Possible Impacts of the Arctic Oscillation on the Interdecadal Variation of Summer Monsoon Rainfall in East Asia

The influences of the wintertime AO (Arctic Oscillation) on the interdecadal variation of summer monsoon rainfall in East Asia were examined. An interdecadal abrupt change was found by the end of the 1970s in the variation of the AO index and the leading principal component time series of the summer rainfall in East Asia, The rainfall anomaly changed from below normal to above normal in central China, the southern part of northeastern China and the Korean peninsula around 1978. However,the opposite interdecadal variation was found in the rainfall anomaly in North China and South China.The interdecadal variation of summer rainfall is associated with the weakening of the East Asia summer monsoon circulation. It is indicated that the interdecadal variation of the AO exerts an influence on the weakening of the monsoon circulation. The recent trend in the AO toward its high-index polarity during the past two decades plays important roles in the land-sea contrast anomalies and wintertime precipitation anomaly. The mid- and high-latitude regions of the Asian continent are warming, while the low-latitude regions are cooling in winter and spring along with the AO entering its high-index polarity after the late 1970s. In the meantime, the precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau and South China is excessive, implying an increase of soil moisture. The cooling tendency of the land in the southern part of Asia will persist until summer because of the memory of soil moisture. So the warming of the Asian continent is relatively slow in summer. Moreover, the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean which are located southward and eastward of the Asian land, are warming from winter to summer. This suggests that the contrast between the land and sea is decreased in summer. The interdecadal decrease of the land-sea heat contrast finally leads to the weakening of the East Asia summer monsoon circulation.     

INTERDECADAL VARIATIONS OF INTERACTION BETWEEN NORTH PACIFIC SSTA AND EAST ASIAN SUMMER MONSOON

Identification of key SST zones is essential in predicting the weather / climate systems in East Asia. With the SST data by the U.K. Meteorological Office and 40-year geopotential height and wind fields by NCAR / NCEP, the relationship between the East Asian summer monsoon and north Pacific SSTA is studied, which reveals their interactions are of interdecadal variation. Before mid-1970's, the north Pacific SSTA acts upon the summer monsoon in East Asia through a great circle wavetrain and results in more rainfall in the summer of the northern part of China. After 1976, the SSTA weakens the wavetrain and no longer influences the precipitation in North China due to loosened links with the East Asian summer monsoon. It can be drawn that the key SST zones having potential effects on the weather / climate systems in East Asia do not stay in one particular area of the ocean but rather shift elsewhere as governed by the interdecadal variations of the air-sea interactions. It is hoped that the study would help shed light on the prediction of drought / flood spans in China.     

Interdecadal Variations of the Western Pacific Subtropical High and Surface Heat Flux over East Asia and Their Relationship

The interdecadal variation of intensity of the western Pacific subtropical high(WPSH) during the period 1951-2001 is studied by using data from the National Climate Center(NCC),China Meteorological Administration.The characteristics of the circulations at 500 hPa and the surface heat flux over East Asia are also analyzed based on the NCEP/NCAR monthly reanalysis data.The results reveal that the WPSH and the circulations exhibit interdecadal variations around 1978,with enhancing intensities.The interseasonal persistence of the WPSH intensity alters correspondingly to some extent,which is more significant during 1978-2001 than during 1951-1978.The surface heat flux over East Asia also displays a remarkable interdecadal variation,which leads that of the WPSH intensity.The key variation areas of the surface sensible heat flux(SSHF) are mainly located over the eastern and western Tibetan Plateau around the late 1960s.However,the difference of the SSHF between the eastern and western Plateau exhibits a change in the mid 1970s,close to the time of the abrupt climate change of the WPSH intensity.The SSHF of the Plateau stably increases in the west and decreases in the east before the mid-late 1960s,while it stably increases in the east and decreases in the west after the mid-1970s.On the other hand,the key variation area of the surface latent heat flux(SLHF) is mainly situated over the West Pacific(WP),where the SLHF anomaly in spring changes from positive to negative in the south before 1978,but from negative to positive in the north after 1978;while in summer it turns from positive to negative all over the WP after 1978.The interdecadal variation of SLHF in both spring and summer corresponds well to the interdecadal variation of the WPSH intensity in the same season.The notable correlation between the WPSH intensity and SSHF(or SLHF) maintains without any change although each of these qnantities varies on the interdecadal scale.     

THE INTERDECADAL VARIATION OF THE SOUTH ASIAN HIGH AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH THE SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL REGIONS

This study aims to explore the interdecadal variation of South Asian High (SAH) and its relationship with SST (Sea surface temperature) of the tropical and subtropical regions by using the NCEP/NCAR monthly reanalysis data from 1948 to 2012, based on the NCAR CAM 3.0 general circulation model. The results show that: 1) the intensity of SAH represents a remarkable interdecadal variation characteristic, the intensity of SAH experienced from weak to strong at the late 1970s, and after the late 1970s , its strength is enhanced and the area is expanded in the east-west direction. The expansion degree is greater westward than eastward, while it is opposite in summer. 2) Corresponding to the interdecadal variation of SAH intensity, after the late 1970s, the divergent component of wind field has two ascending and three descending areas. Of the two ascending areas, one is located in the East Pacific, the other location varies with the season from the Indian Ocean in winter to the South China Sea and West Pacific in summer. Three descending areas are located in the north-central Africa, the East Asia and the Middle Pacific region respectively. 3) Corresponding to the interdecadal variation of SAH intensity, the rotational component of wind field at the lower level is an anomalous cyclone over the South China Sea and West Pacific in summer, while in winter, it is an anomalous cyclone over the Indian Ocean, and an anomalous anticyclone over the equatorial Middle Pacific. 4) Numerical simulations show that the interdecadal variation of SAH is closely related to the SST of the tropical and subtropical regions. The SST of Indian Ocean plays an important role in winter, while in summer, the SST of the South China Sea and West Pacific plays an important role, and the SST of the East Pacific also plays a certain role.     

Interdecadal change in the connection between Hadley circulation and winter temperature in East Asia

Based on NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, the interdecadal variability of Hadley circulation （HC） and its association with East Asian temperature in winter are investigated. Results indicate that the Northern Hemisphere winter HC underwent apparent change in the 1970s, with transition occurring around 1976/77. Along with interdecadal variability of HC, its linkage to surface air temperature （SAT） in East Asia also varied decadally, from weak relations to strong relations. Such a change may be related to the interaction between HC and the atmospheric circulation system over the Philippines, which is associated with the East Asian winter monsoon （EAWM）. Before the 1970s, the connection between HC and the anticyclonic circulation around the Philippines was insignificant, but after the late 1970s their linkage entered a strong regime. The intensification of this connection may therefore be responsible for the strong relations between HC and East Asian winter temperatures after the late 1970s.     

Intercomparison of the Summertime Subtropical High from the ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis over East Eurasia and the western North Pacific

An intercomparison of summertime (JJA) subtropical geopotential heights from the ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis is specifically conducted over East Eurasia and the western North Pacific. The NCEP/NCAR is obviously lower than the ERA-40 in the mid-to-lower troposphere in most regions of East Eurasia before the mid-1970s, but becomes higher than the ERA-40 after the mid-1970s and thus demonstrates stronger increased trends during the period of 1958--2001. Both reanalyses are lower than the observations in most regions of China. The NCEP/NCAR especially shows tremendously systematic lower values before the mid-1960s and displays abrupt changes before the 1970s. Several indices of the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH), calculated from both reanalyzed summer geopotential heights, also reveal that the variation trend of the NCEP/NCAR is stronger than that of the ERA-40 in the mid-to-lower troposphere from 1958 to 2001. Through singular value decomposition (SVD) analysis, the summer geopotential heights at 500 hPa from the ERA-40 are better than the NCEP/NCAR counterparts at interacting with the precipitation over the East Asian monsoon region. The results indicate that the NCEP/NCAR in the mid-and-lower troposphere may overestimate interdecadal changes and should be used cautiously to study the relationship between the WNPSH and precipitation ove ther East Asia Monsoon region before the mid-1970s.     

Intercomparison of the Summertime Subtropical High from the ERA-40 and over East Eurasia and the western North Pacific

An intercomparison of summertime (JJA)subtropical geopotential heights from the ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis is specifically conducted over East Eurasia and the western North Pacific. The NCEP/NCAR is obviously lower than the ERA-40 in the mid-to-lower troposphere in most regions of East Eurasia before the mid-1970s, but becomes higher than the ERA-40 after the mid-1970s and thus demonstrates stronger increased trends during the period of 1958-2001. Both reanalyses are lower than the observations in most regions of China. The NCEP/NCAR especially shows tremendously systematic lower values before the mid-1960s and displays abrupt changes before the 1970s. Several indices of the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH), calculated from both reanalyzed summer geopotential heights, also reveal that the variation trend of the NCEP/NCAR is stronger than that of the ERA-40 in the mid-to-lower troposphere from 1958 to 2001. Through singular value decomposition (SVD) analysis, the summer geopotential heights at 500 hPa from the ERA-40 are better than the NCEP/NCAR counterparts at interacting with the precipitation over the East Asian monsoon region. The results indicate that the NCEP/NCAR in the mid-and-lower troposphere may overestimate interdecadal changes and should be used cautiously to study the relationship between the WNPSH and precipitation ove ther East Asia Monsoon region before the mid-1970s.     

Weakening of Indian summer monsoon in recent decades

The analysis of 43 years of NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data and station observations reveals the connections between tropospheric temperature variations and the weakening of the Indian summer monsoon circulation. The Indian summer monsoon variation is strongly linked to tropospheric temperature over East Asia, showing significant positive correlations of mean tropospheric temperature with all-Indian summer rainfall and the monsoon circulation intensity. The result shows that Indian summer monsoon circulation underwent two weakening processes in recent decades. The first occurred in circa the mid-1960s, and the other occurred in circa the late 1970s. The finding indicates that the mean tropospheric temperature may play a crucial role in the weakening of the Indian summer monsoon intensity via changing land-sea thermal contrast. The role of the tropospheric temperature contrast between East Asia and the tropical area from the eastern Indian Ocean to the tropical western Pacific is to weaken the Indian summer monsoon circulation.     

印度夏季风的减弱及其与对流层温度的关系

对43aNCEP/NCAR再分析资料和台站实际观测资料的分析,揭示了对流层温度变化和印度夏季风环流减弱之间的联系。印度夏季风的变化与东亚上空对流层温度具有密切的关系,主要表现为对流层平均温度与整个印度夏季降雨和季风环流强度之间存在显著的正相关。结果表明:印度夏季风环流在近几十年经历了两次减弱过程,第一次减弱约发生在20世纪60年代中期,第二次减弱则发生在20世纪70年代后期;通过改变海陆热力对比,对流层平均温度在印度夏季风减弱过程中可能起着重要作用,东亚地区与东印度洋至西太平洋热带地区之间的对流层温度差异导致了印度夏季风环流的减弱。     

东亚冬季风年代际变化可能成因的模拟研究

利用NCEP/NCAR再分析月平均海平面气压资料, 定义了一个东亚冬季风强度指数 (I_WI), 并发现20世纪60年代到70年代初期东亚冬季风强度减弱, 其后冬季风强度有所增强, 80年代初期以后东亚冬季风强度又开始减弱。年代际时间尺度上, 冬季陆地表面气温与I_WI的相关性比海洋与I_WI相关性好, 冬季大陆东部的年代际增温与东亚冬季风的年代际减弱之间可能存在密切的联系。利用区域气候模式 (RegCM3) 进行敏感性数值模拟试验发现:减小冬季东亚大陆东北部的长波辐射降温率, 将导致东西向海平面气压差的减小以及低层北风减弱, 反映了东亚冬季风的减弱。近40年来, 特别是20世纪80年代以后东亚冬季风的年代际减弱趋势很可能是东亚区域气候对温室效应的一种区域响应。     

ENSO与中国夏季年际气候异常关系的年代际变化

利用热带太平洋海表温度和中国降水和气温站点观测资料,通过滑动相关分析,揭示了ENSO与中国夏季年际气候异常关系的年代际变化事实。结果表明:ENSO与中国夏季年际气候异常的关系既有稳定的方面,又存在年代际变化特征。稳定的关系表现在:处于发展阶段的ENSO事件往往造成华北夏季降水偏少;处于衰减阶段的ENSO事件则易引起长江流域及江南地区夏季降水偏多。而二者关系的年代际变化表现在:1970年代中后期,处于发展阶段的ENSO事件引起的夏季降水异常在华南地区由偏少变为偏多,东北地区则由偏多变为偏少,而江淮地区偏多的现象不再明显,华北和东北夏季气温异常也由偏冷转变为偏暖,而华南则有偏冷趋势;处于衰减阶段的ENSO事件引起的夏季降水异常在华北地区由偏多变为偏少,江淮地区降水由偏少变为正常甚至偏多,华北夏季气温异常则由偏冷变为偏暖,长江流域和华南也有偏暖趋势。利用NCEP/NCAR再分析资料合成分析表明,在不同的年代际背景下ENSO引起的东亚中高纬度大气环流异常型发生了明显改变是ENSO和降水气温关系发生年代际变化的原因。     

北半球冬季大气环流遥相关的长期变化及其与我国气候变化的关系

研究北半球冬季大气环流遥相关型的长期变化发现：ＷＡ，ＰＮＡ型有明显趋势变化及年代际变化。ＷＡ型有明显负趋势，ＰＮＡ型有正趋势，它们的强度突变分别发生于１９８０年代初（ＷＡ型１９８３年由强转弱）及１９７０年代中（ＰＮＡ型１９７６年由弱转强）。与此同时，亚洲地区、亚欧地区的经向环流强度于１９８３年突然减弱。大气环流及遥相关型强度的这种年代际变化是中国冬季气候变化的一个重要原因。     

东亚冬季风变化若干统计事实

利用EOF（VEOF）分析方法对1956-2005年东亚冬季风和大气环流场的统计特征进行了分析。结果表明：东亚冬季风存在2个模态,其中第2模态变化在冬季风年代际变化和长期变化趋势中起着较重要的作用;冬季风以及大气环流年代际异常在1980年前后发生了突变;冬季风的年代际变化与中国冬季气温、降水年代际关系密切。     

INTERCOMPARISON OF THE INTERDECADAL VARIATIONS OF SUMMER PRECIPITATION IN CHINA SIMULATED BY AOGCMS FROM THE IPCC-DDC

Simulations of the interdecadal variations of summer rainfall over China are assessed from 5 coupled AOGCMs from the Data Distribution Center (DDC) of the Intergovernmental Panel in Climate Change (IPCC) under the IPCC-Special Report in Emission Scenarios (SRES) A2 and B2 scenario. We examined their ability in simulating the interdecadal variations of summer precipitation over China from 1951 to 1990. The difference before and after the mid-1960’s and the late 1970’s is given respectively to check the capability of the models, especially in reproducing the rainfall jump in North China. We also investigated the interdecadal variations simulated by the models in the 1990’s and the average of 2001-2020 in the future under the scenario A2 and B2. The analysis shows that the current AOGCMs is not good enough in simulating the interdecadal variations of summer precipitation in China. The interdecadal variations of summer rainfall simulated by most of the models cannot reproduce the observation in North China. Higher resolution models are suggested to well simulate the interdecadal variability in regional scale.     

近百年东亚季风长期变化中主周期振荡的奇异谱分析

运用海平面气压场资料，计算１８７３—１９９０年的东亚冬、夏季风强度指数，并利用奇异谱分析方法（ＳＳＡ）对这百年的东亚季风长期变化的周期活动进行了研究。研究表明：东亚冬、夏季风都存在准２ａ（ＱＢＯ）、３—６ａ（ＬＦＯ）的年际振荡，１６—１８ａ（ＩＤＯ）的年代际振荡和长期变化趋势。各振荡分量都具有年代际的差别，这种特征ＱＢＯ表现得最典型。冬季风的ＱＢＯ在１９２０年代前振幅较小，且大约呈现１２ａ的大振幅和６ａ的小振幅波状的周期变化；夏季风的ＱＢＯ振幅变化与冬季风相反，且大约呈现６ａ的大振幅和３ａ的小振幅波状的周期变化。夏季风中的年代际变化影响较小。     

Interdecadal variability of the East Asian summer monsoon in an AGCM

It is well known that significant interdecadal variation of the East Asian summer monsoon （EASM） occurred around the end of the 1970s. Whether these variations can be attributed to the evolution of global sea surface temperature （SST） and sea ice concentration distribution is investigated with an atmospheric general circulation model （AGCM）. The model is forced with observed monthly global SST and sea ice evolution through 1958-1999. A total of four integrations starting from different initial conditions are carried out. It is found that only one of these reproduces the observed interdecadal changes of the EASM after the 1970s, including weakened low-level meridional wind, decreased surface air temperature and increased sea level pressure in central China, as well as the southwestward shift of the western Pacific subtropical high ridge and the strengthened 200-hPa westerlies. This discrepancy among these simulated results suggests that the interdecadal variation of the EASM cannot be accounted for by historical global SST and sea ice evolution. Thus, the possibility that the interdecadal timescale change of monsoon is a natural variability of the coupled climate system evolution cannot be excluded.     

东亚夏季风的年际到年代际变化及其与全球大气环流和海表温度的联系

The East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) underwent an interdecadal variation with interannual variations during the period from 1958 to 1997, its index tended to decline from a higher stage in the mid-1960＇s until it reached a lower stage after 1980＇s. Correlation analysis reveals that EASM is closely related with the global atmospheric circulation and sea surface temperature (SST). The differences between the weak and strong stage of EASM shows that, the summer monsoon circulation over East Asia and North Africa is sharply weakened, in the meantime, the westerlies in high latitudes and the trade--wind over the tropical ocean are also changed significantly. Over the most regions south of the northern subtropics, both air temperature in the lower troposphere and SST tended to rise compared with the strong stage of EASM. It is also revealed that the ocean-atmosphere interaction over the western Pacific and Indian Ocean plays a key role in interannual to interdecadal variation of EASM, most probably, the subtropical Indian Ocean is more important. On the other hand, the ENSO event is less related to EASM at least during the concerned period.     

Definition and Features of the North Edge of the East Asian Summer Monsoon

By using daily total precipitable water(TPW) amount from the ECMWF reanalysis(ERA-44a) data in 1958-2001,the north edge of the Asian sub-tropical summer monsoon is defined by a normalized precipitable water index(NPWI),and its climatology and interannual/interdecadal variability are examined.The results show that two monsoon systems(the Indian and East Asian monsoon systems) can be identified in terms of monsoon edge defined by the NPWI over Asia.The mean north edge goes in the west-east direction along ...     

亚洲夏季风的年际和年代际变化及其未来预测

本文是对我们近五年在亚洲夏季风年代际与年际变率及其未来预测方面研究的一个综述.主要包括下列三个问题:(1)根据123年中国夏季降水资料和印度学者的分析,检测出亚洲夏季风具有明显的年代际尺度减弱,这种年代际变化使中国东部(包括东亚)和南亚夏季降水的格局在过去60年中发生了明显变化.在东亚,从1970年代后期开始,主要异常雨带有不断南移的趋势,结果造成了南涝北旱的降水分布,这主要受到60～80年年代际振荡的影响.青藏高原前冬和春季积雪的年代际减少与热带中东太平洋海表温度的年代际增加是东亚降水型改变的主要原因,这是通过减弱亚洲地区夏季海陆温差与夏季风强度而实现的.未来亚洲夏季风的预测表明,东亚夏季风和南亚夏季风对气候变暖有十分不同的响应.东亚夏季风在本世纪将增强,雨带北推,尤其在2040年代之后;而南亚夏季风环流将继续减弱.这种不同的变化是由于两者对高低层海陆热力差异的不同响应造成.(2)年际尺度的变率在亚洲夏季风区主要表现为2年与4～7年的振荡.本文着重分析了2年振荡(TBO)形成的过程、机理及其对东亚降水的影响.对TBO-海洋机理进行了具体的改进,说明了东亚夏季风降水深受TBO影响的原因,尤其是阐明了长江型(YRV) TBO和淮河型(HRV) TBO的特征及其形成的循环过程.(3)在总结亚洲夏季风时期遥相关型的基础上,本文提出了季节内和年际尺度的低空遥相关型:即西北太平洋季风的遥相关型与印度“南支”和“北支”遥相关型.它们基本上反映了沿低空夏季风强风速带Rossby波群速度传播的结果.据此可以根据西北太平洋和印度夏季风的变化分别预测中国梅雨和华北雨季来临和降水异常.最后研究还表明,在本世纪亚洲夏季风可能更显著地受到人类活动造成的全球变暖的影响,未来的亚洲夏季风活动是人类排放的CO2引起的全球变暖与自然变化(海洋和陆面过程(积雪))共同作用的结果.     

近百年东亚冬季风的突变性和周期性

该文利用海平面气压场资料,计算了1873～1990年的东亚冬季风强度指数,并用滑动t检验和奇异谱分析方法（SSA）对近百年的东亚冬季风的突变性和周期性进行了研究。研究表明:东亚冬季风强度具有显著的年际及年代际变化。当冬季风强时,中国大部分地区温度降低,蒙古高压升高,阿留申低压加深。当冬季风弱时,天气及环流特点几乎与之相反。东亚冬季风存在QBO、LFO和IDO现象,各振荡分量都具有年代际的差别。