Long-term variability in Northern Hemisphere snow cover and associations with warmer winters

A monthly snow accumulation and melt model is used with gridded monthly temperature and precipitation data for the Northern Hemisphere to generate time series of March snow-covered area (SCA) for the period 1905 through 2002. The time series of estimated SCA for March is verified by comparison with previously published time series of SCA for the Northern Hemisphere. The time series of estimated Northern Hemisphere March SCA shows a substantial decrease since about 1970, and this decrease corresponds to an increase in mean winter Northern Hemisphere temperature. The increase in winter temperature has caused a decrease in the fraction of precipitation that occurs as snow and an increase in snowmelt for some parts of the Northern Hemisphere, particularly the mid-latitudes, thus reducing snow packs and March SCA. In addition, the increase in winter temperature and the decreases in SCA appear to be associated with a contraction of the circumpolar vortex and a poleward movement of storm tracks, resulting in decreased precipitation (and snow) in the low- to mid-latitudes and an increase in precipitation (and snow) in high latitudes. If Northern Hemisphere winter temperatures continue to warm as they have since the 1970s, then March SCA will likely continue to decrease.     

Association between modes of variability of January Northern Hemisphere snow cover and circulation

Summary An Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis has been applied to NOAA/NESDIS snow concentration data. The major modes of variability in January Northern Hemisphere snow concentration have been extracted and analysed. The analysis was completed separately over Eurasia and North America. Strong, coherent patterns were found for each of the first three EOFs that were analysed over both continents. Over Eurasia the first EOF showed much of Europe as well as western and central Asia in phase but eastern Asia of the opposite phase although the signal was somewhat weaker. North America had a very similar first EOF with a large positive anomaly centered over Montana reaching loadings of over 0.8. East of the Great Lakes, the anomaly changes sign, although again, its magnitude is much smaller.An EOF examination was also made of the anomalous 700 hPa geopotential height fields. These modes of variability were correlated with those of snow cover with the aim of investigating the mechanisms by which the surface boundary snow and the overlying circulation can interact. The stronger correlations were discussed and logical physical scenarios were presented for each. The results indicate that there was no common pattern whereby one medium was always forcing the other but rather a complex array of interactions where each medium could influence the other. To support the physical basis of the relationships being depicted by the EOF study, a case study of January 1981 was made.The presence of intercontinental relationships was also investigated and such relations were strongly suggested. It was proposed that the large scale organisation of the atmosphere between the two continents could go some way to explaining these links in snow variability.With 6 Figures     

Actual and insolation-weighted Northern Hemisphere snow cover and sea-ice between 1973–2002

Actual and insolation-weighted Northern Hemisphere snow cover and sea ice are binned by latitude bands for the years 1973–2002. Antarctic sea-ice is also analyzed for the years 1980–2002. The use of insolation weighting provides an improved estimate of the radiative feedbacks of snow cover and sea-ice into the atmosphere. One conclusion of our assessment is that while a decrease in both areal and insolation-weighted values have occurred, the data does not show a monotonic decrease of either Arctic sea-ice or Northern Hemisphere snow cover. If Arctic perennial sea-ice is decreasing since the total reduction in areal coverage is relatively small, a large portion of it is being replenished each year such that its radiative feedback to the atmosphere is muted. Antarctic sea-ice areal cover shows no significant long-term trend, while there is a slight decrease in the insolation-weighted values for the period 1980–2002. From the early 1990s to 2001, there was a slight increase in both values. The comparison of general circulation model simulations of changes over the last several decades to observed changes in insolation-weighted sea-ice and snow cover should be a priority research topic.     

Rapid vegetation responses and feedbacks amplify climate model response to snow cover changes

We investigate the response of a climate system model to two different methods for estimating snow cover fraction. In the control case, snow cover fraction changes gradually with snow depth; in the alternative scenarios (one with prescribed vegetation and one with dynamic vegetation), snow cover fraction initially increases with snow depth almost twice as fast as the control method. In cases where the vegetation was fixed (prescribed), the choice of snow cover parameterization resulted in a limited model response. Increased albedo associated with the high snow caused some moderate localized cooling (3–5°C), mostly at very high latitudes (>70°N) and during the spring season. During the other seasons, however, the cooling was not very extensive. With dynamic vegetation the change is much more dramatic. The initial increases in snow cover fraction with the new parameterization lead to a large-scale southward retreat of boreal vegetation, widespread cooling, and persistent snow cover over much of the boreal region during the boreal summer. Large cold anomalies of up to 15°C cover much of northern Eurasia and North America and the cooling is geographically extensive in the northern hemisphere extratropics, especially during the spring and summer seasons. This study demonstrates the potential for dynamic vegetation within climate models to be quite sensitive to modest forcing. This highlights the importance of dynamic vegetation, both as an amplifier of feedbacks in the climate system and as an essential consideration when implementing adjustments to existing model parameters and algorithms.     

北半球大气环流能量循环的气候特征

利用1958—2011年NCEP/NCAR逐日再分析资料,根据Lorenz能量循环理论框架,分析了北半球大气能量循环的年变化特征,在此基础上给出了更具普适性的多年平均的大气能量循环框图.结果表明:北半球大气能量循环的年变化特征十分明显.大气能量及能量转换率均表现为冬季高、夏季低、春秋季过渡的演变特征;纬向平均有效位能、纬向平均动能和涡动动能中有少许能量在冬季时由南半球向北半球进行越赤道输送,夏季时则由北半球向南半球输送,而涡动有效位能的输送方向则与此相反;纬向平均有效位能的制造在秋季最大,涡动有效位能的制造在夏季最大;动能的耗散冬季最强,夏季最弱.就年平均而言,相较于能量转化过程,能量越赤道交换过程非常微弱.在经向上,纬向平均有效位能主要分布于高纬地区,纬向平均动能主要分布于中低纬地区,而涡动能量主要贮存在中纬和高纬地区;此外,能量转化过程一般在中纬度地区较活跃.     

Changes in snow parameterization over typical vegetation in the Northern Hemisphere

Seasonal snow is sensitive to climate change, and is always taken as a signal of local climate changes. As changes in snow differ locally in their characteristics, it is necessary to detect the effects of snow on different land cover types. The middle and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere are located in a vast area of seasonal snow, experiencing snow accumulation and snowmelt stages each year. This study found that selected land cover types (open shrubland, evergreen needleleaf forest, and mixed forest) possess unique relationship curves between the snow cover fraction and snow depth. This has resulted in the northward shrinking of open shrubland and expansion of evergreen needleleaf forest and mixed forest, thereby further modulating local ecological systems. However, such changes in the snow process are not reproduced well by model parameterizations, and a faster melting process in the snowmelt stage will occur owing to the effects of global warming not being properly considered in such parametrization schemes. This inability to properly simulate the change in the snow process will affect the understanding of the ecological impacts of snowmelt in spring.摘要季节性降雪对气候变化很敏感, 常被当作气候变化的信号. 由于其局地特征差异显著, 不同下垫面类型的积雪过程也不尽相同. 北半球中高纬度的典型下垫面 (开阔灌丛, 常绿针叶林和混交林) 在积雪覆盖率和雪深之间有着独特的关系曲线, 这种关系不仅代表了积雪过程和融雪过程的特征变化, 更能用于模式进行积雪预测. 研究发现, 北半球中高纬度的增温改变了积雪参数化关系, 进一步影响了局地能量和水循环, 造成开阔灌丛的北缩和常绿针叶林及混交林的扩张. 然而, 目前模式中的积雪参数化并不能很好地再现全球变暖影响下融雪阶段出现的加速融化过程, 并且进一步影响对春季融雪的生态影响的理解.     

Seasonal stability of snow cover in Poland in relation to the atmospheric circulation

The seasonal stability of snow cover (ISS) was defined as a percentage ratio of the real and the potential snow cover duration in a winter season. Main results of the study are as follows: (1) alternately occurring periods of high and low values of the index of snow cover stability did not appeared simultaneously in mountainous and non-mountainous areas; (2) in the majority of Poland area both zonal and meridional components of the atmospheric circulation influence the ISS; however, in south the meridional air flow reveals the stronger impact, mostly due to the intensification of the southern advection by the foehn effect; and (3) changes of two or three indices describing atmospheric circulation explain up to 50 % of the ISS in Poland. The diminishing stability of snow cover in Poland corresponds with an increasing intensity of the advection from the western sector in winter in the second half of the twentieth century in Europe.     

On the multi-century Southern Hemisphere response to changes in atmospheric CO2-concentration in a Global Climate Model

Summary The transient response of the Southern Hemisphere to climate change is examined using an intermediate complexity climate model. Unlike previous studies, the Southern Ocean response on the centennial to multi-centennial time-scale is assessed in some detail. It is shown that changes in atmospheric CO₂-concentrations lead to an increase in the strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) by ∼20 Sv by 2750 for an atmospheric CO₂-concentration of 750 ppm. This increase is predominantly the result of an enhanced steric height gradient. The increase in the strength of the ACC induces changes in its steering around topographic features. This change in ACC pathway causes increased surface flow of colder waters into some regions (reducing the rate of warming) and increased surface flow of warmer waters into others (increasing the rate of warming). This meridional shifting of the ACC causes changes in atmospheric temperature in the Southern Hemisphere to be nonuniform. It is also shown that the strength and location of the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) overturning cell is affected by increased atmospheric CO₂. For a CO₂-concentration scenario increasing gradually to 750 ppm, AABW production initially decreases, then recovers and eventually increases. New production zones form, which extend AABW production all the way from the Weddell Sea eastward into the Ross Sea. These new production zones are the result of increased areas of atmosphere-ocean interactions, due to decreased sea-ice coverage, although the overturned waters are now warmer and fresher due to climate change. A new production zone of Antarctic Intermediate water is also established in the Southeast Pacific Ocean, poleward of its present-day location.     

Notes on extended–range atmospheric prediction in the Northern Hemisphere winter

We examined the characteristic feature and predictability of low frequency variability (LFV) of the atmosphere in the Northern Hemisphere winter (January and February) by using the empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) of the geopotential height at 500 hPa. In the discussion, we used the EOFs for geostrophic zonal wind (Uznl) and the height deviation from the zonal mean (Zeddy). The set of EOFs for Uznl and Zeddy was denoted as Uznl-1. Uznl-2, …, Zeddy-1, Zeddy-2…, respectively. We used the data samples of 396 pentads derived from 33 years of NMC, ECMWF and JMA analyses, from January 1963 to 1995. From the calculated scores for Uznl-1, Uznl-2, Zeddy-1, Zeddy-2 and so on we found that Uznl-1 and Zeddy-1 were statistically stable and their scores were more persistent than those of the other EOFs. A close relationship existed between the scores of Uznl-1 and those of Zeddy-1 30-day forecast experiments were carried out with the medium resolution version of JMA global spectral model for 20 cases in January and February for the period of 1984-1992. Results showed that Zeddy-1 was more predicta?ble than the other EOFs for Zeddy Considering these results, we argued that prediction of the Zeddy-1 was to be one of the main target of extended range forecasting     

山东夏季降水与西太平洋暖池区海洋热状态及夏季风异常

利用1979-2010年山东省12个代表站的夏季降水资料、高度场和风场资料以及海温资料, 分析了山东夏季降水的特征及其成因。结果表明:夏季降水在山东省区域内表现为一致性为主, 在该趋势下又有明显的南部和北部以及东部和西部的差异; 具有明显的年代际变化特征; 东亚夏季风、西太平洋副热带高压和东亚高空西风急流, 均易造成山东夏季降水一致偏多; 山东夏季降水和同期夏季赤道西太平洋海温呈正相关, 与同期夏季赤道东太平洋海温呈负相关。

     

Response of Northern Hemisphere storm tracks to Indian-western Pacific Ocean warming in atmospheric general circulation models

With 40 years integration output of two atmospheric general circulation models (GAMIL/IAP and HadAM3/UKMO) forced with identical prescribed seasonally-varying sea surface temperature, this study examines the effect of the observed Indian-western Pacific Ocean (IWP) warming on the Northern Hemisphere storm tracks. Both models indicate that the observed IWP warming tends to cause both the North Pacific storm track (NPST) and the North Atlantic storm track (NAST) to move northward. Such a consistent effect on the two storm tracks is closely associated with the changes in the low-level atmospheric baroclinicity, high-level jet stream and upper-level geopotential height. The IWP warming can excite a wavelike circum-global teleconnection in the geopotential height that gives rise to an anticyclonic anomaly over the midlatitude North Pacific and a positive-phase NAO anomaly over the North Atlantic. These geopotential height anomalies tend to enhance upper-level zonal westerly winds north of the climatological jet axes and increase low-level baroclinicity and eddy growth rates, thus favoring transient eddy more active north of the climatological storm track axes, responsible for the northward shift of the both storm tracks. The IWP warming-induced northward shift of the NAST is quite similar to the observed, suggesting that the IWP warming can be one of the key factors to cause decadal northward shift of the NAST since the 1980s. However, the IWP warming-induced northward shift of the NPST is completely opposite to the observed, implying that the observed southward shift of the NPST since the 1980s would be primarily attributed to other reasons, although the IWP warming can have a cancelling effect against those reasons.     

Resolution of the atmospheric model matters for the Northern Hemisphere Mid-Holocene climate

This study evaluates the dependence of simulated surface air temperatures on model resolution and orography for the mid-Holocene. Sensitivity experiments with the atmospheric general circulation model ECHAM5 are performed with low (∼3.75°, 19 vertical levels) and high (∼1.1°, 31 vertical levels) resolution. Results are compared to the respective preindustrial runs. It is found that the large-scale temperature anomalies for the mid-Holocene (compared to preindustrial) are significantly different in the low- and high-resolution versions. For boreal winter, differences are mainly related to circulation changes caused by the response to thermal forcing in conjunction with orographic resolution. For summer, shortwave cloud radiative forcing emerges as an important factor. The anomaly differences (low minus high resolution version) in the Northern Hemisphere are regionally as large as the anomalous mid-Holocene temperature signals. Furthermore, they depend on the applied surface boundary conditions. We conclude that the resolution matters for the Northern Hemisphere response in mid-Holocene simulations, which should be taken into account in model-model and data-model comparisons.     

欧亚土壤湿度异常对北半球大气环流的显著影响

用44 a ERA40再分析资料的土壤湿度和大气环流变量场, 研究持续性的欧亚大陆土壤湿度异常对后期北半球大尺度大气环流的反馈作用。首先,运用经验正交函数分解去除ENSO遥相关及趋势影响后,分析了欧亚大陆中高纬度土壤湿度变率主要模态的季节变化特征,及相对应主分量时间序列显示的土壤湿度异常的衰减时间,结果表明土壤湿度异常的主要模态在全年都表现出很好的连续性。其次,对不同季节的连续3个月的月平均土壤湿度和500 hPa高度场进行滞后最大协方差分析,研究欧亚地区中高纬度土壤湿度异常与北半球大气环流异常之间的线性耦合。第一最大协方差模态的结果表明:全年的主导信号是大气强迫土壤湿度的变化,但在冬季和夏季,大气中类似于负位相北极涛动的环流型与之前月份(最长达4个月)土壤湿度的持续变化显著相关。最后,基于土壤湿度变率中心的回归分析也证实了秋季和春季欧亚土壤湿度,特别是北非副热带,欧亚内陆和西伯利亚地区的土壤湿度异常,分别与其后的冬季和夏季的大气环流显著相关。欧亚大陆土壤湿度异常超前大气环流的信号,将有助于改善冬季和夏季北半球季节气候预报能力。     

Projection of snow cover changes over China under RCP scenarios

Snow cover changes in the middle (2040–2059) and end (2080–2099) of the twenty-first century over China were investigated with a regional climate model, nested within the global model BCC_CSM1.1. The simulations had been conducted for the period of 1950–2099 under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Results show that the model perform well in representing contemporary (1986–2005) spatial distributions of snow cover days (SCDs) and snow water equivalent (SWE). However, some differences between observation and simulation were detected. Under the RCP4.5 scenarios, SCDs are shortened by 10–20 and 20–40 days during the middle and end of the twenty-first century, respectively. Whereas simulated SWE is lowered by 0.1–10 mm in most areas over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). On the other hand, the spatial distributions of SWE are reversed between the middle and end terms in the northeast China. Furthermore, compared with the changes of RCP4.5 scenario, SCDs are reduced by 5–20 days in the middle period under RCP8.5 scenario with even larger decreasing amplitude in the end term. SWE was lowered by 0.1–2.5 mm in most areas except the northeast of China in middle term under RCP8.5 scenario. The great center of SCDs and SWE changes are always located over TP. The regional mean of SCDs and SWE for the TP and for China display a declining trend from 2006 to 2099 with more pronounced changes in the TP than in China as a whole. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the changes are enhanced compared to those under RCP4.5.     

Numerical simulation of Eurasian teleconnection pattern in atmospheric circulation during the Northern Hemisphere winter

In this paper, the anomaly of disturbance height field over Northern Hemisphere due to SST anomaly in the tropical Atlantic Ocean is simulated by using the general circulation model of IAP. A quasi-geostrophic, 34-level spherical coordinate model is also used to compute the distribution of atmospheric circulation anomaly when there is an anomaly of heat source over the tropical Atlantic. The computed results show that, owing to the heat source anomaly over the tropical Atlantic, the EU-pattern anomaly in the winter circulation may be caused. Namely, a ridge will be enhanced over the northwest Europe, a trough will be deepened over Siberia, but a positive anomaly of disturbance height field will be formed over the northeast China, Japan and other areas of East Asia. Moreover, the numerically simulated results show that the above-mentioned EU-pattern anomalies of circulation are due to the propagations of planetary wave train. About 15 days after an anomaly of the heat source over the tropical Atlantic is injected, the EU-pattern anomaly of atmospheric circulation is formed. This is in good agreement with the results analysed theoretically. On the leave from Geophysical Institute, Faculty of Science in Tokyo University, Japan.     

青藏高原地区积雪及其变化的不确定性:3种积雪观测资料的对比分析

为了探究青藏高原积雪不同观测资料间的差异,本文通过定义积雪覆盖率(Snow Cover Percentage,SCP)对比了NOAA-CDR卫星可见光遥感积雪资料、卫星被动微波遥感积雪资料和我国146个台站观测的积雪资料在高原地区的气候态及年际变动特征。从年平均气候态看,微波与可见光资料的SCP分布较为接近,高值区均位于念青唐古拉山与喜马拉雅山南缘之间的山区。而台站资料SCP的高值区范围则相对较小,在高原东部的巴颜喀拉山及南部的念青唐古拉山。3种资料的积雪低值区均位于高原中南部沿雅鲁藏布江一带、阿尔金山北侧以及东边界的内陆省份。从季节平均场看,不同资料的积雪分布在冬季及秋季,无论是气候态还是年际变动均较为类似。在春季时,微波和台站资料间较为一致。而在夏季,资料间差异很大,不同资料间的两两相关接近于零,甚至为负数。本文同时选取了青藏高原地区4个典型台站(索县、清水河、康定、甘孜),将卫星资料插值于台站上,对比3种资料间的异同,以及与地表气温异常间的关系。结果表明,在这4个典型站上,台站SCP在过去36 a中为线性减少的趋势,而卫星SCP主要为线性增加的趋势,且台站年平均SCP与地表气温异常的协同性最好。     

冬季北半球风暴轴的协同变化及其与大气环流的相互作用

基于1971—2016年NCEP/NCAR的逐日、逐月再分析资料,研究冬季北半球西伯利亚风暴轴(Siberian Storm Track,SIST)、北太平洋风暴轴(Pacific Storm Track,PST)和北大西洋风暴轴(Atlantic Storm Track,AST)的协同变化特征及其与大气环流的关系。结果表明:(1)三大风暴轴不仅各自的位置与强度变化存在显著相关性,风暴轴之间也存在一定的协同变化且年代际尺度上比年际尺度上更紧密。年际尺度上,SIST与AST的经度变化呈显著负相关,而PST和AST的协同性较差;年代际尺度上,SIST与PST的经、纬度变化均呈弱的负相关,SIST与AST的经度和强度变化均呈显著正相关,PST与AST的经、纬度变化均呈显著负相关。(2)由联合EOF分析得到北半球风暴轴的协同变化时空特征:在年际尺度上,第一模态主要表现为SIST偏弱(强),PST主体偏弱(强)、东南偏强(弱),AST略偏北(南)偏强(弱)但不显著的协同变化。PC1为正位相时,对应的大气环流异常为:500 hPa高度场上为太平洋北美(Pacific North America,PNA)型和欧亚(Eurasian,EU)型的正位相,东亚急流偏强且偏南;第二模态主要表现为SIST偏强(弱)且偏东(西),PST中东部偏南(北)、西部强度偏强(弱),AST偏强(弱)的协同变化。PC2为正位相时,对应的大气环流异常为:500 hPa高度场上为PNA型和大西洋东部(East Atlantic,EA)型的正位相,北美急流减弱;在年代际尺度上,第一模态主要表现为SIST偏西(东)且偏弱(强),PST偏东(西)且偏弱(强),AST偏西(东)且偏弱(强)的协同变化。PC1为正位相时,对应的大气环流异常为:500 hPa高度场上为西大西洋(West Atlantic,WA)型和EU型的正位相。第二模态主要表现为SIST偏强(弱)且偏北(南),PST偏南(北)且偏弱(强),AST北抬(南压)的协同变化。PC2为正位相时,对应的大气环流异常为:500 hPa高度场上为EU型和WA型的正位相,东亚急流强度加强且偏南,北美急流强度减弱。     

Northern hemisphere atmospheric response to changes of atlantic ocean SST on decadal time scales: a GCM experiment

Analyses indicate that the Atlantic Ocean seasurface temperature (SST) was considerably colder at the beginning than in the middle of the century. In parallel, a systematic change in the North Atlantic sea-level pressure (SLP) pattern was observed. To find out whether the SST and SLP changes analyzed are consistent, which would indicate that the SST change was real and not an instrumental artifact, a response experiment with a low-resolution (T21) atmospheric GCM was performed. Two perpetual January simulations were conducted, which differ solely in the Atlantic Ocean (40° S-60° N) SST: the cold simulation utilizes the SSTs for the period 1904–1913; the warm simulation uses the SSTs for the period 1951–1960. Also, a control run with the model's standard SST somewhat between the cold and warm SST was made. For the response analysis, a rigorous statistical approach was taken. First, the null hypothesis of identical horizontal distributions was subjected to a multivariate significance test. Second, the level of recurrence was estimated. The multivariate statistical approaches are based on hierarchies of test models. We examined three different hierarchies: a scale-dependent hierarchy based on spherical harmonics (S), and two physically motivated ones, one based on the barotropic normal modes of the mean 300 hPa flow (B) and one based on the eigenmodes of the advection diffusion operator at 1000 hPa (A). The intercomparison of the cold and warm experiments indicates a signal in the geostrophic stream function that in the S-hierarchy is significantly nonzero and highly recurrent. In the A-hierarchy, the low level temperature field is identified as being significantly and recurrently affected by the altered SST distribution. The SLP signal is reasonably similar to the SLP change observed. Unexpectedly, the upper level stream-function signal does not appear to be significantly nonzero in the B-hierarchy. If, however, the pairs of experiments warm versus control and cold versus control are examined in the B-hierarchy, a highly significant and recurrent signal emerges. We conclude that the cold versus warm response is not a small disturbance that would allow the signal to be described by eigenmodes of the linear system. An analysis of the three-dimensional structure of the signal leads to the hypothesis that two different mechanisms are acting to modify the model's mean state. At low levels, local heating and advection are dominant, but at upper levels the extratropical signal is a remote responce to modifications of the tropical convection.This paper was presented at the International Conference on Modelling of Global Climate Change and Variability, held in Hamburg 11–15 September 1989 under the auspices of the Meteorological Institute of the University of Hamburg and the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. Guest Editor for these papers is Dr. L. Dilmenil.AWI Publication no. 254