Ranking Regional Drought Events in China for 1960--2009

The spatiotemporal variations of the site and regional droughts in China during 1960–2009 were analyzed by applying a daily composite-drought index (CDI) to 722 stations in mainland China. Droughts frequently happened in a zone extended from Southwest China to the Yellow River, North China, and the southwestern part of Northeast China, with two centers of high frequency in North China and Southwest China. In Southwest and South China, droughts tend to happen during the winter. In North China and along the Yellow River, droughts mainly occur during the winter and during May–June. During the past 50 years, the geographical distribution of site drought events showed high frequencies (0.9–1.3 times per year) in the upper Yellow River basin and North China, comparing with moderate frequencies (0.6–0.9 times per year) in Southwest China and the southwestern part of Northeast China and with lower frequencies over the middle and lower Yangtze River basin. And the frequencies increased over mainland China except for the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. A regional drought (RD) event is a widespread and persistent event that covers at least five adjacent sites and lasts for at least 10 days. There were 252 RD events in the past 50 years—five times per year. Most RD events lasted for <100 days and covered <100 stations, but the longest and largest RD event lasted for 307 days from 6 September 1998 to 9 July 1999 and covered 327 stations from North to Southwest China.     

Identifying Regional Prolonged Low Temperature Events in China

This study examined regional prolonged low temperature (PLT) events in China from the observational station data for the period 1960–2008 using the new criteria. The new definition of a site PLT event is that the daily minimum temperature does not exceed the 10th percentile threshold of the local daily minimum temperature climatology for at least 5 days at a station. The regional PLT event is defined as at least five adjacent stations exhibiting site PLT simultaneously for >5 d. Under the new definition, 552 regional PLT events were identified, and three indices: duration, extent, and intensity, as well as a comprehensive index (CI) were used to quantify the event severity. In addition, geographical patterns and temporal variations of regional PLT events were investigated using three event categories: strong, moderate, and weak. Spatially, strong events were mainly located in the north of Xinjiang and along the Yangtze River to the south of the Yangtze River; moderate events occurred in Xinjiang and south of the Yangtze River; and weak events occurred south of the Yellow River. The variation for the annual frequency of regional PLT events in China in the last 49 years showed a significant decreasing trend with a rate of-1.99 times per decade, and the significant transition decade was the 1980s.     

THE FLUCTUATIONS OF DRY AND WET CLIMATE BOUNDARY AND ITS CAUSAL ANALYSES IN CHINA*

Based on yearly precipitation and Φ20 evaporation pan data during 1951 to 1999 of 295 stations,the aridity index is calculated in this paper.According to the aridity index,the climatic regions in China are divided into three types:the arid zone,the semi-arid zone and the humid zone. Isoline 0.20 is the boundary between arid and semi-arid zones.Isoline 0.50 is the boundary between semi-arid and humid zones.The fluctuations of dry and wet climate boundaries are very substantial,have greatly regional difference,and have the features of the whole shifting along the same direction and of the opposite moving along the contrary direction over the past 50 years.The semi-arid zone is a transitional zone between humid and arid zones,a border belt of monsoon,and a susceptible zone of environmental evolution in China. In the period of the late 1960s to the early 1970s,remarkable change had occurred for dry and wet climate in China.It manifests significantly that climate is from wetter into drought in most regions of northern China.Moreover,drought has an increasing trend.The fluctuations of climatic boundaries and the dry and wet variations in climate have substantial inter-decadal features. The main factors affecting the dry and wet climate boundary fluctuations and the dry and wet variations of climate in China are East Asian summer monsoon,Indian Monsoon,plateau monsoon in the Tibetan Plateau,westerly circulation,and West Pacific subtropical high.The different types of circulations and the strong and weak combinations of these circulations result in the regional differences of dry and wet climate changes in China.Inter-decadal variations of the dry and wet climate boundary fluctuations and of the arid and humid climate result from the inter-decadal changes of East Asian summer monsoon,Indian Monsoon,plateau monsoon,westerly circulation, and West Pacific subtropical high.The anomalous general atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere during the late 1960s to the early 1970s is the causes of arid and humid climate remarkable change in China.     

Characteristics and Changes of Cold Surge Events over China during 1960-2007

This paper demonstrates regional characteristics, a long-term decreasing trend, and decadal variations in the frequency of cold surge events based on daily mean temperature and daily minimum temperature data in mainland China from 1960 to 2008. During these 48 years, four high frequency centers of cold surge events were located in Xinjiang, central North China, northeast China, and southeast China. A main frequency peak of cold surge events occurs in autumn for the four regions and another peak is detected in spring over northeast China and southeast China. The regional pattern of cold surge frequencies is in accordance with the perturbation kinetic energy distribution in October-December, January, and February-April. The long-term decreasing trend （-0.2 times/decade） of cold surge frequencies in northeast China and decadal variations in China are related to the variations of the temperature difference between southern and northern China in the winter monsoon season; these variations are due to the significant rising of winter temperatures in high latitudes.     

Changes in Regional Heavy Rainfall Events in China during 1961–2012

A new technique for identifying regional climate events, the Objective Identification Technique for Regional Extreme Events(OITREE), was applied to investigate the characteristics of regional heavy rainfall events in China during the period1961–2012. In total, 373 regional heavy rainfall events(RHREs) were identified during the past 52 years. The East Asian summer monsoon(EASM) had an important influence on the annual variations of China's RHRE activities, with a significant relationship between the intensity of the RHREs and the intensity of the Mei-yu. Although the increase in the frequency of those RHREs was not significant, China experienced more severe and extreme regional rainfall events in the 1990 s. The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the northern part of South China were the regions in the country most susceptible to extreme precipitation events. Some stations showed significant increasing trends in the southern part of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the northern part of South China, while parts of North China, regions between Guangxi and Guangdong, and northern Sichuan showed decreasing trends in the accumulated intensity of RHREs.The spatial distribution of the linear trends of events' accumulated intensity displayed a similar so-called "southern flooding and northern drought" pattern over eastern China in recent decades.     

Characteristics of the Regional Meteorological Drought Events in Southwest China During 1960–2010

An objective identification technique for regional extreme events(OITREE) and the daily compositedrought index(CI) at 101 stations in Southwest China(including Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Chongqing)are used to detect regional meteorological drought events between 1960 and 2010. Values of the parameters of the OITREE method are determined. A total of 87 drought events are identified, including 9 extreme events. The 2009–2010 drought is the most serious in Southwest China during the past 50 years. The regional meteorological drought events during 1960–2010 generally last for 10–80 days, with the longest being 231days. Droughts are more common from November to next April, and less common in the remaining months.Droughts occur more often and with greater intensity in Yunnan and southern Sichuan than in other parts of Southwest China. Strong(extreme and severe) regional meteorological drought events can be divided into five types. The southern type has occurred most frequently, and Yunnan is the area most frequently stricken by extreme and severe drought events. The regional meteorological drought events in Southwest China have increased in both frequency and intensity over the study period, and the main reason appears to be a significant decrease in precipitation over this region, but a simultaneous increase in temperature also contributes.     

Changes in Daily Climate Extremes of Observed Temperature and Precipitation in China

Daily precipitation for 1960–2011 and maximum/minimum temperature extremes for 1960–2008 recorded at 549 stations in China are utilized to investigate climate extreme variations.A set of indices is derived and analyzed with a main focus on the trends and variabilities of daily extreme occurrences.Results show significant increases in daily extreme warm temperatures and decreases in daily extreme cold temperatures,defined as the number of days in which daily maximum temperature(Tmax)and daily minimum temperature(Tmin)are greater than the 90th percentile and less than the10th percentile,respectively.Generally,the trend magnitudes are larger in indices derived from Tmin than those from Tmax.Trends of percentile-based precipitation indices show distinct spatial patterns with increases in heavy precipitation events,defined as the top 95th percentile of daily precipitation,in western and northeastern China and in the low reaches of the Yangtze River basin region,and slight decreases in other areas.Light precipitation,defined as the tail of the5th percentile of daily precipitation,however,decreases in most areas.The annual maximum consecutive dry days(CDD)show an increasing trend in southern China and the middle-low reach of the Yellow River basin,while the annual maximum consecutive wet days(CWD)displays a downtrend over most regions except western China.These indices vary significantly with regions and seasons.Overall,occurrences of extreme events in China are more frequent,particularly the night time extreme temperature,and landmasses in China become warmer and wetter.     

Ranking Regional Drought Events in China for 1960-2009

The spatiotemporal variations of the site and regional droughts in China during 1960–2009 were analyzed by applying a daily composite-drought index (CDI) to 722 stations in mainland China. Droughts frequently happened in a zone extended from Southwest China to the Yellow River, North China, and the southwestern part of Northeast China, with two centers of high frequency in North China and Southwest China. In Southwest and South China, droughts tend to happen during the winter. In North China and along the Y...     

Interdecadal variability of temperature and precipitation in China since 1880

Reconstruction of a homogeneous temperature and precipitation series for China is crucial for a proper understanding of climate change over China. The annual mean temperature anomaly series of ten regions are found from 1880 to 2002. Positive anomalies over China during the 1920s and 1940s are noticeable.The linear trend for the period of 1880-2002 is 0.58℃ (100a)^-1, which is a little less than the global mean (0.60℃ (100a)^-l). 1998 was the warmest year in China since 1880, which is in agreement with theestimation of the global mean temperature. The mean precipitation on a national scale depends mainly on the precipitation over East China. Variations of precipitation in West China show some characteristics which are independent of those in the east. However, the 1920s was the driest decade not only for the east, but also for eastern West China during the last 120 years. The most severe drought on a national scale occurred in 1928. Severe droughts also occurred in 1920, 1922, 1926, and 1929 in North China.It is noticeable that precipitation over East China was generally above normal in the 1950s and 1990s;severe floods along the Yangtze River in 1954, 1991, and 1998 only occurred in these two wet decades.An increasing trend in precipitation variations is observed during the second half of the 20th century in West China, but a similar trend is not found in East China, where the 20- to 40-year periodicities are predominant in the precipitation variations.     

Temperature and Precipitation Changes in China During the Holocene

We review here proxy records of temperature and precipitation in China during the Holocene, especially the last two millennia. The quality of proxy data, methodology of reconstruction, and uncertainties in reconstruction were emphasized in comparing different temperature and precipitation reconstruction and clarifying temporal and spatial patterns of temperature and precipitation during the Holocene. The Holocene climate was generally warm and wet. The warmest period occurred in 9.6-6.2 cal ka BP, whereas a period of maximum monsoon precipitation started at about 11.0 cal ka BP and lasted until about 8.0-5.0 cal ka BP. There were a series of millennial-scale cold or dry events superimposed on the general trend of climate changes. During past two millennia, a warming trend in the 20th century was clearly detected, but the warming magnitude was smaller than the maximum level of the Medieval Warm Period and the Middle Holocene. Cold conditions occurred over the whole of China during the Little Ice Age （AD 1400-AD 1900）, but the warming of the Medieval Warm Period （AD 900-AD 1300） was not distinct in China, especially west China. The spatial pattern of precipitation showed significant regional differences in China, especially east China. The modern warm period has lasted 20 years from 1987 to 2006. Bi-decadal oscillation in precipitation variability was apparent over China during the 20th century. Solar activity and volcanic eruptions both were major forcings governing the climate variability during the last millennium.     

秋季西沙非台风强降水天气形势分析

利用西沙永兴岛、珊瑚岛的日降水量资料、欧洲中期数值预报中心再分析资料,以及热带气旋最佳路径资料,统计分析了西沙地区降水的气候特征,并用REOF和K-means聚类相结合的合成分析方法,对9-10月该地区非台强降水过程的环流形势进行分类。结果表明:(1)西沙地区在12月到次年4月降水少而在5-11月降水多,降水量最多为9和10月;(2)9-10月西沙地区非台强降水过程的环流形势可分为西南季风槽型、季风槽与冷空气结合型和强冷空气型等三类,其中西南季风槽型主要出现在20世纪90年代的9月,强冷空气型主要出现在10月并在90年代以后明显增多,这主要与南海季风槽在90年代偏活跃,冷空气活动在90年代以后偏强有关。     

Climatic regime shift and decadal anomalous events in China

Climatic time series from historical documents and instrumental records from China showed temporal and regional patterns in the last two to three centuries, including two multidecadal oscillations at quasi-20-year and quasi-70-year timescales revealed by signal analysis from wavelet transform. Climatic anomalous events on the decadal timescale were identified based on the two oscillations when their positive (or negative) phases coincide with each other to amplify amplitude. The coldest event occurred in the decade of 1965–1975 in eastern China, while the periods of 1920–1930, 1940–1950, and 1988–2000 appeared to be warmer in most parts of China. For the precipitation series in northern China, the dry anomalous event was found in the late 1920s, while the wet anomalous event occurred in the 1950s. A severe drought in 1927–1929 in northern China coincided with the anomalous warm and dry decade, caused large-scale famine in nine provinces over northern China. Climatic anomalous events with a warm-dry or cold-wet association in the physical climate system would potentially cause severe negative impacts on natural ecosystem in the key vulnerable region over northern China. The spatial pattern of summer rainfall anomalies in the eastern China monsoon region showed an opposite variations in phase between the Yellow River Valley (North China) and the mid-low Yangtze River Valley as well as accompanied the shift of the northernmost monsoon boundary. Climatic regime shifts for different time points in the last 200 years were identified. In North China, transitions from dry to wet periods occurred around 1800, 1875, and 1940 while the transitions from wet to dry periods appeared around 1840, 1910, and the late 1970s. The reversal transition in these time points can also be found in the lower Yangtze River. Climatic regime shifts in China were linked to the interaction of mid- and low latitude atmospheric circulations (the westerly flow and the monsoon flow) when they cross the Tibetan Plateau in East Asia.     

贵州夏季降水异常的区域特征

利用贵州省19个测站1951～2000年夏季逐月降水资料,计算了降水量的月平均（区域平均）标准化距平。并进行模糊聚类分析、经验正交函数分解（EOF）和小波分析,研究了贵州夏季降水异常的区域特征。结果表明,贵州夏季降水在近50 a中存在5个明显的气候段：20世纪50年代前期为多雨期;50年代中期到60年代前期为少雨期;60年代中后期为多雨期;70～80年代为少雨期;90年代以后进入多雨期;降水呈增多的趋势。全省一致性是贵州夏季降水的最主要特征,同时还存在区域差异。贵州夏季降水异常有5种空间分布型,即：全省旱（涝）型、东旱（涝）西涝（旱）型、南旱（涝）北涝（旱）型、中东旱（涝）西南涝（旱）型和西南旱（涝）其余涝（旱）型。各型降水具有多时间尺度振荡的特点,存在10～12 a、4～5 a、2～3 a的周期。     

Centennial-scale dry-wet variations in East Asia

This study attempts to combine four independent long-term climatic data and modern observations into one cohesive set; to describe the spatial and temporal patterns of variability of dry and wet periods in East Asia over the past one thousand years; and to examine physical causes of the pattern variations. The data include the 220-year observed precipitation in Seoul, South Korea, the dryness-wetness intensity data in eastern China for the last 530 years, and other two independent chronologies of dryness-wetness grades in the past millennium in eastern China based on instrumental observations and historical documents. Various analysis methods including wavelet transform and rotated empirical orthogonal function were used in revealing climate variations from these datasets. Major results show that the dry and wet anomalies initially appeared in the north part of eastern China and then migrated southward to affect south China. This process is repeated about every 70 years. However, in contrast in the last two decades of the twentieth century a dry situation appeared in north China and a wet climate predominated in the south part of the country. The multidecadal variations of the monsoon circulation in East Asia and the thermal contrast between inland Asia and its surrounding oceans may contribute to the dry-wet phase alternation or the migration of dry-wet anomalies. In regional scale variations, a consistent dry or wet pattern was observed spreading from the lower Yangtze River valley to South Korea. Frequencies of severe dry-wet situations were low in the eighteenth and nineteenth century and they were higher in the twentieth century. The recent increasing trend in frequencies of severe dry-wet chances occurred along with global warming and regional climatic changes in China.     

Droughts near the northern fringe of the East Asian summer monsoon in China during 1470–2003

Historical annual dry–wet index for 1470–2003 combined with instrumental precipitation since 1951 were used to identify extremely dry years and events near the northern fringe of the East Asian summer monsoon in China—the Great Bend of the Yellow River (GBYR) region. In total, 49 drought years, of which 26 were severe, were identified. Composites of the dry–wet index under the drought years show an opposite wet pattern over the Southeast China. The longest drought event lasted for 6?years (1528–1533), the second longest one 4?years (1637–1640). The most severe 2-year-long drought occurred in 1928–1929, and the two driest single years were 1900 and 1965. These persistent and extreme drought events caused severe famines and huge losses of human lives. Wavelet transform applied to the dry–wet index indicates that the severe drought years are nested in several significant dry–wet variations across multiple timescales, i.e., the 65–85?year timescale during 1600– 1800, 40–55?year timescale before 1640 and 20–35?year timescale mainly from 1550 to 1640. These timescales of dry–wet variations are discussed in relation to those forcing such as cycles of solar radiation, oscillation in the thermohaline circulation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Comparing 850?hPa winds in Asia in extremely dry and wet years, it was concluded that dry–wet variability in the GBYR region strongly depends upon whether the southerly monsoon flow can reach northern China.     

1961-2010年环渤海地区寒潮时空分布及变化特征

利用1961-2010年环渤海地区58个站的逐日平均气温、日最低气温资料,按照寒潮国家标准统计寒潮次数和寒潮强度,分析环渤海地区单站寒潮和区域寒潮的气候变化特征。结果表明：环渤海地区单站寒潮出现频次的地域差异很大,大体上呈现自北至南递减态势,年平均次数最多的为张北21次,最少的京津地区不足2次。近50 a来环渤海地区共有233次区域性寒潮,出现在当年9月至次年4月,其中11月最多。区域寒潮呈显著减少趋势。20世纪60-70年代区域性寒潮事件频发,80年代开始明显减少并在1983年出现了突变。区域特强寒潮不多,20世纪60年代出现了2次,自70年开始特强寒潮平均每个年代出现1次。在气候变暖背景下,环渤海地区区域寒潮次数明显减少,但特强寒潮亦极端寒潮事件并未减少。     

中国近54年来夏季极端降水事件特征研究

利用1960~2013年中国6~8月无缺测的571站逐日降水资料,定义7个极端降水指数,研究中国夏季极端降水事件特征。结果表明:(1)极端降水事件空间分布存在明显的区域性差异,长江中下游地区、华南地区、西北地区表现为增加趋势,东北地区、华北地区、西南部分地区表现为减少趋势;时间分布表现出具有显著的年际和年代际变化特征,极端降水事件有增加趋势,在20世纪90年代初期有明显转折。(2)M-K检验表现出极端降水事件在20世纪90年代初发生突变,突变前(后)偏弱(强)。(3)极端降水指数周期振荡不完全一致,准15年周期振荡为主,其次是准7年周期,最强振动出现在1998年。(4)除持续干期指数外,其他极端降水指数间存在较好的相关性。     

中国生态脆弱区高温热浪和干旱历史变化特征分析北大核心CSCD

高温热浪和干旱是影响陆地生态系统最主要的极端天气气候事件。已有关于中国高温热浪和干旱历史变化的定量研究主要针对全国范围、地理分区或单一区域,对于我国生态脆弱区相关极端事件的历史变化特征尚不清楚。本文利用中国CN05.1格点化观测数据集中的日最高气温观测资料和全球逐月标准化降水蒸发指数格点数据,分析了中国典型生态脆弱区1980~2014年发生的高温热浪和干旱的时空变化特征。结果表明:1980~2014年中国生态脆弱区的年高温日数和热浪次数整体呈增加趋势,两者变化趋势的空间分布类似。在空间分布上,高温热浪显著增加的区域主要位于北方生态脆弱区的中部和西部以及南方生态脆弱区的东部。其中,高温热浪增长显著的面积比率在西南岩溶山地石漠化脆弱区最高,在南方农牧脆弱区最低。区域平均来看,除南方农牧脆弱区较少发生高温热浪外,各脆弱区高温日数和热浪次数均呈现增加趋势,且除北方农牧林草区外,其余脆弱区增加趋势显著。北方生态脆弱区高温和热浪的发生频率和年际变化在20世纪90年代中期起均迅速增加。此外,中国生态脆弱区东部多呈现变干趋势且中等和极端干旱发生月数增多,其余地区则多变湿且极端干旱发生月数减少;区域平均来看,除西南岩溶山地石漠化脆弱区区域平均的干旱发生月数呈现显著增加趋势以外,其他区域的干湿和干旱发生月数的变化趋势小且不显著。     

江西省春夏季强对流天气气候特征

利用1960—2007年江西省87个地面气象站常规观测资料,对江西冰雹、雷雨大风（风速≥17m/s）和强降水（雨强≥30mm/h）3种强对流天气气候特征进行统计分析。结果表明,冰雹、雷雨大风和短时强降水年平均发生次数分别为13.7、181.4、123.8站次。冰雹和雷雨大风有明显的月际变化,冰雹站次峰值在3—4月,占总数的79.1%。雷雨大风站次有2个峰值,分别在7—8月和4—5月,占总数的44.3%和31.7%,且4月全省10站以上的大范围雷雨大风日数最多。自1990年以后,冰雹和雷雨大风呈逐年减少趋势。短时强降水主要出现在6—8月,占总数的70.3%,大范围短时强降水过程日数8月最多。在地理分布特征上,冰雹丘陵、山区多,平原少,赣东北最少,并有6个冰雹多发区;雷雨大风东多西少,平原和河谷或峡谷地区多山区少,赣西北最少,有5个雷雨大风多发区;短时强降水东多西少,南多北少,有5个高值中心。