Recent trends in seasonal and annual precipitation indices in Tuscany (Italy)

Global warming alters the hydrological cycle since a rise in temperature leads to an increase in the moisture-holding capacity of the atmosphere at a rate of about 7 %/°C. This fact can influence the global, but also local characteristics of precipitation, such as total amount and intensity. Therefore, it is important to study changes in rainfall regime in regions with complex orography, like Tuscany, where there are strong spatial gradients in precipitation amounts. The aim of this study is to look for temporal change in precipitation from 1955 to 2007 searching for spatial differences. Daily data of 21 meteorological stations were analyzed to identify trends in seasonal and annual precipitation indices. Cluster analysis applied to principal components was applied to identify homogeneous groups of stations. A decrease in precipitation was observed at annual time scale, during winter and spring, especially in northwestern areas. Wet days highlighted a decrease in all of Tuscany, due to the same seasons. In northern Tuscany, the decrease in rainfall amount was mainly determined by a lower frequency of rainy events which in turn caused a decrease in the occurrence of extreme daily precipitation events (75th, 90th, and 95th percentile). In central-southern Tuscany, no significant changes were observed except for an increase in precipitation fraction, due to extreme events and in mean daily total amount for wet days. These results are consistent with recent findings for the Mediterranean area and confirm the usefulness of cluster analysis for the analysis of the spatial distribution of precipitation.     

Detection of trends in precipitation extremes in Zhejiang, east China

Extreme weather exerts a huge impact on human beings and it is of vital importance to study the regular pattern of meteorological and hydrological factors. In this paper, a selection of seven extreme indices is used to analyze the trend of precipitation extremes of 18 meteorological stations located in Zhejiang Province, east China using the Mann–Kendall test. Then the precipitation trends in the plum season (from May to July) and typhoon season (from August to October) are studied separately. The results show that the precipitation trend varies from east to west. There is a positive trend in the east and a negative one in the west. The largest part of Zhejiang Province shows a positive trend in heavy precipitation and the most significant upward trend is detected in Dinghai with 3.4?mm/year for precipitation on very wet days. Although the upward trend of extreme precipitation is not prevailing, the range of increase in specific areas is apparent, like Dinghai with 1.3?mm/year. Precipitation intensity exhibits an upward trend in most areas and a typical upward trend can be found in Dachendao, Tianmushan, and Yuhuan with 0.04, 0.02, and 0.05?mm/year respectively. Precipitation intensity in both plum and typhoon seasons has increased too, especially for the coastal stations.     

近50a华东地区夏季极端降水事件的年代际变化

利用中国华东地区90站点1960--2009年夏季（6—8月）逐日降水资料,分析了近50a来华东地区各类极端降水事件的强度和发生频次的年代际变化。结果表明：华东地区极端降水事件年代际变化特征明显。近20a来,不论是极端降水事件的平均强度还是发生次数都要明显高于前30a;1990年代是极端事件多发且强度较强的年代;华东区域极端强降水过程事件的连续降水日数多在9d以下,而极端连续降水日数事件基本在9d以上;较之华东地区其他区域,福建地区存在更多的强度大、持续久的降水过程;华东地区最大极端降水量出现在江西北部与安徽南部的交界区域。极端降水事件频发带存在南北摆动的年代际变化,这一特征在极端日降水事件和极端强降水过程事件上表现得更为明显。同时,存在两个极端事件频发带,分别位于长江流域附近。在后3个年代,这两个频发带呈现出分一合一分的年代际变化特征。     

Change trends of air temperature and precipitation over Shanxi Province, China

A dataset of air temperature and precipitation time series (1959?C2008) from 61 stations across Shanxi, China is used to analyze the climate change. The monotonic trends and step (abrupt) trends for annual and seasonal series data of mean air temperature and total precipitation are tested by using Mann?CKendall test and Mann?CWhitney test, respectively. The results show that annual mean air temperature has increased by 1.20°C during the past 50?years. Winter, spring, and autumn have experienced a significant increase in air temperature. The step trend for annual mean air temperature is different from, but closely related with, those for seasonal mean air temperature. Spatially, there is an enhanced warming trend from south to north in Shanxi, and the most remarkable warming occurs in northern Shanxi. Annual precipitation has decreased by 99.20?mm during the past half century. The decrease is mainly caused by precipitation decline in rainy season (June?CSeptember), though precipitation in post-rainy season (October?CNovember) also tended to decrease. An abrupt decrease in precipitation has occurred since late 1970s. Decrease in precipitation is highest in central Shanxi and in the area along the west fringe between Sanchuan River and Fenhe River in western Shanxi.     

Some recent trends in precipitation in Western Canada and their possible link to rising carbon dioxide: Research note

Abstract

Observations of the changes in mean annual and seasonal precipitation with time in British Columbia and western Alberta between the periods 1931–60 and 1951–80 indicate that more stations show an increase than a decrease. Changes tend to be positive on the coast, negative in south‐central British Columbia, positive on the west slopes of the Rockies, and negative to the east. This suggests an orographic influence and increased flow from the southwest at mountain‐top.

The possibility that these changes in precipitation are associated with CO₂ warming is considered.

Both the surface air temperature and sea surface temperature were raised by 2°C for cyclogenesis events over the northeastern Pacific and the consequences were investigated with the aid of a limited‐area, 8‐level primitive equations model. The lows are deepened by as much as 6 mb and precipitation amounts are increased up to 8 mm owing to the increased mixing ratio and the feedback of latent heat energy.     

Global trends of tropopause folds in recent decades

对流层顶折卷是平流层-对流层物质交换的主要机制.本研究采用三维标记方法,利用1979-2020年间的ERA5再分析数据,分析了对流层顶折卷的时空变化特征及机理.研究结果表明,全球对流层顶折卷的多年变化趋势存在明显的季节性和区域性差异.总体上,对流层顶折卷呈增加趋势,其中北半球的春季,夏季和冬季,对流层顶折卷主要沿副热带急流区呈现明显增加的趋势.进一步分析表明,对流层顶折卷发生频率的增加与大气斜压性增大导致的锋生增强有关,而经向位温梯度的增大使得次级环流增强,也可能促进了对流层顶折卷活动的增多.     

Spuriously induced precipitation trends in the southeast United States

This study uses correlation and multiple regression techniques to document differences in annual and seasonal precipitation trends between the NCDC Climate Division database and the United States Historical Climate Network (USHCN) in the southeast United States. Findings indicate that the majority of climate divisions have different temporal patterns than those depicted by the USHCN. They did not, however, consistently possess statistically significant relationships between the ratio (CDD/USHCN) and changes in mean station location as noted in other studies. It appears that other influences cause the majority of the variance between the two datasets. The fact that the two datasets do not consistently agree, however, suggests that spuriously induced trends may be present in the NCDC Climate Division database.     

1960-2005年长江中下游极端降水指数变化特征分析

本文利用长江中下游流域内的81个气象站,对长江中下游极端降水指数的时空变化特征进行分析.结果发现,在时间尺度上,长江中下游地区近46 a来极端降水指数呈上升趋势,其中降水强度上升趋势最明显,各个极端降水指数在年代际尺度上具有相同的变化特征,均存在着12 a左右的周期振荡,在年际尺度上,各极端降水指数变化周期并不一致.大雨日数与其他指数相比突变时间比较早,发生在1979年,其他几个指数突变时间比较接近,出现在1990年前后.在空间变化上,除极端湿天降水量在全区均为上升趋势外,其他几种极端降水指数在江苏东部地区、湖北西北部都存在着极端降水指数的负变化趋势,高值区主要分布在江西大部、湖北东南部、湖南东北部地区.     

Recent trends in precipitation in Eastern Canada: Research note

Abstract

The changes in normal precipitation amounts from 1931–60 to 1951–80 are examined for stations in Eastern Canada. The area covered comprises the Maritime Provinces and those parts of Ontario and Quebec south of a line approximately 200 km north of Lakes Erie and Ontario and the St Lawrence River. Changes are computed for each of the four seasons and for the entire year. On the whole, precipitation has increased, especially in winter and summer. However, there is considerable variation throughout the area, with precipitation decreasing in some regions. General circulation models that simulate the effect of doubling atmospheric CO₂ also show an increase in precipitation.     

Spatial and temporal trends of extreme temperature and precipitation in the Daqing River Basin,North China

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - According to the daily maximum and minimum temperature and the precipitation at 40 meteorological stations in the Daqing River Basin of China during...     

2010年3月一次人工增雨效果分析

2009年7月以来,贵州省旱情逐渐蔓延,严重干旱造成直接经济损失29.52亿元。因此,抓住2010-03-22—23的天气过程进行人工增雨作业,此次作业对于省内部分地区旱情的缓解非常有利、对春耕生产有帮助,取得了较好的效果。     

Recent precipitation trends over the polar ice sheets

Summary Meteorological and glaciological analyses are integrated to examine the precipitation trends during the last three decades over the ice sheets covering Antarctica and Greenland. For Antarctica, the best data source is provided by glaciologically-measured trends of snow accumulation, and for limited sectors of East Antarctica consistency with precipitation amounts calculated from the atmospheric water balance equation is obtained. For Greenland, precipitation rates parameterized from atmospheric analyses yield the only comprehensive depiction. The precipitation rate over Antarctica appears to have increased by about 5% over a time period spanning the accumulation means for the 1955–65 to 1965–75 periods, while over Greenland it has decreased by about 15% since 1983 with a secondary increase over the southern part of the ice sheet starting in 1977. At the end of the 10-year overlapping period, the global sea-level impact of the precipitation changes over Antarctica dominates that for Greenland and yields a net ice-sheet precipitation contribution of roughly 0.02 mm yr^–1. These changes are likely due to marked variations in the cyclonic forcing affecting the ice sheets, but are only weakly reflected in the temperature regime, consistent with the episodic nature of cyclonic precipitation. These conclusions are not founded on high quality data bases. The importance of such changes for understanding global sea-level variations argues for a modest research effort to collect simultaneous meteorological and glaciological observations in order to describe and understand the current precipitation variations over both ice sheets. Some suggestions are offered for steps that could be taken.With 8 Figures     

逊克县近50 a降水变化特征分析

近年来,全球气候变化已经引起了社会各界的关注.20世纪50年代以来,我国160个气象台的资料统计,1991～2000年全国年降水量变化总趋势是逐年渐少的,1951～2000年线性倾向率为-0.4655mm/a,50 a内减少了23.3 mm.本文利用统计分析方法对逊克县1961～2005年共45a气侯资料进行了深入分析,探讨出了逊克近50a的降水这个气象要素的变化规律,得到以下结论:45 a来逊克县年平均降水量呈减少的趋势.年平均总趋势以每年0.2796 mm的变化率减少,这种负增加是由春季、秋季降水对年降水量减少贡献的结果.春季降水变化虽不十分显著,但也以每年-0.0871 mm的速率变小;秋季则以每年0.1532 mm的变化率减少.     

Statistical significance of trends in monthly heavy precipitation over the US

Trends in monthly heavy precipitation, defined by a return period of one year, are assessed for statistical significance in observations and Global Climate Model (GCM) simulations over the contiguous United States using Monte Carlo non-parametric and parametric bootstrapping techniques. The results from the two Monte Carlo approaches are found to be similar to each other, and also to the traditional non-parametric Kendall’s τ test, implying the robustness of the approach. Two different observational data-sets are employed to test for trends in monthly heavy precipitation and are found to exhibit consistent results. Both data-sets demonstrate upward trends, one of which is found to be statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. Upward trends similar to observations are observed in some climate model simulations of the twentieth century, but their statistical significance is marginal. For projections of the twenty-first century, a statistically significant upwards trend is observed in most of the climate models analyzed. The change in the simulated precipitation variance appears to be more important in the twenty-first century projections than changes in the mean precipitation. Stochastic fluctuations of the climate-system are found to be dominate monthly heavy precipitation as some GCM simulations show a downwards trend even in the twenty-first century projections when the greenhouse gas forcings are strong.     

Long-term spatial and temporal trends in frost indices in Kansas, USA

Frost indices such as number of frost days (nFDs), number of frost-free days (nFFDs), last spring freeze (LSF), first fall freeze (FFF), and growing-season length (GSL) were calculated using daily minimum air temperature (T_min) from 23 centennial weather stations across Kansas during four time periods (through 1919, 1920–1949, 1950–1979, and 1980–2009). A frost day is defined as a day with T_min?<?0 °C. The long- and short-term trends in frost indices were analyzed at monthly, seasonal, and annual timescales. Probability of occurrence of the indices was analyzed at 5 %, 25 %, 50 %, 75 %, and 95 %. Results indicated a general increase in T_min from 1900 through 2009 causing a decrease in nFDs. LSF and FFF occurred earlier and later than normal in the year, respectively, thereby resulting in an increase in GSL. In general, northwest Kansas recorded the greatest nFD and lowest T_min, whereas southeast Kansas had the lowest nFD and highest T_min; however, the magnitude of the trends in these indices varied with location, time period, and time scales. Based on the long-term records in most stations, LSF occurred earlier by 0.1–1.9 days/decade, FFF occurred later by 0.2–0.9 day/decade, and GSL was longer by 0.1–2.5 day/decade. At the 50 % probability level, Independence in the south-eastern part of Kansas had the earliest LSF (6 April), latest FFF (29 October) and longest GSL (207 days). Oberlin (north-western Kansas) recorded the shortest GSL (156 days) and earliest FFF (7 October) had the latest LSF (2 May) at the 50 % probability level. A positive correlation was observed for combinations of indices (LSF and GSL) and elevation, whereas a negative correlation was found between FFF and elevation.     

Response of the water balance in Greece to temperature and precipitation trends

This paper deals with the most recent trends in meteorological and hydrological variables, which include air temperature and precipitation (P), potential and actual (ET) evapotranspiration, surface runoff (RO), water recharge into the soil (R) and water loss from the soil (L). Most hydrological variables were calculated via Palmer's algorithm. For this purpose, two rank-based statistical tests (the Mann?CKendall (MK) and a change-point analysis (CPA) approach) and the basic linear regression-based model were applied on the weekly precipitation and temperature from 17 stations all over Greece, during 1961?C2006. Only in winter, all variables except for R, which showed no clear signal, presented downward trends. The declining trends of P and L in spring and summer were counterbalanced by reductions in RO (and R in the case of summer) as opposed to increases in ET. In autumn, the declining tendencies of P and L were offset by RO reductions and R increases. Annually, the trends in water cycle components were analogous to that of spring, summer and autumn. The number of stations with statistically significant (at 95%) trends greatly varied with season and meteorological/hydrological variable.