Temporal variations in surface air temperature anomaly in urban cities of India

Persistence in surface air temperature anomaly (SATA) time series over 1901–2010 observed at four cities: Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi of India is examined using rescaled-range and predictability index. A gap of 40 years is observed in predictability maxima, which is linked with the short-range correlations. Seasonal analysis showed unpredictability of SATA during four seasons at Nagpur, during summers at Pune and Mumbai, and during monsoon and post-monsoon at Mumbai and Delhi. Significant change is observed after 1991 at Delhi, Nagpur and Mumbai with a respective increase of 1.7, 2.2 and 3.3 °C in surface air temperature (SAT) during 1901–2010. The spatial and temporal variations in the SAT in four cities are attributed to their geographic and climatic conditions. The results suggest the utility of the rescaled-range analysis and predictability index in exploring the changes in the climatic variables.     

Statistical estimation of high-resolution surface air temperature from MODIS over the Yangtze River Delta,China

High-resolution surface air temperature data are critical to regional climate modeling in terms of energy balance, urban climate change, and so on. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) to estimate air temperature at a high resolution over the Yangtze River Delta region, China. It is found that daytime LST is highly correlated with maximum air temperature, and the linear regression coefficients vary with the type of land surface. The air temperature at a resolution of 1 km is estimated from the MODIS LST with linear regression models. The estimated air temperature shows a clear spatial structure of urban heat islands. Spatial patterns of LST and air temperature differences are detected, indicating maximum differences over urban and forest regions during summer. Validations are performed with independent data samples, demonstrating that the mean absolute error of the estimated air temperature is approximately 2.5°C, and the uncertainty is about 3.1°C, if using all valid LST data. The error is reduced by 0.4°C (15%) if using best-quality LST with errors of less than 1 K. The estimated high-resolution air temperature data have great potential to be used in validating high-resolution climate models and other regional applications.     

Characteristics of cyclones and anticyclones over Siberia in the late 20th and early 21st century

The characteristics of cyclones and anticyclones (number, pressure in the center, and duration) over the territory of Siberia (50°-70° N, 60°-110° E) in 1976-2011 obtained using surface weather charts are investigated. The relationship between the variability of these characteristics and the variability of surface air temperature is revealed.     

Soil moisture influence on summertime surface air temperature over East Asia

Soil moisture influence on surface air temperature in summer is statistically quantified across East Asia using the Global Land Data Assimilation System soil moisture and observational temperature. The analysis uses a soil moisture feedback parameter computed based on lagged covariance ratios. It is found that significant negative soil moisture feedbacks on temperature mainly appear over the transition zones between dry and wet climates of northern China and Mongolia. Over these areas, the feedbacks account for typically 5–20% of the total temperature variance, with the feedback parameter of ?0.2°C to ?0.5°C (standardized soil moisture)^?1. Meanwhile, positive feedbacks may exist over some areas of Northeast Asia but are much less significant. These findings emphasize the importance of soil moisture-temperature feedbacks in influencing summer climate variability and have implications for seasonal temperature forecasting.     

Fluctuations of surface air temperature in the Eastern Mediterranean

Summary  Changes in surface air temperature during the last century are widely discussed among researchers in the field of climatic change. Using various techniques, we investigate trends and periodicity of surface air temperature series from eight meteorological stations in the Eastern Mediterranean. For the analysis, we use the Mann-Kendall rank test, low-pass filtering, autocorrelation spectral analysis and maximum entropy spectral analysis. The latter two tests are compared. The study is based on series over one hundred years in length for four stations, and over fifty years in length for the other four. Increasing and decreasing surface temperature trends were found. These trends, however, are only significant for Malta, Jerusalem, and Tripoli at the 99% confidence level (positive trend) and for Amman at the 95% confidence level (negative trend). We also found inter-decadal variations in surface air temperature, including a fairly regular quasi 20-year oscillation, although its amplitude varied between different cycles. A period of warming began around 1910 at all stations. During the 1970s, the annual mean temperature series exhibit warming, but this warming was not uniform, continuous or of the same order at all the stations. The results of the Autocorrelation Spectral Analysis and the Maximum Entropy Spectral Analysis are similar, pointing to the reliability of the results. The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) exists at all stations during both increasing and decreasing trends. Similarly, a broad maximum from 3–8 years (related to El Ni?o) is found at Malta, Athens, Jerusalem, Beirut, and Latakia. An inverse relationship between El Ni?o and the North Atlantic Oscillation with surface air temperature over the Eastern Mediterranean is found at a highly significant confidence level. Received November 15, 1999 Revised August 29, 2000     

CMIP5 model simulations of warm Arctic-cold Eurasia pattern in winter surface air temperature anomalies

Climate Dynamics - The second empirical orthogonal function mode (EOF2) of winter surface air temperature (SAT) over 0°–180° E, 40°–90° N during 1979–2005 is...     

On the relationship between the 10.7 cm solar flux,surface pressure and air temperature over Greece

Summary The behaviour of the 10.7 cm solar flux, surface air temperature and sea surface pressure are discussed on the basis of the 11-year solar cycle and the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) over Greece. In this respect a strong negative correlation was identified between the 11-year solar cycle and the sea surface pressure during the winter west phase years of the QBO, while a similar correlation was found between the sea surface pressure differences estimated between stations located in northern and southern regions of Greece, and the 11-year solar cycle. On the contrary, for the same QBO period, a strong positive correlation was observed between the 11-year cycle and the surface air temperature in Greece in agreement with recently published results. Considering the east phase QBO years, no correlation was identified between the 10.7 cm solar flux and the sea surface pressure and surface air temperature over Greece.With 7 Figures     

Detecting climate change signals in Saudi Arabia using mean annual surface air temperatures

Climate change signals in Saudi Arabia are investigated using the surface air temperature (SAT) data of 19 meteorological stations, well distributed across the country. Analyses are performed using cumulative sum, cumulative annual mean, and the Mann–Kendall rank statistical test for the period of 1978–2010. A notable change in SAT for the majority of stations is found around 1997. The results show a negative temperature trend (cooling) for all stations during the first period (1978–1997), followed by a positive trend (warming) in the second period (1998–2010) with reference to the entire period of analysis. The Mann–Kendall test confirms that there is no abrupt cooling at any station during the analysis period, reflecting the warming trend across the country. The warming trend is found to be 0.06 °C/year, while the cooling trend is 0.03 °C/year, which are statistically significant.     

Projections of high resolution climate changes for South Korea using multiple-regional climate models based on four RCP scenarios. Part 1: surface air temperature

We projected surface air temperature changes over South Korea during the mid (2026-2050) and late (2076-2100) 21st century against the current climate (1981-2005) using the simulation results from five regional climate models (RCMs) driven by Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model, version 2, coupled with the Atmosphere- Ocean (HadGEM2-AO), and two ensemble methods (equal weighted averaging, weighted averaging based on Taylor’s skill score) under four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) scenarios. In general, the five RCM ensembles captured the spatial and seasonal variations, and probability distribution of temperature over South Korea reasonably compared to observation. They particularly showed a good performance in simulating annual temperature range compared to HadGEM2-AO. In future simulation, the temperature over South Korea will increase significantly for all scenarios and seasons. Stronger warming trends are projected in the late 21st century than in the mid-21st century, in particular under RCP8.5. The five RCM ensembles projected that temperature changes for the mid/late 21st century relative to the current climate are +1.54°C/+1.92°C for RCP2.6, +1.68°C/+2.91°C for RCP4.5, +1.17°C/+3.11°C for RCP6.0, and +1.75°C/+4.73°C for RCP8.5. Compared to the temperature projection of HadGEM2-AO, the five RCM ensembles projected smaller increases in temperature for all RCP scenarios and seasons. The inter-RCM spread is proportional to the simulation period (i.e., larger in the late-21st than mid-21st century) and significantly greater (about four times) in winter than summer for all RCP scenarios. Therefore, the modeled predictions of temperature increases during the late 21st century, particularly for winter temperatures, should be used with caution.     

Space-detailed climatic forecasting of air temperature and precipitation in Eastern Siberia on the basis of accounting for local features of the underlying surface

A physical-statistical approach is used for space specification of forecasting fields of air temperature and precipitation in the mid-21st century in Eastern Siberia. The initial data on the monthly mean values representing ensemble-averaged results of 12 general circulation models of the atmosphere and the ocean, with a 2° × 2° latitude-longitude grid are specified on a 12.5 × 12.5 km grid accounting for local features of surface topography and reflectivity. The most pronounced effect of increasing space resolution is found in the areas with complicated relief, especially in summer. This corresponds to physical properties of the processes affecting local features of precipitation and air temperature fields and demonstrates efficiency of the approach under use.     

Estimation of contemporary observed variations of air temperature and wind speed in the troposphere of the Northern Hemisphere

Carried out is the statistical analysis of contemporary observed variations of air temperature and wind speed in the troposphere of the Northern Hemisphere based on the data on global surface air temperature for 1850–2013 obtained from the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit (HadCRUT4) and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis (1948–2013). Revealed are the long-term trends of air temperature and wind speed at different constant-pressure levels. Established is the anticipatory role of the zonal atmospheric circulation in the long-term variability of air temperature in the lower troposphere averaged for the zone of 30°–70° N. According to the results of correlation analysis, in some areas of the Northern Hemisphere the contribution of the wind speed to air temperature variability makes up not less than 60%.     

Objective method for classifying air masses: an application to the analysis of Buenos Aires’ (Argentina) urban heat island intensity

Summary ?During recent years, numerous studies have examined the Buenos Aires urban climate, but the relationship between large-scale weather conditions and the Buenos Aires urban heat island (UHI) intensity has not been studied. The goal of this paper is to apply an objective synoptic climatological method to identify homogeneous air masses or weather types affecting Buenos Aires during winter, and to relate the results to the UHI intensity. A K-means clustering method was used to define six different air masses considering the 03:00, 09:00, 15:00 and 21:00 LT surface observations of dry bulb temperature, dew point, cloud cover, atmospheric pressure and wind direction and velocity at Ezeiza, the most rural meteorological station of the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (Fig. 1). Results show that the mean UHI intensity is at its maximum (2.8 °C) a few hours before sunrise when conditions are dominated by cold air masses associated with cold-core anticyclones, weak winds and low cloud cover. Inverse heat islands are found during the afternoon for all air masses indicating that surface processes are not dominant at that time. The relatively infrequent and warmest air mass is the only one that presents a mean negative urban-rural temperature difference (−0.1 °C) during the afternoon with the smallest diurnal cycle of the UHI intensity probably due to the prevailing high humidity and cloudy sky conditions. The paper provides an insight into the Buenos Aires urban–rural temperature difference under a variety of winter weather types and results could be useful to improve local daily temperature forecasts for the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires on the basis of the routine forecasts of weather types. Received October 24, 2001; revised June 12, 2002; accepted October 10, 2002     

Summer mean daily air temperature extremes in Central Spitsbergen

Summer mean daily temperature extremes in Svalbard Lufthavn (Central Spitsbergen) in the period 1975–2010 and daily pressure patterns and directions of air circulation conducive to their occurrence were analyzed. Positive (negative) extremes of daily mean temperatures in the summer were determined as higher (lower) than or equal to the value of the 90th (10th) percentile. The annual number of selected days shows a great year-to-year variability, although the annual number of extremely low mean daily temperature (≤1.3 °C) was decreasing in the 1976–2010 period, with a rate of about 4 days per decade. At the same time, the number of days with extremely high mean daily temperatures (≤8.2 °C) was increasing with a rate of about 2 days per decade. The summer pressure patterns and the air circulation conditions have an impact on the occurrence of the air mean daily temperature extremes. Namely, anticyclones spreading east to the Svalbard Archipelago, accompanied by the Icelandic Low, cause the air inflow from the southerly direction and positive mean daily temperature extremes. A cyclonal system spreading east or southeast towards the archipelago, together with a high-pressure ridge over the North Atlantic, indicates the northern air flow and negative mean daily temperature extremes in summer. The results obtained in this study prove that the summer air temperature in the Atlantic region of the Arctic is partly controlled by air circulation, and despite the intensity and stability of the summer cyclones and anticyclones being weaker than in the winter, their position strongly determines the occurrence of mean daily temperature extremes in the summer.     

中国冬季地面气温10～30d低频变化及其与乌拉尔山环流的关系

基于国家气象信息中心冬季(12月—次年2月)逐日气温和NCEP/NCAR再分析资料,采用非滤波方法提取10~30 d低频成分,分析了1979—2011年中国低频气温及与之关联的大气环流特征,着重讨论了乌拉尔山环流对中国冬季地面低频气温的影响。结果表明:1)全国气温第一模态呈现全国大部偏冷(暖)的空间分布型;典型年气温10~30 d低频方差贡献率占30%以上。2)北大西洋到极地、乌拉尔山及贝加尔湖地区环流异常与中国冬季气温异常显著相关。当极涡偏弱或北大西洋涛动(North Atlantic Oscillation,NAO)正异常,乌拉尔山地区高压脊偏强时,有利于地面贝加尔湖附近的冷高压加强,使中国冬季气温偏冷;反之亦然。3)中国冬季低频气温与乌拉尔山环流密切相关,且当乌拉尔山环流异常超前约15 d时,两者相关关系最好。即乌拉尔山高度场的加强有利于乌拉尔山高压脊及西伯利亚高压加强,对应东亚冬季风加强,导致中国冬季气温偏低。     

The influence of the Madden-Julian oscillation on high-latitude surface air temperature during boreal winter

By analyzing NCEP-NCAR reanalysis daily data for 1979–2016, the modulation by Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) of the wintertime surface air temperature (SAT) over high latitude is examined. The real-time multivariate MJO (RMM) index, which divides the MJO into eight phases, is used. It is found that a significantly negative SAT anomaly over the northern high latitude region of (180°–60 °W, 60°–90 °N) lags the MJO convection for 1∼2 weeks in phase 3, in which the enhanced convective activity exists over the Indian Ocean. While a significantly positive SAT anomaly appears over the same region following the MJO phase 7, as the tropical heating shows an opposite sign. Analysis of the anomalous circulation indicates that the observed SAT signal is probably a result of the northeastward propagating Rossby wave train triggered by MJO-related tropical forcing through Rossby wave energy dispersion. By using an anomalous atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM), the significant effect of tropical forcing on organizing the extratropical circulation anomaly is confirmed. Analysis of a temperature tendency equation further reveals that the intraseasonal SAT anomaly is primarily attributed to the advection of the mean temperature by the wind anomaly associated with the anomalous circulation of the MJO-related variability.     

Future trend of extreme value distributions of wintertime surface air temperatures over Korea and the associated physical changes

Daily winter temperatures in Korea have been analyzed via CSEOF analysis. Then, each PC time series was detrended and was fitted to an AR (autoregressive) model. Based on the identified AR model, an artificial time series of arbitrary length can be generated by using an arbitrary white-noise time series. In this way, one hundred new sets of PC time series were generated over the period of 1973–2058. Then, the trend for each PC time series was added back to the artificial PC time series extending the trend until 2058. Ultimately, artificial daily winter temperatures in Korea have been constructed by using the artificial PC time series and the original loading vectors derived from the observational data. The 100 new data sets have been investigated in order to understand the winter temperature variability 50 years into the future. Regression analysis in CSEOF space shows that temperature increase in Korea is associated with increased 850-hPa air temperature over most of the Asian domain (97°-153°E × 22°-73°N) and increased 850-hPa geopotential height in the southern part of the domain. As a result, southerly and southeasterly wind anomalies develop carrying positive temperature anomalies northward and northwestward. Both the 200-hPa air temperature and geopotential height changes indicate that there will be fairly significant northward shift of the jet stream in future. The standard deviation of the 200-hPa potential vorticity increases implying that shortwave trough and henceforth baroclinic instability will increase in future. Finally, GEV (Generalized Extreme Value) distribution and GPD (Generalized Pareto distribution) distribution have been compared between the observational records and the future records of the same length. The extreme value distributions based on the synthetic datasets show that warm extreme events will be more extreme in future and cold extreme events, on the other hand, will be less extreme. This study provides an estimate of future temperatures based on the observational data and serves as an independent baseline solution for comparisons with numerical model solutions.     

Impacts of land surface and sea surface temperatures on the onset date of the South China Sea summer monsoon

The present study analyzes the differences in spatial and temporal variations of surface temperatures between early and late onset years of the South China Sea summer monsoon (SCSSM). It is found that when the land surface temperature north of 40^oN is lower (higher) and the sea surface temperature over the South China Sea-western North Pacific (SCS-WNP) is higher (lower) in winter, the onset of the SCSSM begins earlier (later). When the land surface temperature north of 40^oN is higher (lower) and the sea surface temperature over the SCS-WNP is lower (higher) in spring, the onset of the SCSSM occurs earlier (later). The reason why the anomalies of the land surface temperatures north of 40^oN can influence the atmospheric circulation is investigated by analysis of the wind and temperature fields. In order to verify the mechanisms of influence over the land and sea surface temperature distribution patterns and test the ability of the p-σ regional climate model (p-σ RCM9) to simulate the SCSSM onset, three types of years with early, normal, and late SCSSM onset are selected and the SCSSM regimes are numerically simulated. According to the results obtained from five sensitive experiments, when the land surface temperature is higher in the eastern part, north of 40^oN, and lower in the western part, north of 40^oN, and it rises faster in the eastern coastal regions and the Indian Peninsula, while the sea surface temperatures over the SCS-WNP are lower, the early onset of the SCSSM can be expected.     

Climate variability of cold surge and its impact on the air quality of Taiwan

Climate change has been receiving wide attention in the last few decades. In order to quantify the climate variability of extreme weather events and their possible impacts on weather parameters and air quality, cold surge events in the past 45 years and the difference in characteristics of air pollutants before and after frontal passage has been examined after December 1993 in Taiwan. The potential impact of climate change on air pollutant concentration and its health implication were presented and discussed. In the past 45 years, the cold surge days (about 18.7 days, or 0.42 day/year) decreased significantly and the average lowest daily temperature for winter in northern Taiwan increased nearly 3°C (0.067°C/year). Based on the definition of cold surge in Taiwan and excluding the stagnation frontal passage, 21 cold surge frontal passage (CSFP) cases and 89 common frontal passage (CFP) events in winter (December–February) were identified in the past 12 years (1993–2005). We take the frontal passage day as the baseline and the differences in air pollutant concentrations and weather-related parameters between the two days before and after the frontal passage days were examined for each case. The averages of the above-mentioned differences during CSFP were compared to the corresponding differences during CFP. During CSFP, the air temperatures after the frontal passage were nearly 4–6°C lower than before the passage at both the background windward stations and urban stations. The average wind speed was about 4–5 m/s higher at the windward stations and less than 2 m/s higher in the major urban areas in Taiwan. During CFP, there was a 2°C increase in temperature but 1 m/s decrease in wind speeds on the day after frontal passage. Because of these meteorological differences, the concentration change of air pollutants during CSFP is significantly greater than that during CFP, especially for PM₁₀ concentration. The difference of PM₁₀ concentration during CSFP can be as large as 20–40 μg/m³ while that during CFP is only about 10 μg/m³. The differences in the other air pollutants such as CO, SO₂, and O₃ during CSFP are greater than those during CFP, but the difference is insignificant. Under the warming trend, less frequent CSFP’s are expected; the impacts on deterioration of air quality and human health are noteworthy.     

The Characteristics of Cold Air Outbreaks over the Eastern Highlands of Kenya

Summary Climatological statistics of extreme temperature events over Kenya are established from the analysis of daily and monthly maximum temperatures for a representative station (Nairobi Dagoretti Corner) over the period 1956–1997. The months of June to August were shown to be the coldest with a mean monthly maximum temperature of less than 22 °C. Seasonal (June to August) mean maximum temperature was 21.5 °C. Using this seasonal mean temperature for the period 1967–1997 delineated 1968 as the coldest year in this series and 1983 as the warmest year. Spectral analysis of the seasonal data, for both the coldest and the warmest years, revealed that the major periods were the quasi-biweekly (10 days) and the Intraseasonal Oscillations (23 days). Secondary peaks occurred at periods of 4–6 and 2.5–3.5 days. A temperature threshold of 16.7 °C during July was used to define cold air outbreaks over Nairobi. This threshold temperature of 16.7 °C was obtained from the mean July maximum temperature (20.9 °C) minus two standard deviations. Notable trends include a decrease in the frequency of station-days, between 1956 and 1997, with temperatures less than 16.7 °C during July. Surface pressure patterns indicate that the origin of the cold air is near latitude 25° S and to the east of mainland South Africa. The cold air near 25° S is advected northwards ahead of the surface pressure ridge. Received July 19, 1999 Revised January 11, 2000     

北京气候中心气候模式1.1版预估中亚地区未来50年地面气温时空变化特征

利用IPCC AR5中BCC-CSM1.1(Beijing Climate Center Climate System Model version 1.1)的历史试验和4类典型 排放路径情景下未来预估试验结果, 在使用CRU(Climatic Research Unit)资料验证BCC-CSM1.1性能的基础上, 采用趋势分 析、滑动平均以及经验正交函数(EOF)等方法, 研究2011-2060年中亚地区年平均气温的时空演变特征。与CRU 资料的对 比分析发现BCC-CSM1.1能较好地模拟过去109a(1901-2009年)中亚地区气温的显着上升趋势及气候态的空间分布特征。 预估试验结果表明, 中亚地区在未来50a整体呈现变暖趋势, 并且, 随着温室气体排放浓度的升高, 气温的升高趋势愈加明 显, 同时增温显着区域也明显增大。经验正交函数分解主要模态还是延续过去的分布特征:经验正交函数分解第1模态及其 所对应的时间系数显示中亚地区年平均地面气温在未来50a(2011-2060年)呈现出全场一致的升高趋势, 升高强度随着温 室气体排放浓度的增加而增强, 进一步的分析表明, 不同典型排放路径下预估的未来50a中亚地区年平均地面气温的经验正 交函数分解第1模态在中亚上空850hPa等压面上均对应有一个反气旋(气旋)性异常环流, 在这个异常环流控制下, 中亚地 区年平均地面气温变化表现为全场一致的特征。经验正交函数分解第2模态呈现出中亚地区地面气温变化南北反位相的基 本特征, 相应的时间系数主要表现为小幅度波动, 变化趋势特征不明显。