Interannual variability and predictability of African easterly waves in a GCM

The interannual variability of African Easterly Waves (AEWs) is assessed with the help of spatio-temporal spectral analysis (STSA) and complex empirical orthogonal functions methods applied to the results of ten-member multiyear ensemble simulations. Two sets of experiments were conducted with the Météo-France ARPEGE-Climat GCM, one with interactive soil moisture (control), and the other with soil moisture relaxed towards climatological monthly means calculated from the control. Composites of Soudano–Sahelian AEWs were constructed and associated physical processes and dynamics were studied in the frame of the waves. It is shown that the model is able to simulate realistically some interannual variability in the AEWs, and that this dynamical aspect of the West African climate is potentially predictable (i.e. signal can be extracted from boundary conditions relatively to internal error of the GCM), especially along the moist Guinean coast. Compared with ECMWF 15-year reanalysis (ERA15), the maximum activity of AEWs is located too far to the South and is somewhat too zonal, but the main characteristics of the waves are well represented. The major impact of soil moisture relaxation in the GCM experiments is to reduce the seasonal potential predictability of AEWs over land by enhancing their internal variability.     

Evaluation of the twentieth century reanalysis dataset in describing East Asian winter monsoon variability

The Twentieth Century Reanalysis （20thCR） dataset released in 2010 covers the period 1871-2010 and is one of the longest reanalysis datasets available worldwide. Using ERA-40, ERA-Interim and NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data, as well as HadSLP2 data and meteorological temperature records over eastern China, the performances of 20thCR in reproducing the spatial patterns and temporal variability of the East Asian winter monsoon （EAWM） are examined. Results indicate that 20thCR data： （1） can accurately reproduce the most typical configuration patterns of all sub-factors differences in the main circulation fields over East Asia involved in the EAWM system, albeit with some in comparison to ERA-40 reanalysis data; （2） is reliable and stable in describing the temporal variability of EAWM since the 1930s; and （3） can describe the high-frequency variability of EAWM better than the low-frequency fluctuations, especially in the early period. In conclusion, caution should be taken when using 20thCR data to study interdecadal variabilities or long-term trends of the EAWM, especially prior to the 1930s.     

Trends and low frequency variability of extra-tropical cyclone activity in the ensemble of twentieth century reanalysis

An objective cyclone tracking algorithm is applied to twentieth century reanalysis (20CR) 6-hourly mean sea level pressure fields for the period 1871–2010 to infer historical trends and variability in extra-tropical cyclone activity. The tracking algorithm is applied both to the ensemble-mean analyses and to each of the 56 ensemble members individually. The ensemble-mean analyses are found to be unsuitable for accurately determining cyclone statistics. However, pooled cyclone statistics obtained by averaging statistics from individual members generally agree well with statistics from the NCEP-NCAR reanalyses for 1951–2010, although 20CR shows somewhat weaker cyclone activity over land and stronger activity over oceans. Both reanalyses show similar cyclone trend patterns in the northern hemisphere (NH) over 1951–2010. Homogenized pooled cyclone statistics are analyzed for trends and variability. Conclusions account for identified inhomogeneities, which occurred before 1949 in the NH and between 1951 and 1985 in the southern hemisphere (SH). Cyclone activity is estimated to have increased slightly over the period 1871–2010 in the NH. More substantial increases are seen in the SH. Notable regional and seasonal variations in trends are evident, as is profound decadal or longer scale variability. For example, the NH increases occur mainly in the mid-latitude Pacific and high-latitude Atlantic regions. For the North Atlantic-European region and southeast Australia, the 20CR cyclone trends are in agreement with trends in geostrophic wind extremes derived from in-situ surface pressure observations. European trends are also consistent with trends in the mean duration of wet spells derived from rain gauge data in Europe.     

The sensitivity of African easterly waves to eastern tropical Atlantic sea-surface temperatures

The results of two regional atmospheric model simulations are compared to assess the influence of the eastern tropical Atlantic sea-surface temperature maximum on local precipitation, transient easterly waves and the West African summer monsoon. Both model simulations were initialized with reanalysis 2 data (US National Center for Environmental Prediction and Department of Energy) on 15 May 2006 and extended through 6 October 2006, forced by synchronous reanalysis 2 lateral boundary conditions introduced four times daily. One simulation uses 2006 reanalysis 2 sea-surface temperatures, also updated four times daily, while the second simulation considers ocean forcing absent the sea-surface temperature maximum, achieved here by subtracting 3°K at every ocean grid point between 0° and 15°N during the entire simulation. The simulation with 2006 sea-surface temperature forcing produces a realistic distribution of June?CSeptember mean precipitation and realistic westward propagating swaths of maximum rainfall, based on validation against Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) estimates. The simulation without the sea-surface temperature maximum produces only 57% of the control June?CSeptember total precipitation over the eastern tropical Atlantic and about 83% of the Sahel precipitation. The simulation with warmer ocean temperatures generates generally stronger circulation, which in turn enhances precipitation by increasing moisture convergence. Some local precipitation enhancement is also attributed to lower vertical thermal stability above the warm water. The study shows that the eastern tropical Atlantic sea-surface temperature maximum enhances the strength of transient easterly waves and broadens the spatial extent of associated precipitation. However, large-scale circulation and its interaction with the African continent, and not sea-surface temperatures, control the timing and trajectories of the waves.     

Signal detectability in extreme precipitation changes assessed from twentieth century climate simulations

This study assesses the detectability of external influences in changes of precipitation extremes in the twentieth century, which is explored through a perfect model analysis with an ensemble of coupled global climate model (GCM) simulations. Three indices of precipitation extremes are defined from the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution: the 20-year return value (P ₂₀), the median (P _m), and the cumulative probability density as a probability-based index (PI). Time variations of area-averages of these three extreme indices are analyzed over different spatial domains from the globe to continental regions. Treating all forcing simulations (ALL; natural plus anthropogenic) of the twentieth century as observations and using a preindustrial control run (CTL) to estimate the internal variability, the amplitudes of response patterns to anthropogenic (ANT), natural (NAT), greenhouse-gases (GHG), and sulfate aerosols (SUL) forcings are estimated using a Bayesian decision method. Results show that there are decisively detectable ANT signals in global, hemispheric, and zonal band areas. When only land is considered, the global and hemispheric detection results are unchanged, but detectable ANT signals in the zonal bands are limited to low latitudes. The ANT signals are also detectable in the P _m and PI but not in P ₂₀ at continental scales over Asia, South America, Africa, and Australia. This indicates that indices located near the center of the GEV distribution (P _m and PI) may give better signal-to-noise ratio than indices representing the tail of the distribution (P ₂₀). GHG and NAT signals are also detectable, but less robustly for more limited extreme indices and regions. These results are largely insensitive when model data are masked to mimic the availability of the observed data. An imperfect model analysis in which fingerprints are obtained from simulations with a different GCM suggests that ANT is robustly detectable only at global and hemispheric scales, with high uncertainty in the zonal and continental results.     

The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation in twentieth century climate simulations: uneven progress from CMIP3 to CMIP5

Decadal variability in the climate system from the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) is one of the major sources of variability at this temporal scale that climate models must properly incorporate because of its climate impact. The current analysis of historical simulations of the twentieth century climate from models participating in the CMIP3 and CMIP5 projects assesses how these models portray the observed spatiotemporal features of the sea surface temperature (SST) and precipitation anomalies associated with the AMO. A short sample of the models is analyzed in detail by using all ensembles available of the models CCSM3, GFDL-CM2.1, UKMO-HadCM3, and ECHAM5/MPI-OM from the CMIP3 project, and the models CCSM4, GFDL-CM3, UKMO-HadGEM2-ES, and MPI-ESM-LR from the CMIP5 project. The structure and evolution of the SST anomalies of the AMO have not progressed consistently from the CMIP3 to the CMIP5 models. While the characteristic period of the AMO (smoothed with a binomial filter applied fifty times) is underestimated by the three of the models, the e-folding time of the autocorrelations shows that all models underestimate the 44-year value from observations by almost 50 %. Variability of the AMO in the 10–20/70–80 year ranges is overestimated/underestimated in the models and the variability in the 10–20 year range increases in three of the models from the CMIP3 to the CMIP5 versions. Spatial variability and correlation of the AMO regressed precipitation and SST anomalies in summer and fall indicate that models are not up to the task of simulating the AMO impact on the hydroclimate over the neighboring continents. This is in spite of the fact that the spatial variability and correlations in the SST anomalies improve from CMIP3 to CMIP5 versions in two of the models. However, a multi-model mean from a sample of 14 models whose first ensemble was analyzed indicated there were no improvements in the structure of the SST anomalies of the AMO or associated regional precipitation anomalies in summer and fall from CMIP3 to CMIP5 projects.     

Diagnosing GCM errors over West Africa using relaxation experiments. Part II: intraseasonal variability and African easterly waves

A near-global grid-point nudging of the Arpege-Climat atmospheric General Circulation Model towards ECMWF reanalyses is used to diagnose the regional versus remote origin of the summer model biases and variability over West Africa. First part of this study revealed a limited impact on the monsoon climatology compared to a control experiment without nudging, but a significant improvement of interannual variability, although the amplitude of the seasonal anomalies remained underestimated. Focus is given here on intraseasonal variability of monsoon rainfall and dynamics. The reproducible part of these signals is investigated through 30-member ensemble experiments computed for the 1994 rainy season, a year abnormally wet over the Sahel but representative of the model systematic biases. In the control experiment, Arpege-Climat simulates too few rainy days that are associated with too low rainfall amounts over the central and western Sahel, in line with the seasonal dry biases. Nudging the model outside Africa tends to slightly increase the number of rainy days over the Sahel, but has little effect on associated rainfall amounts. However, results do indicate that a significant part of the monsoon intraseasonal variability simulated by Arpege-Climat is controlled by lateral boundary conditions. Parts of the wet/dry spells over the Sahel occur in phase in the 30 members of the nudging experiment, and are therefore embedded in larger-scale variability patterns. Inter-member spread is however not constant across the selected summer season. It is partly controlled by African Easterly Waves, which show dissimilar amplitude from one member to another, but a coherent phasing in all members. A lowpass filtering of the nudging fields suggests that low frequency variations in the lateral boundary conditions can lead to eastward extensions of the African Easterly Jet, creating a favorable environment for easterly waves, while high frequency perturbations seem to control their phasing.     

Present and projected degree days in China from observation,reanalysis and simulations

Degree days are usually defined as the accumulated daily mean temperature varying with the base temperature, and are one of the most important indicators of climate changes. In this study, the present-day and projected changes of four degree days indices from daily mean surface air temperature output simulated by Max Planck Institute, Earth Systems Model of low resolution (MPI-ESM-LR) model are evaluated with the high resolution gridded-observation dataset and two modern reanalyses in China. During 1979–2005, the heating degree days (HDD) and the numbers of HDD (NHDD) have decreased for observation, reanalyses (ERA-Interim and NCEP/NCAR) and model simulations (historical and decadal experiments), consistent with the increasing cooling degree days (CDD) and the numbers of CDD (NCDD). These changes reflect the general warming in China during the past decades. In most cases, ERA-Interim is closer to observation than NCEP/NCAR and model simulations. There are discrepancies between observation, reanalyses and model simulations in the spatial patterns and regional means. The decadal hindcast/forecast simulation performance of MPI-ESM-LR produce warmer than the observed mean temperature in China during the entire period, and the hindcasts forecast a trend lower than the observed. Under different representative concentration pathway (RCP) emissions scenarios, HDD and NHDD show significant decreases, and CDD and NCDD consistently increase during 2006–2100 under RCP8.5, RCP4.5 and RCP2.6, especially before the mid-21 century. More pronounced changes occur under RCP8.5, which is associated with a high rate of radiative forcing. The 20th century runs reflect the sensitivity to the initial conditions, and the uncertainties in terms of the inter-ensemble are small, whereas the long-term trend is well represented with no differences among ensembles.     

Atlantic tropical cyclones in the twentieth century: natural variability and secular change in cyclone count

The twentieth century record of the annual count of Atlantic tropical cyclones (TCs) is analyzed to develop consistent estimates of its natural variability and secular change components. The analysis scheme permits development of multidecadal trends from natural variability alone, reducing aliasing of the variability and change components. The scheme is rooted in recurrent variability modes of the influential SST field and cognizant of Pacific-Atlantic links. The origin of increased cyclone counts in the early 1930s, suppressed counts in 1950?C1960s, and the recent increase (since 1990s) is investigated using the count data set developed by Landsea et al. (J Clim 23: 2508?C2519, 2010). We show that annual TC counts can be more closely reconstructed from Pacific and Atlantic SSTs than SST of the main development region (MDR) of Atlantic TCs; the former accounting for ~60% of the decadal count variance as opposed to ~30% for MDR SST. Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) dominates the reconstruction, accounting for ~55% of the natural decadal count variance, followed by the ENSO Non-Canonical and Pan-Pacific decadal variability contributions. We argue for an expansive view of the domain of influential SSTs??extending much beyond the MDR. The additional accounting of count variance by SSTs outside the MDR suggests a role for remotely-forced influences over the tropical Atlantic: the Pan-Pacific decadal mode is linked with decreased westerly wind shear (200?C850?hPa) in its warm phase, much as the AMO impact itself. Non-canonical ENSO variability, in contrast, exerts little influence on decadal timescales. Interestingly, the secular but non-uniform warming of the oceans is linked with increased westerly shear, leading to off-setting dynamical and thermodynamical impacts on TC activity! The early-1930s increase in smoothed counts can be partially (~50%) reconstructed from SST natural variability. The 1950?C1960s decrease, in contrast, could not be reconstructed at all, leading, deductively, to the hypothesis that it results from increased aerosols in this period. The early-1990s increase is shown to arise both from the abatement of count suppression maintained by SST natural variability and the increasing SST secular trend contribution; the abatement is related to the AMO phase-change in early-1990s. Were it not for this suppression, TC counts would have risen since the early 1970s itself, tracking the secular change contribution. The analysis suggests that when SST natural variability begins to significantly augment counts in the post-1990 period??some evidence for which is present in the preceding decade??Atlantic TC counts could increase rapidly on decadal timescales unless offset by SST-unrelated effects which apparently account for a non-trivial amount (~40%) of the decadal count variance.     

African monsoon teleconnections with tropical SSTs: validation and evolution in a set of IPCC4 simulations

A set of 12 state-of-the-art coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation models (OAGCMs) is explored to assess their ability to simulate the main teleconnections between the West African monsoon (WAM) and the tropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs) at the interannual to multi-decadal time scales. Such teleconnections are indeed responsible for the main modes of precipitation variability observed over West Africa and represent an interesting benchmark for the models that have contributed to the fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC4). The evaluation is based on a maximum covariance analysis (MCA) applied on tropical SSTs and WAM rainfall. To distinguish between interannual and multi-decadal variability, all datasets are partitioned into low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) components prior to analysis. First applied to HF observations, the MCA reveals two major teleconnections. The first mode highlights the strong influence of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The second mode reveals a relationship between the SST in the Gulf of Guinea and the northward migration of the monsoon rainbelt over the West African continent. When applied to HF outputs of the twentieth century IPCC4 simulations, the MCA provides heterogeneous results. Most simulations show a single dominant Pacific teleconnection, which is, however, of the wrong sign for half of the models. Only one model shows a significant second mode, emphasizing the OAGCMs’ difficulty in simulating the response of the African rainbelt to Atlantic SST anomalies that are not synchronous with Pacific anomalies. The LF modulation of these HF teleconnections is then explored through running correlations between expansion coefficients (ECs) for SSTs and precipitation. The observed time series indicate that both Pacific and Atlantic teleconnections get stronger during the twentieth century. The IPCC4 simulations of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries do not show any significant change in the pattern of the teleconnections, but the dominant ENSO teleconnection also exhibits a significant strengthening, thereby suggesting that the observed trend could be partly a response to the anthropogenic forcing. Finally, the MCA is also applied to the LF data. The first observed mode reveals a well-known inter-hemispheric SST pattern that is strongly related to the multi-decadal variability of the WAM rainfall dominated by the severe drying trend from the 1950s to the 1980s. Whereas recent studies suggest that this drying could be partly caused by anthropogenic forcings, only 5 among the 12 IPCC4 models capture some features of this LF coupled mode. This result suggests the need for a more detailed validation of the WAM variability, including a dynamical interpretation of the SST–rainfall relationships.     

Changes in daily and nightly day-to-day temperature variability during the twentieth century for two stations in Switzerland

Summary  An analysis of day-to-day variability was performed on two century-long daily minimum and maximum temperature series from Switzerland. Warmer temperatures during the 20^th century have been accompanied by a reduction in day-to-day variability, particularly for minimum temperatures and for winter. There is a significant negative correlation between day-to-day variability and the skewness of the temperature distribution, particularly in winter and for minimum temperatures. Lower variability is linked to a reduced number of cold days and nights. Higher NAO index values tend to be associated not only with warmer temperatures but also with lower day-to-day variability. This paper confirms that the temperature warming during the 20^th century has happened mainly through the loss of the coldest part of the series, not only in the 24-hour or yearly cycle, but also through the loss of the coldest episodes in each month. Received September 20, 2000 Revised January 8, 2001     

Variability and trends of sub-continental scale surface climate in the twentieth century. Part II: AOGCM simulations

This work presents an analysis of simulated temperature and precipitation variability and trends throughout the twentieth century over 22 land regions of sub-continental scale in the HADCM3 and HADCM2 (two realizations) coupled models. Regional temperature biases in the HADCM3 and HADCM2 are mostly in the range of -5 K to +3 K for the seasonal averages and -3 K to +2 K for the annual average. Seasonal precipitation biases are mostly in the range of -50% to 75% of present day precipitation, with a tendency in both models to overpredict cold season precipitation. Except for cold season temperature in mid- and high-latitude Northern Hemisphere regions, the average climatology of the HADCM2 and HADCM3 is of comparable quality despite the lack of an ocean flux adjustment in the HADCM3. Both models show warming trends of magnitude in line with observations, although the observed inter-regional patterns of warming trend are not well reproduced. Measures of temperature and precipitation interannual to interdecadal variability in the models are in general agreement with observations except for Northern Hemisphere summer temperature variability, which is overestimated. The models somewhat underestimate the inter-decadal variations in interannual variability measures observed during the century and overestimate the range of anomalies. Both models tend to overpredict the occurrences of short persistences (1-3 years) and underpredict the occurrence and maximum length of long persistences (greater than three years), which is an indication of a deficiency in the simulation of long-lived anomaly regimes. Compared to observations, the models produce a higher magnitude of temporal anomaly correlation across regions and correlation between temperature and precipitation anomalies for a given region. This suggests that local processes that may be effective in decoupling the observed regional anomalies are not captured well. Overall, the variability measures in the HADCM2 and HADCM3 are of similar quality, indicating that the use of a flux correction in the HADCM2 does not strongly affect the regional variability characteristics of the model.     

An ENSO stability analysis. Part II: results from the twentieth and twenty-first century simulations of the CMIP3 models

In this study, a Bjerknes stability (BJ) index, proposed by Jin et al. (2006), is adopted to assess the overall stability of El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in state-of-the-art coupled models. The twentieth and twenty-first century simulations of 12 coupled models among the coupled model intercomparison project phase 3 models used in the intergovernmental panel on climate change forth assessment report demonstrate a significant positive correlation between ENSO amplitude and ENSO stability as measured by the BJ index. The simulations also show a diversity of behavior regarding the ENSO stability among the coupled models, which can be attributed to different mean state and sensitivity of an oceanic and atmospheric response to wind and SST forcing from model to model. When respective components of the BJ index obtained from the coupled models are compared with those from observations, it is revealed that most coupled models underestimate the thermodynamic damping effect and the positive effect of the zonal advective and thermocline feedback. Under increased CO₂ induced warm climate, changes, relative to the twentieth century simulations, in the damping and feedback terms responsible for the ENSO stability measured by the BJ index can be linked to mean state changes and associated atmospheric and oceanic response sensitivity changes. There is a clear multi-model trend in the damping terms and positive zonal advective feedback, thermocline feedback, and Ekman feedback terms under enhanced greenhouse gas conditions. However, the various behavior among the coupled models in competition between the positive feedback and negative damping terms in the BJ index formula prevent the formation of a definitive conclusion regarding future projections of ENSO stability using the current coupled models.     

Adaptation to climate change and variability: farmer responses to intra-seasonal precipitation trends in South Africa

We describe the nature of recent (50 year) rainfall variability in the summer rainfall zone, South Africa, and how variability is recognised and responded to on the ground by farmers. Using daily rainfall data and self-organising mapping (SOM) we identify 12 internally homogeneous rainfall regions displaying differing parameters of precipitation change. Three regions, characterised by changing onset and timing of rains, rainfall frequencies and intensities, in Limpopo, North West and KwaZulu Natal provinces, were selected to investigate farmer perceptions of, and responses to, rainfall parameter changes. Village and household level analyses demonstrate that the trends and variabilities in precipitation parameters differentiated by the SOM analysis were clearly recognised by people living in the areas in which they occurred. A range of specific coping and adaptation strategies are employed by farmers to respond to climate shifts, some generic across regions and some facilitated by specific local factors. The study has begun to understand the complexity of coping and adaptation, and the factors that influence the decisions that are taken.     

Projected changes in drought occurrence under future global warming from multi-model,multi-scenario,IPCC AR4 simulations

Recent and potential future increases in global temperatures are likely to be associated with impacts on the hydrologic cycle, including changes to precipitation and increases in extreme events such as droughts. We analyze changes in drought occurrence using soil moisture data for the SRES B1, A1B and A2 future climate scenarios relative to the PICNTRL pre-industrial control and 20C3M twentieth century simulations from eight AOGCMs that participated in the IPCC AR4. Comparison with observation forced land surface model estimates indicates that the models do reasonably well at replicating our best estimates of twentieth century, large scale drought occurrence, although the frequency of long-term (more than 12-month duration) droughts are over-estimated. Under the future projections, the models show decreases in soil moisture globally for all scenarios with a corresponding doubling of the spatial extent of severe soil moisture deficits and frequency of short-term (4–6-month duration) droughts from the mid-twentieth century to the end of the twenty-first. Long-term droughts become three times more common. Regionally, the Mediterranean, west African, central Asian and central American regions show large increases most notably for long-term frequencies as do mid-latitude North American regions but with larger variation between scenarios. In general, changes under the higher emission scenarios, A1B and A2 are the greatest, and despite following a reduced emissions pathway relative to the present day, the B1 scenario shows smaller but still substantial increases in drought, globally and for most regions. Increases in drought are driven primarily by reductions in precipitation with increased evaporation from higher temperatures modulating the changes. In some regions, increases in precipitation are offset by increased evaporation. Although the predicted future changes in drought occurrence are essentially monotonic increasing globally and in many regions, they are generally not statistically different from contemporary climate (as estimated from the 1961–1990 period of the 20C3M simulations) or natural variability (as estimated from the PICNTRL simulations) for multiple decades, in contrast to primary climate variables, such as global mean surface air temperature and precipitation. On the other hand, changes in annual and seasonal means of terrestrial hydrologic variables, such as evaporation and soil moisture, are essentially undetectable within the twenty-first century. Changes in the extremes of climate and their hydrological impacts may therefore be more detectable than changes in their means.     

Decadal variation of surface solar radiation in the Tibetan Plateau from observations, reanalysis and model simulations

In this study, the annual and seasonal variations of all-sky and clear-sky surface solar radiation (SSR) in the eastern and central Tibetan Plateau (TP) during the period 1960–2009 are investigated, based on surface observational data, reanalyses and ensemble simulations with the global climate model ECHAM5-HAM. The mean annual all-sky SSR series shows a decreasing trend with a rate of ?1.00 Wm^?2 decade^?1, which is mainly seen in autumn and secondly in summer and winter. A stronger decrease of ?2.80 Wm^?2 decade^?1 is found in the mean annual clear-sky SSR series, especially during winter and autumn. Overall, these results confirm a tendency towards a decrease of SSR in the TP during the last five decades. The comparisons with reanalysis show that both NCEP/NCAR and ERA-40 reanalyses do not capture the decadal variations of the all-sky and clear-sky SSR. This is probably due to a missing consideration of aerosols in the reanalysis assimilation model. The SSR simulated with the ECHAM5-HAM global climate model under both all-sky and clear-sky conditions reproduce the decrease seen in the surface observations, especially after 1980. The steadily increasing aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm over the TP in the ECHAM5-HAM results suggests transient aerosol emissions as a plausible cause.