An inter-comparison of Arctic synoptic scale storms between four global reanalysis datasets

Climate Dynamics - The Arctic is becoming more accessible as sea ice extent continues to decline, resulting in higher human exposure to Arctic storms. This study compares Arctic storm...     

Anthropogenic climate change over the Mediterranean region simulated by a global variable resolution model

Two 30-year simulations corresponding to 1960-1989 and 2070-2099 have been performed with a variable resolution atmospheric model. The model has a maximum horizontal resolution of 0.5° over the Mediterranean Sea. Simulations are driven by IPCC-B2 scenario radiative forcing. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are prescribed from monthly observations for the present climate simulation, and from a blend of observations and coupled simulations for the scenario. Another pair of forced atmospheric simulations has been run under these forcings with the same uniform low resolution as the coupled model. Comparisons with observations show that the variable resolution model realistically reproduces the main climate characteristics of the Mediterranean region. At a global scale, changes in latitudinal temperature profiles are similar for the forced and coupled models, justifying the time-slice approach. The 2 m temperature and precipitation responses predict a warming and drying of the Mediterranean region. A comparison with the coupled simulation and forced low-resolution simulation shows that this pattern is robust. The decrease in mean precipitation is associated with a significant decrease in soil wetness, and could involve considerable impact on water resources around the Mediterranean basin.     

Future impacts of global warming and reforestation on drought patterns over West Africa

This study investigates how a large-scale reforestation in Savanna (8–12°N, 20°W–20°E) could affect drought patterns over West Africa in the future (2031–2060) under the RCP4.5 scenario. Simulations from two regional climate models (RegCM4 and WRF) were analyzed for the study. The study first evaluated the performance of both RCMs in simulating the present-day climate and then applied the models to investigate the future impacts of global warming and reforestation on the drought patterns. The simulated and observed droughts were characterized with the Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), and the drought patterns were classified using a Self-organizing Map (SOM) technique. The models capture essential features in the seasonal rainfall and temperature fields (including the Saharan Heat Low), but struggle to reproduce the onset and retreat of the West African Monsoon as observed. Both RCMs project a warmer climate (about 1–2 °C) over West Africa in the future. They do not reach a consensus on future change in rainfall, but they agree on a future increase in frequency of severe droughts (by about 2 to 9 events per decade) over the region. They show that reforestation over the Savanna could reduce the future warming by 0.1 to 0.8 °C and increase the precipitation by 0.8 to 1.2 mm per day. However, the impact of reforestation on the frequency of severe droughts is twofold. While reforestation decreases the droughts frequency (by about 1–2 events per decade) over the Savanna and Guinea coast, it increases droughts frequency (by 1 event per decade) over the Sahel, especially in July to September. The results of this study have application in using reforestation to mitigate impacts of climate change in West Africa.     

Use of a soil moisture network for drought monitoring in the Czech Republic

Since 2000, the network of stations that make up the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI) has measured the soil moisture content at the 0- to 0.9-m layer using sensors placed within the natural soil profile under closely cropped grass cover. Using information from 8?years of continuous observation at seven stations throughout the Czech Republic, we verified the usefulness of the Soil Moisture Index (SMI). The SMI is a potentially useful index for calculating the water deficit in the Czech Republic and Central Europe. During this period, a statistically significant decrease in moisture content was detected, and negative SMI values predominated. There were frequent occurrences of flash drought, defined as a very rapid decline in soil moisture during a 3-week period. The CHMI can use SMI values below ?3 in the Integrated Warning Service System. The routine calculation of SMI values can alert agricultural producers to the development of flash drought conditions and provide them with information regarding the effectiveness of recent rainfall events. An increase in soil moisture, in contrast, could serve as a warning sign for hydrology because it creates the preconditions for flooding. The complex study of soil humidity regimes is becoming more significant in connection with current global climatic change warnings in hydrological cycles.     

云贵喀斯特地区干旱时空分布规律研究

计算了云贵喀斯特地区春、夏干旱强度指数,分析了春、夏干旱的时空分布规律,提出防御干旱,促进农业可持续发展的对策。     

全球海气耦合模式对中国区域年代际气候变化预测能力的评估

利用中亚地区30个观测台站逐月降水资料及同期ERA-40再分析资料,结合8个CMIP5全球气候模式模拟与未来预估大尺度环流场,使用基于变形典型相关分析的统计降尺度方法（BP-CCA）建立降尺度模型,评估多个气候模式对当前气候下中亚地区春季降水的降尺度模拟能力,并对春季降水进行降尺度集合未来预估。结果表明,建立的降尺度模型能够很好地模拟出交叉检验期内春季降水的时间变化和空间结构：降尺度春季降水与相应观测序列的平均时间相关系数为0.35,最高为0.62,平均空间相关系数为0.87。气候模式对中亚春季降水的模拟能力通过降尺度方法得到了显著提高：8个模式降尺度后模拟的降水气候平均态相对误差绝对值降至0.2%—8%,相比降尺度前减小了10%—60%,模拟的降水量场与相应观测场的空间相关均超过0.77;对比降尺度前多模式集合结果,多模式降尺度集合模拟的相对误差绝对值由64%减小至4%,空间相关系数由0.47增大至0.81,标准化均方根误差降至0.59,且多模式降尺度集合结果优于大部分单个模式降尺度结果。多模式降尺度集合预估结果表明,在RCP4.5排放情景下,21世纪前期（2016—2035年）、中期（2046—2065年）和末期（2081—2100年）的全区平均降水变化率分别为-5.3%、3.0%和17.4%。21世纪前期中亚大部分地区降水呈减少趋势,降水呈增多趋势的站点主要分布在南部。21世纪中期整体降水变化率由减少变为增多趋势,21世纪末期中亚大部分台站降水增多较为明显。21世纪初期和末期可信度高的台站均主要位于中亚西部地区。     

黑潮延伸体海洋中尺度涡旋:四套数据的比较

在不同的中尺度涡数据中,涡旋的识别,跟踪方法以及物理参数的定义存在差异,因此需要对涡旋结果进行相互比较和验证.本文比较了Chelton,GEM-M,Faghmous和Dong四套中尺度涡数据在黑潮延伸体区域的基本特征.结果表明,各数据的中尺度涡数量,特征和轨迹均存在差异.经过归一化处理后,涡特征的地理分布和时间变化高度...     

Impacts of Four Types of ENSO Events on Tropical Cyclones Making Landfall over Mainland China Based on Three Best-track Datasets简

Impacts of EI Nino Modoki （ENM）, La Nina Modoki （LNM）, canonical EI Nifio （CEN） and canonical La Nifia （CLN） on tropical cyclones （TCs） that made landfall over mainland China during 1951-2011 are analysed using best-track data from China, the USA and Japan. Relative to cold phase years （LNM and CLN）, landfalling TCs in warm years （ENM and CEN） have a farther east genesis location, as well as longer track lengths and durations, both in total and before landfall. ENM demonstrates the highest landfall frequency, most northerly mean landfall position, and shortest after-landfall sustainability （track length and duration）, which indicate a more frequent and extensive coverage of mainland China by TCs, but with shorter after-landfall influence. CEN has low landfall frequency and the most southerly mean landfall location. LNM has the most westerly genesis location, being significantly farther west than the 1951-2011 average and leading to short mean track lengths and durations both in total or before landfall, all of which are significantly shorter than the 1951-2011 average. Variations in the low-level wind anomaly, vertical wind shear, mid-level relative humidity, steering flow, the monsoon trough and the western Pacific subtropical high （WPSH） can to some extent account for the features of frequency, location, track length and duration of landfalling TCs. Since ENSO Modoki is expected to become more frequent in the near future, the results for ENSO Modoki presented in this paper are of particular significance.     

6种地表热通量资料在伊朗—青藏高原地区的对比分析

基于JRA25、ERA40、ERA-Interim、NCEP1、NCEP2和20CR,对比了不同资料中气候平均(1979—2008年)伊朗—青藏高原感热通量和波文比的季节演变,以及夏季高原感热的年际变率和线性趋势。6套资料均表明,由春到夏亚洲大地形区域地表热状况的季节演变存在明显差异,青藏高原东南部低空气旋生成,一方面增多了局地降水,减弱了地表西风,造成潜热加强,感热减弱,波文比减小;另一方面加强了伊朗高原的东北风,抑制了当地降水,令感热加强,波文比增加,构成了青藏—伊朗高原感热通量季节演变的纬向非对称分布。虽然近30 a来伊朗高原(青藏高原)夏季感热线性增加(减小)的趋势一致,但不同资料所反映的伊朗—青藏高原夏季感热通量的年际变化差别明显。     

Evaluating the performance of CMIP3 and CMIP5 global climate models over the north-east Atlantic region

One of the main sources of uncertainty in estimating climate projections affected by global warming is the choice of the global climate model (GCM). The aim of this study is to evaluate the skill of GCMs from CMIP3 and CMIP5 databases in the north-east Atlantic Ocean region. It is well known that the seasonal and interannual variability of surface inland variables (e.g. precipitation and snow) and ocean variables (e.g. wave height and storm surge) are linked to the atmospheric circulation patterns. Thus, an automatic synoptic classification, based on weather types, has been used to assess whether GCMs are able to reproduce spatial patterns and climate variability. Three important factors have been analyzed: the skill of GCMs to reproduce the synoptic situations, the skill of GCMs to reproduce the historical inter-annual variability and the consistency of GCMs experiments during twenty-first century projections. The results of this analysis indicate that the most skilled GCMs in the study region are UKMO-HadGEM2, ECHAM5/MPI-OM and MIROC3.2(hires) for CMIP3 scenarios and ACCESS1.0, EC-EARTH, HadGEM2-CC, HadGEM2-ES and CMCC-CM for CMIP5 scenarios. These models are therefore recommended for the estimation of future regional multi-model projections of surface variables driven by the atmospheric circulation in the north-east Atlantic Ocean region.     

Modeling of a severe winter drought in eastern China using different initial and lateral boundary forcing datasets

To highlight the compatibility of climate model simulation and proxy reconstruction at different timescales, a timescale separation merging method combining proxy records and climate model simulations is presented. Annual mean surface temperature anomalies for the last millennium (851–2005 AD) at various scales over the land of the Northern Hemisphere were reconstructed with 2° × 2° spatial resolution, using an optimal interpolation (OI) algorithm. All target series were decomposed using an ensemble empirical mode decomposition method followed by power spectral analysis. Four typical components were obtained at inter-annual, decadal, multidecadal, and centennial timescales. A total of 323 temperature-sensitive proxy chronologies were incorporated after screening for each component. By scaling the proxy components using variance matching and applying a localized OI algorithm to all four components point by point, we obtained merged surface temperatures. Independent validation indicates that the most significant improvement was for components at the inter-annual scale, but this became less evident with increasing timescales. In mid-latitude land areas, 10–30% of grids were significantly corrected at the inter-annual scale. By assimilating the proxy records, the merged results reduced the gap in response to volcanic forcing between a pure reconstruction and simulation. Difficulty remained in verifying the centennial information and quantifying corresponding uncertainties, so additional effort should be devoted to this aspect in future research.     

The anthropogenic acceleration and intensification of flash drought over the southeastern coastal region of China will continue into the future

The frequent and rapid onset of flash drought poses a serious threat to agriculture and ecosystems. Detecting human influences on flash droughts and estimating their future risks under climate change have attracted great attention. Focusing on a record-breaking flash drought event in the southeastern coastal region of China in summer 2020, the authors found that the suppression of convective precipitation and high temperature caused by the persistent high geopotential height anomalies and land–atmosphere dry coupling were important reasons for the rapid onset and strong intensity of the flash drought. Event attribution analysis with the latest CMIP6 data showed that anthropogenic climate change has not only increased the likelihood of an onset speed and intensity like those of the 2020 flash drought event, by about 93% ± 20% and 18% ± 15%, respectively, but also increased the chance of their simultaneous occurrence, by about 86% ± 38%, according to their joint probability distribution. Under a business-as-usual future scenario (SSP2-4.5), the likelihood of such an onset speed, intensity, and their simultaneous occurrence will further increase, by 85% ± 33%, 49% ± 8%, and 81% ± 48%, respectively, as compared with current climate conditions. This study highlights the importance of anthropogenic climate change for accelerating and intensifying flash drought in the southeastern coastal region of China.摘要快速爆发的骤旱对农业生产, 生态环境等造成严重威胁, 亟须量化当前及未来气候变化对骤旱爆发过程的影响. 2020年夏季, 在持续高压异常和陆气干耦合的控制下, 我国东南沿海地区出现高温少雨天气并引发极端骤旱事件. 基于第六次国际耦合模式比较计划 (CMIP6) 数据开展归因分析, 本文发现相比天然情景, 温室气体排放等人为因子导致的气候变化不仅使类似2020年骤旱爆发速度和强度的发生概率分别增加93%和18%, 还使其联合概率增加86%. 在目前排放水平下, 此类骤旱爆发速度和强度发生概率及其联合概率在21世纪末将提高85%, 49%, 和81%, 极大增加了干旱适应的挑战.     

Spatial and temporal analysis of the drought vulnerability and risks over eight decades in a semi-arid region (Tensift basin: Morocco)

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - The multiple downscaled scenario products allow us to assess the uncertainty of the variations of precipitation and temperature in the current and future...     

Uncertainty in drought monitoring by the Standardized Precipitation Index: the case study of the Abruzzo region (central Italy)

As shown by several authors, drought monitoring by the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) presents some uncertainties, mainly dependent on the choice of the probability distribution used to describe the cumulative precipitation and on the characteristics (e.g., length and variability) of the dataset. In this paper, the uncertainty related to SPI estimates has been quantified and analyzed with regards to the case study of the Abruzzo region (Central Italy), by using monthly precipitation recorded at 75 stations during the period 1951–2009. First, a set of distributions suitable to describe the cumulative precipitation at the 3-, 6-, and 12-month time scales was identified by using L-moments ratio diagrams. The goodness-of-fit was evaluated by applying the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, and the Normality test on the derived SPI series. Then the confidence intervals of SPI have been calculated by applying a bootstrap procedure. The size of the confidence intervals has been considered as a measure of uncertainty, and its dependence on several factors such as the distribution type, the time scale, the record length, and the season has been examined. Results show that the distributions Pearson type III (PE3), Weibull (WEI), Generalized Normal (GNO), Generalized Extreme Value (GEV), and Gamma (GA2) are all suitable to describe the cumulative precipitation, with a slightly better performance of the PE3 and GNO distributions. As expected, the uncertainty increases as the record length and time scale decrease. The leading source of uncertainty is the record length while the effects due to seasonality and time scale are negligible. Two-parameter distributions make it possible to obtain confidence intervals of SPI (particularly for extreme values) narrower than those obtained by three-parameter distributions. Nevertheless, due to a poorer goodness of fit, two-parameter distributions can provide less reliable estimates of the precipitation probability. In any event, independently of the type of distribution, the SPI estimates corresponding to extreme precipitation values are always characterized by a relevant uncertainty. This is due to the explosion of the probability variability that occurs when precipitation values approach the tails of the supposed distribution.     

基于多套卫星资料的ERA5全球小时降水频率评估

最近发布的新一代全球再分析资料集ERA5,提供了全球小时降水再分析值,为全球小时降水研究提供又一个数据参考。然而,目前针对ERA5小时降水频率的评估工作还较为有限。本研究采用多套全球卫星观测小时降水对ERA5小时降水的频率进行了评估。对比分析发现:尽管ERA5总降水量与卫星资料出现较好的一致性,但ERA5的小时降水频率约为卫星资料的2～3倍,呈现系统性偏高。进一步分析表明,这主要是由于ERA5大大高估了中、低强度降水事件的数量。其中,ERA5对弱降水频率的高估尤为明显,平均可达卫星降水频率的6倍;此外,ERA5对海洋降水频率的高估程度也大于陆地。ERA5小时降水频率的系统性高估问题对相关研究的潜在影响,尚在进一步评估中。     

在用降水逐日监测干旱的方法中引入蒸发

降水是旱涝最重要的影响因子。在加权平均降水量WAP方法中,当目前没有降水,且前期降水的影响衰减掉以后,WAP便接近于0了,然而此时土壤可能还是较湿润的;若在随后的日子里仍没有降水,WAP则继续保持接近于0的值,但土壤会变的越来越干。为了区分出在WAP同样都为接近于0的状态下土壤湿度(反映在蒸发上)的差异,本文将WAP指数作了进一步的发展,即在所建立的模型中,将蒸发量E显式地表达出来。也就是,涝(旱)状态的变化不仅受降水量P所强迫,而是受P-E所强迫。新方法的基本原理和模型是与WAP方法相仿的,这个显式地考虑了蒸发的新指数WAPE,其值有正有负,接近于正态分布,因而不需再作正态化处理。结果表明,WAPE指数对旱涝的逐日监测有很好的效果。     

A study of drought characteristics over the Canadian prairies

Abstract

Droughts, a major concern to all of Canada, particularly to the Canadian Prairies, typically occur once every three years. Most research addressing such droughts has concentrated on the large‐scale conditions associated with this form of extreme weather whereas little research has been conducted on its smaller scale characteristics. The present study addresses these smaller scale issues. Several datasets (surface observations, drought indices, and precipitation data) were used to identify droughts occurring over the Prairies since 1953 and to compare their characteristics with those years associated with non‐drought conditions. Warm season, May to September, hourly surface observations (temperature, moisture, clouds, and precipitation type) from ten observation sites were compared for four categories of moisture across the Canadian Prairies, extreme drought, drought, non‐drought, and extreme wet conditions. When compared to non‐drought or extreme wet conditions, drought and extreme drought conditions are naturally associated with warmer temperatures and drier conditions; there is also little change in the amount of total cloud cover but cloud bases are higher and the maximum temperature occurs 1–2 h later in the afternoon. Near‐surface energy increases systematically from extreme wet to extreme drought conditions.