An Assessment of the Quality of Surface Sensible Heat Flux Derived from Reanalysis Data through Comparison with Station Observations in Northwest China

The present study compares seasonal and interdecadal variations in surface sensible heat flux over Northwest China between station observations and ERA-40 and NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data for the period 1960-2000.While the seasonal variation in sensible heat flux is found to be consistent between station observations and the two reanalysis datasets,both land-air temperatures difference and surface wind speed show remarkable systematic differences.The sensible heat flux displays obvious interdecadal variability that is season-dependent.In the ERA-40 data,the sensible heat flux in spring,fall,and winter shows interdecadal variations that are similar to observations.In the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data,sensible heat flux variations are inconsistent with and sometimes even opposite to observations.While surface wind speeds from the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data show interdecadal changes consistent with station observations,variations in land-air temperature difference differ greatly from the observed dataset.In terms of land-air temperature difference and surface wind speed,almost no consistency with observations can be identified in the ERA-40 data,apart from the land-air temperature difference in fall and winter.These inconsistencies pose a major obstacle to the application in climate studies of surface sensible heat flux derived from reanalysis data.     

Comparison of products from ERA-40, NCEP-2, and CRU with station data for summer precipitation over China

Summer precipitation products from the 45-Year European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) Reanalysis (ERA-40), and NCEP-Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP-II) Reanalysis (NCEP-2), and Climatic Research Unit (CRU) TS 2.1 dataset are compared with the corresponding observations over China in order to understand the quality and utility of the reanalysis datasets for the period 1979–2001. The results reveal that although the magnitude and location of the rainfall belts differ among the reanalysis, CRU, and station data over South and West China, the spatial distributions show good agreement over most areas of China. In comparison with the observations in most areas of China, CRU best matches the observed summer precipitation, while ERA-40 reports less precipitation and NCEP-2 reports more precipitation than the observations. With regard to the amplitude of the interannual variations, CRU is better than either of the reanalyses in representing the corresponding observations. The amplitude in NCEP-2 is stronger but that of ERA-40 is weaker than the observations in most study domains. NCEP-2 has a more obvious interannual variability than ERA-40 or CRU in most areas of East China. Through an Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis, the main features of the rainfall belts produced by CRU agree better with the observations than with those produced by the reanalyses in the Yangtze-Huaihe River valley. In East of China, particularly in the Yangtze-Huaihe River valley, CRU can reveal the quasi-biennial oscillation of summer precipitation represented by the observations, but the signal of ERA-40 is comparatively weak and not very obvious, whereas that of NCEP-2 is also weak before 1990 but very strong after 1990. The results also suggest that the magnitude of the precipitation difference between ERA-40 and the observations is smaller than that between NCEP-2 and the observations, but the variations represented by NCEP-2 are more reasonable than those given by ERA-40 in most areas of East China to some extent.     

Contributions of Local and Remote Atmospheric Moisture Fluxes to East China Precipitation Estimated from CRA-40 Reanalysis

China Meteorological Administration(CMA) recently released its 40-yr(1979–2018) global Chinese reanalysis(CRA-40) dataset. To assess performance of the CRA-40 data in quantifying the regional water cycle, contributions of local and remote atmospheric moisture fluxes to precipitation in East China derived from CRA-40 are compared with those derived from the ECMWF reanalysis version 5(ERA-5). Observed precipitation and evaporation data are also used for validation. As for mean precipitation, CRA-40 matches the observation better in winter and spring than in summer, with a larger wet bias(1.41 mm day^-1) in summer than that in ERA-5(0.97 mm day^-1), particularly over South China. The conservation of atmospheric water vapor over East China measured by CRA-40 is comparable to that of ERA-5. Both reanalyses show a dominant role of the remote moisture transport in the East China precipitation.In comparison, the annual precipitation induced by the moisture influx from the west of the study domain in CRA-40 is 80 mm less than that in ERA-5. The recycling ratio of annual mean precipitation in CRA-40 is approximately21.1%, slightly larger than that in ERA-5(20.1%). The maximum difference of each hydrological component between the two datasets appears in the summer horizontal moisture influx(3.57 ×10⁷ kg s^-1;ERA-5 is larger) and winter runoff(1.84 ×10⁷ kg s^-1;CRA-40 is larger). CRA-40 shows better performance than ERA-5 in capturing the interannual variability of precipitation over East China, as evinced by a higher correlation coefficient with the observation(0.77 versus 0.33). The trend of summer precipitation since 2011 is better reproduced in CRA-40. Both reanalyses show prominent contribution of the southern moisture influx to the interannual variation of precipitation. This study demonstrates the reliability of CRA-40 in representing the hydrological cycle over East China and provides a useful reference for future application of CRA-40 in water cycle studies.     

Comparisons of Simulations of Soil Moisture Variations in the Yellow River Basin Driven by Various Atmospheric Forcing Data Sets

Based on station observations, The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalysis (ERA40), the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis and Princeton University's global meteorological forcing data set (Princeton), four atmospheric forcing fields were constructed for use in driving the Community Land Model version 3.5 (CLM3.5). Simulated soil moisture content throughout the period 1951-2000 in the Yellow River basin was vali...     

Variations in extratropical cyclone activity in northern East Asia

Based on an improved objective cyclone detection and tracking algorithm, decadal variations in extratropical cyclones in northern East Asia are studied by using the ECMWF 40 Year Reanalysis (ERA-40) sea-level pressure data during 1958-2001. The results reveal that extratropical cyclone activity has displayed clear seasonal, interannual, and decadal variability in northern East Asia. Spring is the season when cyclones occur most frequently. The spatial distribution of extratropical cyclones shows that cyclon...     

STUDY ON THE AIR-SEA INTERACTION ON THE INTERANNUAL TIME SCALE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

In this paper we document the correlationship between sea surface temperature (SST) and lowlevel-winds such as sea level wind and 850 hPa wind in the South China Sea (SCS) based onCOADS (1958—1987) and ECMWF objective analysis data (1973—1986).Further statisticalanalyses tell us that there is a fixed SCS basin mode for variations both of SST and low-level windsin the region on the interannual time scale due to air-sea interactions.A simplified,coupled model that is designed following the McCreary and Anderson's (1985)model and includes the feedback between the upper ocean and the circulation of East Asianmonsoon demonstrates an interannual oscillation in the coupled air-sea system,which is similar tothe observations in the SCS.     

TAMDAR Observation Assimilation in WRF 3D-Var and Its Impact on Hurricane Ike (2008) Forecast

This study evaluates the impact of atmospheric observations from the Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting (TAMDAR) observing system on numerical weather prediction of hurricane Ike (2008) using three-dimensional data assimilation system for the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model (WRF 3D-Var). The TAMDAR data assimilation capability is added to WRF 3D-Var by incorporating the TAMDAR observation operator and corresponding observation processing procedure. Two 6-h cycling data assimilation and forecast experiments are conducted. Track and intensity forecasts are verified against the best track data from the National Hurricane Center. The results show that, on average, assimilating TAMDAR observations has a positive impact on the forecasts of hurricane Ike. The TAMDAR data assimilation reduces the track errors by about 30 km for 72-h forecasts. Improvements in intensity forecasts are also seen after four 6-h data assimilation cycles. Diagnostics show that assimilation of TAMDAR data improves subtropical ridge and steering flow in regions along Ike’s track, resulting in better forecasts.     

Definition and Features of the North Edge of the East Asian Summer Monsoon

By using daily total precipitable water(TPW) amount from the ECMWF reanalysis(ERA-44a) data in 1958-2001,the north edge of the Asian sub-tropical summer monsoon is defined by a normalized precipitable water index(NPWI),and its climatology and interannual/interdecadal variability are examined.The results show that two monsoon systems(the Indian and East Asian monsoon systems) can be identified in terms of monsoon edge defined by the NPWI over Asia.The mean north edge goes in the west-east direction along ...     

INTERANNUAL VARIATIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC HEAT SOURCES AND MOISTURE SINKS OVER THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC AND THEIR RELATIONS TO THE SST ANOMALIES

The interannual variations of atmospheric heat sources and moisture sinks over the Equatorial Pacific and their relations with the SST anomalies are studied using ECMWF reanalysis data from 1979 to 1993. It is found by singular value decomposition (SVD)…     

季风指数及其年际变化I·环流强度指数

季风环流可以分解为经向环流和纬向环流。使用NCEP和ECMWF再分析资料,计算亚洲季风区的经向动量环流和纬向动量环流强度的季节内和年际变化,结果表明:对于南亚夏季风和东南亚-西太平洋夏季风,其各自的经向环流和纬向环流的季节内变化和年际变化存在着相当的联系,尤其东南亚-西太平洋夏季风。但南亚夏季风的经向环流和纬向环流的年际变化在不同月份有着不同的关系。对于东亚夏季风,经向环流和纬向环流变化之间的相关在季节内尺度上是线性独立的,而在年际尺度上存在一定的联系。作者指出:这种大尺度上的联系是通过科里奥利力发生作用,并且受热源调节的。同时局地的对流和辐射相互作用则在某种程度上削弱这种联系,导致在不同月份相关程度有所不同。从各季风系统的经向环流之间或纬向环流之间的线性相关看,南亚夏季风,东亚夏季风和东南亚-西太平洋夏季风是相互独立的系统。计算表明,Webster-Yang和Wang-Fan分别提出的南亚夏季风指数在描述纬向环流年际变化上较好,而在经向上勉强令人满意。Wang-Fan提出的描述东南亚-西太平洋夏季风指数,则较好地表示了该区域的经向和纬向环流的年际变化。Goswami提出的季风Hadley环流指数,以及郭其蕴、施能等提出的东亚夏季风指数则较好地描述了相应区域的经向环流圈年际变化,却无法描述相应的纬向环流圈的年际变化。通过计算还表明,NCEP再分析资料和ECMWF再分析资料在1968年以前的南亚季风区和东亚季风区存在着较大的差异。用NCEP再分析资料计算东亚季风区和南亚季风区经向动量环流圈的变率在20世纪60年代较ECMWF的偏大。用NCEP再分析资料计算施能等定义的东亚季风区指数,也较使用ECMWF再分析资料、UCAR的DS010.1及CRU的北半球海平面气压资料计算的偏大。     

几种再分析地表气压资料在中国区域的适用性评估

应用台站观测资料对ERA-40, NCEP/NCAR以及NCEP/DOE再分析地表气压产品在中国不同区域、不同年代和不同季节的适用性进行了评估。分析发现, 几种再分析产品虽然能在一定程度上反映出观测资料所具有的时空分布特征, 但它们之间的差异却具有明显的区域和季节变化特征, 即冬季小而夏季大、东部地区小而西部地区大; 同时还发现ERA-40和NCEP/NCAR再分析产品在20世纪70年代以前均与观测资料有相对较大的差别, 特别是NCEP/NCAR在70年代以前的夏季气压值过于偏低, 从而夸大了很多地区的年代际变化特征。相比而言, ERA-40地表气压的长期变化趋势以及时空演变规律在中国大多数地区要优于NCEP/NCAR再分析产品, 特别是在中国西部地区。分析还表明, NCEP/DOE虽与观测资料存在一定的系统性偏差, 却与另外两种再分析产品有着较为相似的年际变化特征及趋势。     

三套再分析降水资料在中国区域的对比评估

利用实测资料对NCEP-1、ERA-40和20CR再分析降水资料在中国范围内均值、年际变化、相关性和长期趋势等方面进行比较评估。结果表明,平均而言ERA-40年降水量和实测值最为接近,而20CR和NCEP-1年降水量明显偏多,三者差值百分比分别为-1.3%,55.0%和36.9%;三种再分析降水偏差最大区均出现在西南地区,最大偏差值都在600 mm以上;年际变化上,ERA-40和NCEP-1自20世纪70年代中期开始年降水差值百分比出现一定波动性,而20CR在整个研究时段年降水差值百分比基本稳定;三套资料和实测资料的相关性具有明显的区域性特征,东部相关系数明显高于西部,值得一提的是ERA-40在大部地区的相关性好于其他两套资料;ERA-40和20CR则对大部分区域降水变化趋势的描述好于NCEP-1资料。     

Comparison of surface variables from ERA and NCEP reanalysis with station data over eastern China

This study compared precipitation, mean air temperature (MAT) and mean sea level pressure (MSLP) from two widely used reanalysis datasets (ERA-40 and NCEP) with those from observed stations across eastern China. The evaluation was based on a comparison of both temporal and spatial variability and included several assessment criteria such as the mean values, normalized root mean square error, Mann–Kendall test, empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) and probability density functions. The results showed that both the ERA-40 and NCEP datasets could capture temporal and spatial variability of the observed precipitation, MAT and MSLP over eastern China. The results showed that the two reanalysis datasets performed better for MAT and MSLP than for precipitation. Overall, the two reanalysis datasets revealed reasonable agreement with observations according to the evaluation. ERA-40 was better at capturing the temporal and spatial distributions for these three variables than NCEP, especially for MAT and MSLP. NCEP tended to overestimate the annual precipitation for both mean and extreme values, while ERA-40 tended to underestimate it, particularly for extreme values. The two reanalysis datasets performed better in the east and northeast regions of the study area than in other regions for capturing the temporal variability of MAT and MSLP. ERA-40 was poor at capturing the temporal variability of precipitation in northeastern China. According to the trend analysis, the two reanalysis datasets showed lower trends for MAT and precipitation and higher trends for MSLP. Both ERA-40 and NCEP had larger explained variances for the first two EOFs than the observed precipitation. This implies that both reanalysis datasets tend to simulate a more uniform spatial distribution for precipitation in the study area.     

Vertical structure of recent arctic warming from observed data and reanalysis products

Spatiotemporal patterns of recent (1979–2008) air temperature trends are evaluated using three reanalysis datasets and radiosonde data. Our analysis demonstrates large discrepancies between the reanalysis datasets, possibly due to differences in the data assimilation procedures as well as sparseness and inhomogeneity of high-latitude observations. We test the robustness of arctic tropospheric warming based on the ERA-40 dataset. ERA-40 Arctic atmosphere temperatures tend to be closer to the observed ones in terms of root mean square error compared to other reanalysis products used in the article. However, changes in the ERA-40 data assimilation procedure produce unphysical jumps in atmospheric temperatures, which may be the likely reason for the elevated tropospheric warming trend in 1979–2002. NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data show that the near-surface upward temperature trend over the same period is greater than the tropospheric trend, which is consistent with direct radiosonde observations and inconsistent with ERA-40 results. A change of sign in the winter temperature trend from negative to positive in the late 1980s is documented in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere with a maximum over the Canadian Arctic, based on radiosonde data. This change from cooling to warming tendency is associated with weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex and shift of its center toward the Siberian coast and possibly can be explained by the changes in the dynamics of the Arctic Oscillation. This temporal pattern is consistent with multi-decadal variations of key arctic climate parameters like, for example, surface air temperature and oceanic freshwater content. Elucidating the mechanisms behind these changes will be critical to understanding the complex nature of high-latitude variability and its impact on global climate change.     

中国区域ERA-40、NCEP-2再分析资料与观测资料的初步比较与分析

再分析资料在气候变化研究中有着广泛的应用,但是再分析资料在不同时空尺度上的可信度能够影响到研究结果。作者就中国区域的月平均地表(2 m)气温和降水两种基本气候变量在空间分布及其变化趋势上对ERA-40和NCEP-2与观测资料之间的差异做了一些比较和分析,对两套再分析资料的可信度进行了初步的检验。结果表明:两套再分析资料基本上都能反映出中国区域的温度场和降水场的时空分布,尽管在中国西部,尤其是青藏高原地区的差异比较较大;再分析资料在东部地区的可信度高于西部,温度场的可信度要高于降水场,ERA-40可信度要高于NCEP-2。     

Climatology and interannual variability of storm-tracks in the Euro-Atlantic sector: a comparison between ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalyses

An objective methodology is applied to ERA-40 (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts 40-year Reanalysis) and NCEP/NCAR (National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research) reanalyses, to build two storm-track databases for the Euro-Atlantic sector (85°W–70°E; 20°N–75°N), spanning the period December 1958–March 2000. The technique uses the full temporal (6-hourly) and spatial resolutions (1.125° and 2.5° regular grids, for ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR, respectively) available. It is shown that the strong discrepancies in the number of storms in each dataset (higher for ERA-40) result from differences in the resolution of the fields subject to the storm detecting/tracking algorithm, and also from the characteristics of the integration models and assimilation schemes used for each reanalysis. An intercomparison of ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR storm-tracks is performed for spatial distribution, and main characteristics, of the overall cyclone population and of a class of severe storms—explosive cyclones. Despite the discrepancies in storm numbers, both reanalyses agree on the main cyclone activity areas (formation, minimum central pressure, and lysis). The most pronounced differences occur where subsynoptic systems are frequent, as these are better resolved by ERA-40 data. The interannual variability of cyclone counts, analysed per intensity classes and for different regions of the domain, reveals reasonable agreement between the two datasets on the sign of trends (generally positive in northern latitudes, and negative in the Azores-Mediterranean band), but discrepancies regarding their strength in the most southern areas, where the mismatches between ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR detected lows are greatest. Submitted to Climate Dynamics in December 2004     

大气季节内振荡：其全球同步性及其与ENSO的关系

利用美国国家环境预报中心和大气研究中心的大气再分析资料，分析研究了大气季节内振荡的年际变化及其与ＥＮＳＯ的关系。揭示了全球不同纬度带之间存在着的大气季节内振荡年际变化的同步性，以及大气季节内振荡与海温和大气向外长波辐射之关系的复杂性。我们还发现大气季节内振荡与Ｎｉｎｏ３指数的关系存在年代际尺度的变化，即，这种关系有时强时弱的现象。