Statistical modeling of CMIP5 projected changes in extreme wet spells over China in the late 21st century

The observed intensity, frequency, and duration (IFD) of summer wet spells, defined here as extreme events with one or more consecutive days in which daily precipitation exceeds a given threshold (the 95th percentile), and their future changes in RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 in the late 21st century over China, are investigated by using the wet spell model (WSM) and by extending the point process approach to extreme value analysis. Wet spell intensity is modeled by a conditional generalized Pareto distribution, frequency by a Poisson distribution, and duration by a geometric distribution, respectively. The WSM is able to realistically model summer extreme rainfall spells during 1961–2005, as verified with observations at 553 stations throughout China. To minimize the impact of systematic biases over China in the global climate models (GCMs) of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), five best GCMs are selected based on their performance to reproduce observed wet spell IFD and average precipitation during the historical period. Furthermore, a quantile–quantile scaling correction procedure is proposed and applied to produce ensemble projections of wet spell IFD and corresponding probability distributions. The results show that in the late 21st century, most of China will experience more extreme rainfall and less low-intensity rainfall. The intensity and frequency of wet spells are projected to increase considerably, while the duration of wet spells will increase but to a much less extent. The IFD changes in RCP8.5 are in general much larger than those in RCP4.5.     

Investigation of sea level trends and the effect of the north atlantic oscillation (NAO) on the black sea and the eastern mediterranean sea

Understanding variations in precipitation from a variety of aspects is important for the utilization of water resources. Based on daily precipitation records at 98 meteorological stations in Sichuan province, southwestern China, the spatial and temporal changes in wet/dry spells were investigated by using 14 precipitation indices. The Mann–Kendall trend test is used to detect trends in the index series. Results suggest that the decrease of precipitation in central and eastern Sichuan was significant in terms of decreasing tendencies of wet spell indices. However, the decreasing trend of dry spell indices suggested an increase in precipitation in western Sichuan province. A higher risk of droughts can be expected in autumn and wet spell indices in winter and spring are increasing, implying obvious seasonality and seasonal shifts of change in precipitation within this province. Wet/dry spells with short duration were accounted for a large proportion of spells in Sichuan. The occurrence and fractional contribution of short-duration wet spells were increasing. The same trend was found in dry spells with short and moderate duration in Sichuan     

Power-law Relationship in Describing Temporal and Spatial Precipitation Pattern in Turkey

Summary Wet and dry spell properties of monthly rainfall series at five meteorology stations in Turkey are examined by plotting successive wet and dry month duration versus their number of occurrences on the double-logarithmic paper. Straight line relationships on such graphs show that power-laws govern the pattern of successive persistent wet and dry monthly spells. Functional power law relationships between the number of dry and wet spells for a given monthly period are derived from the available monthly precipitation data. The probability statements for wet and dry period spells are obtained from the power law expressions. Comparison of power-law behaviours at five distinct sites in Turkey provides useful interpretation about the temporal and spatial rainfall pattern. As in temperate areas such as Turkey the rainfall amounts change mostly due to one-month-long dry or wet spells. Received August 29, 1995 Revised November 9, 1995     

Fitting the distribution of dry and wet spells with alternative probability models

The development of the rainfall occurrence model is greatly important not only for data-generation purposes, but also in providing informative resources for future advancements in water-related sectors, such as water resource management and the hydrological and agricultural sectors. Various kinds of probability models had been introduced to a sequence of dry (wet) days by previous researchers in the field. Based on the probability models developed previously, the present study is aimed to propose three types of mixture distributions, namely, the mixture of two log series distributions (LSD), the mixture of the log series Poisson distribution (MLPD), and the mixture of the log series and geometric distributions (MLGD), as the alternative probability models to describe the distribution of dry (wet) spells in daily rainfall events. In order to test the performance of the proposed new models with the other nine existing probability models, 54 data sets which had been published by several authors were reanalyzed in this study. Also, the new data sets of daily observations from the six selected rainfall stations in Peninsular Malaysia for the period 1975–2004 were used. In determining the best fitting distribution to describe the observed distribution of dry (wet) spells, a Chi-square goodness-of-fit test was considered. The results revealed that the new method proposed that MLGD and MLPD showed a better fit as more than half of the data sets successfully fitted the distribution of dry and wet spells. However, the existing models, such as the truncated negative binomial and the modified LSD, were also among the successful probability models to represent the sequence of dry (wet) days in daily rainfall occurrence.     

Potential future changes in the characteristics of daily precipitation in Europe simulated by the HIRHAM regional climate model

In this study the potential future changes in various aspects of daily precipitation events over Europe as a consequence of the anticipated future increase in the atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations are investigated. This is done by comparing two 3-member ensembles of simulations with the HIRHAM regional climate model for the period 1961–1990 and 2071–2100, respectively. Daily precipitation events are characterized by their frequency and intensity, and heavy precipitation events are described via 30-year return levels of daily precipitation. Further, extended periods with and without rainfall (wet and dry spells) are studied, considering their frequency and length as well as the average and extreme amounts of precipitation accumulated during wet spells, the latter again described via 30-year return levels. The simulations show marked changes in the characteristics of daily precipitation in Europe due to the anticipated greenhouse warming. In winter, for instance, the frequency of wet days is enhanced over most of the European continent except for the region on the Norwegian west coast and the Mediterranean region. The changes in the intensity and the 30-year return level of daily precipitation are characterized by a similar pattern except for central Europe with a tendency of decreased 30-year return levels and increased precipitation intensity. In summer, on the other hand, the frequency of wet days is decreased over most of Europe except for northern Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea region. In contrast, the precipitation intensity and the 30-year return level of daily precipitation are increased over entire Scandinavia, central and eastern Europe. The changes in the 30-year return level of daily precipitation are generally stronger than the corresponding changes in the precipitation intensity but can have opposite signs in some regions. Also the distribution of wet days is changed in the future. During summer, for instance, both the frequency and the length of dry spells are substantially increased over most of the European continent except for the Iberian Peninsula. The frequency and the length of wet spells, on the other hand, are generally reduced during summer and increased during winter, again, with the exception of the Iberian Peninsula. The future changes in the frequency of wet days in winter are related to a change in the large-scale flow over the North Atlantic and a corresponding shift of the North Atlantic storm track. The reduction in the frequency of wet days in summer is related to a northward extension of the dry subtropical region in the future, with a reduction of the convective activity because of the large-scale sinking motion in the downward branch of the Hadley cell. Because the atmosphere contains more moisture in the warmer future climate, the amount of precipitation associated with individual low-pressure systems or with individual convective events is increased, leading to a general increase in the intensity of individual precipitation events. Only in regions, where all the moisture evaporates from the ground already in spring, the intensity of precipitation events is reduced in summer.     

Introducing the decile concept for studying the spatiotemporal characteristics and variability of long-lasting dry and wet periods

Changes in the persistence of dry and wet periods are of particular interest for many sectors, as long-term deviations from normal precipitation strongly affect the water availability. Here, an indicator is introduced to explore variability and trends of long-lasting dry and wet periods by using decile based thresholds. The test of three different thresholds for ending those periods revealed only slight influences of the chosen threshold on the spatiotemporal pattern and trends. The methodology of the deciles indicator is illustrated and studied exemplarily for a spatially highly resolved data set for Saxony, Germany within 1901–2010. Within that region decile wet and dry periods, respectively, occur approximately four times within 10 years, last on average 11 months and cover on average more than 35 % of the stations. Several years to decades long periods with particularly frequent and/or long decile dry or wet periods were identified. The computed trends strongly depend upon the analysis period, as frequency, duration and spatial coverage of decile periods show strong variations up to multi-decadal time scales. Nonetheless, there is some indication that dry period coverage increased within the 20th century, while wet period coverage decreased. However, in the most recent decades the long-term trends reversed.     

Evaluation of TMPA 3B42 Precipitation Estimates during the Passage of Tropical Cyclones over New Caledonia

A deficit in precipitation may impact greatly on soil moisture, snowpack, streamflow, groundwater and reservoir storage. Among the several approaches available to investigate this phenomenon, one of the most applied is the analysis of dry spells. In this study, a non-homogeneous Poisson model has been applied to a set of high-quality daily rainfall series, recorded in southern Italy (Calabria region) during the period 1981–2010, for the stochastic analysis of dry spells. Firstly, some statistical details of the Poisson models were presented. Then, the proposed model has been applied to the analysis of long dry spells. In particular, a Monte Carlo technique was performed to reproduce the characteristics of the process. As a result, the main characteristics of the long dry spells have shown patterns clearly related to some geographical features of the study area, such as elevation and latitude. The results obtained from the stochastic modelling of the long dry spells proved that the proposed model is useful for the probability evaluation of drought, thus improving environmental planning and management.     

Spatial trends of dry spells over Peninsular Malaysia during monsoon seasons

This study aims to trace changes in the dry spells over Peninsular Malaysia based on the daily rainfall data from 36 selected rainfall stations which include four subregions, namely northwest, west, southwest, and east for the periods of 1975 to 2004. Six dry spell indices comprising of the main characteristics of dry spells, the persistency of dry events, and the frequency of the short and long duration of dry spells will be used to identify whether or not these indices have increased or decreased over Peninsular Malaysia during the monsoon seasons. The findings of this study indicate that the northwestern areas of the Peninsular could be considered as the driest area since almost all the indices of dry spells over these areas are higher than in the other regions during the northeast (NE) monsoon. Based on the individual and the field significant trends, the results of the Mann–Kendall test indicate that as the total number of dry days, the maximum duration, the mean, and the persistency of dry days are decreased, the trend of the frequency of long dry spells of at least 4 days is also found to decrease in almost all the stations over the Peninsula; however, an increasing trend is observed in the frequency of short spells in these stations during the NE monsoon season. On the other hand, during the southwest monsoon, a positive trend is observed in the characteristics of dry spells including the persistency of two dry days in many stations over the Peninsula. The frequency of longer dry periods exhibits a decreasing trend in most stations over the western areas during both monsoon seasons for the periods of 1975 to 2004.     

Spatial and temporal analysis of dry spells in Greece

Summary ?A spatio-temporal analysis of the dry spells that occur in the Greek area is carried out for an extended period of 40 years (1958–1997). The dry spells can be defined as a number of consecutive days with no rain. The number of days defines the length of the dry spells. The longest spells are identified in central (Cyclades) and the south-east Aegean Sea whereas dry spells with the minimum length are shown over the north-west of the Greek area that reflects the significance of the latitude and the topography. Negative Binomial Distribution and Markov Chains of second order have been used to fit the duration of the dry spells of different lengths. The study of the seasonal and annual distribution of the frequency of occurrence of dry spells revealed that the dry spells in Greece depict a seasonal character, while medium and long sequences are associated with the duration and hazards of drought. Received February 20, 2002; revised September 5, 2002; accepted October 6, 2002     

干湿持续期随机模拟

该文应用数据建模技术, 实现干湿期随机建模。主要包括:利用历史气象资料, 从中采集干湿期数据; 应用实测数据, 创建干湿期经验分布函数; 应用Monte Carlo方法和经验分布参数, 随机生成干湿期序列, 通过和Markov链模型输出的对比分析, 讨论生成序列的统计误差, 测试结果显示, 与两状态Markov链方法相比, 所建模型性能更好。     

500-yr. precipitation variability in Southern Taihang Mountains,China, and its linkages to ENSO and PDO

An annually resolved and absolutely dated ring-width chronology spanning 657 yrs. is constructed with Whitebark pine (Pinus bungeana Zucc.) samples from the southern Taihang Mountains, Eastern China. On the basis of a significant correlation between the tree-ring width index and observed instrumental data, precipitation in current May is reconstructed for the region since AD 1510, with predictor variables accounting for 37.9 % of the variance in precipitation data. In agreement with other drought reconstructions, notable dry spells occur in the 1630s–1650s, 1680s–1700s, and 1770s–1800s, whereas wet periods prevail in the 1530s–1570s, 1840s–1870s, and 1950s-present. Wavelet analysis reveals clear 2–8, 20–40, and 80–130 yrs cycles at the 95 % confidence level for the reconstructed series over the past 500 yrs, suggesting possible linkages with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Correlation analysis between the tree-ring series, ENSO, and PDO index further demonstrates that precipitation is negatively correlated with PDO and ENSO in the long term.     

Spatial and temporal analysis of dry spells in Croatia

Systematic statistical analysis of dry day sequences, which are defined according to 0.1, 1, 5 and 10 mm of precipitation-per-day thresholds, is performed on seasonal and yearly basis. The data analysed come from 25 Croatian meteorological stations and cover the period 1961–2000. Climatological features of the mean and maximum dry spell durations, as well as the frequency of long dry spells (>20 days) are discussed. The results affirm the three main climatological regions in Croatia, with the highlands exhibiting shorter dry spells than the mainland, and the coastal region exhibiting longer dry spells. The prevailing positive trend of both mean and maximal durations is detected during winter and spring seasons, while negative trend dominate in autumn for all thresholds. Positive field significant trends of mean dry spell duration with 5 and 10 mm thresholds are found during spring and the same is valid for annual maximum dry spell duration with a 10 mm threshold. It is found that the Discrete Autoregressive Moving Average (DARMA(1,1)) model can be used to estimate the probabilities of dry spells in Croatia that are up to 20–30 days long.     

Trends of summer dry spells in China during the late twentieth century

Summary In the present study the trends in frequency and duration of dry spells in six sub-regions of China were analyzed for the summer-half-year season (April–September) in period 1956–2000. A dry spell was defined as a number of consecutive days without measurable precipitation. For the frequency of short dry spells (length <10 days), significant changes are observed in the North, Northeast and Southwest China. For the frequency of long dry spells (length 10 days) there are significant trends in North and Northeast China; while no remarkable trends in frequency are found in other regions. There are also significant lengthening trends in dry spell duration in North and Northeast China, resulting mainly from the long-term changes in short dry spells. No significant change is observed for the maximum length in all regions. It is found that the temporal distribution of precipitation within the rainy season would notably impact the features of dry spells. An increase in the precipitation amount does not necessarily mean a synchronous reduction in dry spell frequency and/or duration. Seasonal mean anomalies of 500hPa heights in association with the long dry spells show similar spatial patterns over the middle to high latitudes for five of the six sub-regions (with exception of the case of Southwest China), resembling a west–east direction dipole in latitudes about 30°N northwards. For the case of Southwest China the dominant feature in 500hPa heights is the negative anomalies over most middle to high latitude Asia. Among these cases there are recognizable differences, particularly, in the tropical regions in western Pacific. That would provide useful information of circulation background for understanding the climate extremes.     

Numerical simulation of the probability distribution function of precipitation over Morocco

A variable resolution version of the global GCM ARPEGE is constructed, so that Morocco has maximum resolution. A 30-year simulation, driven by observed sea surface temperature 1971–2000, is carried out. This paper examines the precipitation over northern Morocco during the extended winter season (from October to March), comparing model simulations with daily values at 14 stations. An approach utilising weather regimes has been adopted. The model is successful in representing the frequency and the interannual variability of the regimes. The precipitation over Morocco differs from one regime to another, but the model is not enough rainy along the Atlantic coast in general. The model is too persistent with too long dry spells, but is able to produce heavy rainfall as well as long dry periods in the centre of the area.     

The application of a present-day climatic model to the late quaternary in southern Africa

A present-day climatic model is presented in which extended wet spells of near-decadal duration and dry spells of similar length are explained on the basis of surface and upper tropospheric circulation variations. Wet spells are shown to be the result of increased tropical atmospheric disturbances and tropical-temperate interaction, and to be linked to variations in the Walker Circulation. Conversely, dry spells are shown to result from diminished tropical activity over southern Africa, equatorward movement of westerly storm tracks and temperate perturbations in the westerlies.The present-day analogue is compared to preliminary spatial reconstructions of the climate of southern Africa over the last twenty-five millennia and is shown to have wide applicability in the explanation of the late-Quaternary palaeoclimates of the subcontinent. In particular, it is argued that the Last Glacial Maximum was associated with northward-displaced circulation conditions similar to those of present-day dry spells over the summer rainfall region, whereas the extensive moist conditions that prevailed for several thousand years after 9000 BP were analogous to present-day wet spell conditions with little apparent displacement of major circulation features.     

Intra- to multi-decadal terrestrial precipitation regimes at the end of the 20th century

Intra- to multi-decadal (IMD) variation in terrestrial precipitation during 1901–98 was evaluated here by sampling annual precipitation rankings over 6–30 year moving time windows and converting those rankings to Mann-Whitney U statistics. Those U statistics were then used to identify the most significant concentrations of wet and dry years relative to a null hypothesis that assumes stationary climate variability. This time series analysis approach served as the basis of a climate survey method used to identify IMD precipitation regimes over continental areas, and was also used to evaluate IMD variation in time series of annual precipitation spatially averaged over those areas. These methods showed a highly significant incidence of wet years over North America during 1972–98, with 8 of the 10 wettest years of 1901–98 occurring during that 27-year period. A comparably significant incidence of late century wetness was also found over a northern Europe grid region, with 7 of the 10 wettest years occurring during 1978–98. Although significant wet and dry regimes were also found over other land areas in the last decades of the 20th century, the late century North American and northern European wet periods stood out as the most statistically significant found here during 1901–98. It is suggested that these recent wet periods are actually terrestrial evidence of a single multi-decadal precipitation mode extending across the North Atlantic, and the most observable evidence of an even broader pattern of recent North Atlantic climate change.     

Preserving spatial linear correlations between neighboring stations in simulating daily precipitation using extended Markov models

Most stochastic weather generators have their focus on precipitation because it is the most important variable affecting environmental processes. One of the methods to reproduce the precipitation occurrence time series is to use a Markov process. But, in addition to the simulation of short-term autocorrelations in one station, it is sometimes important to preserve the spatial linear correlations (SLC) between neighboring stations as well. In this research, an extension of one-site Markov models was proposed to preserve the SLC between neighboring stations. Qazvin station was utilized as the reference station and Takestan (TK), Magsal, Nirougah, and Taleghan stations were used as the target stations. The performances of different models were assessed in relation to the simulation of dry and wet spells and short-term dependencies in precipitation time series. The results revealed that in TK station, a Markov model with a first-order spatial model could be selected as the best model, while in the other stations, a model with the order of two or three could be selected. The selected (i.e., best) models were assessed in relation to preserving the SLC between neighboring stations. The results depicted that these models were very capable in preserving the SLC between the reference station and any of the target stations. But, their performances were weaker when the SLC between the other stations were compared. In order to resolve this issue, spatially correlated random numbers were utilized instead of independent random numbers while generating synthetic time series using the Markov models. Although this method slightly reduced the model performances in relation to dry and wet spells and short-term dependencies, the improvements related to the simulation of the SLC between the other stations were substantial.     

中国黄土高原地区4～10月雨量时空变化特征分析

利用黄土高原区域40年的实测降水资料,研究了该区作物生长期(4~10月)降水量的时空变化特征,并对干年和湿年的降水进行了分析和比较。结果表明:黄土高原作物生长期降水在1985年左右发生突变,由历史上的多雨转为少雨;降水异常变化存在3~5年、8年左右和11~16年左右的振荡周期,3~5年的振荡周期更明显;干湿年降水存在明显差异,湿年比干年多40%以上;存在降水异常响应的敏感区,干旱在高原的东北部响应变幅大于其它地方,湿涝响应在高原的北部最为明显。     

Uncertainty analysis of statistical downscaling models using Hadley Centre Coupled Model

Regression-based statistical downscaling is a method broadly used to resolve the coarse spatial resolution of general circulation models. Nevertheless, the assessment of uncertainties linked with climatic variables is essential to climate impact studies. This study presents a procedure to characterize the uncertainty in regression-based statistical downscaling of daily precipitation and temperature over a highly vulnerable area (semiarid catchment) in the west of Iran, based on two downscaling models: a statistical downscaling model (SDSM) and an artificial neural network (ANN) model. Biases in mean, variance, and wet/dry spells are estimated for downscaled data using vigorous statistical tests for 30 years of observed and downscaled daily precipitation and temperature data taken from the National Center for Environmental Prediction reanalysis predictors for the years of 1961 to 1990. In the case of daily temperature, uncertainty is estimated by comparing monthly mean and variance of downscaled and observed daily data at a 95 % confidence level. In daily precipitation, downscaling uncertainties were evaluated from comparing monthly mean dry and wet spell lengths and their confidence intervals, cumulative frequency distributions of monthly mean of daily precipitation, and the distributions of monthly wet and dry days for observed and modeled daily precipitation. Results showed that uncertainty in downscaled precipitation is high, but simulation of daily temperature can reproduce extreme events accurately. Finally, this study shows that the SDSM is the most proficient model at reproducing various statistical characteristics of observed data at a 95 % confidence level, while the ANN model is the least capable in this respect. This study attempts to test uncertainties of regression-based statistical downscaling techniques in a semiarid area and therefore contributes to an improvement of the quality of predictions of climate change impact assessment in regions of this type.