Influences of climate change on California and Nevada regions revealed by a high-resolution dynamical downscaling study

In this study, the influence of climate change to California and Nevada regions was investigated through high-resolution (4-km grid spacing) dynamical downscaling using the WRF (Weather Research & Forecasting) model. The dynamical downscaling was performed to both the GFS (Global forecast model) reanalysis (called GFS-WRF runs) from 2000?C2006 and PCM (Parallel Climate Model) simulations (called PCM-WRF runs) from 1997?C2006 and 2047?C2056. The downscaling results were first validated by comparing current model outputs with the observational analysis PRISM (Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model) dataset. In general, the dominant features from GFS-WRF runs and PCM-WRF runs were consistent with each other, as well as with PRISM results. The influences of climate change on the California and Nevada regions can be inferred from the model future runs. The averaged temperature showed a positive trend in the future, as in other studies. The temperature increases by around 1?C2°C under the assumption of business as usual over 50?years. This leads to an upward shifting of the freezing level (the contour line of 0°C temperature) and more rain instead of snow in winter (December, January, and February). More hot days (>32.2°C or 90°F) and extreme hot days (>37.8°C or 100°F) are predicted in the Sacramento Valley and the southern parts of California and Nevada during summer (June, July, and August). More precipitation is predicted in northern California but not in southern California. Rainfall frequency slightly increases in the coast regions, but not in the inland area. No obvious trend of the surface wind was indicated. The probability distribution functions (PDF) of daily temperature, wind and precipitation for California and Nevada showed no significant change in shape in either winter or summer. The spatial distributions of precipitation frequency from GFS-WRF and PCM-WRF were highly correlated (r?=?0.83). However, overall positive shifts were seen in the temperature field; increases of 2°C for California and 3°C for Nevada in summer and 2.5°C for California and 1.5°C for Nevada in winter. The PDFs predicted higher precipitation in winter and lower precipitation in the summer for both California and Nevada.     

Regional dynamical downscaling with CCLM over East Asia

Inspired by the framework of the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX), the hindcast (1971–2000) and projection (2021–2050) simulations based on a resolution of $0.44^\circ$ over the East Asia domain are performed with the regional climate model COSMO-CLM (CCLM). The simulations are driven by ERA-40 reanalysis data and output of the global climate model ECHAM5. This is the first time that the CCLM is adapted and evaluated for the East Asia Monsoon region; the setup is considered a starting point for further improvements in this region by the CCLM community. The evaluation results show that the CCLM is able to reasonably capture the climate features in this region, especially the monsoon dynamics on small scales. However, total precipitation in the northern part of the domain, over the Tibetan Plateau, and over east Indonesia has a pronounced wet bias. The projected climate change under the A1B scenario indicates an overall annual surface temperature increase of 1–2 K, but no significant precipitation changes.     

Realised added value in dynamical downscaling of Australian climate change

Climate Dynamics - Coarse resolution global climate models (GCMs) cannot resolve fine-scale drivers of regional climate, which is the scale where climate adaptation decisions are made. Regional...     

北京对流性天气的高空气候背景分析

对流性天气的气候背景分析是临近预报的基础,是做好北京2008年奥运气象服务必不可少的准备工作。对北京地区暖季(5—9月)发生雷暴、冰雹、暴雨和大风4种对流天气当日08时高空探测资料(2002—2005年)的压、温、湿、风等气象参数进行气候统计和分析,并与气候平均值进行比较,以揭示发生对流天气的环境条件及规律,为预报业务提供参考。结果表明:4种对流天气日所在各月高空要素均表现出比较典型的特征;500 hPa急流和对流产生有一定的对应关系:急流存在时,容易产生对流性天气,且雷暴、大风、暴雨甚至冰雹同时发生的概率增大;对流性天气过程与风向垂直切变有很好的对应关系,强雷暴、冰雹、暴雨和大风4种对流日500 hPa以下出现顺转平均发生率为84.2%。风向较强的逆转常常发生混合性对流天气,且逆转高度越高、对流越强。整层顺转容易发生多站暴雨,但雷暴发生较少。     

A high-resolution ocean-atmosphere coupled downscaling of the present climate over California

A fully coupled regional ocean-atmosphere model system that consists of the regional spectral model and the regional ocean modeling system for atmosphere and ocean components, respectively, is applied to downscale the present climate (1985–1994) over California from a global simulation of the Community Climate System Model 3.0 (CCSM3). The horizontal resolution of the regional coupled modeling system is 10 km, while that of the CCSM3 is at a spectral truncation of T85 (approximately 1.4°). The effects of the coupling along the California coast in the boreal summer and winter are highlighted. Evaluation of the sea surface temperature (SST) and 2-m air temperature climatology shows that alleviation of the warm bias along the California coast in the global model output is clear in the regional coupled model run. The 10-m wind is also improved by reducing the northwesterly winds along the coast. The higher resolution coupling effect on the temperature and specific humidity is the largest near the surface, while the significant impact on the wind magnitude appears at a height of approximately 850-hPa heights. The frequency of the Catalina Eddy and its duration are increased by more than 60 % in the coupled downscaling, which is attributed to enhanced offshore sea-breeze. Our study indicates that coupling is vital to regional climate downscaling of mesoscale phenomena over coastal areas.     

CHAC: a weather pattern classification system for regional climate downscaling of daily precipitation

A weather pattern clustering method is applied and calibrated to Argentinean daily weather stations in order to predict daily precipitation data. The clustering technique is based on k-means and is applied to a set of 17 atmospheric variables from the ERA-40 reanalysis covering the period 1979–1999. The set of atmospheric variables represent the different components of the atmosphere (dynamical, thermal and moisture). Different sensitivity tests are applied to optimize (1) the number of observations (weather patterns) per cluster, (2) the spatial domain size of the weather pattern around the station and (3) the number of members of the ensembles. All the sensitivity tests are compared using the ROC (Relative Operating Characteristic) Skill Score (RSS) derived from the ROC curve used to assess the performance of a predictive system. First, we found the number of observations per cluster to be optimum for values larger than 39. Second, the spatial domain size (~4° × 4°) was found to be closer to a local scale than to a synoptic scale, certainly due to a dominant role of the moisture components in the optimization of the transfer function. Indeed, when reducing the set of variables to the subset of dynamical variables, the predictive skill of the method is significantly reduced, but at the same time the domain size must be increased. A potential improvement of the method may therefore be to consider different domains for dynamical and non-dynamical variables. Third, the number of members per ensembles of simulations was estimated to be always two to three times larger than the mean number of observations per cluster (meaning that at least all the observed weather patterns are selected by one member). The skill of the statistical method to predict daily precipitation is found to be relatively homogeneous all over the country for different thresholds of precipitation.     

Comparison of a very-fine-resolution GCM with RCM dynamical downscaling in simulating climate in China

Regional climate simulation can generally be improved by using an RCM nested within a coarser-resolution GCM. However, whether or not it can also be improved by the direct use of a state-of-the-art GCM with very fine resolution, close to that of an RCM, and, if so, which is the better approach, are open questions. These questions are important for understanding and using these two kinds of simulation approaches, but have not yet been investigated. Accordingly, the present reported work compared simulation results over China from a very-fine-resolution GCM (VFRGCM) and from RCM dynamical downscaling. The results showed that: (1) The VFRGCM reproduces the climatologies and trends of both air temperature and precipitation, as well as inter-monthly variations of air temperature in terms of spatial pattern and amount, closer to observations than the coarse-resolution version of the GCM. This is not the case, however, for the inter-monthly variations of precipitation. (2) The VFRGCM captures the climatology, trend, and inter-monthly variation of air temperature, as well as the trend in precipitation, more reasonably than the RCM dynamical downscaling method. (3) The RCM dynamical downscaling method performs better than the VFRGCM in terms of the climatology and inter-monthly variation of precipitation. Overall, the results suggest that VFRGCMs possess great potential with regard to their application in climate simulation in the future, and the RCM dynamical downscaling method is still dominant in terms of regional precipitation simulation.     

Reduction of systematic biases in regional climate downscaling through ensemble forcing

Simulations of the East Asian summer monsoon for the period of 1979–2001 were carried out using the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model forced by three reanalysis datasets (NCEP-R2, ERA-40, and JRA-25). The experiments forced by different reanalysis data exhibited remarkable differences, primarily caused by uncertainties in the lateral boundary (LB) moisture fluxes over the Bay of Bengal and the Philippine Sea. The climatological mean water vapor convergence into the model domain computed from ERA-40 was about 24% higher than that from the NCEP-R2 reanalysis. We demonstrate that using the ensemble mean of NCEP-R2, ERA-40, and JRA-25 as LB forcing considerably reduced the biases in the model simulation. The use of ensemble forcing improved the performance in simulated mean circulation and precipitation, inter-annual variation in seasonal precipitation, and daily precipitation. The model simulated precipitation was superior to that in the reanalysis in both climatology and year-to-year variations, indicating the added value of dynamic downscaling. The results suggest that models having better performance under one set of LB forcing might worsen when another set of reanalysis data is used as LB forcing. Use of ensemble mean LB forcing for assessing regional climate model performance is recommended.     

Estimation methods for monthly humidity from dynamical downscaling data for quantitative assessments of climate change impacts

Methods are proposed to estimate the monthly relative humidity and wet bulb temperature based on observations from a dynamical downscaling coupled general circulation model with a regional climate model (RCM) for a quantitative assessment of climate change impacts. The water vapor pressure estimation model developed was a regression model with a monthly saturated water vapor pressure that used minimum air temperature as a variable. The monthly minimum air temperature correction model for RCM bias was developed by stepwise multiple regression analysis using the difference in monthly minimum air temperatures between observations and RCM output as a dependent variable and geographic factors as independent variables. The wet bulb temperature was estimated using the estimated water vapor pressure, air temperature, and atmospheric pressure at ground level both corrected for RCM bias. Root mean square errors of the data decreased considerably in August.     

分位数调整法在北京动力降尺度模拟订正中的适用性评估

基于分位数调整法对变网格模式LMDZ4在中国区域进行动力降尺度模拟的北京日平均气温和降水结果进行了统计误差订正。订正后的日平均气温在年循环、平均值和频率等方面均十分接近观测值,全年平均气温偏差由-1.2℃降至-0.4℃。降水的订正过程较气温更加复杂,首先对降水日数进行订正,以消除模式产生的虚假微量降水,订正后降水日数误差由61.5%降至3.7%。此外,分位数调整法可有效订正中小型与极端降水的频率和强度,订正后全年降水误差由0.28 mm/d降至0.07 mm/d。订正后最大降水月为7月,与观测一致,消除了冬季的虚假极端降水。分位数调整法无论是对气温还是降水,其订正效果都存在明显的季节性差异。日平均气温的订正在冬、夏季要优于春、秋季,对极端高、低气温的订正更加显著。该统计误差订正方法不仅有效消除了气候平均值的漂移,同时对极值也有一定改善,是一种相对完善的订正方案。分位数调整法也存在一定的不确定性,订正效果受观测资料和模式模拟能力影响较大。     

Identification of forcing mechanisms of convective initiation over mountains through high-resolution numerical simulations

正Convection and its ensuing severe weather,such as heavy rainfall,hail,tornado,and high wind,have significant impacts on our society and economy(e.g.,Cao et al.,2004;Fritsch and Carbone,2004;Verbout et al.,2006;Ashley and Black,2008;Cao,2008;Cao and Ma,2009;Zhang et al.,2014).Due to its localized and transient nature,the initiation of convection or convective initiation remains one of the least     

一种基于全球动力模式和SMART原理结合的统计降尺度区域季节气候预测方法

针对江苏夏季旱涝和高温热浪等异常气候的预测难题,以江苏夏季站点降水和气温为预测目标,建立了一种基于全球动力模式BCC_CSM1.1（m）和最优可预测气候模态和异常相对倾向（SMART）原理结合的统计降尺度季节气候预测方法。利用历史观测资料和SVD方法提取决定中国夏季降水异常相对倾向的同期热带地区向外长波辐射（Outgoing Longwave Radiation,OLR）和北半球中高纬500 hPa位势高度场异常相对倾向的最优可预测气候模态,并利用逐步回归法构建其与同期江苏站点降水和气温异常相对倾向同期关系的统计降尺度模型;将动力模式对最优可预测气候模态的预测带入统计降尺度模型,实现对区域降水和气温异常相对倾向的预测;最后通过引入观测的近期背景异常实现对降尺度的降水和气温总距平的预测。通过对1991—2019年江苏夏季降水和气温的回报检验表明,本文建立的统计降尺度模型效果较BCC_CSM1.1（m）动力模式的直接预测效果有显著提高,为区域精细化季节气候预测提供了一种有效的手段。     

Evaluation of a WRF dynamical downscaling simulation over California

This paper presents results from a 40 year Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) based dynamical downscaling experiment performed at 12 km horizontal grid spacing, centered on the state of California, and forced by a 1° × 1.25° finite-volume current-climate Community Climate System Model ver. 3 (CCSM3) simulation. In-depth comparisons between modeled and observed regional-average precipitation, 2 m temperature, and snowpack are performed. The regional model reproduces the spatial distribution of precipitation quite well, but substantially overestimates rainfall along windward slopes. This is due to strong overprediction of precipitation intensity; precipitation frequency is actually underpredicted by the model. Moisture fluxes impinging on the coast seem to be well-represented over California, implying that precipitation bias is caused by processes internal to WRF. Positive-definite moisture advection and use of the Grell cumulus parameterization result in some decrease in precipitation bias, but other sources are needed to explain the full bias magnitude. Surface temperature is well simulated in all seasons except summer, when overly-dry soil moisture results in a several degree warm bias in both CCSM3 and WRF. Additionally, coastal temperatures appear to be too warm due to a coastal sea surface temperature bias inherited from CCSM3. Modeled snowfall/snowmelt agrees quite well with observations, but snow water equivalent is found to be much too low due to monthly reinitialization of all regional model fields from CCSM3 values.     

A regional climate model downscaling projection of China future climate change

Climate changes over China from the present (1990–1999) to future (2046–2055) under the A1FI (fossil fuel intensive) and A1B (balanced) emission scenarios are projected using the Regional Climate Model version 3 (RegCM3) nests with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate System Model (CCSM). For the present climate, RegCM3 downscaling corrects several major deficiencies in the driving CCSM, especially the wet and cold biases over the Sichuan Basin. As compared with CCSM, RegCM3 produces systematic higher spatial pattern correlation coefficients with observations for precipitation and surface air temperature except during winter. The projected future precipitation changes differ largely between CCSM and RegCM3, with strong regional and seasonal dependence. The RegCM3 downscaling produces larger regional precipitation trends (both decreases and increases) than the driving CCSM. Contrast to substantial trend differences projected by CCSM, RegCM3 produces similar precipitation spatial patterns under different scenarios except autumn. Surface air temperature is projected to consistently increase by both CCSM and RegCM3, with greater warming under A1FI than A1B. The result demonstrates that different scenarios can induce large uncertainties even with the same RCM-GCM nesting system. Largest temperature increases are projected in the Tibetan Plateau during winter and high-latitude areas in the northern China during summer under both scenarios. This indicates that high elevation and northern regions are more vulnerable to climate change. Notable discrepancies for precipitation and surface air temperature simulated by RegCM3 with the driving conditions of CCSM versus the model for interdisciplinary research on climate under the same A1B scenario further complicated the uncertainty issue. The geographic distributions for precipitation difference among various simulations are very similar between the present and future climate with very high spatial pattern correlation coefficients. The result suggests that the model present climate biases are systematically propagate into the future climate projections. The impacts of the model present biases on projected future trends are, however, highly nonlinear and regional specific, and thus cannot be simply removed by a linear method. A model with more realistic present climate simulations is anticipated to yield future climate projections with higher credibility.