Thermal interaction between near-water atmospheric layer and surface water layer on the northeastern shelf of the Black Sea

Thermal interaction between near-water atmospheric layer and surface water layer is considered within long-term, seasonal, synoptic, and mesoscale variability ranges from long-term air and water temperature measurement data. It is established that long-term mean monthly values of water temperature within annual cycle are greater than corresponding values of air temperature. Equations of relationships are obtained for long-term mean annual, mean seasonal, and mean monthly air and water temperature values.     

Seasonal Variability of the Yellow Sea／East China Sea Surface Fluxes and Thermohaline Structure

We use the U.S. Navy‘s Master Oceanographic Observation Data Set (MOODS) for the Yellow Sea/East China Sea (YES) to investigate the climatological water mass features and the seasonal and non-seasonal variabilities of the thermohaline structure, and use the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) from 1945 to 1989 to investigate the linkage between the fluxes (momentum, heat, and moisture) across the air-ocean interface and the formation of the water mass features. After examining the major current systems and considering the local bathymetry and water mass properties, we divide YES into five regions: East China Sea (ECS) shelf, Yellow Sea (YS) Basin, Cheju bifurcation (CB) zone,Taiwan Warm Current (TWC) region, Kuroshio Current (KC) region. The long term mean surface heat balance corresponds to a heat loss of 30 W m^-2 in the ESC and CB regions, a heat loss of 65 W m^-2 in the KC and TWC regions, and a heat gain of 15 W m^-2 in the YS region. The surface freshwater balance is defined by precipitation minus evaporation. The annual water loss from the surface for the five subarea sranges from 1.8 to 4 cm month^-1. The fresh water loss from the surface should be compensated for from the river run-off. The entire water column of the shelf region (ECS, YS, and CB) undergoes an evident seasonal thermal cycle with maximum values of temperature during summer and maximum mixed layer depths during winter. However, only the surface waters of the TWC and KC regions exhibit a seasonal thermal cycle. We also found two different relations between surface salinity and the Yangtze River run-off,namely, out-of-phase in the East China Sea shelf and in-phase in the Yellow Sea. This may confirm an earlier study that the summer fresh water discharge from the Yangtze River forms a relatively shallow, low salinity plume-like structure extending offshore on average towards the northeast.     

Comparison of Daily Extreme Temperatures over Eastern China and South Korea between 1996–2005

This paper examined the decadal mean, seasonal cycle, and interannual variations of mean and extreme temperatures using daily temperature and relative humidity data from 589 stations over eastern China and South Korea between 1996–2005. The results show that the decadal mean Tm (mean daily mean temperature) and the TNn (minimum daily minimum temperature) increase from north to south; the opposite spatial gradient is found in the DTR (diurnal temperature range); the value of the DTR over South Korea is in- b...     

The twentieth century contiguous US temperature changes indicated by daily data and higher statistical moments

The daily surface air temperature data are used to assess the climate changes of the contiguous United States during the period of 1901 to 2000. The assessment is made through the first four statistical moments of the daily maximum, minimum, and mean temperature anomalies, the linear trends of the moments, and the changes of the anomalies?? probability density functions. The results on the first moment, i.e., the mean, are compared with the existing ones in terms of intra-annual means and their linear trends. Our first moment results agree with known ones and demonstrate a decrease from the 1930s to the 1960s and an increase from the 1970s to 2000. The temperature fluctuation is the smallest in the 1960s among the decades from 1931 to 2000. The trends of the higher (second-, third- and fourth-order) moments of the mean, maximum, and minimum surface air temperatures are calculated for the periods 1901?C2000, 1910?C1945, 1946?C1975, and 1976?C2000. The results show a decreasing trend of the second- and third-order moments of all the temperatures. The fourth-order moments of the mean and maximum surface air temperatures have increasing trends, but that of the minimum surface air temperature has a decreasing trend. The seasonal histograms of the mean, maximum, and minimum surface air temperatures are calculated for the three periods 1910?C1945, 1946?C1975, and 1976?C2000 for the stations which have the largest trend of maximum daily surface air temperature. An obvious change has been identified in the probability density functions. Among the changes of statistical parameters, the ones for the minimum temperature are larger than those for the maximum and mean temperatures.     

Regional climate change experiments over southern South America. I: present climate

We present an analysis of a regional simulation of present-day climate (1981–1990) over southern South America. The regional model MM5 was nested within time-slice global atmospheric model experiments conducted by the HadAM3H model. We evaluate the capability of the model in simulating the observed climate with emphasis on low-level circulation patterns and surface variables, such as precipitation and surface air mean, maximum and minimum temperatures. The regional model performance was evaluated in terms of seasonal means, seasonal cycles, interannual variability and extreme events. Overall, the regional model is able to capture the main features of the observed mean surface climate over South America, its seasonal evolution and the regional detail due to topographic forcing. The observed regional patterns of surface air temperatures (mean, maxima and minima) are well reproduced. Biases are mostly within 3°C, temperature being overestimated over central Argentina and underestimated in mountainous regions during all seasons. Biases in northeastern Argentina and southeastern Brazil are positive during austral spring season and negative in other seasons. In general, maximum temperatures are better represented than minimum temperatures. Warm bias is larger during austral summer for maximum temperature and during austral winter for minimum temperature, mainly over central Argentina. The broad spatial pattern of precipitation and its seasonal evolution are well captured; however, the regional model overestimates the precipitation over the Andes region in all seasons and in southern Brazil during summer. Precipitation amounts are underestimated over the La Plata basin from fall to spring. Extremes of precipitation are better reproduced by the regional model compared with the driving model. Interannual variability is well reproduced too, but strongly regulated by boundary conditions, particularly during summer months. Overall, taking into account the quality of the simulation, we can conclude that the regional model is capable in reproducing the main regional patterns and seasonal cycle of surface variables. The present reference simulation constitutes the basis to examine the climate change simulations resulting from the A2 and B2 forcing scenarios which are being reported in a separate study.     

1978—2008年城市化对北京地区气温变化影响的初步分析

应用北京地区20个常规站1978-2008年经均一性序列多元分析方法均一化处理的气温数据,初步分析了北京地区城市化对年平均和不同季节日最高、最低以及平均气温的影响。结果表明,1978—2008年,年平均日最低、平均气温空间分布自北向南、自西向东,温度逐渐升高,在城区达到最高,日最高气温表现为从西向东南逐步升高,在城区形成较为明显的热岛。温度变化趋势表明,各站日最低气温、平均气温、最高气温均呈升温趋势。城市化对北京地区城区及近郊区站点日平均气温和最低气温影响最大,对自北部佛爷顶至昌平到城区一带站点的最高气温影响最大。城市化对北京(观象台)站的增温影响最为明显,对城区站点温度平均的增温影响次之,对全市站点温度平均的增温影响最小。城市化对观象台站、城区站点平均、全市站点平均日平均气温、最低气温的年平均、各季节均非常显著,其中在秋季影响最大,对日最高气温的影响则是在夏季最大。     

The effect of ocean mixed layer depth on climate in slab ocean aquaplanet experiments

The effect of ocean mixed layer depth on climate is explored in a suite of slab ocean aquaplanet simulations with different mixed layer depths ranging from a globally uniform value of 50–2.4 m. In addition to the expected increase in the amplitude of the seasonal cycle in temperature with decreasing ocean mixed layer depth, the simulated climates differ in several less intuitive ways including fundamental changes in the annual mean climate. The phase of seasonal cycle in temperature differs non-monotonically with increasing ocean mixed layer depth, reaching a maximum in the 12 m slab depth simulation. This result is a consequence of the change in the source of the seasonal heating of the atmosphere across the suite of simulations. In the shallow ocean runs, the seasonal heating of the atmosphere is dominated by the surface energy fluxes whereas the seasonal heating is dominated by direct shortwave absorption within the atmospheric column in the deep ocean runs. The surface fluxes are increasingly lagged with respect to the insolation as the ocean deepens which accounts for the increase in phase lag from the shallow to mid-depth runs. The direct shortwave absorption is in phase with insolation, and thus the total heating comes back in phase with the insolation as the ocean deepens more and the direct shortwave absorption dominates the seasonal heating of the atmosphere. The intertropical convergence zone follows the seasonally varying insolation and maximum sea surface temperatures into the summer hemisphere in the shallow ocean runs whereas it stays fairly close to the equator in the deep ocean runs. As a consequence, the tropical precipitation and region of high planetary albedo is spread more broadly across the low latitudes in the shallow runs, resulting in an apparent expansion of the tropics relative to the deep ocean runs. As a result, the global and annual mean planetary albedo is substantially (20 %) higher in the shallow ocean simulations which results in a colder (7C) global and annual mean surface temperature. The increased tropical planetary albedo in the shallow ocean simulations also results in a decreased equator-to-pole gradient in absorbed shortwave radiation and drives a severely reduced (≈50 %) meridional energy transport relative to the deep ocean runs. As a result, the atmospheric eddies are weakened and shifted poleward (away from the high albedo tropics) and the eddy driven jet is also reduced and shifted poleward by 15° relative to the deep ocean run.     

城市化对华北地区最高, 最低气温和日较差变化趋势的影响

利用华北地区255个一般站和国家基本、 基准站1961\_2000年的实测资料, 经过质量检验和均一性订正后, 将所有台站根据人口和台站地理位置分为5个类别, 分析了这5个类别台站和国家基本、 基准站地面平均气温、 最高、 最低气温的年和季节变化趋势以及城市化影响。结果表明： 华北全部台站的年平均气温、 最高、 最低气温均呈增加趋势, 且以最低气温上升最为明显, 导致年平均日较差呈现明显下降。就城市化影响而言, 平均气温、 最低气温变化趋势中城市热岛效应加强因素的影响明显, 但城市化对最高气温趋势影响微弱, 个别台站和季节甚至可能造成降温。在国家基本、 基准站观测的年平均气温和年平均最低气温上升趋势中, 城市化造成的增温分别为0.11℃·(10a)-1和0.20℃·(10a)-1, 对全部增温的贡献率分别达39.3%和52.6%。各类台站的四季平均气温和最低气温序列中城市化影响均造成增温。城市化增温以冬季为最大, 夏季最小。城市化还导致乡村站以外的各类台站日较差减小, 近40年华北地区国家基本、 基准站年平均和秋、 冬季平均气温日较差明显下降均由城市化影响造成的。     

Multi-decadal scenario simulation over Korea using a one-way double-nested regional climate model system. Part 1: recent climate simulation (1971–2000)

We present an analysis of a high resolution multi-decadal simulation of recent climate (1971–2000) over the Korean Peninsula with a regional climate model (RegCM3) using a one-way double-nested system. Mean climate state as well as frequency and intensity of extreme climate events are investigated at various temporal and spatial scales, with focus on surface air temperature and precipitation. The mother intermediate resolution model domain encompasses the eastern regions of Asia at 60 km grid spacing while the high resolution nested domain covers the Korean Peninsula at 20 km grid spacing. The simulation spans the 30-year period of January 1971 through December 2000, and initial and lateral boundary conditions for the mother domain are provided from ECHO-G fields based on the IPCC SRES B2 scenario. The model shows a good performance in reproducing the climatological and regional characteristics of surface variables, although some persistent biases are present. Main results are as follows: (1) The RegCM3 successfully simulates the fine-scale structure of the temperature field due to topographic forcing but it shows a systematic cold bias mostly due to an underestimate of maximum temperature. (2) The frequency distribution of simulated daily mean temperature agrees well with the observed seasonal and spatial patterns. In the summer season, however, daily variability is underestimated. (3) The RegCM3 simulation adequately captures the seasonal evolution of precipitation associated to the East Asia monsoon. In particular, the simulated winter precipitation is remarkably good, clearly showing typical precipitation patterns that occur on the northwestern areas of Japan during the winter monsoon. Although summer precipitation is underestimated, area-averaged time series of precipitation over Korea show that the RegCM3 agrees better with observations than ECHO-G both in terms of seasonal evolution and precipitation amounts. (4) Heavy rainfall phenomena exceeding 300 mm/day are simulated only at the high resolution of the double nested domain. (5) The model shows a tendency to overestimate the number of precipitation days and to underestimate the precipitation intensities. (6) A CSEOF analysis reveals that the model captures the strength of the annual cycle and the surface warming trend throughout the simulated period.     

Future changes in daily summer temperature variability: driving processes and role for temperature extremes

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are expected to lead to more frequent and intense summer temperature extremes, not only due to the mean warming itself, but also due to changes in temperature variability. To test this hypothesis, we analyse daily output of ten PRUDENCE regional climate model scenarios over Europe for the 2071–2100 period. The models project more frequent temperature extremes particularly over the Mediterranean and the transitional climate zone (TCZ, between the Mediterranean to the south and the Baltic Sea to the north). The projected warming of the uppermost percentiles of daily summer temperatures is found to be largest over France (in the region of maximum variability increase) rather than the Mediterranean (where the mean warming is largest). The underlying changes in temperature variability may arise from changes in (1) interannual temperature variability, (2) intraseasonal variability, and (3) the seasonal cycle. We present a methodology to decompose the total daily variability into these three components. Over France and depending upon the model, the total daily summer temperature variability is projected to significantly increase by 20–40% as a result of increases in all three components: interannual variability (30–95%), seasonal variability (35–105%), and intraseasonal variability (10–30%). Variability changes in northern and southern Europe are substantially smaller. Over France and parts of the TCZ, the models simulate a progressive warming within the summer season (corresponding to an increase in seasonal variability), with the projected temperature change in August exceeding that in June by 2–3 K. Thus, the most distinct warming is superimposed upon the maximum of the current seasonal cycle, leading to a higher intensity of extremes and an extension of the summer period (enabling extreme temperatures and heat waves even in September). The processes driving the variability changes are different for the three components but generally relate to enhanced land–atmosphere coupling and/or increased variability of surface net radiation, accompanied by a strong reduction of cloudiness, atmospheric circulation changes and a progressive depletion of soil moisture within the summer season. The relative contribution of these processes differs substantially between models.     

Impact of ocean optical properties on seasonal SST: results with a surface ocean model coupled to the LMD AGCM

As the accuracy of ocean models improves, determination of the solar irradiance within the ocean may become important to simulate precisely the seasonal evolution of the SST. As ocean optical properties are not well documented in space and time, we have undertaken a sensitivity study to measure the corresponding SST uncertainties at a global scale using a model coupling the LMD AGCM with an integral mixed layer model and a thermodynamic sea ice representation. The downwelling irradiance formulation is that of Paulson and Simpson which has been tuned for the five water types of the Jerlov classification. Two sensitivity, and academic, experiments corresponding to a uniformly clear ocean or turbid ocean are carried out. Turbid waters exhibit, in general, a stronger seasonal cycle of the SST of about 2°C. The sensitivity is far from uniform, with a maximum in the subtropics and the mid-latitudes of the summer hemisphere. It corresponds precisely to the area in which the observed optical properties present a large temporal variability which is therefore likely to have an action on the seasonal cycle of the ocean surface temperatures. We perform a decomposition of the model sensitivity in four terms, corresponding to the direct impact of the water type change, feedback due to the mixed layer change, feedback due to the surface solar irradiance change, and feedback due to the non solar heat fluxes change. The first two terms dominate the SST change. The direct effect tends to increase the warming of the mixed layer. In addition, the mixed layer depth diminishes because of a higher stabilizing effect of solar radiation on the TKE budget. This tends to increase further summer warming of the SST as well as their winter cooling.     

Vanishing Horizontal Sea Surface Temperature Gradients at Low Wind Speeds

Sea surface temperature (SST) is a result of multiple interactions in air-sea processes. During days with strong insolation and low wind speed, there may be uneven net heating of the water layer near the surface of the ocean, when there are horizontal temperature gradients at the sea surface. Cooling of the water caused by evaporation, sensible, or longwave radiative, heat loss would be greater from warm water compared to that from relatively cold water. As a result, under low wind speed conditions and clear skies, the horizontal SST discontinuities, occurring at fronts, eddies, or in storm wakes, may diminish or even vanish. This phenomenon is illustrated here with some field and modelling results. The dependence on latitude and mean environmental conditions of the difference in warming on the cold and warm side of SST discontinuities is explored. The time dependence is important for the impact on remote sensing of SST, and it is found to be short enough that substantial masking of SST gradients can occur during the first six hours of the diurnal heating cycle, but the effect would continue to grow if calm and solar heating persist for several subsequent days. An integrated effect of this uneven net heating is seen in the seasonal masking of subsurface temperature gradients in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits.     

A diagnostic analysis on the effect of the residual layer in convective boundary layer development near Mongolia using 20th century reanalysis data

Although the residual layer has already been noted in the classical diurnal cycle of the atmospheric boundary layer,its effect on the development of the convective boundary layer has not been well studied. In this study, based on 3-hourly20 th century reanalysis data, the residual layer is considered as a common layer capping the convective boundary layer. It is identified daily by investigating the development of the convective boundary layer. The region of interest is bounded by(30°–60° N, 80°–120° E), where a residual layer deeper than 2000 m has been reported using radiosondes. The lapse rate and wind shear within the residual layer are compared with the surface sensible heat flux by investigating their climatological means, interannual variations and daily variations. The lapse rate of the residual layer and the convective boundary layer depth correspond well in their seasonal variations and climatological mean patterns. On the interannual scale, the correlation coefficient between their regional averaged(40°–50°N, 90°–110° E) variations is higher than that between the surface sensible heat flux and convective boundary layer depth. On the daily scale, the correlation between the lapse rate and the convective boundary layer depth in most months is still statistically significant during 1970–2012. Therefore, we suggest that the existence of a deep neutral residual layer is crucial to the formation of a deep convective boundary layer near the Mongolian regions.     

太平洋大尺度环流数值模拟 Ⅲ：季节变化

本文在年平均环流数值模拟基础上,用季节变化的大气强迫场又积分了12年,并对由模拟得到的太平洋海面起伏、洋流、温度、海表热通量和上层热储存率等的季节变化特征作了较为详细的阐述和与已有观测结果进行了比较,事实证明,模式基本上模拟出了观测到的太平洋大尺度环流基本特征及其季节变化,证实基于理论考虑设计的IAP OGCM模式具有较好的性能和对实际环流的模拟能力,有些结果并优于国外一些具有同等分辨率的海洋模式。     

Scale decomposition of atmospheric water budget over West Africa during the monsoon 2006 from NCEP/GFS analyses

NCEP/GFS analysis is used to investigate the scale dependence and the interplay between the terms of the atmospheric water budget over West Africa using a dedicated decomposition methodology. The focus is on a 2-month period within the active monsoon period of 2006. Results show that the dominant scales of seasonal mean precipitation and moisture flux divergence over West Africa during the monsoon period are large scales (greater than 1,400 km) except over topography, where mean values of small scales (smaller than 900 km) are strong. Correlations between moisture flux divergences in monsoon and African Easterly Jet layers and precipitation indicate that precipitation is strongly correlated to moisture flux divergence via both large-scale and small-scale processes, but the correlation signal is quite different depending on the region and vertical layer considered. The analysis of the scales associated with the rainfall and the local evaporation over 3 different regions shows that positive correlation exists over the ocean between precipitation and evaporation especially at large scale. Over the continent south of the Sahel, the correlation is negative and driven by large scale. Over the northern part of Sahel, positive correlation is found, only at small scales during the active monsoon period. Lag correlation reveals that the maximum evaporation over the Sahel occurs 1–3 days after the maximum precipitation with maximum contribution from small-scale processes during the first day. This study shows that NCEP/GFS reproduces well the known atmospheric water budget features. It also reveals a new scale dependence of the relative role of each term of the atmospheric water budget. This indicates that such scale decomposition approach is helpful to clarify the functioning of the water cycle embedded in the monsoon system.     

哈尔滨气温的长期变化及基本态特征

利用1881—2009年的气温观测资料,研究了哈尔滨年及四季平均气温的气候基本态和气候变率特征。结果表明,20世纪80年代以来哈尔滨夏季气温变化的异常程度显著增加。在冬季,近期哈尔滨气温处于暖背景及小变率的时段,反映了哈尔滨很长时间内大多数年份还将维持暖冬天气。近49年哈尔滨平均气温、平均最高(低)气温和平均日较差的时间变化特征显示,哈尔滨的年及四季平均气温都呈上升趋势,冬季增暖幅度最大;最高(低)气温变化趋势与平均气温一致,但无论年及四季,平均最高气温的变化速率都小于平均气温,平均最低气温的变化速率都大于平均气温。     

近49年珠海气温变化及城市化影响初探

根据珠海站1962-2010年逐日地面气温观测数据与1979-2010年NCEP/NCAR R1再分析资料,分析了珠海市平均气温、平均最高气温、平均最低气温的年和四季变化特征,探讨城市化对珠海气温变化的影响.研究结果表明,近49年珠海市年平均气温、年平均最高气温、年平均最低气温均呈增温趋势,增温率分别为0.14℃/10a、0.22℃/10a、0.12℃/10a.城市化及土地利用类型改变使年平均气温、年平均最高气温、年平均最低气温增暖0.16℃/10a、0.10℃/10a、0.15℃/10a,对观测气温增暖的贡献分别为46.0％、27.6％、46.1％;四季变化中以冬季和春季较显著.     

Seasonal variations in the isotopic composition of near-surface water vapour in the eastern Mediterranean

Although the isotopic composition of precipitation is widely used in global climate change studies, use of water vapour isotopes is considerably more limited. Here we present the results from 9 yr of atmospheric vapour measurements in the Eastern Mediterranean, at a site in Israel. The measurements show a strong mean seasonal cycle of about 4‰ in ¹⁸O (peaking around July). This seasonality could not be adequately explained by changes in surface interactions or in air mass trajectories, as usually invoked for variations in local precipitation. We could explain this cycle only as a combination of three components: (1) rainout effects; (2) temperature and relative humidity control of the initial vapour and (3) seasonal variations in the vertical mixing across the top of the planetary boundary layer. This last component is emphasized in the current study, and it was shown to be a significant factor in the seasonal cycle features. The measurements were also compared with an isotope-enabled GCM (CAM2) run, which exhibited a markedly different seasonal cycle. Such comparisons with vapour isotopes data could help in constraining models better.     

On the Evolution and Structure of a Radiation Fog Event in Nanjing

An extremely dense radiation fog event during 10-11 December 2007 was studied to understand its macro-micro-physics in relation to dynamic and thermodynamic structures of the boundary layer, as well as its structural evolution in conjunction with the air-surface exchange of heat and water vapor. The findings are as follows. The extreme radiation fog process was divisible into formation, development, mature, and dissipation phases, depending on microstructure and visibility. This fog event was marked by rapid evolution that occurred after sunrise, when enhanced surface evaporation and cold air intrusion led to a three order of magnitude increase in liquid water content (LWC) in just 20 minutes. The maximum droplet diameter (MDD) increased four-fold during the same period. The fog structure was two-layered, with the top of both the surface-layer and upper-layer components characterized by strong temperature and humidity inversions, and low-level jets existed in the boundary layer above each fog layer. Turbulence intensity, turbulent kinetic energy, and friction velocity differed remarkably from phase to phase: these features increased gradually before the fog formation and decreased during the development phase; during the mature and dissipation phases these characteristics increased and then decreased again. In the development and mature stages, the mean kinetic energy of the lower-level winds decreased pronouncedly, both in the horizontal and vertical directions.     

The frequency, intensity, and diurnal cycle of precipitation in surface and satellite observations over low- and mid-latitudes

Global precipitation data sets with high spatial and temporal resolution are needed for many applications, but they were unavailable before the recent creation of several such satellite products. Here, we evaluate four different satellite data sets of hourly or 3-hourly precipitation (namely CMORPH, PERSIANN, TRMM 3B42 and a microwave-only product referred to as MI) by comparing the spatial patterns in seasonal mean precipitation amount, daily precipitation frequency and intensity, and the diurnal and semidiurnal cycles among them and with surface synoptic weather reports. We found that these high-resolution products show spatial patterns in seasonal mean precipitation amount comparable to other monthly products for the low- and mid-latitudes, and the mean daily precipitation frequency and intensity maps are similar among these pure satellite-based precipitation data sets and consistent with the frequency derived using weather reports over land. The satellite data show that spatial variations in mean precipitation amount come largely from precipitation frequency rather than intensity, and that the use of satellite infrared (IR) observations to improve sampling does not change the mean frequency, intensity and the diurnal cycle significantly. Consistent with previous studies, the satellite data show that sub-daily variations in precipitation are dominated by the 24-h cycle, which has an afternoon–evening maximum and mean-to-peak amplitude of 30–100% of the daily mean in precipitation amount over most land areas during summer. Over most oceans, the 24-h harmonic has a peak from midnight to early morning with an amplitude of 10–30% during both winter and summer. These diurnal results are broadly consistent with those based on the weather reports, although the time of maximum in the satellite precipitation is a few hours later (especially for TRMM and PERSIANN) than that in the surface observations over most land and ocean, and it is closer to the phase of showery precipitation from the weather reports. The TRMM and PERSIANN precipitation shows a spatially coherent time of maximum around 0300–0600 local solar time (LST) for a weak (amplitude <20%) semi-diurnal (12-h) cycle over most mid- to high-latitudes, comparable to 0400–0600 LST in the surface data. The satellite data also confirm the notion that the diurnal cycle of precipitation amount comes mostly from its frequency rather than its intensity over most low and mid-latitudes, with the intensity has only about half of the strength of the diurnal cycle in the frequency and amount. The results suggest that these relatively new precipitation products can be useful for many applications.