Attributes of cut-off low induced rainfall over the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Cut-off low (COL) weather systems that are associated with rainfall over the Eastern Cape are considered in this study. COLs are objectively identified and tracked over a 31-year period. Daily rainfall data of 22 evenly distributed stations over the Eastern Cape are utilized. Only COLs with a minimum spatial distribution, defined as more than a third of the rainfall stations that need to report rainfall on at least 1 day of a COL event, are considered for analysis of rainfall attributes. These attributes include the occurrence of COL rain days of different magnitudes, the distribution of the depth and temperature of the COL centres for the rain days of different magnitudes, the associated spatial distribution of rainfall as well as the associated atmospheric circulation. The frequency of COLs over the Eastern Cape has a winter maximum and a summer minimum. COL rain days of small, medium and large magnitudes occur most frequently during the winter, while small- and medium-magnitude COL rain days experience peaks in autumn and spring, respectively. The low-level flow, and in particular the position of the low/trough, seems to be the determinant factor in the occurrence, magnitude and spatial extent of COL-induced rainfall.     

Variability of rainfall characteristics over the South Coast region of South Africa

Thirty years of daily rainfall data are analysed for the South Coast region of South Africa, a region which experiences substantial rainfall variability and frequent severe drought and flood events, but whose climate variability has not been much researched. It is found that El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) exerts an influence since most wet years correspond to mature phase La Niña years. ENSO also influences South Coast rainfall via increases in the number of cut-off lows in southern South Africa during mature phase La Niña years. A statistically significant correlation between the Niño 3.4 index and monthly rainfall totals, and between this index and the frequency of wet days, exists for two summer months and also for June. There are also changes in the heavy rainfall day frequencies from one decade to another. Examination of NCEP re-analyses indicates that wet (dry) years result from an equatorward (poleward) shift in the subtropical jet, cyclonic (anticyclonic) pressure anomalies over the South Atlantic and South Africa, and increased (decreased) density of mid-latitude cyclonic systems.     

Recurrent daily OLR patterns in the Southern Africa/Southwest Indian Ocean region,implications for South African rainfall and teleconnections

A cluster analysis of daily outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) anomalies from 1979 to 2002 over the Southern Africa/Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) region for the November to February season reveals seven robust and statistically well separated recurrent patterns of large-scale organized convection. Among them are three regimes indicative of well defined tropical–temperate interactions linking the hinterland parts of Southern Africa to the mid-latitudes of the SWIO. Preferred transitions show a tendency for an eastward propagation of these systems. Analysis of daily rainfall records for South Africa shows that six of the OLR regimes are associated with spatially coherent and significant patterns of enhanced or reduced daily rainfall over the country. Atmospheric anomalies from the NCEP/DOE II reanalysis dataset show that the OLR regimes are associated with either regional or near-global adjustments of the atmospheric circulation, the three regimes representative of tropical–temperate interactions being in particular related to a well-defined wave structure encompassing the subtropical and temperate latitudes, featuring strong vertical anomalies and strong poleward export of momentum in the lee of the location of the cloud-band. The time-series of OLR regimes seasonal frequency are correlated to distinctive anomaly patterns in the global sea-surface-temperature field, among which are shown to be those corresponding to El Nino and La Nina conditions. The spatial signature of El Nino Southern Oscillation’s (ENSO) influence is related to the combination of an increased/decreased frequency of these regimes. It is shown in particular that the well-known “dipole” in convection anomalies contrasting Southern Africa and the SWIO during ENSO events arises as an effect of seasonal averaging and is therefore not valid at the synoptic scale. This study also provides a framework to better understand the observed non-linearities between ENSO and the seasonal convection and rainfall anomalies over the region.     

Cut-off Lows in the South Africa region and their contribution to precipitation

The contribution of Cut-off Lows (CoLs) to precipitation and extreme rainfall frequency in South Africa has been quantified from 402 station records over the period 1979–2006. Firstly, 500 hPa CoL trajectories over Southern Africa and surrounding oceans were determined and their features thoroughly analyzed. In a second step, using daily precipitable water, outgoing long wave radiation data and station rainfall records, an area was defined where the occurrence of CoLs is associated with rainfall over South Africa. CoLs transiting in the 2.5°E–32.5°E/20°S–45°S are more likely to produce precipitation over the country. When 500 hPa CoLs are centered just off the west coast of the country (around 15°E/32.5°S) their impact is substantial in term of daily rainfall intensity and spatial coverage. CoL rainy days have been studied and it is shown that they significantly contribute to precipitation in South Africa, more strongly along the south and east coasts as well as inland, over the transition zone between the summer and winter rainfall domains where they contribute between 25 to more than 35 % of annual accumulation. At the country scale, CoL rainfall is more intense and widespread in spring than during other seasons. Over the analyzed period, a significant trend in annual CoLs’ frequency shows an increase of about 25 %. This increase is mainly realized in spring and in a lesser extent in summer. This trend is accompanied by a significant increase in the frequency of CoL rainy days specifically along the south coast and over the East of the country during the spring–summer period. In parallel, it is shown that from late spring until summer CoLs’ frequency varies significantly accordingly with large scale circulation modes of the Southern Hemisphere such as the Pacific South American pattern (PSA). This positive trend in CoLs’ frequency may be related with the positive trend in the PSA during the spring–summer period over the three last decades.     

SST variability in the South Indian Ocean and associated circulation and rainfall patterns over Southern Africa

Summary A general circulation model is used to study the response of the atmosphere to an idealised sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly pattern (warm throughout the southern midlatitudes, cool in the tropics) in the South Indian Ocean region. The anomaly imposed on monthly SST climatology captures the essence of patterns observed in the South Indian Ocean during both ENSO events and multidecadal epochs, and facilitates diagnosis of the model response. A previous study with this anomaly imposed in the model examined differences in the response between that on the seasonal scale (favours enhancement of the original SST anomaly) and that on the decadal scale (favours damping of the anomaly). The current study extends that work firstly by comparing the response on the intraseasonal, seasonal and interannual scales, and secondly, by assessing the changes in the circulation and rainfall over the adjoining African landmass.It is found that the atmospheric response is favourable for enhancement of the original SST anomaly on scales up to, and including, annual. However, as the scale becomes interannual (i.e., 15–21 months after imposition of the anomaly), the model response suggests that damping of the original SST anomaly becomes likely. Compared to the shorter scale response, the perturbation pressure and wind distribution on the interannual scale is shifted poleward, and is more reminiscent of the decadal response. Winds are now stronger over the warm anomaly in the southern midlatitudes suggesting enhanced surface fluxes, upper ocean mixing, and consequently, a damping of the anomaly.Examination of the circulation and rainfall patterns indicates that there are significant anomalies over large parts of southern Africa during the spring, summer and autumn seasons for both short (intraseasonal to interannual) and decadal scales. It appears that rainfall anomalies are associated with changes in the advection of moist tropical air from the Indian Ocean and its related convergence over southern Africa. Over eastern equatorial Africa, the austral autumn season (the main wet season) showed rainfall increases on all time scales, while parts of central to eastern subtropical southern Africa were dry. The signals during summer were more varied. Spring showed generally dry conditions over the eastern half of southern Africa on both short and decadal time scales, with wet areas confined to the west. In all cases, the magnitude of the rainfall anomalies accumulated over a 90 day season were of the order of 90–180 mm, and therefore represent a significant fraction of the annual total of many areas. It appears that relatively modest SST anomalies in the South Indian Ocean can lead to sizeable rainfall anomalies in the model. Although precipitation in general circulation models tends to be less accurately simulated than many other variables, the model results, together with previous observational work, emphasize the need for ongoing monitoring of SST in this region.With 14 Figures     

Stratospheric ozone depletion: a key driver of recent precipitation trends in South Eastern South America

On a hemispheric scale, it is now well established that stratospheric ozone depletion has been the principal driver of externally forced atmospheric circulation changes south of the Equator in the last decades of the 20th Century. The impact of ozone depletion has been felt over the entire hemisphere, as reflected in the poleward drift of the midlatitude jet, the southward expansion of the summertime Hadley cell and accompanying precipitation trends deep into the subtropics. On a regional scale, however, surface impacts directly attributable to ozone depletion have yet to be identified. In this paper we focus on South Eastern South America (SESA), a region that has exhibited one of the largest wetting trends during the 20th Century. We study the impact of ozone depletion on SESA precipitation using output from 6 different climate models, spanning a wide range of complexity. In all cases we contrast pairs of model integrations with and without ozone depletion, but with all other forcings identically specified. This allows for unambiguous attribution of the computed precipitation trends. All 6 climate models consistently reveal that stratospheric ozone depletion results in a significant wetting of SESA over the period 1960–1999. Taken as a whole, these model results strongly suggest that the impact of ozone depletion on SESA precipitation has been as large as, and quite possibly larger than, the one caused by increasing greenhouse gases over the same period.     

Interannual winter rainfall variability in SW South Africa and large scale ocean–atmosphere interactions

Summary The Southwestern Cape (SWC) region of South Africa is characterized by winter rainfall mainly via cold fronts and by substantial interannual variability. Evidence is presented that interannual variability in SWC winter rainfall is related to sea-surface temperature (SST) and sea-ice anomalies in the central South Atlantic and adjoining Southern Ocean and to large scale ocean–atmosphere interaction in this region. During wet winters, the jet is strengthened just upstream of the SWC and significant cyclonic anomalies extend from the SW Atlantic over the region. SST tends to be anomalously warm (cool) in the SW Atlantic and SE Atlantic (central South Atlantic) and sea-ice extent increased in the central South Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. These patterns favor increased cyclogenesis upstream, a more northward track of midlatitude depressions, local intensification near the SWC and enhanced rainfall. Roughly the reverse patterns occur during dry winters. Some preliminary results from atmospheric GCM experiments are presented which help support these findings. Received November 9, 2001 Revised December 28, 2001     

阿勒泰地区夏季短时强降水TlogP及环境参数特征

运用2010—2018年夏季阿勒泰地区区域自动站逐时降水量及阿勒泰站探空资料,统计分析短时强降水过程的T-logP形态及关键环境参数特征,以集合预报箱形图确定关键环境参数阈值。结果表明,阿勒泰地区短时强降水T-logP图形态可分为整层湿和上干下湿2种类型;主要出现在沿山、山麓、山区地带和乌伦古湖南部附近;6月下旬至7月下旬多发,午后至傍晚较易发生;造成该地区夏季短时强降水的环境参数多表现为7月最大,6月最小,说明7月更有利于短时强降水的发生;该地区夏季短时强降水的发生表现为一定的不稳定层结、露点温度维持在10℃左右,垂直风切变为中等偏弱,CAPE值较小;通过对各环境参数箱形图分析,总结归纳出该区短时强降水总体阈值。从而为阿勒泰地区夏季短时强降水潜势预报提供参考依据。     

Simulation of the annual and diurnal cycles of rainfall over South Africa by a regional climate model

The capability of a current state-of-the-art regional climate model for simulating the diurnal and annual cycles of rainfall over a complex subtropical region is documented here. Hourly rainfall is simulated over Southern Africa for 1998–2006 by the non-hydrostatic model weather research and forecasting (WRF), and compared to a network of 103 stations covering South Africa. We used five simulations, four of which consist of different parameterizations for atmospheric convection at a 0.5 × 0.5° resolution, performed to test the physic-dependency of the results. The fifth experiment uses explicit convection over tropical South Africa at a 1/30° resolution. WRF simulates realistic mean rainfall fields, albeit wet biases over tropical Africa. The model mean biases are strongly modulated by the convective scheme used for the simulations. The annual cycle of rainfall is well simulated over South Africa, mostly influenced by tropical summer rainfall except in the Western Cape region experiencing winter rainfall. The diurnal cycle shows a timing bias, with atmospheric convection occurring too early in the afternoon, and causing too abundant rainfall. This result, particularly true in summer over the northeastern part of the country, is weakly physic-dependent. Cloud-resolving simulations do not clearly reduce the diurnal cycle biases. In the end, the rainfall overestimations appear to be mostly imputable to the afternoon hours of the austral summer rainy season, i.e., the periods during which convective activity is intense over the region.     

Carbon sequestration and environmental effects of afforestation with Pinus radiata D. Don in the Western Cape, South Africa

A three-step methodology to assess the carbon sequestration and the environmental impact of afforestation projects in the framework of the Flexible Mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol (Joint Implementation and Clean Development Mechanism) was developed and tested using a dataset collected from the Jonkershoek forest plantation, Western Cape, South Africa, which was established with Pinus radiata in former native fynbos vegetation and indigenous forest. The impact of a change in land use was evaluated for a multifunctional, a production and a non-conversion scenario. First, the carbon balance was modelled with GORCAM and was expressed as (1) C sequestration in tC ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ in soil, litter, and living biomass according to the rules of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, and (2) CO₂ emission reductions in tC ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, which includes carbon sequestered in the above-mentioned pools and additionally in wood products, as well as emission reductions due to fossil fuel substitution. To estimate forest growth, three data sources were used: (1) inventory data, (2) growth simulation with a process-based model, and (3) yield tables. Second, the effects of land use change were assessed for different project scenarios using a method related to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The method uses 17 quantitative indicators to describe the impact of project activities on water, soil, vegetation cover and biodiversity. Indicator scores were calculated by comparing indicator values with reference values, estimated for the climax vegetation. The climax vegetation is the site-specific ecosystem phase with the highest exergy content and the highest exergy flow dissipation capacity. Third, the land use impact per functional unit of 1 tC sequestered was calculated by combining the results of step 1 and step 2. The average baselines to obtain carbon additionality are 476 tC ha⁻¹ for indigenous forest and 32 tC ha⁻¹ for fynbos. Results show that the influence of the growth assessment method on the magnitude of C sequestration and hence on the environmental impact per functional unit is large. When growth rate is assessed with the mechanistic model and with the yield table, it is overestimated in the early years and underestimated in the long term. The main conclusion of the scenario analysis is that the production forest scenario causes higher impacts per functional unit than the multifunctional scenario, but with the latter being less efficient in avoiding CO₂ emissions. The proposed method to assess impacts on diverse components of the ecosystem is able to estimate the general tendency of the adverse and positive effects of each scenario. However, some indicators, more specifically about biodiversity and water balance, could be improved or reinterpreted in light of specific local data about threat to biodiversity and water status.     

阿克苏地区短时强降雨时空分布和卫星云图特征

基于2012-2018年风云系列卫星云图资料(红外图像、水汽图像、TBB图像),区域自动站小时降雨资料,高空、地面常规观测资料,统计分析阿克苏地区短时强降雨的时空变化和卫星云图特征.结果表明:(1)短时强降雨主要出现于6-8月的16-20时,空间分布为北部山区最多、浅山区次之、平原及南部沙漠地区最少,降雨强度多为10....     

京津冀地区暖季降水日变化特征分析

使用2007—2017年京津冀地区156个气象站暖季（5—9月）逐小时降水观测数据,根据地形将研究区域分为6个分区,分析各分区降水量季节内变化和日变化特征,结果表明：1）京津冀的多雨区主要位于沿燕山南麓到太行山,存在多个降雨中心。2）各分区降水量季节内特征总体表现为单峰型,即7月降水量最大,7月第3候至8月第4候是主汛期,8月降水量次之,5月最少。3）降水呈夜间多,白天少的特点,7月初之前的前汛期降水多发生在16—21时;主汛期降水呈双峰型,峰值在17—22时,次峰值出现在00—07时;8月中旬以后的后汛期多夜间降水,峰值多出现在00—08时。4）高原山区多短历时降水,长历时累计降水对季节降水贡献率大值区位于平原地区,而持续性降水贡献率大值位于太行山区和燕山迎风坡的西部。     

Multi-day rainfall trends over the Iberian Peninsula

In order to analyze the effects of the duration of precipitation events, trends in extreme rainfall over the Iberian Peninsula (IP) for multi-day extreme precipitation events (1 to 7?days) were evaluated from records of 52 observatories regularly distributed over Iberia with no missing data for the common period 1958–2004. Two approaches were used: first, the nonparametric Mann–Kendall test together with the Sen method, and second, a parametric test based on the statistical theory of extreme values, involving time-dependent parameters to account for possible temporal changes in the frequency distribution. It was found that, in winter, there were significant negative trends for a great part of the Iberian Peninsula, but significant positive trends for the southeast over areas that shrank as the number of days considered for the precipitation event increased. Spring also showed negative trends for a great part of the IP but with a major area of positive trend over the northeast that remained unchanged when considering the maxima of from 1 to 7?days of rainfall. Autumn showed a bipolar spatial pattern, with the west being positive and the east negative.