional variations in the future...     

Formation of the anomalous summer precipitation in east China in 2010 and 1998: A comparison of the impacts of two kinds of El Niño

In the summers of 1998 and 2010, severe floods occurred in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Although an El Niño event took place preceding each of the summer floods, significant differences between the two summer floods and the two El Niño events were identified. The 1997/98 El Niño is a conventional one with strongest warming in the central-eastern Pacific, whereas the 2009/10 event is an El Niño Modoki with strongest warming in the central Pacific. In this study, summer rainfall anomalies (SRA) in the two years were first compared based on the rainfall data at 160 stations in mainland China, and a significant difference in SRA was found. To understand the underlying mechanism for the difference, the atmospheric circulation systems, particularly the western North Pacific anticyclone (WNPAC), the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH), and the low-level air flows, were compared in the two years by using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. The results display that the WNPAC was stronger in 2010 than in 1998, along with a northwestward shift, causing weakened southwesterly from the Bay of Bengal to the South China Sea but intensified southerly in eastern China. This resulted in less water vapor transport from the tropical Indian Ocean and the South China Sea but more from the subtropical western Pacific to East Asia. Subsequently, the rainband in 2010 shifted northward. The difference in the WNPAC was caused by the anomalous ascending motion associated with the warming location in the two El Niño events. Furthermore, the role of tropical sea surface temperature (SST) in modulating these differences was investigated by conducting sensitivity experiments using GFDL AM2.1 (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Atmospheric Model). Two experiments were performed, one with the observed monthly SST and the other with June SST persisting through the whole summer. The results suggest that the model well reproduced the primary differences in the atmospheric circulation systems in the two years. It is found that the difference in El Niño events has shaped the rainfall patterns in the two years of 1998 and 2010. At last, the case of 2010 was compared with the composite of historical El Niño Modoki events, and the results indicate that the impact of El Niño Modoki varies from case to case and is more complicated than previously revealed.     

An Inference of the Temperature in the 13th Century of China

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Lidar Measurements of Aerosols in the Tropical Atmosphere

Measurements of atmospheric aerosols and trace gases using the Laser radar (lidar) techniques, have been in pro-gress since 1985 at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune (18o32’N, 73o51’E, 559 m AMSL), India. These observations carried out during nighttime in the lower atmosphere (up to 5.5 km AGL), employing an Argon ion / Helium-Neon lidar provided information on the nature, size, concentration and other characteristics of the constituents present in the tropical atmosphere. The time-height variations in aerosol concentration and associated layer structure exhibit marked differences between the post-sunset and pre-sunrise periods besides their seasonal va-riation with maximum concentration during pre-monsoon / winter and minimum concentration during monsoon months. These observations also revealed the influence of the terrain of the experimental site and some selected me-teorological parameters on the aerosol vertical distributions. The special observations of aerosol vertical profiles ob-tained in the nighttime atmospheric boundary layer during October 1986 through September 1989 showed that the most probable occurrence of mixing depth lies between 450 and 550 m, and the multiple stably stratified aerosol lay-ers present above the mixing depth with maximum frequency of occurrence at around 750 m. This information on nighttime mixing depth / stable layer derived from lidar aerosol observations showed good agreement with the height of the ground-based shear layer / elevated layer observed by the simultaneously operated sodar at the lidar site.