Variations of Vegetation Phenology Extracted from Remote Sensing Data over the Tibetan Plateau Hinterland during 2000–2014

How vegetation phenology responds to climate change is a key to the understanding of the mechanisms driving historic and future changes in regional terrestrial ecosystem productivity. Based on the 250-m and 8-day moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer(MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) data for 2000–2014 in the Three-River Source Region(TRSR) of Qinghai Province, China, i.e., the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau, we extracted relevant vegetation phenological information(e.g., start, end, and length of growing season) and analyzed the changes in the TRSR vegetation in response to climate change. The results reveal that, under the increasingly warm and humid climate, the start of vegetation growing season(SOS) advanced 1.03 day yr-1 while the end of vegetation growing season(EOS) exhibited no significant changes, which led to extended growing season length. It is found that the SOS was greatly affected by the preceding winter precipitation, with progressively enhanced precipitation facilitating an earlier SOS. Moreover, as the variations of SOS and its trend depended strongly on topography, we estimated the elevation break-points for SOS. The lower the elevations were, the earlier the SOS started. In the areas below 3095-m elevation, the SOS delay changed rapidly with increasing elevation; whereas above that, the SOS changes were relatively minor. The SOS trend had three elevation break-points at 2660, 3880, and 5240 m.     

Diverse Responses of Phenology in Multi-Grassland to Environmental Factors on Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau in China

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Studying grassland vegetation growing seasons’ spatial patterns and their environmental controls are crucial to promoting vegetation ecological...     

Changing structure of the precipitation process during 1960–2005 in Xinjiang, China

Using daily precipitation data spanning 1960–2005 from 51 meteorological stations in Xinjiang province, China, spatial and temporal changes in consecutive maximum wet days in the year, summer, and winter were investigated. Fifteen precipitation extreme indices, which reflect the attributes of consecutive maximum wet days, were defined, and the modified Mann–Kendall test was applied to detect the tendencies, and changes in the indices were evaluated through linear regression with the F test. Results showed that: (1) two consecutive wet days occurred most frequently in the year and summer, and the fractional contributions and precipitation intensities decreased as the duration increased; in winter, one wet day had the maximum possibility, fractional contributions decreased and intensities increased as the duration increased. (2) The possibility of consecutive wet days which had short durations reduced, while those of long durations increased; annual fractional contributions of short durations decreased, while those of long durations increased; summer and winter fractional contribution of all durations decreased first and then increased; the intensities of all durations increased. (3) The wet tendency was identified in Xinjiang; the wet trend in Southern Xinjiang was more significant than Northern Xinjiang in summer, while in winter the wet tendency in Northern Xinjiang was more pronounced.     

Temporal and Spatial Variations in the Climate Controls of Vegetation Dynamics on the Tibetan Plateau during 1982–2011

The ecosystem of the Tibetan Plateau is highly susceptible to climate change. Currently, there is little discussion on the temporal changes in the link between climatic factors and vegetation dynamics in this region under the changing climate.By employing Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data, the Climatic Research Unit temperature and precipitation data,and the in-situ meteorological observations, we report the temporal and spatial variations in the relationships between the vegetation dynamics and climatic factors on the Plateau over the past three decades. The results show that from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, vegetation dynamics in the central and southeastern part of the Plateau appears to show a closer relationship with precipitation prior to the growing season than that of temperature. From the mid-1990s, the temperature rise seems to be the key climatic factor correlating vegetation growth in this region. The effects of increasing temperature on vegetation are spatially variable across the Plateau: it has negative impacts on vegetation activity in the southwestern and northeastern part of the Plateau, and positive impacts in the central and southeastern Plateau. In the context of global warming, the changing climate condition(increasing precipitation and significant rising temperature) might be the potential contributor to the shift in the climatic controls on vegetation dynamics in the central and southeastern Plateau.     

Trends and Uncertainties in Surface Air Temperature over the Tibetan Plateau,1951–2013

Trends and uncertainties of surface air temperature over the Tibetan Plateau(TP)are evaluated by using observations at 100 meteorological stations during the period 1951–2013.The sampling error variances of gridded monthly data are estimated for every month and every grid box of data.The gridded data and their sampling error variances are used to calculate TP averages,their trends,and associated uncertainties.It is shown that large sampling error variances dominate northern and western TP,while small variances appear over southern and eastern TP.Every month from January to December has a positive linear trend during the study period.February has the largest trend of 0.34±0.18°C(10 yr)~(–1),and April the smallest at 0.15±0.11°C(10 yr)~(–1).The uncertainties decrease steadily with time,implying that they are not large enough to alter the TP warming trend.     

Trends and uncertainties in surface air temperature over the Tibetan Plateau, 1951–2013

Trends and uncertainties of surface air temperature over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are evaluated by using observations at 100 meteorological stations during the period 1951–2013. The sampling error variances of gridded monthly data are estimated for every month and every grid box of data. The gridded data and their sampling error variances are used to calculate TP averages, their trends, and associated uncertainties. It is shown that large sampling error variances dominate northern and western TP, while small variances appear over southern and eastern TP. Every month from January to December has a positive linear trend during the study period. February has the largest trend of 0.34 ± 0.18°C (10 yr)^–1, and April the smallest at 0.15 ± 0.11°C (10 yr)^–1. The uncertainties decrease steadily with time, implying that they are not large enough to alter the TP warming trend.     

Underestimation of the Warming Trend over the Tibetan Plateau during 1998–2013 by Global Land Data Assimilation Systems and Atmospheric Reanalyses

Accurate surface air temperature(T_(2m)) data are key to investigating eco-hydrological responses to global warming.Because of sparse in-situ observations, T_(2m) datasets from atmospheric reanalysis or multi-source observation-based land data assimilation system(LDAS) are widely used in research over alpine regions such as the Tibetan Plateau(TP). It has been found that the warming rate of T_(2m) over the TP accelerates during the global warming slowdown period of 1998–2013, which raises the question of whether the reanalysis or LDAS datasets can capture the warming feature. By evaluating two global LDASs, five global atmospheric reanalysis datasets, and a high-resolution dynamical downscaling simulation driven by one of the global reanalysis, we demonstrate that the LDASs and reanalysis datasets underestimate the warming trend over the TP by 27%–86% during 1998–2013. This is mainly caused by the underestimations of the increasing trends of surface downward radiation and nighttime total cloud amount over the southern and northern TP, respectively. Although GLDAS2.0, ERA5, and MERRA2 reduce biases of T_(2m) simulation from their previous versions by 12%–94%, they do not show significant improvements in capturing the warming trend. The WRF dynamical downscaling dataset driven by ERA-Interim shows a great improvement, as it corrects the cooling trend in ERA-Interim to an observation-like warming trend over the southern TP. Our results indicate that more efforts are needed to reasonably simulate the warming features over the TP during the global warming slowdown period, and the WRF dynamical downscaling dataset provides more accurate T_(2m) estimations than its driven global reanalysis dataset ERA-Interim for producing LDAS products over the TP.     

我国春季降水与青藏高原东南部冬季归一化植被指数变化的关系

利用1982年1月～2001年12月归一化植被指数(NDVI)资料、台站实测降水资料和NCEP/NCAR再分析资料, 通过相关分析和合成分析等方法, 初步分析了我国春季降水与青藏高原冬季植被变化的关系。结果发现, 我国春季降水与青藏高原冬季NDVI有较明显的相关关系。一般而言, 高原冬季NDVI大值年时, 贵州至两广地区降水减少, 两湖平原和鄱阳湖平原降水增加, 长江流域以北至东北的广大地区降水将减少, 特别是黄河与长江之间地区降水量偏少可达40 mm以上。高原冬季NDVI与我国东部季风区春季降水的相关系数呈 “－＋－” 的分布状态。100°E～130°E各月降水及其差值时空剖面分析也可看到其差异。文章也初步分析了高原冬季NDVI大值年和小值年春季海平面气压场、 850 hPa风场、 500 hPa高度场以及700 hPa垂直运动场的差异, 从分析结果可以看到, 亚洲和西太平洋地区大气环流的差异也同样明显。可见, 青藏高原冬季NDVI的大小将通过改变亚洲和西太平洋地区春季大气环流的分布状态, 导致冬季风和夏季风爆发和进退差异, 从而引起我国春季降水的变化。     

青藏高原三江源地区近60 a气候与极端气候变化特征分析

青藏高原三江源地区正在面临着以"变暖变湿"为主的气候变化,是气候变化的显著区与敏感区。基于中国气象局位于三江源地区20个地面台站的气温、降水数据以及HadCRUT4（Climatic Research Unit land-surface air temperature-4 dataset and the Hadley Centre sea-surface temperature dataset,Hadley Centre,UK）气温、PREC（Precipitation Reconstruction,National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,USA）降水资料,从气候要素空间格局、极端气候指标以及区域-全球平均多年变化对比等3个方面系统总结了三江源地区1961-2019年气候和极端气候变化的特征。结果显示,三江源区域在过去近60 a里平均增暖速率为0.37℃/（10 a）,是全球平均水平（0.16℃/（10 a））的2倍以上,同时大幅高于全球同纬度（0.19℃/（10 a））及中国区域（0.28℃/（10 a））。在全球变暖背景下,三江源地区大部分极端气候指标上升,其中以夜间最低气温的上升（0.55℃/（10 a））最为显著,且极端高温事件的出现频率上升,区域日温差减小、气温变化极端性增强。三江源近60 a温湿气候态的空间格局为沿西北-东南方向的正温湿梯度,其变化趋势存在自西向东速率上升的暖湿化空间分异特征。本文的研究结论进一步揭示了三江源地区近60 a气候变化与极端气候的时空格局,为三江源地区气候系统和生态系统的脆弱性研究以及未来气候变化预估提供了科学依据,同时也为气候变化敏感的高寒地区对全球变暖的响应研究提供了对比案例。     

1961～2007年青藏高原四季开始日期的变化趋势分析

利用中国气象局国家气象信息中心提供的青藏高原60个测站1961～2007年逐日气温度资料,分析了青藏高原近47年来四季开始日期的时空变化特征和年代际变化趋势.结果表明,青藏高原的四季开始日期变化主要表现为春季和夏季的提前趋势,秋季和冬季的推后趋势,其中春季、冬季的变化显著,夏季、秋季的变化相对春季、冬季变化较小,四季开始日期的这种变化在增温明显的1990年代和21世纪初最为明显,并且春季和冬季开始日期的年代变化较大,而夏季和秋季开始日期的年际变化较大.这种变化趋势在空间分布上有所差异,春季和冬季开始日期变化的空间分布相似,春季和冬季开始日期的变化在空间上有相当的同步性而且都属于“中间高两边低”的分布状态,夏季和秋季开始日期变化的空间分布相似.此外,春季丌始日期在1990年代之前整体相对平稳并没有表现出明显的提早趋势,从1990年代开始变得较明显;夏季开始日期的提早变化相对平稳但年际变化较大;秋季开始日期的推迟相对平稳但是年际变化较大,1990年代有较明显的推迟趋势;冬季在1990年代表现出推迟趋势但是并不明显,但是到21世纪初表现出强烈的推迟.     

Projections of the advance in the start of the growing season during the 21st century based on CMIP5 simulations

It is well-known that global warming due to anthropogenic atmospheric greenhouse effects advanced the start of the vegetation growing season(SOS) across the globe during the 20 th century. Projections of further changes in the SOS for the 21 st century under certain emissions scenarios(Representative Concentration Pathways, RCPs) are useful for improving understanding of the consequences of global warming. In this study, we first evaluate a linear relationship between the SOS(defined using the normalized difference vegetation index) and the April temperature for most land areas of the Northern Hemisphere for 1982–2008. Based on this relationship and the ensemble projection of April temperature under RCPs from the latest state-of-the-art global coupled climate models, we show the possible changes in the SOS for most of the land areas of the Northern Hemisphere during the 21 st century. By around 2040–59, the SOS will have advanced by-4.7 days under RCP2.6,-8.4 days under RCP4.5, and-10.1 days under RCP8.5, relative to 1985–2004. By 2080–99, it will have advanced by-4.3 days under RCP2.6,-11.3 days under RCP4.5, and-21.6 days under RCP8.5. The geographic pattern of SOS advance is considerably dependent on that of the temperature sensitivity of the SOS. The larger the temperature sensitivity,the larger the date-shift-rate of the SOS.     

2001—2010年青藏高原干湿格局及其影响因素分析

基于RFE2.0模型和Penman-Monteith模型,采用潜在蒸散降水比分析了2001—2010年青藏高原生长季(5—9月)干湿气候的时空变化格局,并对其影响因素进行了探讨。结果表明:(1)干旱和半干旱区占整个青藏高原区域的67%,主要集中在高原中部及中部以北;(2)2001—2010年有25%的区域在逐渐变干,北部干旱程度总体上在逐渐减轻,南部及东南部有变干倾向;(3)降水是导致高原区域干湿气候空间格局差异的主要因素,高原干湿气候对潜在蒸散变化的敏感性最强。     

Interannual Variability of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index on the Tibetan Plateau and Its Relationship with Climate Change

The Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, or Tibetan Plateau, is a sensitive region for climate change, where the manifestation of global warming is particularly noticeable. The wide climate variability in this region significantly affects the local land ecosystem and could consequently lead to notable vegetation changes. In this paper, the interannual variations of the plateau vegetation are investigated using a 21-year normalized difference vegetation index （NDVI） dataset to quantify the consequences of climate warming for the regional ecosystem and its interactions. The results show that vegetation coverage is best in the eastern and southern plateau regions and deteriorates toward the west and north. On the whole, vegetation activity demonstrates a gradual enhancement in an oscillatory manner during 1982-2002. The temporal variation also exhibits striking regional differences： an increasing trend is most apparent in the west, south, north and southeast, whereas a decreasing trend is present along the southern plateau boundary and in the central-east region. Covariance analysis between the NDVI and surface temperature/precipitation suggests that vegetation change is closely related to climate change. However, the controlling physical processes vary geographically. In the west and east, vegetation variability is found to be driven predominantly by temperature, with the impact of precipitation being of secondary importance. In the central plateau, however, temperature and precipitation factors are equally important in modulating the interannual vegetation variability.     

近50年中国大陆冬季气温和区域环流的年代际变化研究

利用中国大陆468 个站点1960～2013 年逐日气温资料,本文首先对中国冬季气温的年代际变化特征进行分析。通过气候跃变检验分析发现,中国冬季气温在整体变暖的趋势上叠加有年代际波动,可划分为冷期、暖期和停滞期三个时期。本文对比三个时期的冬季大气环流发现,冷/停滞期（暖）期西风环流减弱（增强）而东亚大槽增强（浅薄）,槽后的辐合下沉增强（削弱）,西伯利亚高压增强（减弱）,这加强（削弱）了东亚冬季风,冷空气更多（少）侵入中国大陆地区,冬季气温偏低（高）。北半球环状模/北极涛动（Northern Hemisphere Annular Mode,NAM/Arctic Oscillation,AO）正是通过东亚冬季风系统对中国冬季气温,尤其是冬季最低气温有很强的年代际影响。太平洋年代际振荡（Pacific Decadal Oscillation,PDO）与中国冬季气温在年代际上也有很好的正相关关系。进一步将PDO 的年代际变化分量作为背景,分析NAM/AO 和厄尔尼诺—南方涛动（El Nino Southern Oscillation,ENSO）不同配置下的东亚冬季风环流场可以发现,两者的配置作用不仅影响着中国冬季气温一致变化型的年代际波动,而且也可以影响到冬季气温南北反相振荡型的变化,这从一个方面解释了1980 年代和1990年代北方变暖较强及最近十年北方降温趋势较为明显的原因。     

1957-2000年东北地区春季极端气温变化及其与北极涛动的关系

利用东北地区32个测站1957-2000年逐日气温资料,分析了东北春季极端气温指数的变化特征及其与同期和前期北极涛动指数的关系。结果表明：春季日气温距平值基本上是由高纬向低纬、由东向西增加;44 a来日气温距平强度变化呈现正趋势,春季的冷日和冷夜呈减少趋势,暖日和暖夜呈增加趋势。东北春季气温与春季北极涛动（Arctic Oscillation, AO）在年际时间尺度上具有很强的正相关性,AO和极端气温指数也存在着相同的变化周期和突变时间。     

卫星遥感结合气象资料计算的青藏高原地面感热特征分析

本文选取1981年7月至2012年12月美国国家航空和航天局（NASA）制作的归一化的动态植被指数（NDVI）资料、根据NDVI值计算地表热力输送系数（C_H）的参数化关系式（C_H-I_NDV）和青藏高原70个常规气象观测资料,计算了青藏高原全区的逐月地表热力输送系数（C_H）,讨论了其时空分布特征,并在此基础上计算了高原70个常规台站的感热通量（SSHF）序列,并与已有感热资料进行了对比。随后,探讨了地面感热通量的气候特征及其年际变化与气候因子的关系。结果表明:高原地区的C_H值具有明显的空间差异和季节差异,表现为东高西低、夏季大、冬季小的特点。感热的年际变化在冬季主要响应于地气温差的变化,夏季则受地面风速影响较大;由于风速减小趋缓,地气温差增大,变化趋势在2003年前后由减弱趋势转变为增强趋势,这种趋势的转变最早发生在2001年秋季,且在高原全区具有较好的一致性。     

春季青藏高原绕流作用变化特征及其影响

受青藏高原地形影响,低层西风气流在高原西侧分支,从南北两侧绕流,于高原东侧汇合,在其边缘附近形成一正一负2个对称的涡旋（下称“涡旋对”）。文中利用NCEP／NCAR提供的1951—2004年再分析资料,研究发现涡旋对在700hPa上最明显。将700hPa正、负涡旋对平均涡度之差定义为春季绕流指数,可以定量地表征高原绕流作用强弱。研究还发现,1951—2004年春季绕流指数存在准18a、准10a、准4a的周期振荡,春季绕流指数能较好地反映高原绕流作用的强弱。利用全国160站1951—2004年气温和降水资料,研究春季绕流作用对中国天气气候的影响发现,强高原绕流作用不仅有利于中高纬冷空气向中国北方输送,使西北、东北部分地区春季气温偏低,而且也有利于冷空气绕高原南下,使江淮部分地区春季气温也偏低;同时也有利于高原东南侧的暖湿气流向华南及江南地区输送,偏南暖湿气流和偏北冷干气流在32°N附近辐合偏强,有利于江淮地区春季降水偏多。此外,春季绕流指数对长江中下游及淮河流域夏季气温具有指示意义,当春季绕流指数偏强（弱）时,同年长江中下游及淮河流域夏季气温偏低（高）。