Comparison of precipitation in the regional climate model BALTIMOS to radar observations

Observational data and simulations of the regional climate system Baltic integrated model system (BALTIMOS) were used to study precipitation in the Baltic Sea and its drainage basin with a special focus on the diurnal cycle. The study includes a general evaluation of BALTIMOS precipitation, showing that BALTIMOS has too many light rain events causing an overestimation of the total annual precipitation amount. The diurnal cycle as well as its spatial distribution was analysed. BALTIMOS captures the broad characteristics: a significant diurnal variability with an afternoon peak above land and weak variability with a nocturnal peak above sea. An algorithm to distinguish between frontal and convective precipitation was applied to examine the diurnal cycle more thoroughly. The local solar time of maximum rain in summer is about 1 to 2 h earlier in BALTIMOS than in radar observations of precipitation.     

Impacts of Cumulus Convective Parameterization Schemes on Summer Monsoon Precipitation Simulation over China

By using the Betts-Miller-Janjic, Grell-Devenyi, and Kain-Fritsch cumulus convective parameterization schemes in theWeather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, long time simulations from 2000 to 2009 are conducted to investigate the impacts of different cumulus convective parameterization schemes on summer monsoon precipitation simulation over China. The results show that all the schemes have the capability to reasonably reproduce the spatial and temporal distributions of summer monsoon precipitation and the corresponding background circulation. The observed north-south shift of monsoon rain belt is also well simulated by the three schemes. Detailed comparison indicates that the Grell-Devenyi scheme gives a better performance than the others. Deficiency in simulated water vapor transport is one possible reason for the precipitation simulation bias.     

基于雷达资料四维变分同化及云模式的中尺度对流系统数值临近预报试验

基于雷达资料快速刷新四维变分同化(RR4DVar)初始化的三维数值云模式,利用京津冀6部新一代多普勒天气雷达和区域自动气象站观测资料,针对2013年7月4日出现在京津冀平原地区的中尺度对流系统(MCS),开展了数值临近预报试验。研究结果表明,充分考虑雷达观测信息的对流尺度数值临近预报具有很大的优势,但也存在不足:(1)模式能够较好地把握中尺度对流系统的组织发展和移动演变特征,对风暴回波带的走向和尺度特征有较好的预报,但对强回波的强度和位置预报存在一定偏差;(2)模式预报可以反映风暴系统的中小尺度扰动特征,对风暴冷池和出流边界(阵风锋)的发展变化均有较为合理的预报;(3)模式对强降水中心和雨带位置的预报有很大优势,能较好地预报弱降水雨带的分布形势和雨量,但对强降水落区的预报偏大;(4)模式对风暴造成的对流性强降水的预报准确率较高,对0.5—10 mm阈值的降水范围预报偏差比较合理,对10 mm以上降水范围的预报偏大,但是对弱降水风暴的弱回波较强回波的预报性能要好;(5)由于三维数值云模式对京津冀复杂地形的处理不够完善,对山前风场预报偏差较大,造成对山前风暴的发展演变和山前降水的预报偏差较大。     

中国东部云-降水对应关系的分析与模式评估

为评估和改进模式中不同类型云与降水的对应关系,利用1998—2007年卫星-台站融合降水资料和国际卫星云气候计划的卫星观测云资料,采用诊断方法分析了中国东部季风区冬季层云、夏季对流云、层云与降水的水平分布及季节变化对应关系,并评估了BCC_AGCM模式的T42和T106分辨率版本对云-降水对应关系的模拟能力。观测资料分析结果表明,中国东部冬季云带和雨带都稳定少动,降水主要来自雨层云和高层云,南部沿海层云和层积云也对降水有贡献;夏季,中国东部表现为层积混合云降水特征,对流云带与降水带具有较好的对应关系,并具有一致的移动特征。对流降水主要来自深对流云和卷层云,深对流云云量和降水中心完全吻合,卷层云云带则表现出比深对流云主体和降水带偏北的现象;层云降水主要来自高层云和层积云。模式评估结果表明,中、低分辨率版本的BCC_AGCM模式均模拟出了冬季层云和稳定少动的降水带、夏季深对流云、卷层云和降水带的对应关系及随季风推进的移动特征。与T42模式版本相比,T106模式版本在夏季对流云云量的模拟及其与降水带的对应关系方面有所改善,说明改进的BCC_AGCM积云对流参数化方案与高分辨率模式网格更匹配,但冬季层云云量模拟误差变大,与降水带的对应关系变差,其原因值得进一步分析研究。     

A comparison of the BALTIMOS coupled climate model with atmospheric and sea surface parameters derived from AMSR-E

The BALTEX Integrated Model System (BALTIMOS) coupled atmosphere ocean model was compared to passive microwave observations of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E). Emphasis was put on quantifying the uncertainties associated with the different variables based on data screening both in the model and observations. Monthly means of three atmospheric parameters, as well as sea surface temperature, were compared for a period of 1 year. Sea ice extent was also derived from AMSR-E and compared to the model data on a daily basis. It is shown that the accuracy of the comparisons on a monthly mean basis is limited by precipitation screening. Out of the three atmospheric parameters, surface wind speed and water vapor column amount agree with the model data to within the accuracy of the comparison. The vertically integrated cloud liquid water content diagnosed from BALTIMOS is systematically higher than the liquid water content derived from satellite, even if potential systematic errors are accounted for. In terms of coupling, the two most relevant variables discussed are sea surface temperature and sea ice extent. The temporal extent of sea ice in the investigation area is well represented, as are the periods of the main growing and decay periods. The total sea ice cover appears to be underestimated by BALTIMOS, especially in the peak season between January and the beginning of March. The amplitude of the annual cycle of sea surface temperature in BALTIMOS appears to be too weak compared to the observations, leading to too cold sea surface temperatures in summer and too warm sea surface temperatures in winter. This might also partially explain the underestimation of sea ice cover by BALTIMOS.     

Performance assessment of three convective parameterization schemes in WRF for downscaling summer rainfall over South Africa

Austral summer rainfall over the period 1991/1992 to 2010/2011 was dynamically downscaled by the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model at 9 km resolution for South Africa. Lateral boundary conditions for WRF were provided from the European Centre for medium-range weather (ECMWF) reanalysis (ERA) interim data. The model biases for the rainfall were evaluated over the South Africa as a whole and its nine provinces separately by employing three different convective parameterization schemes, namely the (1) Kain–Fritsch (KF), (2) Betts–Miller–Janjic (BMJ) and (3) Grell–Devenyi ensemble (GDE) schemes. All three schemes have generated positive rainfall biases over South Africa, with the KF scheme producing the largest biases and mean absolute errors. Only the BMJ scheme could reproduce the intensity of rainfall anomalies, and also exhibited the highest correlation with observed interannual summer rainfall variability. In the KF scheme, a significantly high amount of moisture was transported from the tropics into South Africa. The vertical thermodynamic profiles show that the KF scheme has caused low level moisture convergence, due to the highly unstable atmosphere, and hence contributed to the widespread positive biases of rainfall. The negative bias in moisture, along with a stable atmosphere and negative biases of vertical velocity simulated by the GDE scheme resulted in negative rainfall biases, especially over the Limpopo Province. In terms of rain rate, the KF scheme generated the lowest number of low rain rates and the maximum number of moderate to high rain rates associated with more convective unstable environment. KF and GDE schemes overestimated the convective rain and underestimated the stratiform rain. However, the simulated convective and stratiform rain with BMJ scheme is in more agreement with the observations. This study also documents the performance of regional model in downscaling the large scale climate mode such as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and subtropical dipole modes. The correlations between the simulated area averaged rainfalls over South Africa and Nino3.4 index were ?0.66, ?0.69 and ?0.49 with KF, BMJ and GDE scheme respectively as compared to the observed correlation of ?0.57. The model could reproduce the observed ENSO-South Africa rainfall relationship and could successfully simulate three wet (dry) years that are associated with La Niña (El Niño) and the BMJ scheme is closest to the observed variability. Also, the model showed good skill in simulating the excess rainfall over South Africa that is associated with positive subtropical Indian Ocean Dipole for the DJF season 2005/2006.     

Characterization of tropical precipitation using drop size distribution and rain rate-radar reflectivity relation

Characterization of precipitation is important for proper interpretation of rain information from remotely sensed data. Rain attenuation and radar reflectivity (Z) depend directly on the drop size distribution (DSD). The relation between radar reflectivity/rain attenuation and rain rate (R) varies widely depending upon the origin, topography, and drop evolution mechanism and needs further understanding of the precipitation characteristics. The present work utilizes 2 years of concurrent measurements of DSD using a ground-based disdrometer at five diverse climatic conditions in Indian subcontinent and explores the possibility of rain classification based on microphysical characteristics of precipitation. It is observed that both gamma and lognormal distributions are performing almost similar for Indian region with a marginally better performance by one model than other depending upon the locations. It has also been found that shape-slope relationship of gamma distribution can be a good indicator of rain type. The Z-R relation, Z = AR^b, is found to vary widely for different precipitation systems, with convective rain that has higher values of A than the stratiform rain for two locations, whereas the reverse is observed for the rest of the three locations. Further, the results indicate that the majority of rainfall (>50%) in Indian region is due to the convective rain although the occurrence time of convective rain is low (<10%).     

中国东部暖季对流云与层状云的比例及与降水的对应关系

基于1985~2011年逐时地面台站观测云资料,分析了对流云和层状云及其比例关系的时空演变特征,结合逐日融合降水资料研究了对流云、层状云与季风雨带的对应关系。结果表明,中国东部暖季（5~9月）对流云发生频率平均为15.4%,层状云为30.0%。对流云与层状云发生频率的比例在广东、广西、海南省东部和贵州省大部分地区大于1,其它地区均小于1。伴随季风雨带的北进南退,层状云发生频率和云量中心均与降水中心对应,且层状云云带与季风雨带位置吻合,随时间的演变趋势也相同,说明季风雨带主要由层状降水构成,对流云发生频率和云量大值中心则位于季风雨带南侧。对流云和层状云发生频率/云量的变化在华南地区和江淮流域呈显著负相关,云的类型主要由大气稳定度决定。对流云和层状云发生频率在华北地区呈显著正相关,水汽是形成云的决定因素。就降水频率而言,华南地区层状云降水和对流云降水各占一定的比例,而江淮流域和华北地区层状云降水频率更大。     

The Challenges of Modeling Climate Variability and Change in West Africa

This paper overviews observations and examines modeling issues associated with the mean state, climate variability and climate change in West Africa. The Tropical Rain Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite allows for the first time estimates of Unconditional, Convective and Stratiform rain rates in West Africa. The 1998 estimated TRMM rates are compared to long-term observed rain rates and a merged rain data set (CMAP) during 1998. Further, the TRMM estimates are compared to the simulated rain rates from the Community Climate Model Version 3.6. The TRMM Precipitation Radar rain estimates are generally lower than either the long-term observations or the CMAP rates during 1998. Moreover, the TRMM rain estimates show a significant fraction of the total rain (convective + stratiform) is characterized as stratiform rain (30–40%). The CCM3 simulates primarily convective rain and negligible amounts of non-convective rain for West Africa. Furthermore, the TRMM high-resolution rain patterns strongly imply that rain in West Africa occurs on mesoscales in association with mesoscale convective systems (squall lines, mesoscale convective complexes and non-squall tropical clusters). We demonstrate this by briefly examining two mesoscale convective systems during May 1998 with METEOSAT data. Regional climate models may offer the best solution to understanding climate change in West Africa because of their ability to capture mesoscale systems and better their representation of orographic features. Adequate boundary conditions from Global Climate Models are still necessary for regional climate model simulations to successfully reproduce mean climate conditions and provide understanding with respect to future climate change. Observations in West Africa should be maintained or increased for monitoring climate variability and possibility of climate change in West Africa, proper initialization of numerical weather prediction models and the validation of climate models.     

冬、夏季热带及副热带穿透性对流气候特征分析

文中利用热带测雨卫星 (TRMM) 搭载的测雨雷达 (PR) 1998~2007年的探测结果, 就热带及副热带地区穿透性对流的频次、条件降水强度及垂直廓线等特征进行了分析。研究结果表明: 深对流和穿透性对流都主要发生在热带辐合带 ( ITCZ)、南太平洋辐合带 (SPCZ)、亚洲季风区、20°N以南的非洲以及美洲等地区, 它们的空间分布具有明显的地域性和季节变化特征, 而且陆地深对流更容易发展成为穿透性对流, 但绝大部分地区的穿透性对流频次不超过0.2%。对穿透性对流条件降水强度的分析表明, 热带及副热带大部分地区的穿透性对流条件降水强度在10 mm/h以上, 且洋面的条件降水强度要比陆地大, 但由于其频次较小导致其对总降水的贡献并不大。尽管深对流和穿透性对流降水廓线的外形比较相似, 但相同的高度, 深对流的降水强度要比穿透性对流偏小, 而且这种差异随海陆和纬度的不同而有所区别。此外, 热带地区 (15°S~15°N) 冬、夏季深对流和穿透性对流降水廓线都只存在较小差异, 并没有显示出明显的季节变化。     

Statistical Characteristics of Raindrop Size Distribution in the Tibetan Plateau and Southern China

The characteristics of raindrop size distribution(DSD) over the Tibetan Plateau and southern China are studied in this paper, using the DSD data from April to August 2014 collected by HSC-PS32 disdrometers in Nagqu and Yangjiang, comprising a total of 9430 and 6366 1-min raindrop spectra, respectively. The raindrop spectra, characteristics of parameter variations with rainfall rate, and the relationships between reflectivity factor(Z) and rainfall rate(R) are analyzed, as well as their DSD changes with precipitation type and rainfall rate. The results show that the average raindrop spectra appear to be one-peak curves, the number concentration for larger drops increase significantly with rainfall rate, and its value over southern China is much higher, especially in convective rain. Standardized Gamma distributions better describe DSD for larger drops, especially for convective rain in southern China. All three Gamma parameters for stratiform precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau are much higher, while its shape parameter(μ) and mass-weighted mean diameter(D_m), for convective precipitation, are less. In terms of parameter variation with rainfall rate, the normalized intercept parameter(N_w) over the Tibetan Plateau for stratiform rain increases with rainfall rate, which is opposite to the situation in convective rain. The μover the Tibetan Plateau for stratiform and convective precipitation types decreases with an increase in rainfall rate, which is opposite to the case for D m variation. In Z–R relationships, like "Z = AR~b", the coefficient A over the Tibetan Plateau is smaller, while its b is higher, when the rain type transfers from stratiform to convective ones. Furthermore, with an increase in rainfall rate, parameters A and b over southern China increase gradually, while A over the Tibetan Plateau decreases substantially, which differs from the findings of previous studies. In terms of geographic location and climate over the Tibetan Plateau and southern China, the precipitation in the pre-flood seasons is dominated by strong convective rain, while weak convective rain occurs frequently in northern Tibet with lower humidity and higher altitude.     

梅雨锋暴雨数值模拟中地形的作用

通过WRF模式对2003年7月9日至10日梅雨锋暴雨天气过程在有、无地形情况下数值模拟的结果的分析,探讨了地形对梅雨锋暴雨的影响。研究表明:在有地形的模拟中,模拟的结果较好地再现了梅雨锋降水过程、主要影响系统和梅雨锋的结构;而无地形的模拟中,模拟的雨带偏南,强降水范围偏大,降水系统偏南。地形对梅雨锋暴雨的作用是由于地形减弱了北方冷空气的强度。     

梅雨锋暴雨中云物理过程的观测和数值模拟

Cloud micro-physical structures in a precipitation system associated with the Meiyu front are observedusing the balloon-borne Precipitation Particle Image Sensor at Baoshan observatory station, Shanghaiduring June and July 1999. The vertical distributions of various cloud particle size, number density, andmass density are retrieved from the observations. Analyses of observations show that ice-phase particles(ice crystals, graupel, snowflakes, and frozen drops) often exist in the cloud of torrential rain associatedwith the Meiyu front. Among the various particles, ice crystals and graupel are the most numerous, butgraupel and snow have the highest mass density. Ice-phase particles coexist with liquid water dropletsnear the 0℃ level. The graupel is similarly distributed with height as the ice crystals. Raindrops belowthe 0℃ level are mainly from melted grauple, snowflakes and frozen drops. They may further grow largerby coalescence with smaller ones as they fall from the cloud base. Numerical simulations using the non-hydrostatic meso-scale model MM5 with the Reisner graupel explicit moisture scheme confirm the mainobservational results. Rain water at the lower level is mainly generated from the melting of snow andgraupel falling from the upper level where snow and graupel are generated and grown from collection withcloud and rain water. Thus the mixed-phase cloud process, in which ice phase coexists and interacts withliquid phase (cloud and rain drops), plays the most important role in the formation and development ofheavy convective rainfall in the Meiyu frontal system.     

上海地区几类强降水雨滴谱特征分析

用Parsivel激光降水粒子谱仪资料对2013年上海地区4—10月份期间4种类型 (层状云、对流暖云主导型、对流冷云主导型和强台风影响下的混合暖云型) 降水过程的雨滴谱特征进行了分析。通过平均雨滴谱及其拟合特征、雨滴数密度与含水量分布、雨滴尺度与速度二维谱分布等对比分析发现:各类降水中, 雨滴谱的峰值结构与雨强大小有关, 其中直径介于0.187~1.312 mm的小雨滴均出现峰值且总数最多。各尺度雨滴数密度及其比例决定了其降水量贡献比, 在冷云强降水中的雨强贡献最大的雨滴尺度要显著大于其他3种类型。雨滴谱宽按大小排列依次为对流冷云主导型、混合暖云型、对流暖云主导型和层状云。最后综合运用雨滴谱、雷达、雨量站、闪电等观测资料对9月13日对流冷云主导型降水过程进行分析后发现:在雷暴的演变过程中, 雨滴谱特征与雷达反射率因子、垂直液态水含量、自动站雨强、闪电频次等要素均有较好的相关性。冷云产生的冰晶和冰雹融化后的大雨滴进入中低层的广谱小雨滴群, 并通过破碎分裂增加了大雨滴的形成概率, 尤其是捕捉碰并过程更加快了大雨滴的增长速度, 使雨强在短时间内迅速加强。雨滴谱中各档粒子数的演变, 揭示了降水强度的变化, 用雨滴谱资料可有效弥补现有雷达定量估测降水的偏差, 且在冷云中改善明显。     

对流性降水云微波辐射特性

结合MM5模式和三维微波辐射传输模式, 对2003年7月9日宜昌地区一次典型的中尺度降水中心的对流性降水云微波辐射特性进行研究。结果表明:MM5模式模拟的降水量和落区与实况一致,模拟的水凝物廓线也与TMI反演值接近,85.5 GHz通道辐射亮温与TMI实测情况相近。85.5 GHz通道亮温与地面雨强相关性很弱, 受云中云冰和雪花的散射降温作用显著, 由于其他粒子的综合作用以及斜角观测造成的位置偏移, 霰粒子对该通道亮温散射作用不明显。19.35 GHz通道亮温随雨强增加先升温后降温; 与霰粒子含量表现出明显的负相关关系。37.0 GHz通道亮温随雨强的增加而降温, 雨强大于20 mm/h后达到饱和, 主要受雨水降温作用影响。倾斜观测比天顶垂直观测产生更低的亮温低值中心, 且频率越高, 低值中心的偏移越严重。     

An Assessment of MJO and Tropical Waves Simulated by Different Versions of the GAMIL Model

Simulated outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) outputs by two versions of the grid-point atmospheric general circulation model (GAMIL) were analyzed to assess the influences of improvements in cloud microphysics and convective parameterization schemes on the simulation of the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) and other tropical waves. The wavenumber-frequency spectral analysis was applied to isolate dominant modes of convectively coupled equatorial waves, including the MJO, Kelvin, equatorial Rossby (ER), mixed Rossby-gravity (MRG), and inertio-gravity (IG) waves. The performances of different versions of the GAMIL model (version 1.0 (GAMIL1.0) and version 2.0 (GAMIL2.0)) were evaluated by comparing the power spectrum distributions of these waves among GAMIL1.0, GAMIL2.0, and observational data. GAMIL1.0 shows a weak MJO signal, with the maximum variability occurring separately at wavenumbers 1 and 4 rather than being concentrated on wavenumbers 1–3, suggesting that GAMIL1.0 could not effectively capture the intraseasonal variability. However, GAMIL2.0 is able to effectively reproduce both the symmetric and anti-symmetric waves, and the significant spectra of the MJO, Kelvin, and MRG waves are in agreement with observational data, indicating that the ability of GAMIL2.0 to simulate the MJO and other tropical waves is enhanced by improving the cloud microphysics and convective parameterization schemes and implying that such improvements are crucial to further improving this model’s performance.     

近20年青州市自然降水的宏观特征与变化趋势

利用青州市1980—1999年降水资料，重点研究了4—9月份的自然降水宏观特征与20年的变化趋势。计算了各类天气系统对降水的贡献，分析了各降水云系的时空分布特征及与降水的关系，研究了城区、山区、平原的降水差异。结果指出：青州1990—1999年比1980—1989年降水量增加，主要原因是气旋活动增加、积云类对流性降水加强。局地降水差异是城区＞山区＞平原。这些研究对掌握青州的气候演变规律，提高天气预报水平和实施人工影响天气作业，具有现实意义。     

山东省春秋季暴雨天气的环流特征和形成机制初探

对山东省春秋季暴雨的气候特征和影响系统进行了分析, 制作了春秋季暴雨的平均环流形势图。分析了2003年春秋季两次大范围暴雨的环流特征和影响系统及暴雨期间大气的热力特征和水汽输送特征, 应用k-螺旋度和倾斜涡度发展理论, 分析了暴雨的形成机制。结果表明:4月暴雨均受气旋影响, 10月暴雨以冷锋影响居多。2003年4月17—18日为气旋暴雨, 10月10—12日为切变线冷锋暴雨。两次暴雨前都有低空偏南风急流向暴雨区输送水汽, 大气强烈增温增湿, 对流不稳定度增大, 湿斜压性增强。强冷锋南下触发对流不稳定能量释放, 产生暴雨。暴雨期间低层正k-螺旋度猛烈发展。暴雨前期中低层MPV1 < 0且MPV2 > 0, 冷锋影响期间MPV1 > 0且MPV2 < 0, 都有利于倾斜涡度发展, 增强了上升运动。     

北欧数值预报系统HIRLAM在中国的应用——长江流域暴雨的预报试验

将北欧有限区域模式HIRLAM应用于中国地区，以检验该模式在定量预报夏季长江流域暴雨方面的能力。3次长江流域暴雨个例的预报试验表明；0～24 h的累积雨量预报是比较成功的，能够报出长江流域大部分日降水50 mm以上的暴雨区；24～48 h累积雨量预报的质量各个例有较大差异，总体上比0～24 h预报质量有相当大的下降，尤其是在50 mm以上暴雨区的预报方面能力较差。     

利用星载测雨雷达探测结果对夏季中国南方对流和层云降水气候特征的分析

本文利用热带测雨卫星(TRMM)上搭载的测雨雷达(PR)十年的探测结果, 对夏季中国南方对流降水和层云降水的气候特征进行了分析。研究结果表明:夏季中国南方层云降水频次较对流降水频次高出两倍以上, 而对流降水强度至少是层云降水强度的4倍; 就整个中国南方而言, 这两种类型的降水对总降水量贡献相当。日变化分析表明夏季中国南方大部分地区的对流降水主要出现在午后, 层云降水出现时间并不集中, 但这两类降水的频次日变化均显示了明显的地域性特征; 对降水廓线日变化的分析结果表明, 对流降水和层云降水廓线的日变化主要表现在“雨顶”高度的日变化, 即对流降水云的厚度有明显的日变化变化特征, 不同地区的降水廓线存在明显的差异。降水率剖面分析结果显示了对流降水的“雨顶” 高度日变化较层云降水剧烈, 降水率的日变化则相反, 且层云降水率的地域性特征更强。