Evaluation of spring persistent rainfall over East Asia in CMIP3/CMIP5 AGCM simulations

The progress made fi＇om Phase 3 to Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project （CMIP3 to CMIP5） in simulating spring persistent rainfall （SPR） over East Asia was examined from the outputs of nine atmospheric general circulation models （AGCMs）. The majority of the models overestimated the precipitation over the SPR domain, with the mean latitude of the SPR belt shifting to the north. The overestimation was about 1mm d-1 in the CMIP3 ensemble, and the northward displacement was about 3°, while in the CMIP5 ensemble the overestimation was suppressed to 0.7 mm d-i and the northward shift decreased to 2.5°. The SPR features a northeast-southwest extended rain belt with a slope of 0.4°N/°E. The CMIP5 ensemble yielded a smaller slope （0.2°N/°E）, whereas the CMIP3 ensemble featured an unre- alistic zonally-distributed slope. The CMIP5 models also showed better skill in simulating the interannual variability of SPR. Previous studies have suggested that the zonal land-sea thermal contrast and sensible heat flux over the southeastern Tibetan Plateau are important for the existence of SPR. These two ther- mal factors were captured well in the CMIP5 ensemble, but underestimated in the CMIP3 ensemble. The variability of zonal land-sea thermal contrast is positively correlated with the rainfall amount over the main SPR center, but it was found that an overestimated thermal contrast between East Asia and South China Sea is a common problem in most of the CMIP3 and CMIP5 models. Simulation of the meridional thermal contrast is therefore important for the future improvement of current AGCMs.     

The hiatus and accelerated warming decades in CMIP5 simulations

Observed hiatus or accelerated warming phenomena are compared with numerical simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 （CMIP5） archives,and the associated physical mechanisms are explored based on the CMIP5 models.Decadal trends in total ocean heat content （OHC） are strongly constrained by net top-of-atmosphere （TOA） radiation.During hiatus decades,most CMIP5 models exhibit a significant decrease in the SST and upper OHC and a significant increase of heat penetrating into the subsurface or deep ocean,opposite to the accelerated warming decades.The shallow meridional overturning of the Pacific subtropical cell experiences a significant strengthening （slowdown） for the hiatus （accelerated warming） decades associated with the strengthened （weakened） trade winds over the tropical Pacific.Both surface heating and ocean dynamics contribute to the decadal changes in SST over the Indian Ocean,and the Indonesian Throughflow has a close relationship with the changes of subsurface temperature in the Indian Ocean.The Atlantic Meridional Overturing Circulation （Antarctic Bottom Water） tends to weaken （strengthen） during hiatus decades,opposite to the accelerated warming decades.In short,the results highlight the important roles of air-sea interactions and ocean circulations for modulation of surface and subsurface temperature.     

Decadal prediction skill in the GEOS-5 forecast system

A suite of decadal predictions has been conducted with the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office’s (GMAO’s) GEOS-5 Atmosphere–Ocean general circulation model. The hind casts are initialized every December 1st from 1959 to 2010, following the CMIP5 experimental protocol for decadal predictions. The initial conditions are from a multi-variate ensemble optimal interpolation ocean and sea-ice reanalysis, and from GMAO’s atmospheric reanalysis, the modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications. The mean forecast skill of a three-member-ensemble is compared to that of an experiment without initialization but also forced with observed greenhouse gases. The results show that initialization increases the forecast skill of North Atlantic sea surface temperature compared to the uninitialized runs, with the increase in skill maintained for almost a decade over the subtropical and mid-latitude Atlantic. On the other hand, the initialization reduces the skill in predicting the warming trend over some regions outside the Atlantic. The annual-mean atlantic meridional overturning circulation index, which is defined here as the maximum of the zonally-integrated overturning stream function at mid-latitude, is predictable up to a 4-year lead time, consistent with the predictable signal in upper ocean heat content over the North Atlantic. While the 6- to 9-year forecast skill measured by mean squared skill score shows 50 % improvement in the upper ocean heat content over the subtropical and mid-latitude Atlantic, prediction skill is relatively low in the subpolar gyre. This low skill is due in part to features in the spatial pattern of the dominant simulated decadal mode in upper ocean heat content over this region that differ from observations. An analysis of the large-scale temperature budget shows that this is the result of a model bias, implying that realistic simulation of the climatological fields is crucial for skillful decadal forecasts.     

Evaluation of CMIP5 dynamic sea surface height multi-model simulations against satellite observations

We evaluate the representation of dynamic sea surface height (SSH) fields of 33 global coupled models (GCMs) contributed to the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). We use observations from satellite altimetry and basic performance metrics to quantify the ability of the GCMs to replicate observed SSH of the time-mean, seasonal cycle, and inter-annual variability patterns. The time-mean SSH representation has markedly improved from CMIP3 to CMIP5, both in terms of overall reduction in root-mean square differences, and in terms of reduced GCM ensemble spread. Biases of the time-mean SSH field in the Indian and Pacific Ocean equatorial regions are consistent with biases in the zonal surface wind stress fields identified with independent measurements. In the Southern Ocean, the latitude of the maximum meridional gradient of the zonal mean SSH CMIP5 models is shifted equatorward, consistent with the GCMs’ spatial biases in the maximum of the zonal mean westerly surface wind stress fields. However, while the Southern Ocean SSH gradients correlate well with the maximum Antarctic circumpolar current transports, there is no significant correlation with the maximum zonal mean wind stress amplitudes, consistent with recent findings that the eddy parameterisations in GCMs dominate over wind stress amplitudes in this region. There is considerable spread across the CMIP5 ensemble for the seasonal and interannual SSH variability patterns. Because of the short observational period, the interannual variability patterns depend on the time-period over which they are derived, while no such dependency is found for the time-mean patterns. The model performance metrics for SSH presented here provide insight into GCM shortcoming due to inadequate model physics or processes. While the diagnostics of CMIP5 GCM performance relative to observations reveal that some models are clearly better than others, model performance is sensitive to the spatio-temporal scales chosen.     

Changes in temperature and precipitation extremes in the CMIP5 ensemble

Twenty-year temperature and precipitation extremes and their projected future changes are evaluated in an ensemble of climate models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), updating a similar study based on the CMIP3 ensemble. The projected changes are documented for three radiative forcing scenarios. The performance of the CMIP5 models in simulating 20-year temperature and precipitation extremes is comparable to that of the CMIP3 ensemble. The models simulate late 20th century warm extremes reasonably well, compared to estimates from reanalyses. The model discrepancies in simulating cold extremes are generally larger than those for warm extremes. Simulated late 20th century precipitation extremes are plausible in the extratropics but uncertainty in extreme precipitation in the tropics and subtropics remains very large, both in the models and the observationally-constrained datasets. Consistent with CMIP3 results, CMIP5 cold extremes generally warm faster than warm extremes, mainly in regions where snow and sea-ice retreat with global warming. There are tropical and subtropical regions where warming rates of warm extremes exceed those of cold extremes. Relative changes in the intensity of precipitation extremes generally exceed relative changes in annual mean precipitation. The corresponding waiting times for late 20th century extreme precipitation events are reduced almost everywhere, except for a few subtropical regions. The CMIP5 planetary sensitivity in extreme precipitation is about 6 %/°C, with generally lower values over extratropical land.     

7个CMIP5模式的平流层、对流层温度趋势与SSU/MSU观测资料的对比

采用1979—2005年美国大气海洋局(NOAA)的卫星观测资料和IPCC第5次全球气候变化比较试验(CMIP5)的模式资料,对全球对流层和平流层近26 a的气温趋势进行了研究。结果表明,CMIP5模拟的全球平均大气温度趋势与观测结果较一致,能够再现平流层冷却和对流层增温等特点,但是在气温趋势的经纬度分布上,模式资料与观测资料间存在较大差异,同时模式间也存在明显的不一致。与观测资料相比,CMIP5模式资料低估了平流层在热带地区的降温速率,而且明显高估了对流层中部到平流层下层的南极区域的降温趋势。不同CMIP5模式间的最大标准方差出现在平流层的南北极区域,但是在对流层所有纬度上标准方差都保持着较小值。     

Intermodel Diversity in the Zonal Location of the Climatological East Asian Westerly Jet Core in Summer and Association with Rainfall over East Asia in CMIP5 Models

The East Asian westerly jet(EAJ), an important midlatitude circulation of the East Asian summer monsoon system,plays a crucial role in affecting summer rainfall over East Asia. The multimodel ensemble of current coupled models can generally capture the intensity and location of the climatological summer EAJ. However, individual models still exhibit large discrepancies. This study investigates the intermodel diversity in the longitudinal location of the simulated summer EAJ climatology in the present-day climate and its implications for rainfall over East Asia based on 20 CMIP5 models. The results show that the zonal location of the simulated EAJ core is located over either the midlatitude Asian continent or the western North Pacific(WNP) in different models. The zonal shift of the EAJ core depicts a major intermodel diversity of the simulated EAJ climatology. The westward retreat of the EAJ core is related to a warmer mid–upper tropospheric temperature in the midlatitudes, with a southwest–northeast tilt extending from Southwest Asia to Northeast Asia and the northern North Pacific, induced partially by the simulated stronger rainfall climatology over South Asia. The zonal shift of the EAJ core has some implications for the summer rainfall climatology, with stronger rainfall over the East Asian continent and weaker rainfall over the subtropical WNP in relation to the westward-located EAJ core.     

Anthropogenic changes in the Walker circulation and their impact on the extra-tropical planetary wave structure in the Northern Hemisphere

A robust change in the tropical circulation induced by anthropogenic warming in CMIP3 models is a weakening of the Walker circulation. This weakening affects the upper tropospheric divergence thereby modifying the propagation of Rossby waves from the tropics into the extra-tropics. It can be modeled by the barotropic vorticity equation forced with a Rossby wave source that is computed from the upper tropospheric divergence. Using the BVE as a diagnostic tool it is demonstrated for the CMIP3 models that the weakening of the Walker circulation has a significant impact on the extra-tropical planetary wave structure and to a large extent explains the projected changes in the mid tropospheric meridional wind in the CMIP3 models. The dominant response is a wave number five pattern similar to the circumglobal waveguide pattern. This analysis implies that a correct simulation of the Walker circulation and its response to anthropogenic changes are crucial for a correct simulation of the anthropogenic change in the extra-tropical planetary wave structure. Structure and intensity of the Walker circulation of the CMIP3 models show significant deviations from the Walker circulation as diagnosed from the ERA-interim and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. Improving the simulation of the Walker circulation is a prerequisite to narrow the uncertainty in the projected anthropogenic change in the extra-tropical planetary wave structure.     

Surface Temperature Changes Projected by FGOALS Models under Low Warming Scenarios in CMIP5 and CMIP6

To meet the low warming targets proposed in the 2015 Paris Agreement,substantial reduction in carbon emissions is needed in the future.It is important to know how surface climates respond under low warming targets.The present study investigates the surface temperature changes under the low-forcing scenario of Representative Concentration Pathways(RCP2.6)and its updated version(Shared Socioeconomic Pathways,SSP1-2.6)by the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System(FGOALS)models participating in phases 5 and 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP5 and CMIP6,respectively).In both scenarios,radiative forcing(RF)first increases to a peak of 3 W m^?2 around 2045 and then decreases to 2.6 W m^?2 by 2100.Global mean surface air temperature rises in all FGOALS models when RF increases(RF increasing stage)and declines or holds nearly constant when RF decreases(RF decreasing stage).The surface temperature change is distinct in its sign and magnitude between the RF increasing and decreasing stages over the land,Arctic,North Atlantic subpolar region,and Southern Ocean.Besides,the regional surface temperature change pattern displays pronounced model-to-model spread during both the RF increasing and decreasing stages,mainly due to large intermodel differences in climatological surface temperature,ice-albedo feedback,natural variability,and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation change.The pattern of tropical precipitation change is generally anchored by the spatial variations of relative surface temperature change(deviations from the tropical mean value)in the FGOALS models.Moreover,the projected changes in the updated FGOALS models are closer to the multi-model ensemble mean results than their predecessors,suggesting that there are noticeable improvements in the future projections of FGOALS models from CMIP5 to CMIP6.     

Harmonious Inter-decadal Changes of July–August Upper Tropospheric Temperature Across the North Atlantic, Eurasian Continent,and North Pacific

The authors have developed an integral view of the inter-decadal variability of July–August(JA)tro- pospheric temperature across the entire subtropical Northern Hemisphere.Using reanalysis data and com- plementary balloon-borne measurements,the authors identify one major mode of variability for the period 1958–2001 which exhibits a significant cooling center over East Asia and warming centers over the North Atlantic and North Pacific.The cooling(warming)signals barotropically penetrate through the troposphe...     

Climate Change in the Subtropical Jetstream during 1950–2009

A study of six decades(1950–2009) of reanalysis data reveals that the subtropical jetstream(STJ) of the Southern(Northern) Hemisphere between longitudes 0°E and 180°E has weakened(strengthened) during both the boreal winter(January,February) and summer(July, August) seasons. The temperature of the upper troposphere of the midlatitudes has a warming trend in the Southern Hemisphere and a cooling trend in the Northern Hemisphere. Correspondingly, the north–south temperature gradient in the upper troposphere has a decreasing trend in the Southern Hemisphere and an increasing trend in the Northern Hemisphere, which affects the strength of the STJ through the thermal wind relation. We devised a method of isotach analysis in intervals of 0.1 m s-1in vertical sections of hemispheric mean winds to study the climate change in the STJ core wind speed, and also core height and latitude. We found that the upper tropospheric cooling of the Asian mid-latitudes has a role in the strengthening of the STJ over Asia, while throughout the rest of the globe the upper troposphere has a warming trend that weakens the STJ. Available studies show that the mid-latitude cooling of the upper troposphere over Asia is caused by anthropogenic aerosols(particularly sulphate aerosols) and the warming over the rest of the global mid-latitude upper troposphere is due to increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.     

基于CMIP5资料的热带太平洋和印度洋海温变化与降水变化的关系及其成因分析

利用第五次耦合模式比较计划(Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5,简称CMIP5)月平均资料,从季节变化角度,对热带太平洋、印度洋海温变化与降水变化的关系及其成因进行了初步分析。20个模式集合平均结果表明:在全球增暖背景下,热带太平洋年平均的海温变化与降水变化符合"warmer-get-wetter"型特征,而季节平均与年平均存在明显的差异;冬季和春季,海温增暖最大区和降水增加区之间存在东西向和南北向的位置偏差;夏季和秋季,二者只存在明显的南北位置偏差,且与冬季和春季的情况相反。热带印度洋的冬季和春季海温变化与降水变化也存在位置偏差。两个热带大洋季节平均的降水变化均是"warmer-get-wetter"和"wet-get-wetter"两个机制共同作用的结果。     

Blunt ocean dynamical thermostat in response of tropical eastern Pacific SST to global warming

Using an intermediate ocean–atmosphere coupled model (ICM) for the tropical Pacific, we investigated the role of the ocean dynamical thermostat (ODT) in regulating the tropical eastern Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) under global warming conditions. The external, uniformly distributed surface heating results in the cooling of the tropical eastern Pacific “cold tongue,” and the amplitude of the cooling increases as more heat is added but not simply linearly. Furthermore, an upper bound for the influence of the equatorially symmetric surface heating on the cold tongue cooling exists. The additional heating beyond the upper bound does not cool the cold tongue in a systematic manner. The heat budget analysis suggests that the zonal advection is the primary factor that contributes to such nonlinear SST response. The radiative heating due to the greenhouse effect (hereafter, RHG) that is obtained from the multi-model ensemble of the Climate Model Intercomparison Project Phase III (CMIP3) was externally given to ICM. The RHG obtained from the twentieth century simulation intensified the cold tongue cooling and the subtropical warming, which were further intensified by the RHG from the doubled CO₂ concentration simulation. However, the cold tongue cooling was significantly reduced and the negative SST response region was shrunken toward the equator by the RHG from the quadrupled CO₂ concentration simulation, while the subtropical warming increased further. A systematic RHG forced experiment having the same spatial pattern of RHG from doubled CO₂ concentration simulation with different amplitude of forcing revealed that the ocean dynamical response to global warming tended to enhance the cooling in the tropical eastern Pacific by virtue of meridional advection and upwelling; however, these cooling effects could not fully compensate a given RHG warming as the external forcing becomes larger. Moreover, the feedback by the zonal thermal advection actually exerted the warming over the equatorial region. Therefore, as the global warming is intensified, the cooling over the eastern tropical Pacific by ODT and the negative SST response area are reduced.     

CMIP5模式对AMO与PDO模拟评估及未来预估

利用1880-2009年海表温度(Sea Surface Temperature,SST)观测资料以及耦合模式比较计划第五阶段(Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5,CMIP5)中4种情景(piControl、historical、RCP2.6、RCP4.5)下的模...     

Uncertainty of ENSO-amplitude projections in CMIP5 and CMIP6 models

There is a long-standing debate on how the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) amplitude may change during the twenty-first century in response to global warming. Here we identify the sources of uncertainty in the ENSO amplitude projections in models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Phase 5 (CMIP5) and Phase 6 (CMIP6), and quantify scenario uncertainty, model uncertainty and uncertainty due to internal variability. The model projections exhibit a large spread, ranging from increasing standard deviation of up to 0.6 °C to diminishing standard deviation of up to − 0.4 °C by the end of the twenty-first century. The ensemble-mean ENSO amplitude change is close to zero. Internal variability is the main contributor to the uncertainty during the first three decades; model uncertainty dominates thereafter, while scenario uncertainty is relatively small throughout the twenty-first century. The total uncertainty increases from CMIP5 to CMIP6: while model uncertainty is reduced, scenario uncertainty is considerably increased. The models with “realistic” ENSO dynamics have been analyzed separately and categorized into models with too small, moderate and too large ENSO amplitude in comparison to instrumental observations. The smallest uncertainties are observed in the sub-ensemble exhibiting realistic ENSO dynamics and moderate ENSO amplitude. However, the global warming signal in ENSO-amplitude change is undetectable in all sub-ensembles. The zonal wind-SST feedback is identified as an important factor determining ENSO amplitude change: global warming signal in ENSO amplitude and zonal wind-SST feedback strength are highly correlated across the CMIP5 and CMIP6 models.

     

CMIP5模式对中国年平均气温模拟及其与CMIP3模式的比较

利用CRUT3v和CN05两套观测资料,评估25个CMIP5模式对1906-2005年中国年平均气温变化的模拟能力,并与CMIP3模式对比。结果表明：1906-2005年中国平均温升速率为0.84℃/100a,CMIP5多模式集合平均模拟的增温率为0.77℃/100a。模式对20世纪后期温升模拟好于前期,仅有两个模式能模拟中国20世纪40年代异常增暖。模式对气温气候态空间分布模拟较好,但在中国西部地区存在最大模拟冷偏差和不确定性。1961-1999年,中国北方增暖大于南方。多模式集合平均可以较好地模拟气温变化线性趋势的空间分布,但对南北气温变化趋势的差异模拟过小。总体说来,在中国平均气温变化趋势、气温气候态空间分布和气温变化趋势空间分布三方面,CMIP5模式都较CMIP3模式有所提高。     

On the subarctic North Atlantic cooling due to global warming

Various ocean reanalysis data reveal that the subarctic Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) has been cooling during the twentieth century. A similar cooling pattern is found in the doubling CO₂ experiment obtained from the CMIP3 (coupled model intercomparison project third phase) compared to the pre-industrial experiment. Here, in order to investigate the main driver of this cooling, we perform the heat budget analysis on the subarctic Atlantic upper ocean temperature. The net surface heat flux associated with the increased concentration of greenhouse gases heats the subarctic ocean surface. In the most of models, the longwave radiation, latent heat flux, and sensible heat flux exert a warming effect, and the shortwave radiation exerts a cooling effect. On the other hand, the thermal advection by the meridional current reduces the subarctic upper ocean temperature in all models. This cold advection is attributed to the weakening of the meridional overturning circulation, which is related to the reduction in the ocean surface density. In particular, greater warming of the surface air than of the sea surface results in the reduction of surface evaporation and thereby enhanced freshening of the ocean surface water, while precipitation change was smaller than evaporation change. The thermal advections by both the wind-driven Ekman current and the density-driven geostrophic current contribute to cooling in most of the models, where the heat transport by the geostrophic current tends to be larger than that by the Ekman current.     

Evaluating the formation mechanisms of the equatorial Pacific SST warming pattern in CMIP5 models

Based on the historical and RCP8.5 runs of the multi-model ensemble of 32 models participating in CMIP5, the present study evaluates the formation mechanisms for the patterns of changes in equatorial Pacific SST under global warming.Two features with complex formation processes, the zonal El Ni ?no-like pattern and the meridional equatorial peak warming(EPW), are investigated. The climatological evaporation is the main contributor to the El Ni ?no-like pattern, while the ocean dynamical thermostat effect plays a comparable negative role. The cloud–shortwave-radiation–SST feedback and the weakened Walker circulation play a small positive role in the El Ni ?no-like pattern. The processes associated with ocean dynamics are confined to the equator. The climatological evaporation is also the dominant contributor to the EPW pattern, as suggested in previous studies. However, the effects of some processes are inconsistent with previous studies. For example,changes in the zonal heat advection due to the weakened Walker circulation have a remarkable positive contribution to the EPW pattern, and changes in the shortwave radiation play a negative role in the EPW pattern.     

Water vapor transport and cross-equatorial flow over the Asian-Australia monsoon region simulated by CMIP5 climate models

The summer mean water vapor transport (WVT) and cross-equatorial flow (CEF) over the Asian-Australian monsoon region simulated by 22 coupled atmospheric-oceanic general circulation models (AOGCMs) from the World Climate Research Programme’s Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) were evaluated. Based on climatology of the twentieth-century simulations, most of models have a reasonably realistic representation of summer monsoon WVT characterized by southeast water vapor conveyor belt over the South Indian Ocean and southwest belt from the Arabian Sea to the East Asian. The correlation coefficients between NCEP reanalysis and simulations of BCC-CSM1-1, BNU-ESM, CanESM2, FGOALS-s2, MIROC4h and MPI-ESM-LR are up to 0.8. The simulated CEF depicted by the meridional wind along the equator includes the Somali jet and eastern CEF in low atmosphere and the reverse circulation in upper atmosphere, which were generally consistent with NCEP reanalysis. Multi-model ensemble means (MME) can reproduce more reasonable climatological features in spatial distribution both of WVT and CEF. Ten models with more reasonable WVT simulations were selected for future projection studies, including BCC-CSM1-1, BNU-ESM, CanESM2, CCSM4, FGOALS-s2, FIO-ESM, GFDL-ESM2G, MRIOC5, MPI-ESM-LR and NorESM-1M. Analysis based on the future projection experiments in RCP (Representative Concentration Pathway) 2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6 and RCP8.5 show that the global warming forced by different RCP scenarios will results in enhanced WVT over the Indian area and the west Pacific and weaken WVT in the low latitudes of tropical Indian Ocean.     

CMIP5模式对拉尼娜生命史模拟能力的评估

利用19个CMIP5模式输出资料,评估模式对于拉尼娜事件特殊生命史发展过程的模拟能力。评估结果显示,仅有少数模式可以很好地再现拉尼娜事件缓慢衰减并再次增强的生命史发展过程,而多数模式中拉尼娜事件持续衰减直至消亡。观测分析结果表明,一个可能导致拉尼娜再次增强的原因是风场强迫作用下的海洋赤道波动过程。模拟能力较好的模式可以建立起"SST—对流—风场"正反馈过程,使得拉尼娜事件再次发展。而模拟能力较弱的模式中正反馈过程无法建立,因此拉尼娜事件最终消亡。另一个可能导致拉尼娜事件再次增强的原因是海洋平均经圈环流的作用。模拟能力较好的模式可以很好地模拟出气候态海洋经圈环流强度,因此海洋平均经向冷平流会帮助赤道地区负海温距平再次增强。而模拟能力较弱的模式中海洋经圈环流强度较弱,因此赤道地区负海温距平持续衰减,最终回归到气候态。