Changes in European precipitation seasonality and in drought frequencies revealed by a four-century-long tree-ring isotopic record from Brittany, western France

A new paleoclimatic reconstruction for western France is obtained from tree-ring cellulose stable isotopes. Living trees from Rennes Forest and beams from two ancient buildings in Rennes city have been combined to cover the past four centuries with a gap from 1730 to 1750. The cellulose ¹³C reflects the progressive changes in atmospheric CO₂ isotopic composition. The combined ¹³C and ¹⁸O measurements are used to propose a reconstruction of interannual fluctuations in local summer temperature and water stress. At the decadal time scale, the reconstructed water stress profile exhibits a significant similarity with the historical wine harvest dates, an indicator of warm and dry growth seasons, as well as with the summer central England and central Alps instrumental temperature records and climate model results. Combined with instrumental precipitation records from Paris, these reconstructions suggest a dramatic and widespread change in the seasonality of the precipitation at the beginning of the nineteenth century, with drier winters and wetter summers, which may have contributed to the Alpine glacier decline at the end of the Little Ice Age. The tree-ring isotope records also show a relationship with large-scale North Atlantic circulation changes and the interannual variability is modified between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (7–8 year periodicities) and the seventeenth century (11–14 year periodicities). By classifying 20-year-long subsets of the reconstructed climatic parameters, we estimate that a decadal mean summer warming of 0.8±0.1°C induced extreme dry years to be 2.2±0.7 times more frequent.     

Evaluation of daily precipitation statistics and monsoon onset/retreat over western Sahel in multiple data sets

Climate Dynamics - The West Africa rainfall regime constitutes a considerable challenge for Regional Climate Models (RCMs) due to the complexity of dynamical and physical processes that...     

Variations in vapor pressure and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index since AD 1861 over the western Himalaya in India: inference from tree ring-width records

A regional tree ring-width index chronology prepared from various tree core samples of the western Himalaya has been analyzed in relation to climate fluctuations. The correlation analysis of tree ring chronology shows significant positive correlations with regional rainfall and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) and negative correlations with temperature and vapor pressure (VP) during the spring season. The correlation coefficients (CCs) of tree ring-width index chronology with rainfall, temperature, SPEI, and VP during 1901–1990 are 0.50, −0.49, 0.65, and −0.51, respectively. All CCs are significant at 0.1% level. The highly significant CCs between tree ring-width index chronology and SPEI indicate that tree growth over the western Himalaya is more sensitive to soil moisture availability than rainfall, whereas the rising VP is found to have a significant moisture stress condition to tree growth by accelerating the evapotranspiration, which is not conducive for the development of tree growth in the region. So, based on the strong association between tree ring-width index chronology and SPEI; the reconstructions of SPEI and VP are developed back to AD 1861, that show the long period of dryness during 1936–1963.     

Extreme daily precipitation: the case of Serbia in 2014

The extreme daily precipitation in Serbia was examined at 16 stations during the period 1961–2014. Two synoptic situations in May and September of 2014 were analysed, when extreme precipitation was recorded in western and eastern Serbia, respectively. The synoptic situation from 14 to 16 May 2014 remained nearly stationary over the western and central Serbia for the entire period. On 15 May 2014, the daily rainfall broke previous historical records in Belgrade (109.8 mm), Valjevo (108.2 mm) and Loznica (110 mm). Precipitation exceeded 200 mm in 72 h, producing the most catastrophic floods in the recent history of Serbia. In Negotin (eastern Serbia), daily precipitation of 161.3 mm was registered on 16 September 2014, which was the maximum value recorded during the period 1961–2014. The daily maximum in 2014 was registered at 6 out of 16 stations. The total annual precipitation for 2014 was the highest for the period 1961–2014 at almost all stations in Serbia. A non-significant positive trend was found for all precipitation indices: annual daily maximum precipitation, the total precipitation in consecutive 3 and 5 days, the total annual precipitation, and number of days with at least 10 and 20 mm of precipitation. The generalised extreme value distribution was fitted to the annual daily maximum precipitation. The estimated 100-year return levels were 123.4 and 147.4 mm for the annual daily maximum precipitation in Belgrade and Negotin, respectively.

     

Simulations of precipitation and atmospheric circulation changes associated with warm SSTs: results from an ensemble of long term integrations with idealized anomalies

A general circulation model is used to simulate the atmospheric response to a prescribed, idealized time varying warm sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) in the equatorial Pacific characteristic of ENSO events. The model incorporates the full seasonal cycle and an ensemble of five anomaly simulations, each of 14 months duration, is performed and the results compared with those from a ten year control simulation involving climatological SSTs. In a test of the model, simulated perturbations to precipitation patterns are compared with the analysis by Ropelewski and Halpert which identifies regions where precipitation perturbations are associated with the ENSO cycle. Strong and statistically significant perturbations are simulated throughout much of the equatorial Pacific and the Australian region which agree with the analysis. Perturbations over the Americas and the Indian sub-continent show part agreement with observations, while elsewhere, at more remote and high latitude locations, there is less agreement, providing some indication of model limitations in simulating the hydrological cycle. Over the equatorial Pacific most of the anomalous precipitation is accounted for by moisture flux convergence. Only in the vicinity of the maximum anomaly, located in the eastern Pacific, do warmer SSTs contribute to the perturbed circulation. Elsewhere, anomalous wind speeds mainly determine anomalous heat fluxes. As a result, the large scale perturbations to wind, moisture and precipitation appear to be forced indirectly, rather than directly as assumed in simple ocean-atmosphere models.     

Investigating the initiation and propagation processes of convection in heavy precipitation over the western Sichuan Basin

青藏高原大地形和四川盆地西侧的陡峭地形过渡带,夏季暴雨频发,易带来泥石流等次生地质灾害。本文选定该地区2010年8月的一次暴雨过程,研究了伴随对流尺度降水的强对流的激发和传播。具体借助于垂直动量方程,并将扰动气压分离为动力和浮力分量,通过动力扰动气压梯度、浮力扰动气压梯度、以及浮力等几种强迫作用的不平衡,探索对流激发和传播的主导因子。经分析发现,在本次暴雨过程中,较之动力过程,热力作用对对流的激发和传播发挥着更为重要的作用,垂直运动及倾向指向未来雨区     

北京地区夏季极端降水变化特征及城市化影响

利用1981-2016年京津冀地区174个国家站逐日降水资料,采用百分位方法和线性倾向估计方法对京津冀地区极端降水的时空分布特征及演变趋势进行了分析。结果表明：（1）对于京津冀地区极端降水空间分布,不同百分位降水阈值表现为一致的分布特征,年平均极端降水量、平均极端降水强度与百分位极端降水阈值分布大体一致,而年平均极端降水日数的分布则与其相反。（2）年平均极端降水量在103.6~259.1 mm之间,年平均极端降水日数在3.0~4.0 d之间,平均极端降水强度在大雨到暴雨之间,极端降水量对总降水量贡献达28%以上。（3）极端降水总站次和极端降水日数年变化趋势一致,7月、8月和10月是极端降水较活跃月份。（4）在36 a期间,年平均极端降水量、年平均极端降水日数、平均极端降水强度以及极端降水量对总降水量贡献的变化趋势分布情况基本一致,呈减少趋势的站点均相对较多,年平均极端降水量增减幅度较大,年平均极端降水日数变化在1 d·（10 a）^-1以内,平均极端降水强度和极端降水量对总降水量贡献减少趋势相对明显。

     

近20年中国气象灾害损失的初步分析

采用全国气象部门收集的县（区）域行政单元灾情普查资料,结合全国气象站点降水观测资料,分析了1984—2008年中国暴雨及其引发的洪涝灾害的时空演变特点及灾害损失情况,揭示了气候变化及人类活动双重作用下中国暴雨洪涝灾害变化趋势和演变特点,以及暴雨洪涝灾害影响的时空差异性。结果表明：近25 a来中国暴雨日数总体上稍有增加,暴雨强度和暴雨天数的空间分布均表现为南方高于北方,东部高于西部的特点,20世纪90年代中后期为中国暴雨高发期。研究时段内,中国暴雨洪涝灾害造成的直接经济损失呈增加趋势,但直接经济损失占当年GDP的比例则呈下降趋势,平均每年经济损失约为573亿元人民币,损失较高的地区主要集中在中国南方地区,县域年平均损失超过2 000万元的县约占15%,其中有34个县超过亿元。受灾人口呈增加趋势,但因灾死亡人口呈下降趋势;暴雨洪涝灾害对农作物受灾面积和绝收面积的影响均呈微弱上升趋势,年平均作物受灾面积近9.00×10⁶ hm²,作物绝收面积为1.27×10⁶ hm²。

     

1960—2018年辽河流域日降水集中程度分析

基于1960-2018年的日降水资料,计算辽河流域降水集中指数（CI）,分析日降水集中程度的时空特征。结果表明：降水集中指数CI可以有效描述辽河流域降水集中程度,辽河流域年CI指数平均为0.67,降水集中程度总体呈现出东部和西部低、南部和北部高的鞍型空间分布特征;夏季降水集中程度最高,各站点季平均CI指数为0.65,空间分布与年分布较一致,冬季平均CI指数最低,为0.60,由东南向西北递减;研究时段内年CI指数表现为不显著的减小趋势,其中东部区域减小的趋势最大;各子区域年CI指数平均变化周期为3 a左右,其中1985年以前,变化周期较短,在2 a左右,1985年以后,变化周期超过3 a。     

半干旱榆中地区最小有效降水量及降水转化率的研究

有效降水对于土壤水分的补充和农作物的生长来说是一个很重要的概念。通常认为大于5 mm的降水即为有效降水。但是有效降水的影响因素很多,在不同的地理环境和气候背景条件下,最小有效降水量也会有所不同。利用2006年6月—2011年3月兰州大学半干旱气候与环境观测站资料,从土壤湿度变化的角度出发,根据有效降水的定义,对甘肃榆中地区的最小有效降水量做了初步研究。通过分析该地区不同季节、温度和植被条件下不同土壤深度最小有效降水量,发现5、10、20 cm土壤层的最小有效降水量分别为4、5、8 mm。季节分布上,各层土壤最小有效降水量均为夏季最高,春季和秋季值较为接近。高温年的最小有效降水量高于低温年的值,生长季高于非生长季。在降水超过最小有效降水量并且量级较小时,随着降水量的增大,土壤湿度增量呈指数形式增大,这时降水的转化率也较高;而当降水达到一定量级时,超过了土壤的入渗率,水分以径流的形式损失,土壤湿度增量的变化率减小,降水的转化率也趋于一定值。0—20 cm土壤层降水转化率达到70%。     

锦州地区逐日降水概率分布特征

利用锦州地区的逐日降水量观测资料对逐日降水量的概率分布进行了统计分析,采用最大似然估计法得到Gamma函数分布的形状参数α和尺度参数β,通过Gamma概率分布模拟观测站点逐日降水的概率分布。结果表明：锦州地区逐日降水频率整体趋势先上升后下降,基本呈对称式分布,降水概率有一定的振荡,个别日会出现远超相邻日期的降水频率,7月21日降水频率最高,在不计微量降水的情况下,最低逐日降水概率有多个日期为0。各季降水频率偏低是造成义县地区干旱的原因之一;北镇夏季平均降水频率最低,但其夏季平均降水量却为锦州地区最高,说明北镇可能易出现较大量级降水或易出现极端降水天气。清明期间降水频率在50%以上、高考期间降水频率在80%以上,符合大众日常对特殊日期降水情况的认知;逐日降水频率可以为公众气象服务提供新的思路。凌海、北镇更容易出现极端降水天气;锦州地区日降水出现小雨天气概率最高,暴雨以上降水概率较低,锦州地区各站极少出现大暴雨以上量级降水,对锦州降水量级预报,尤其是暴雨或大暴雨以上降水量级的预报起到一定的指示作用。     

Daytime boundary layer behavior over eastern region (per-humid climate) and western regions (semi-arid climate) of India: a case study

The annual variation in planetary boundary layer (PBL) height is determined from the profiles of conserved thermodynamic variables, i.e., virtual potential temperature ?? _v and equivalent potential temperature ?? _e, using radiosonde data at per-humid climate region, Ranchi (23°42??N, 85°33??E, 610?m asl) and semi-arid region, Anand (23°35??N, 72°55??E, 45.1?m asl), India. Of all the variables, the ?? _v profile seems to provide the most reasonable estimate of the PBL height. This has been supplemented by T-Phi gram analysis for specific days. It has been found that in winter the height of boundary layer is very low due to subsidence and radiational cooling, while pre-monsoon months exhibit the most variable convection. It may be inferred that synoptic conditions accompanied by a variety of weather phenomena such as thunderstorms, onset and withdrawal of monsoons, etc. control the ABL over Ranchi, while daytime solar insolation and nighttime radiative cooling mainly control the ABL over Anand.     

Interdecadal modulation of the relationship between ENSO,IPO and precipitation: insights from tree rings in Australia

Australian climate-proxy reconstructions based on tree rings from tropical and subtropical forests have not been achieved so far due to the rarity of species producing anatomically distinct annual growth rings. Our study identifies the Australian Red Cedar (Toona ciliata) as one of the most promising tree species for tree-ring research in Australasia because this species exhibits distinct annual tree rings, a prerequisite for high quality tropical dendroclimatology. Based on these preliminary studies, we were able, for the first time in subtropical and tropical Australia, to develop a statistically robust, precisely dated and annually resolved chronology back to AD1854. We show that the variability in ring widths of T. ciliata is mainly dependent on annual precipitation. The developed proxy data series contains both high- and low-frequency climate signals which can be associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO). A comparison of different data sets (Brisbane precipitation, tree rings, coral luminescence record from the Great Barrier Reef, ENSO and IPO) revealed non-stationary correlation patterns throughout the twentieth century but little instability between the new tree-ring chronology and Brisbane precipitation.     

Evaluation of the boundary layer depth in semi-arid region of India

The annual variation in Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) height is determined from the profiles of conserved thermodynamic variables, i.e. virtual potential temperature θ_v, equivalent potential temperature θ_e and saturated equivalent potential temperature θ_es, using radiosonde data at Anand (23°35′N, 72°55′E, 45.1 m a.s.l.), India. Out of all the variables, the θ_v profile seems to provide the most reasonable estimate of the PBL height. This has been supplemented by T–Phi gram analysis for specific days. The analysis has been done for 00, 03, 06, 09 and 12 GMT for the 14th and 15th day of each month in the year 1997 based on LASPEX-97 data. In winters the height of boundary layer is very low due to subsidence and radiation cooling while heights in pre-monsoon months exhibit large variations.     

Indigenous knowledge related to climate variability and change: insights from droughts in semi-arid areas of former Makueni District,Kenya

This article describes the indigenous knowledge (IK) that agro-pastoralists in larger Makueni District, Kenya hold and how they use it to monitor, mitigate and adapt to drought. It examines ways of integrating IK into formal monitoring, how to enhance its value and acceptability. Data was collected through target interviews, group discussions and questionnaires covering 127 households in eight villages. Daily rainfall data from 1961–2003 were analysed. Results show that agro-pastoralists hold IK on indicators of rainfall variability; they believe in IK efficacy and they rely on them. Because agro-pastoralists consult additional sources, the authors interpret that IK forms a basic knowledge frame within which agro-pastoralists position and interpret meteorological forecasts. Only a few agro-pastoralists adapt their practices in anticipation of IK-based forecasts partly due to the conditioning of the actors to the high rainfall variability characteristic of the area and partly due to lack of resources. Non-drought factors such as poverty, inadequate resources and lack of preparedness expose agro-pastoralists to drought impacts and limit their adaptive capacity. These factors need to be understood and effectively addressed to increase agro-pastoralists’ decision options and the influence of IK-based forecasts on their decision-making patterns. The limited intergenerational transfer of IK currently threatens its existence in the longer term. One way to ensure its continued existence and use is to integrate IK into the education curriculum and to link IK with formal climate change research through the participation of the local people. However, further studies are necessary to address the reliability and validity of the identified IK indicators of climate variability and change.     

北京逐日气温和降水量的长程变化特征

无标度性广泛存在于自然界系统包括气候系统中,其特征之一是可观测量存在幂函数关系,它揭示了气候系统的复杂性.为探索气候可预测性的客观基础,介绍了去趋势涨落分析(DFA)方法,并应用其对北京2003年逐日观测资料序列进行了分析.结果表明,北京日平均气温和降水量均可划分为多个标度不变区域.在特定的标度域内,它们都表现出正长程相关的性质,为制作这些量的短期气候预测提供了理论基础.     

Mechanisms and reliability of future projected changes in daily precipitation

We isolate the contribution of warming, other large-scale changes and soil moisture decline and feedbacks in driving future projected changes in daily precipitation across Europe. Our confidence in each of these mechanisms differs, so this analysis then allows us to determine an overall confidence (or reliability) in the projected changes. In winter, increases in extreme precipitation over Europe as a whole are judged to be reliable, dominated by increased atmospheric moisture with warming. At scales less than about 2,000 km changing circulation patterns could enhance or offset this increase. Additionally, over the Scandinavian mountains warming-induced circulation changes do offset the effect of increased moisture and the overall change is unreliable. In summer, increases in extreme precipitation over northern Scandinavia and decreases over the Mediterranean are reliable in the absence of considerable circulation change. Over central Europe, an increase in the proportion of summer rainfall falling as extreme events is reliable.