Downscaling daily precipitation over the Yellow River source region in China: a comparison of three statistical downscaling methods

Three statistical downscaling methods are compared with regard to their ability to downscale summer (June–September) daily precipitation at a network of 14 stations over the Yellow River source region from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data with the aim of constructing high-resolution regional precipitation scenarios for impact studies. The methods used are the Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM), the Generalized LInear Model for daily CLIMate (GLIMCLIM), and the non-homogeneous Hidden Markov Model (NHMM). The methods are compared in terms of several statistics including spatial dependence, wet- and dry spell length distributions and inter-annual variability. In comparison with other two models, NHMM shows better performance in reproducing the spatial correlation structure, inter-annual variability and magnitude of the observed precipitation. However, it shows difficulty in reproducing observed wet- and dry spell length distributions at some stations. SDSM and GLIMCLIM showed better performance in reproducing the temporal dependence than NHMM. These models are also applied to derive future scenarios for six precipitation indices for the period 2046–2065 using the predictors from two global climate models (GCMs; CGCM3 and ECHAM5) under the IPCC SRES A2, A1B and B1scenarios. There is a strong consensus among two GCMs, three downscaling methods and three emission scenarios in the precipitation change signal. Under the future climate scenarios considered, all parts of the study region would experience increases in rainfall totals and extremes that are statistically significant at most stations. The magnitude of the projected changes is more intense for the SDSM than for other two models, which indicates that climate projection based on results from only one downscaling method should be interpreted with caution. The increase in the magnitude of rainfall totals and extremes is also accompanied by an increase in their inter-annual variability.     

Numerical simulations of mesoscale flood environment

Summary The transition from a cold to a warm state of the E1 Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle is studied using Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Sets (COADS) for the period 1950–1992.The onset of El Niño (November to December of the year preceding the El Niño) is characterized by an occurrence of minimum sea-level pressure anomalies in the subtropics around the node line of the Southern Oscillation. This pressure fall favors the formation of the anomalous cyclonic circulations over the western Pacific and leads to the establishment of anomalous westerlies in the western equatorial Pacific during the boreal spring of the El Niño year. The westerly anomalies then intensify and propagate into the central Pacific by the end of the El Niño year. This is an essential feature of the development of a basin-wide warming.It is argued that the development of the equatorial westerly anomalies over the western Pacific may result from the thermodynamic coupling between the atmosphere and ocean. In boreal winter and spring the mean zonal winds change from westerly to casterly over the western equatorial Pacific. A moderate equatorial westerly anomaly initially imposed on such a mean state may create eastward SST gradients via changing rates of evaporational cooling and turbulent mixing. The equatorial SST gradients would, in turn, induce differential heating and zonal pressure gradients which reinforce the westerly anomalies. The feedback between the eastward SST gradients and westerly anomalies promotes the eastward propagation of the westerly anomalies.With 9 Figures     

Trends in temperature and rainfall extremes in the Yellow River source region, China

Spatial and temporal changes in daily temperature and rainfall indices are analyzed for the source region of Yellow River. Three periods are examined: 1960–1990, 1960–2000 and 1960–2006. Significant warming trends have been observed for the whole study region over all the three periods, particularly over the period 1960–2006. This warming is mainly attributed to a significant increase in the minimum temperature, and characterized by pronounced changes in the low temperature events composing a significant increase in the magnitude and a significant decrease in the frequency. In contrast to the temperature indices, no significant changes have been observed in the rainfall indices at the majority of stations. However, the rainfall shows noticeable increasing trends during winter and spring from a basin-wide point of view. Conversely, the frequency and contribution of moderately heavy rainfall events to total rainfall show a significant decreasing trend in summer. To conclude, this study shows that over the past 40–45 years the source region of the Yellow River has become warmer and experienced some seasonally varying changes in rainfall, which also supports an emerging global picture of warming and the prevailing positive trends in winter rainfall extremes over the mid-latitudinal land areas of the Northern Hemisphere.     

Numerical simulations on the explosive cyclogenesis over the kuroshio current

In this paper, the Pennsylvania State University-NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM4) is used to investigate the explosive oceanic cyclone of 14-15 March 1988 over the warm Kuroshio Current. A series of numerical simulations on this cyclogenesis indicates that the favorable weather condi-tions and strong baroclinity in the low- and middle-level are essential to its explosive development. The explosive cyclogenesis occurred over a wide range of sea surface temperatures (SST’s), which was then characterized by strong baroclinity, the low-level jet (LLJ) was initially formed under the favorable atmospheric circulation and then this LLJ advected the moisture and heat northward for the explosive development of the cyclone, the LLJ played an important role in the process of cyclogenesis. Sensitivity experiments show that the latent heating was a key factor to explosive cyclogenesis, the latent heating deepened the short-wave trough, which resulted in the rapid intensification of the cyclone; while in the explosive intensification stage and continuous de-velopment stage, there was less contribution of local surface processes for the explosion of the cy?clone.     

Numerical simulation of the impact of vegetation index on the interannual variation of summer precipitation in the Yellow River Basin

Two sets of numerical experiments using the coupled National Center for Environmental Prediction General Circulation Model （NCEP/GCM T42L18） and the Simplified Simple Biosphere land surface scheme （SSiB） were carried out to investigate the climate impacts of fractional vegetation cover （FVC） and leaf area index （LAI） on East Asia summer precipitation, especially in the Yellow River Basin （YRB）. One set employed prescribed FVC and LAI which have no interannual variations based on the climatology of vegetation distribution; the other with FVC and LAI derived from satellite observations of the International Satellite Land Surface Climate Project （ISLSCP） for 1987 and 1988. The simulations of the two experiments were compared to study the influence of FVC, LAI on summer precipitation interannual variation in the YRB. Compared with observations and the NCEP reanalysis data, the experiment that included both the effects of satellite-derived vegetation indexes and sea surface temperature （SST） produced better seasonal and interannual precipitation variations than the experiment with SST but no interannual variations in FVC and LAI, indicating that better representations of the vegetation index and its interannual variation may be important for climate prediction. The difference between 1987 and 1988 indicated that with the increase of FVC and LAI, especially around the YRB, surface albedo decreased, net surface radiation increased, and consequently local evaporation and precipitation intensified. Further more, surface sensible heat flux, surface temperature and its diurnal variation decreased around the YRB in response to more vegetation. The decrease of surface-emitting longwave radiation due to the cooler surface outweighed the decrease of surface solar radiation income with more cloud coverage, thus maintaining the positive anomaly of net surface radiation. Further study indicated that moisture flux variations associated with changes in the general circulation also contributed to the precipitation interannual variation.     

Numerical simulation of turbulent convective flow over wavy terrain

By means of a large-eddy simulation, the convective boundary layer is investigated for flows over wavy terrain. The lower surface varies sinusoidally in the downstream direction while remaining constant in the other. Several cases are considered with amplitude up to 0.15H and wavelength ofH to 8H, whereH is the mean fluid-layer height. At the lower surface, the vertical heat flux is prescribed to be constant and the momentum flux is determined locally from the Monin-Obukhov relationship with a roughness lengthz _o=10^–4 H. The mean wind is varied between zero and 5w _*, wherew _* is the convective velocity scale. After rather long times, the flow structure shows horizontal scales up to 4H, with a pattern similar to that over flat surfaces at corresponding shear friction. Weak mean wind destroys regular spatial structures induced by the surface undulation at zero mean wind. The surface heating suppresses mean-flow recirculation-regions even for steep surface waves. Short surface waves cause strong drag due to hydrostatic and dynamic pressure forces in addition to frictional drag. The pressure drag increases slowly with the mean velocity, and strongly with /H. The turbulence variances increase mainly in the lower half of the mixed layer forU/w _*>2.     

大尺度环境中中尺度对流系统生成的数值模拟试验

对1983年6月11日20时(北京时)实测资料进行低通滤波处理,取其大尺度部分作为初值,用七层原始方程模式对江淮气旋内中尺度对流系统的生成过程进行数值模拟试验.结果表明,从大尺度背景场出发,可以模拟出中尺度对流系统的生成.在西南低空急流十分潮湿的情况下,中尺度对流系统可以在江淮气旋暖区、低空急流大风速中心的前部、位势稳定度倾向维持负值的地区生成和发展.它的动力、热力结构,降水分布,以及发生、发展过程等,都与暖季(3—9月)在美国中部频繁出现的中尺度对流复合体(MCC)十分相似.     

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THE GENERATION OF MESOSCALE CONVECTTVE SYSTEMS IN LARGE－SCALE ENVIRONMENT

The generation of mesoscale convective systems is simulated by a 7-level primitive equation model. The large-scale parts of observed, data at 1200 Z June 11, 1983, which are obtained by low-pass filter, are used as the initial data. The results show that the generation of mesoscale convective systems can be simulated from fields of meteorological variables on the large-scale background. When the low-level south-west jet stream is very moist, mesoscale convective systems can develop ahead of the wind speed maximum in the warm sector of Jiang-Huai (Changjiang-Huaihe Rivers) cyclone, where the potential stability tends to remain negative. Furthermore, they are similar to the mesoscale convective complex (MCC), which appears frequently in the central part of the United States during the warm season (March to September), in dynamical and thermal structure, distribution of precipitation and the process of generation and development.     

1967—2016年黄河上游河曲地区降水变化特征研究

利用1967~2016年黄河上游河曲地区的5个气象站观测气象站的逐日地面降水和气温资料,利用气候变化趋势分析、距平、Mann-kendall 时间序列突变及趋势检验方法分析了该地区气温变化特征、不同类型各等级降水量及降水日数的气候特征。结果表明：(1)近50年黄河上游河曲地区年均气温以0.459℃/10a趋势显著上升,上升速度低于全国其它地区,且在2002年气温发生突变后升温加剧;(2)年降水量和降水日数呈减少趋势,主要是由夏季小雨量和小雨日数的减少引起;(3)在2002年气温突增后,强降水对总降水量贡献率增加,且年降水量和降水日数波动幅度也明显增大,这可能预示该地区洪涝灾害的风险在增加。降水日数的贡献率增加,增加明显的是中雨日数和小雨日数,分别增加了1.1%和1.7%。     

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     

Numerical simulation of severe convective phenomena over Croatian and Hungarian territory

Squall lines and supercells cause severe weather and huge damages in the territory of Croatia and Hungary. These long living events can be recognised by radar very well, but the problem of early warning, especially successful numerical forecast of these phenomena, has not yet been solved in this region. Two case studies are presented here in which dynamical modelling approach gives promising results: a squall line preceding a cold front and a single supercell generated because of a prefrontal instability. The numerical simulation is performed using the PSU/NCAR meso-scale model MM5, with horizontal resolution of 3 km. Lateral boundary conditions are taken from the ECMWF model. The moist processes are resolved by Reisner mixed-phase explicit moisture scheme and for the radiation scheme a rapid radiative transfer model is applied. The analysis nudging technique is applied for the first two hours of the model run. The results of the simulation are very promising. The MM5 model reconstructed the appearance of the convective phenomena and showed the development of thunderstorm into the supercell phase. The model results give very detailed insight into wind changes showing the rotation of supercells, clearly distinguish warm core of the cell and give rather good precipitation estimate. The successful simulation of convective phenomena by a high-resolution MM5 model showed that even smaller scale conditions are contained in synoptic scale patterns, represented in this case by the ECMWF model.     

亚洲季风区不同形态中尺度对流系统的特征分析

利用16 a的TRMM卫星观测资料,分析了亚洲季风区准圆状、线状和拉长状中尺度对流系统(MCSs)的空间分布、对流属性及其区域变化特征。结果表明:拉长状MCSs的数量最多,准圆状的其次而线状的最少。自西向东,准圆状(线状)MCSs数量占各区域MCSs总数的比例逐渐减小(增加),线状MCSs在副热带和洋面地区的产生几率相比更大。MCSs的发生频次呈现以暖季(5—9月)为峰值的单峰分布,准圆状和拉长状MCSs的暖季峰值比线状MCSs的大。MCSs主要发生在下午—傍晚时段,但线状MCSs在午夜—凌晨出现的概率比其它两种大。3种类型MCSs的整体强度基本表现为副热带地区弱于近热带地区,但不同类型MCSs的强度差异在各区域不尽相同,如中国中东部地区和西北太平洋地区的准圆状MCSs强度最强,但东海及其以东洋面的线状MCSs强度最强。     

黄河三角洲短期暴雨预报系统

在天气学分析的基础上,利用１９９０～１９９５年日本数值预报产品与实时资料相结合,研制黄河三角洲短期暴雨预报系统,经１９９６年使用效果较好。     

黄河三角洲退化湿地植被与土壤的恢复研究

以黄河三角洲退化湿地人工引水恢复区为研究对象,采用野外植被调查、土壤采样结合室内实验方法,对植被的种类、密度、盖度、频度和重要值以及土壤含水量、pH值、有机质、全氮以及全磷等指标进行分析,旨在探讨人工引水恢复工程对黄河三角洲退化湿地所产生的生态效应。结果表明：随着水分条件的改善,恢复区植被呈现出正向演替;恢复区土壤含水量明显高于未恢复区,pH值则明显降低,土壤有机质含量高于未恢复区,土壤全氮、全磷含量变化不大。可见,引水恢复工程已经使退化湿地的生态环境得到了一定程度的改善,淡水资源仍是制约退化湿地恢复的关键因素。     

长江上空辐射雾的数值研究

为研究长江上空辐射雾的形成和发展与长江水面和长江两岸复杂地形的关系,我们设计了一个二维辐射雾的数值模式,模式包含大气长波辐射冷却、地表能量收支、液态水的重力沉降等影响雾的形成和发展的主要因子。 结果表明:长江两岸的地形和长江水面对雾的形成和发展影响较大,若在长江河道较宽且配有合适的地形地区,长江上空的雾可发展到一个较高的高度,而在长江两岸地形较陡的地区,雾有可能就不出现。长江水面的宽窄直接影响着雾的深浅。     

未来气候变化对黄河和长江流域极端径流影响的预估研究

使用NASA-NCAR全球环流模式FvGCM结果驱动高分辨率区域气候模式RegCM3 (20 km),进行1961～1990年当代气候模拟(控制试验)和2071～2100年IPCC A2排放情景下未来气候情景模拟(A2情景模拟试验)。将RegCM3同高分辨率大尺度汇流模型LRM(分辨率0.25°×0.25°)连接,分析水文极端事件在A2情景下相对于当代气候的变化,预估未来气候变化对我国黄河和长江流域水文极端事件的影响。结果表明:(1)未来黄河流域径流年变率增大,月变率减小,日变率在头道拐站以上流域减小,以下流域增大。未来兰州以上半湿润地区,流域东南部湿润区出现径流量峰值的可能性增大,而流域西北部干旱半干旱区出现径流量百分位极值的可能性减小。未来黄河流域中游地区发生流域洪水的风险在夏季月份减少,其余月份均增大。(2)未来长江干流径流年际变率增大,上中游地区径流日和月变率减小,下游地区略有增大;未来汉江流域径流量的年、月和日变率均增大。未来长江干流发生流域洪水的风险在夏季明显降低,而汉江流域各月发生流域洪水的可能性均增大。