Seasonal relationship between temperature,precipitation and snow cover in a mountainous region

Summary An analysis of correlation coefficients for climatological data covering the period 1901–1994 or 1931–1994 for six locations in Switzerland has been made in order to highlight the relationships between temperature, precipitation (rain and snow) and snow in summer and in winter. The results show that colder summers tend to be associated with more precipitation, mainly in terms of the frequency of occurrence of precipitation, but also in terms of its abundancy. In winter, sites located at lower altitudes behave differently from those at higher elevations. At lower altitudes, warmer winters tend to be rainier and to have less snow (only a small part of winter precipitation falls in the form of snow). Above 1000–1500 m, correlations between temperature on the one hand, and precipitation or snow on the other, tend to be weaker than at lower elevations; warmer winters are associated with less snow but also with less precipitation in general, while the relationship between precipitation and snow is stronger.These results confirm that during cold periods of the past, such as Löbben Phase (1400 BC — 1230 BC) cold summers were probably linked to frequent and abundant precipitation. These conditions led to increased mortality as well as to population migrations. In terms of potential future global warming, if the current temperature/precipitation relationships remain unchanged, then warmer summers will likely be linked to a decrease in precipitation. Higher winter temperatures can be expected to lead to a general decrease of snow and to a decrease in precipitation, but only at higher elevations; warmer winters would conversely be associated with an increase in precipitation at lower altitudes.With 4 Figures     

Trends in monthly precipitation over the northwest of Iran (NWI)

Increasing global temperatures during the last century have had their own effects on other climatic conditions, particularly on precipitation characteristics. This study was meant to investigate the spatial and temporal monthly trends of precipitation using the least square error (LSE) approach for the northwest of Iran (NWI). To this end, a database was obtained from 250 measuring stations uniformly scattered all over NWI from 1961 to 2010. The spatial average of annual precipitation in NWI during the period of study was approximately 220.9–726.7 mm. The annual precipitation decreased from southwest to northeast, while the large amount of precipitation was concentrated in the south-west and in the mountainous areas. All over NWI, the maximum and minimum precipitation records occurred from March to May and July to September, respectively. The coefficient of variation (CV) is greater than 44 % in all of NWI and may reach over 76 % in many places. The greatest range of CV, for instance, occurred during July. The spatial variability of precipitation was consistent with a tempo-spatial pattern of precipitation trends. There was a considerable difference between the amounts of change during the months, and the negative trends were mainly attributed to areas concentrated in eastern and southern parts of NWI far from the western mountain ranges. Moreover, limited areas with positive precipitation trends can be found in very small and isolated regions. This is observable particularly in the eastern half of NWI, which is mostly located far from Westerlies. On the other hand, seasonal precipitation trends indicated a slight decrease during winter and spring and a slight increase during summer and autumn. Consequently, there were major changes in average precipitation that occurred negatively in the area under study during the observation period. This finding is in agreement with those findings by recent studies which revealed a decreasing trend of around 2 mm/year over NWI during 1966–2005.

     

The Summer Snow Cover Anomaly over the Tibetan Plateau and Its Association with Simultaneous Precipitation over the Mei-yu–Baiu region

The summer snow anomalies over the Tibetan Plateau （TP） and their effects on climate variability are often overlooked,possibly due to the fact that some datasets cannot properly capture summer snow cover over high terrain.The satellite-derived Equal-Area Scalable Earth grid （EASE-grid） dataset shows that snow still exists in summer in the western part and along the southem flank of the TP.Analysis demonstrates that the summer snow cover area proportion （SCAP） over the TP has a significant positive correlation with simultaneous precipitation over the mei-yu-baiu （MB） region on the interannual time scale.The close relationship between the summer SCAP and summer precipitation over the MB region could not be simply considered as a simultaneous response to the Silk Road pattern and the SST anomalies in the tropical Indian Ocean and tropical central-eastern Pacific.The SCAP anomaly has an independent effect and may directly modulate the land surface heating and,consequently,vertical motion over the western TP,and concurrently induce anomalous vertical motion over the North Indian Ocean via a meridional vertical circulation.Through a zonal vertical circulation over the tropics and a Kelvin wave-type response,anomalous vertical motion over the North Indian Ocean may result in an anomalous high over the western North Pacific and modulate the convective activity in the western Pacific warm pool,which stimulates the East Asia-Pacific （EAP） pattern and eventually affects summer precipitation over the MB region.     

Chemical composition of precipitation and snow cover in the Primorsky krai

The chemical composition ofprecipitation from May 2012 to March 2013 and snow cover in the south of the Primorsky krai are studied. The measured parameters are pH and the concentration of principal ions, dissolved organic carbon, silicon, and metals in the samples of precipitation and snow cover taken in Vladivostok and in the background area of the Sikhote-Alin mountain range. Data from Primorskaya, Ternei, and Sadgorod stations are presented for comparison.     

Precipitation analysis over southwest Iran: trends and projections

Analysis of trends and projection of precipitation are of significance for the future development and management of water resource in southwest Iran. This research has been divided into two parts. The first part consists of an analysis of the precipitation over 50 stations in the study region for the period 1950–2007. The trends in this parameter were detected by linear regression and significance was tested by t test. Mann–Kendall rank test was also employed to confirm the results. The second part of the research involved future projection of precipitation based on four models. The models used were Centre National de Recherches Meteorologiques (CNRM), European Center Hamburg Model (ECHAM), Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate (MIROCH) and United Kingdom Meteorological Office (UKMOC). Precipitation projections were done under B1 and A1B emissions scenarios. The results of precipitation series indicated that most stations showed insignificant trend in annual and seasonal series. The highest numbers of stations with significant trends occurred in winter while no significant trends were detected by statistical tests in summer precipitation. No decreasing significant trends were detected by statistical tests in annual and seasonal precipitation series. The result of projections showed that precipitation may decrease according to majority of the models under both scenarios but the decrease may not be large, except according to MIROCH model. Autumn precipitation may increase with higher rates than other seasons at the end of this century.     

Observed and projected changes in temperature and precipitation extremes based on CORDEX data over Iran

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Due to increasing greenhouse gases, Iran is experiencing changes in patterns and trends of extreme climate events. Future climate extremes are one of the...     

Watershed-wide trend analysis of temperature characteristics in Karun-Dez watershed, southwestern Iran

Trend estimation of climatic characteristics for a watershed is required to determine developing compatible strategies related to design, development, and management of water resources. In this study, the trends of the annual maximum (T _max), minimum (T _min), and mean (T _mean) air temperature; temperature anomaly (T _anomaly); and diurnal temperature range (DTR) time series at 13 meteorological stations located in the Karun-Dez watershed were analyzed using the Mann–Kendall and linear regression trend tests. The pre-whitening method was used to eliminate the influence of serial correlation on the Mann–Kendall test. The result showed increasing trends in the T _min, T _mean, and T _anomaly series at the majority of stations and decreasing trend in the T _max and DTR series. A geographical analysis of the trends revealed a broad warming trend in most of the watershed, and the cooling trends were observed only in the southern parts. Furthermore, the geographical pattern of the trends in the T _mean and T _anomaly series was similar, and the T _max data did not show any dominant trend for the whole watershed. This study provides temperature change scenarios that may be used for the design of future water resource projects in the watershed.     

Daily precipitation forecast of ECMWF verified over Iran

In this paper, the performance of the Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) model (t?+?27 h to t?+?51 h) in predicting precipitation is discussed. This model is the first, which has been verified over Iran. The spatial resolution of the model is 0.351° and the 24-h forecasts are compared with daily observations. The study concentrates on year 2001 and the precipitation measurements were collected from the data of 2,048 rain gauges in Iran. The accuracy of four different interpolation methods (nearest neighborhood, inverse distance, kriging, and upscaling) was investigated. Using cross-validation, the inverse distance method (IDM) with minimum mean error was applied. Verification results are given in terms of difference fields (mean error?=?0.46 mm/day), rank–order correlation coefficients (0.70), as well as accuracy scores (false alarm ratio?=?0.50 and probability of detection?=?0.60) and skill scores (true skill statistics [TSS]?=?0.45) in year 2001. The position of the rain band was only partly captured by the ECMWF model; however, the position of maximum precipitations agrees with the observations well. The results show that the high values of TSS are associated with the large amounts of precipitation (over 25 mm). Slight to moderate precipitation events have been underforecasted by the model (bias?<?1) and it leads to a small value of TSS for these thresholds (5–25 mm/day). The ECMWF model has better performance in high and mountainous regions than over flat terrain and in deserts. Comparing TSS over the Alborz and the Zagros Mountains, it is obvious that the ability of the model to predict the convective precipitation events needs some improvement. The amount of daily precipitation has been also slightly overestimated over Iran. From the beginning of January up to 21 March 2001, the ECMWF time series indicates an obvious phase shift of 1 day, although in other months, no phase shift is noticed.     

Energy and water balance studies of a snow cover during snowmelt period at a high arctic site

Summary  The predicted global warming is supposed to have an enhanced effect on the arctic regions. How this will influence the water, carbon dioxide and methane balances in the European arctic tundra is the objective of the EU-funded project “Understanding Land Surface Physical Processes in the Arctic” (LAPP), to which where SINTEF is one of several contributors. The snow cover is one of the limiting factors for these exchange processes and knowledge of how it behaves and will behave under a different climate is important. Data collected for water and energy balance studies in an area close to Ny-?lesund at 79°N at Svalbard are the basis of this study. Measurements during the ablation periods since 1992 show an average air temperature for the periods of 2.1 °C, an average incoming shorwave radiation of 230 W/m² and an average measured runoff intensity of 14 mm/day with a maximum of 68 mm/day. Three models of different complexity are tested in order to simulate the water and energy balance of a snow cover on the arctic tundra. The three models are: a complex numerical model (CROCUS), a simple energy balance model and a temperature index model. The simulations were carried out for the melt periods in 1992 and 1996 as these two periods represent very different meteorological conditions. The results of these simulations exposed weaknesses in all the models. The energy balance model lacks calculation of cold content in the snowpack. This influences both the outgoing longwave radiation and the timing of the melt. Due to the effect of compensating errors in the simulations, CROCUS performed better than the simple energy balance model but also this model has problems with the simulation of outgoing longwave radiation. The temperature index model does not perform well for snowmelt studies in regions were radiation is the main driving energy source for the melt. Received September 28, 1999 Revised September 18, 2000     

青藏高原气温和降水近期、中期与长期变化的预估及其不确定性来源

采用第五次耦合模式比较计划（Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5,CMIP5）高分辨率全球统计降尺度预估数据集,针对近期（2020—2039年）、中期（2040—2059年）和长期（2080—2099年）,以及全球1.5℃和2℃温升阈值,预估了青藏高原地区平均气温和降水、极端气温和极端降水的变化,定量估算了预估结果的不确定性来源。结果表明：（1）在RCP4.5和RCP8.5情景下,21世纪青藏高原地区平均气温和降水、极端气温和极端降水强度均显著增加,最长连续干旱天气减少。高原气候变化幅度超全球平均,至21世纪末,模式集合预估的气候变化幅度介于全球平均的1.5~3倍。（2）青藏高原地区受0.5℃额外增温的显著影响,年均气温、极端高温和极端低温均显著升高,平均及极端强降水均显著增加。（3）排放情景的选择对近期气候预估影响小,但对长期影响大。在相同排放情景下,内部变率主导了近期高原平均气温预估的不确定性,但至长期其贡献降至10%以下。模式和内部变率的不确定性对降水预估均有贡献,且都随时间减小,最大不确定性中心位于西部和北部边缘,噪声与信号比大于6。     

Nonparametric kernel estimation of annual precipitation over Iran

In this paper, annual precipitation data sets from five old rain gauge stations (Bushehr, Isfahan, Meshed, Tehran, and Jask) in Iran were fitted to nonparametric kernel function by using rectangular, triangular, and Gaussian or normal as kernel functions. The smoothing parameter was calculated by four methods including rule of thumb, Adamowski criterion, least squares cross-validation, and Sheater and Jones plug-in. The Adamowski criterion showed a better performance compared to other methods due to goodness of fit tests. The results of these proposed nonparametric methods will be then compared to the results of the parametric density functions including normal, two and three parameter log-normal, two parameter gamma, Pearson and log-Pearson type 3, Gumbel or extreme value type 1 and also Fourier series method which were applied by a previous study for the same stations. It was concluded that the annual precipitation data were fitted to nonparametric methods better than parametric methods.     

Projection of snow cover changes over China under RCP scenarios

Snow cover changes in the middle (2040–2059) and end (2080–2099) of the twenty-first century over China were investigated with a regional climate model, nested within the global model BCC_CSM1.1. The simulations had been conducted for the period of 1950–2099 under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Results show that the model perform well in representing contemporary (1986–2005) spatial distributions of snow cover days (SCDs) and snow water equivalent (SWE). However, some differences between observation and simulation were detected. Under the RCP4.5 scenarios, SCDs are shortened by 10–20 and 20–40 days during the middle and end of the twenty-first century, respectively. Whereas simulated SWE is lowered by 0.1–10 mm in most areas over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). On the other hand, the spatial distributions of SWE are reversed between the middle and end terms in the northeast China. Furthermore, compared with the changes of RCP4.5 scenario, SCDs are reduced by 5–20 days in the middle period under RCP8.5 scenario with even larger decreasing amplitude in the end term. SWE was lowered by 0.1–2.5 mm in most areas except the northeast of China in middle term under RCP8.5 scenario. The great center of SCDs and SWE changes are always located over TP. The regional mean of SCDs and SWE for the TP and for China display a declining trend from 2006 to 2099 with more pronounced changes in the TP than in China as a whole. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the changes are enhanced compared to those under RCP4.5.     

Evaluation of 2-m temperature and precipitation products of the Climate Forecast System version 2 over Iran

Using a continuous multi-decadal simulations over the period 1981–2010, subseasonal to seasonal simulations of the Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2) over Iran against the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) dataset are evaluated. CFSv2 shows cold biases over northern hillsides of the Alborz Mountains with the Mediterranean climate and warm biases over northern regions of the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea with a dry climate. Magnitude of the model bias for 2-m temperature over different regions of Iran varies by season, with the least bias in temperate seasons of spring and autumn, and the largest bias in summer. The model bias decreases as temporal averaging period increases from seasonal to annual. The forecast generally produces dry and wet biases over dry and wet regions of Iran, respectively. In general, 2-m temperature over Iran is better captured than precipitation, but the prediction skill of precipitation is generally high over western Iran. Averaged over Iran, observations indicated that 2-m temperature has been gradually increasing during the studied period, with a rate of approximately 0.5 °C per decade, and the upward trend is well simulated by CFSv2. Averaged over Iran, both observations and simulation results indicated that precipitation has been decreasing in spring, with averaged decreasing trends of 0.8 mm (observed) and 1.7 mm (simulated) per season each year during the period 1981–2010. Observations indicated that the maximum increasing trend of 2-m temperature has occurred over western Iran (nearly 0.7 °C per decade), while the maximum decreasing trend of annual precipitation has occurred over western and parts of southern Iran (nearly 45 to 50 mm per decade).     

Spatiotemporal changes in precipitation concentration over Iran during 1962–2019

Climatic Change - Changes in precipitation pattern can lead to widespread impacts across natural and human systems. This study assesses precipitation variability as well as anthropogenic and...     

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。

     

近50a江淮梅雨的区域特征

利用江淮地区44个站1954-2003年50 a逐日降水资料,采用模糊聚类、经验正交函数分解(EOF)、谐波分析和小波分析等方法分析了江淮梅雨期梅雨量的时空变化特征.结果表明:江淮地区梅雨量的空间分布存在显著不同的区域差异,可以分为南、北两个区.梅雨量具有显著的年际和年代际变化特征,南区候平均雨量峰值出现在6月第5候,北区峰值出现在7月第1候,副高脊线的两次北跳分别与江淮梅雨的平均入梅日期(6月第4候)和平均出梅日期(7月第2候)密切有关;南区梅雨量长期变化呈显著的上升趋势,而北区变化不明显;南北两区梅雨量具有显著不同的年际和年代际方差构成.南北两区梅雨量均存在多时间尺度的振荡周期.副热带高压和季风环流的异常直接影响到江淮梅雨期梅雨量的丰枯.