Future climate of the Caribbean from a super-high-resolution atmospheric general circulation model

Present-day (1979–2003) and future (2075–2099) simulations of mean and extreme rainfall and temperature are examined using data from the Meteorological Research Institute super-high-resolution atmospheric general circulation model. Analyses are performed over the 20-km model grid for (1) a main Caribbean basin, (2) sub-regional zones, and (3) specific Caribbean islands. Though the model’s topography underestimates heights over the eastern Caribbean, it captures well the present-day spatial and temporal variations of seasonal and annual climates. Temperature underestimations range from 0.1 °C to 2 °C with respect to the Japanese Reanalysis and the Climatic Research Unit datasets. The model also captures fairly well sub-regional scale variations in the rainfall climatology. End-of-century projections under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change SRES A1B scenario indicate declines in rainfall amounts by 10–20 % for most of the Caribbean during the early (May–July) and late (August–October) rainy seasons relative to the 1979–2003 baselines. The early dry season (November–January) is also projected to get wetter in the far north and south Caribbean by approximately 10 %. The model also projects a warming of 2–3 °C over the Caribbean region. Analysis of future climate extremes indicate a 5–10 % decrease in the simple daily precipitation intensity but no significant change in the number of consecutive dry days for Cuba, Jamaica, southern Bahamas, and Haiti. There is also indication that the number of hot days and nights will significantly increase over the main Caribbean basin.     

Simple general atmospheric circulation and climate models with memory

This article examines some general atmospheric circulation and climate models in the context of the notion of “memory”. Two kinds of memories are defined： statistical memory and deterministic memory. The former is defined through the autocorrelation characteristic of the process if it is random （chaotic）, while for the latter, a special memory function is introduced. Three of the numerous existing models are selected as examples. For each of the models, asymptotic （at t →∞） expressions are derived. In this way, the transients are filtered out and that which remains concerns the final behaviour of the models.     

Non-linear climate feedback analysis in an atmospheric general circulation model

 A method is described for evaluating the ‘partial derivatives’ of globally averaged top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiation changes with respect to basic climate model physical parameters. This method is used to analyse feedbacks in the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre general circulation model. The parameters considered are surface temperature, water vapour, lapse rate and cloud cover. The climate forcing which produces the changes is a globally uniform sea surface temperature (SST) perturbation. The first and second order differentials of model parameters with respect to the forcing (i.e. SST changes) are estimated from quadratic least square fitting. Except for total cloud cover, variables are found to be strong functions of global SST. Strongly non-linear variations of lapse rate and high cloud amount and height appear to relate to the non-linear response in penetrative convection. Globally averaged TOA radiation differentials with respect to model parameters are also evaluated. With the exception of total cloud contributions, a high correlation is generally found to exist, on the global mean level, between TOA radiation and the respective parameter perturbations. The largest non-linear terms contributing to radiative changes are those due to lapse rate and high cloud. The contributions of linear and non-linear terms to the overall radiative response from a 4 K SST perturbation are assessed. Significant non-linear responses are found to be associated with lapse rate, water vapour and cloud changes. Although the exact magnitude of these responses is likely to be a function of the particular model as well as the imposed SST perturbation pattern, the present experiments flag these as processes which cannot properly be understood from linear theory in the evaluation of climate change sensitivity. Received: 16 January 1997/Accepted: 9 May 1997     

Predictability of SST forced climate signals in two atmospheric general circulation models

 The predictability of atmospheric responses to global sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies is evaluated using ensemble simulations of two general circulation models (GCMs): the GENESIS version 1.5 (GEN) and the ECMWF cycle 36 (ECM). The integrations incorporate observed SST variations but start from different initial land and atmospheric states. Five GEN 1980–1992 and six ECM 1980–1988 realizations are compared with observations to distinguish predictable SST forced climate signals from internal variability. To facilitate the study, correlation analysis and significance evaluation techniques are developed on the basis of time series permutations. It is found that the annual mean global area with realistic signals is variable dependent and ranges from 3 to 20% in GEN and 6 to 28% in ECM. More than 95% of these signal areas occur between 35 °S–35 °N. Due to the existence of model biases, robust responses, which are independent of initial condition, are identified over broader areas. Both GCMs demonstrate that the sensitivity to initial conditions decreases and the predictability of SST forced responses increases, in order, from 850 hPa zonal wind, outgoing longwave radiation, 200 hPa zonal wind, sea-level pressure to 500 hPa height. The predictable signals are concentrated in the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean and are identified with typical El Ni?o/ Southern Oscillation phenomena that occur in response to SST and diabatic heating anomalies over the equatorial central Pacific. ECM is less sensitive to initial conditions and better predicts SST forced climate changes. This results from (1) a more realistic basic climatology, especially of the upper-level wind circulation, that produces more realistic interactions between the mean flow, stationary waves and tropical forcing; (2) a more vigorous hydrologic cycle that amplifies the tropical forcing signals, which can exceed internal variability and be more efficiently transported from the forcing region. Differences between the models and observations are identified. For GEN during El Ni?o, the convection does not carry energy to a sufficiently high altitude, while the spread of the tropospheric warming along the equator is slower and the anomaly magnitude smaller than observed. This impacts model ability to simulate realistic responses over Eurasia and the Indian Ocean. Similar biases exist in the ECM responses. In addition, the relationships between upper and lower tropospheric wind responses to SST forcing are not well reproduced by either model. The identification of these model biases leads to the conclusion that improvements in convective heat and momentum transport parametrizations and basic climate simulations could substantially increase predictive skill. Received: 25 April 1996 / Accepted: 9 December 1996     

Storm tracks in a warmer climate: sensitivity studies with a simplified global circulation model

 A simplified global circulation model is used to analyse a greenhouse warming experiment simulated by a comprehensive general circulation model. The given GCM scenario and control climates are assimilated by the simplified model using a dynamical relaxation technique. Two sets of sensitivity experiments investigate the influence of upper and lower tropospheric changes in baroclinicity on the Northern Hemisphere winter storm tracks. The results show that the three-dimensional structure of both the background flow and the changes in baroclinicity are important for the behaviour of mid-latitude eddy activity in relation to modifications of the baroclinicity. In general, the mid-latitude eddy activity is more sensitive to lower than to upper level changes in baroclinicity. The results further suggest that the simulated storm track changes in the GCM scenario are dominated by local modes of baroclinic instability. Received: 17 December 1996 / Accepted: 14 May 1998     

Global warming mode of atmospheric circulation

Variations of global zonal-mean atmospheric circulation are studied using the National Center of Environment Prediction/National Center of Atmosphere Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis data set from January 1948 to February 2001 and CCM3.6 (Community Climate Model Version 3.6) simulations for the period 1900–1999. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis indicates that variations of zonal-mean geopotential height in the tropics are usually opposite to those over the subpolar zone in both hemispheres. The first mode of EOF analysis shows that height is higher than normal in the tropics when it is lower over the subpolar zone in both hemispheres with much stronger westerlies over mid latitudes in both hemispheres, and vice versa. This mode explains about 50% variance and is predominant in the whole troposphere. The time series of EOF1 has a sharp transition near about 1977 and the polarity changes from negative to positive. This mode is closely related to the variations of global mean surface air temperature. The detrended correlation coefficient between EOF1 time series and the surface air temperature is 0.74 in the boreal winter. Furthermore, the lowest correlation coefficient among the other three seasons, annual mean, seasonal mean and monthly mean is higher than 0.42 which indicates the fairly good relationship between this mode and the surface air temperature. This result has been verified using CCM3.6 simulations.     

Decadal climate variability simulated in a coupled general circulation model

A 1000 year integration of the CSIRO coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model is used to study low frequency (decadal to centennial) climate variability in precipitation and temperature. The model is shown to exhibit sizeable decadal variability for these fields, generally accounting for approximately 20 to 40% of the variability (greater than one year) in precipitation and up to 80% for temperature. An empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis is applied to the model output to show some of the major statistical modes of low frequency variability. The first EOF spatial pattern looks very much like that of the interannual ENSO pattern. It bears considerable resemblance to observational estimates and is centred in the Pacific extending into both hemispheres. It modulates both precipitation and temperature globally. The EOF has a time evolution that appears to be more than just red noise. Finally, the link between SST in the Pacific with Australian rainfall variability seen in observations is also evident in the model. Received: 29 August 1998 / Accepted: 31 July 1999     

Teleconnections in a warmer climate: the pliocene perspective

Migrations toward altered sea surface temperature (SST) patterns in the Indo-Pacific region are present in the recent observational record and in future global warming projections. These SSTs are in the form of ??permanent?? El Ni?o-like (herein termed ??El Padre??) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)-like patterns. The Early Pliocene Warm Period, which bears similarity to future warming projections, may have also exhibited these Indo-Pacific SST patterns, as suggested by regional terrestrial paleo-climatic data and general circulation model studies. The ability to corroborate this assessment with paleo-data reconstructions is an advantage of the warm Pliocene period that is not afforded by future warming scenarios. Thus, the Pliocene period provides us with a warm-climate perspective and test bed for understanding potential changes to future atmospheric interactions given these altered SST states. This study specifically assesses how atmospheric teleconnections from El Padre/IOD SST patterns are generated and propagate to create the regional climate signals of the Pliocene period, as these signals may be representative of future regional climatic changes as well. To do this, we construct a holistic diagnostic rubric that allows us to examine atmospheric teleconnections, both energetically and dynamically, as produced by a general circulation model. We incorporate KE??, a diagnostic adapted from the eddy kinetic energy generation field, to assess the available energy transferred to these teleconnections. Using this methodology, we found that relative to our Modern Control experiments, weaker atmospheric teleconnections prevail under warm Pliocene conditions, although pathways of propagation still appear directed toward the southwestern United States from our tropical Pacific sector forcing. Propagation directly emanating from the Indian Ocean forcing sector appears to be largely blocked, although indirect teleconnective pathways appear traversing the Asian continent toward the North Pacific. The changes in the atmospheric circulation of Indian Ocean region in response to the underlying specified SST forcing (and indicated by Pliocene paleo-data) may have a host of implications for energy transfer out of and into the region, including interactions with the Asian jet stream and changes to the seasonal monsoon cycle. These interactions warrant further study in both past and future warm climate scenarios.     

湖北省电线积冰日数气候特征与大气环境异常的关系研究

利用1980—2014年湖北省11个气象台站电线积冰观测资料以及Hadley海温资料、NCEP再分析资料,分析湖北省冬季(11—3月)电线积冰日数的气候变化特征;在此基础上,分析积冰异常年秋冬海气场变化。结果表明,湖北省电线积冰集中在钟祥、荆州、襄樊、仙桃和随州等5站,占11站电线积冰总日数的73%。电线积冰在当年11月至次年3月均有出现,积冰日数在1990年代初出现显著减少趋势。湖北省电线积冰异常偏多年,9—11月热带中东太平洋出现El Nino型异常海温分布,同期冬季孟加拉湾和南海的水汽向北输送至湖北,湖北水汽偏多,同时湖北受贝加尔湖异常反气旋东南侧东北气流和中国东部沿海异常反气旋西北侧偏南气流共同作用,有利于降水发生和积冰出现。     

The Beijing Climate Center atmospheric general circulation model: description and its performance for the present-day climate

The Beijing Climate Center atmospheric general circulation model version 2.0.1 (BCC_AGCM2.0.1) is described and its performance in simulating the present-day climate is assessed. BCC_AGCM2.0.1 originates from the community atmospheric model version 3 (CAM3) developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The dynamics in BCC_AGCM2.0.1 is, however, substantially different from the Eulerian spectral formulation of the dynamical equations in CAM3, and several new physical parameterizations have replaced the corresponding original ones. The major modification of the model physics in BCC_AGCM2.0.1 includes a new convection scheme, a dry adiabatic adjustment scheme in which potential temperature is conserved, a modified scheme to calculate the sensible heat and moisture fluxes over the open ocean which takes into account the effect of ocean waves on the latent and sensible heat fluxes, and an empirical equation to compute the snow cover fraction. Specially, the new convection scheme in BCC_AGCM2.0.1, which is generated from the Zhang and McFarlane’s scheme but modified, is tested to have significant improvement in tropical maximum but also the subtropical minimum precipitation, and the modified scheme for turbulent fluxes are validated using EPIC2001 in situ observations and show a large improvement than its original scheme in CAM3. BCC_AGCM2.0.1 is forced by observed monthly varying sea surface temperatures and sea ice concentrations during 1949–2000. The model climatology is compiled for the period 1971–2000 and compared with the ERA-40 reanalysis products. The model performance is evaluated in terms of energy budgets, precipitation, sea level pressure, air temperature, geopotential height, and atmospheric circulation, as well as their seasonal variations. Results show that BCC_AGCM2.0.1 reproduces fairly well the present-day climate. The combined effect of the new dynamical core and the updated physical parameterizations in BCC_AGCM2.0.1 leads to an overall improvement, compared to the original CAM3.     

Precipitation climate of Central Asia and the large-scale atmospheric circulation

The precipitation climate in the larger Tian Shan region of Central Asia is described in terms of the climatological seasonal moisture fluxes and background circulation based on the ERA-40 reanalysis data and a precipitation reanalysis. The study area is partitioned into (1) the Tarim river basin, (2) bordering regions of China, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, and (3) Northwestern China. Moisture supply to these areas is primarily due to the midlatitude westerlies with contributions from higher latitudes. In addition, moisture from the Indian Ocean is notably imported into the Tarim drainage area. Monthly interannual precipitation variability relates to the variability of hemispheric circulation patterns. Extreme precipitation above and below normal in Western China and Central Asia is analyzed using the standardized precipitation index. Related circulation composites show that, despite regional and seasonal differences, episodes of extreme and severe dryness are dominated by various upstream standing wave patterns from the North Atlantic to Central Asia. These features extend further downstream to the North Pacific. Non-symmetry between wet and dry composites is noted upstream and in regional moisture flux composites.     

辽宁电线覆冰日数气候特征与大气环流异常的关系

利用1980—2019年辽宁地区11个有电线覆冰观测项目的气象站资料、NCEP再分析资料和Hadley海温资料,分析辽宁电线覆冰日的气候特征以及利于覆冰发生的环流特征和影响因素。结果表明：辽宁电线覆冰现象出现次数存在三个高值地区,分别为辽宁北部地区、辽东山区和辽宁中西部沿海地区。辽宁电线覆冰主要发生在10月至翌年4月,1980—2019年辽宁电线覆冰日数呈显著减少趋势。电线覆冰日数具有显著的年际变化周期,主要的年际变化周期为5—7 a,近40 a年际振荡能量经历了3次增强—减弱的变化。辽宁覆冰高指数年与低指数年秋季9—11月SST距平之差表现为El Nino型分布。覆冰日数异常偏多年,太平洋海温呈现El Nino型,西北太平洋海表温度整体偏冷,日本海区海表温度存在明显负异常;同时大陆上贝加尔湖上空存在高压中心,北半球亚洲地区纬向为“北高南低”的形式,冬季风偏强,冷空气南下频繁。辽宁受到贝加尔湖异常反气旋环流东南侧东北气流控制,鄂霍茨克海上空存在弱反气旋环流,导致日本海上空有异常东风,当南下冷空气与东侧日本海输送的偏冷水汽交汇,容易导致温度较冷的大雾,引发雾凇现象,过冷水汽在电线上凝结,导致电线覆冰现象的发生。     

Ocean-atmosphere interactions and climate drift in a coupled general circulation model

 We have analysed numerical simulations performed with a global 3D coupled atmosphere-ocean model to focus on the role of atmospheric processes leading to sea surface temperature (SST) drift in the tropics. Negative SST errors occur coherently in space and time with large positive errors in latent heat and momentum fluxes at the tropical air-sea interface, as diagnosed from forced SST simulations. The warm pool in the western Pacific disappears after a few years of simulation. Strong SST gradients enforce regions of high precipitation that are thin and stationary north of the equator. We detail the implications for the ocean-atmosphere system of such upheaval in the deep convection location. A sensitivity experiment to empirically formulate air-sea drag coefficient shows that the rapid warm pool erosion is not sensitive to changes in the formulation of the surface drag coefficient over the oceans because the corresponding changes in turbulent heat fluxes and LW cooling approximately cancel one another. In the eastern Pacific, the improvement in SST is striking and caused by feedbacks between SST, surface turbulent fluxes and boundary layer cloud fraction, which decreases as SST warms. Received: 8 December 1998 / Accepted: 6 January 2000     

Performance of a parallel finite difference atmospheric general circulation model 1

A new version of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) 9-Layer (9L) atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) suitable for Massively Parallel Processor (MPP) has been developed. This paper presents the principles of the parallel code design and examines its performance on a variety of state-of-the-art parallel computers in China. Domain decomposition strategy is used to achieve parallelism that is implemented by Message Passing Interface (MPI). Only the one dimensional domain decomposition algorithm is shown to scale favorably as the number of processors is increased. This work is partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 49775268 and 49823002), the China National Key Development Planning Project for Basic Research (Grant No. G1998040905) and the CAS Key Innovation Direction Project (Grant No. KZCX2208).