CMIP5 simulated change in the intensity of the Hadley and Walker circulations from the perspective of velocity potential

Based on the simulations of 31 global models in CMIP5, the performance of the models in simulating the Hadley and Walker circulations is evaluated. In addition, their change in intensity by the end of the 21 st century(2080–2099) under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, relative to 1986–2005, is analyzed from the perspective of 200 h Pa velocity potential.Validation shows good performance of the individual CMIP5 models and the multi-model ensemble mean(MME) in reproducing the meridional(zonal) structure and magnitude of Hadley(Walker) circulation. The MME can also capture the observed strengthening tendency of the winter Hadley circulation and weakening tendency of the Walker circulation. Such secular trends can be simulated by 39% and 74% of the models, respectively. The MME projection indicates that the winter Hadley circulation and the Walker circulation will weaken under both scenarios by the end of the 21 st century. The weakening amplitude is larger under RCP8.5 than RCP4.5, due to stronger external forcing. The majority of the CMIP5 models show the same projection as the MME. However, for the summer Hadley circulation, the MME shows little change under RCP4.5 and large intermodel spread is apparent. Around half of the models project an increase, and the other half project a decrease. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the MME and 65% of the models project a weakening of the summer southern Hadley circulation.     

气候系统模式对Hadley环流的模拟和未来变化预估

针对全球变暖背景下未来Hadley环流将如何变化这一问题,评估了气候系统模式对1970~1999年Hadley环流时空特征的模拟效能,并在此基础上选取能合理模拟Hadley环流空间结构、强度指数和边界指数变化的3个模式,通过多模式集合方法预估了未来Hadley环流在A1B排放情景下的可能演变。预估结果表明,在全球变暖背景下,相比于1970~1999年,到本世纪末期(2070~2099年),北半球Hadley环流在4个季节都将减弱,春季变化幅度相对较弱;南半球Hadley环流在冬季和夏季也会减弱,而在春季和秋季的变化不明显。另外,北半球Hadley环流的北边界除在夏季向南收缩外,在其它3个季节均向北伸展;南半球Hadley环流的南边界在4个季节均向极地方向移动。两个半球的Hadley环流在垂直方向还将向对流层上层伸展。       

中国CMIP5模式对未来北极海冰的模拟偏差

本文对中国参加CMIP5的6个气候模式对未来北极海冰的模拟情况进行了评估。通过与1979-2005年海冰的观测值以及2050年代的多模式集合平均值对比发现,中国的气候模式对海冰范围的模拟结果与CMIP5模式的平均水平存在一定差距,具体表现为：BNU-ESM和FGOALS-s2对当前海冰范围估计很好,但对温度敏感性略偏高;FIO-ESM对当前海冰范围估计很好,但由于海冰对温度的敏感性偏低,导致其模拟的未来海冰在各种RCP情景中都融化缓慢;FGOALS-g2（BCC-CSM1-1和BCC-CSM1-1-m）对当前海冰范围的模拟存在显著偏多（显著偏少）的问题,这导致其对未来海冰融化的估计也持续偏多（偏少）。中国模式对北极海冰的模拟偏差导致它们对极区地表大气温度和湿度的模拟出现偏差,并且这些极区气象要素的偏差会进一步通过动力过程传导到对秋、冬季西风带、极涡的模拟中去。研究表明：从对海冰本身的模拟以及海冰偏差带来的气候影响这两个角度看,BNU-ESM在中国模式中水平较高,但总体上中国6个气候模式在海冰分量的模拟上仍与世界平均水平存在差距,这需要中国各模式中心的持续改进。     

Hadley环流强度与中国东部气温的相关分析

利用NCEP / NCAR再分析月平均风场资料和国家气候中心提供的中国160个气象站的月平均气温资料,选用质量流函数计算方法描述平均经圈环流,用环流中心值大小表征其强度,分析1951-2010年Hadley环流强度趋势变化及其与中国东部气温的关系。结果表明：质量流函数能较好地表征平均经圈环流特征,且环流中心值大小能形象地反映环流强度。近60 a来,冬季北半球Hadley环流强度呈线性增强的趋势;夏季南半球Hadley环流强度在20世纪80年代初发生了由减弱趋势转变为显著增强趋势的年代际转折。中国东部大部分地区气温的年代际变化能很好地被Hadley环流强度变化解释,二者呈正相关关系,但显著相关区域随季节变化有所不同。     

Recent Strengthening of the Regional Hadley Circulation over the Western Pacific during Boreal Spring

Previous studies suggested that there are large discrepancies in the intensity trend of the zonally averaged Hadley circulation (ZAHC) among different reanalyses. As the land, ocean, and topography are not evenly distributed, the ZAHC may mask the regional variability. Changes in the regional HC have important implications for regional climate change. Here, we detect the long-term trend of the boreal spring regional Hadley circulation intensity over the western Pacific (WPHC) since 1979 in both hemispheres using six reanalysis datasets. Unlike the ZAHC, we find that the trend of the spring WPHC intensity is consistent among various reanalysis datasets. All reanalyses show pronounced strengthening trends for the WPHC in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, which may be partly attributable to the robust warming trends of sea surface temperature in the tropical western Pacific. The result could improve our understanding of Hadley circulation variability at the regional scale and has implications for regional climate changes.     

Predictability of the western North Pacific summer climate demonstrated by the coupled models of ENSEMBLES

The Asian monsoon system, including the western North Pacific (WNP), East Asian, and Indian monsoons, dominates the climate of the Asia-Indian Ocean-Pacific region, and plays a significant role in the global hydrological and energy cycles. The prediction of monsoons and associated climate features is a major challenge in seasonal time scale climate forecast. In this study, a comprehensive assessment of the interannual predictability of the WNP summer climate has been performed using the 1-month lead retrospective forecasts (hindcasts) of five state-of-the-art coupled models from ENSEMBLES for the period of 1960–2005. Spatial distribution of the temporal correlation coefficients shows that the interannual variation of precipitation is well predicted around the Maritime Continent and east of the Philippines. The high skills for the lower-tropospheric circulation and sea surface temperature (SST) spread over almost the whole WNP. These results indicate that the models in general successfully predict the interannual variation of the WNP summer climate. Two typical indices, the WNP summer precipitation index and the WNP lower-tropospheric circulation index (WNPMI), have been used to quantify the forecast skill. The correlation coefficient between five models’ multi-model ensemble (MME) mean prediction and observations for the WNP summer precipitation index reaches 0.66 during 1979–2005 while it is 0.68 for the WNPMI during 1960–2005. The WNPMI-regressed anomalies of lower-tropospheric winds, SSTs and precipitation are similar between observations and MME. Further analysis suggests that prediction reliability of the WNP summer climate mainly arises from the atmosphere–ocean interaction over the tropical Indian and the tropical Pacific Ocean, implying that continuing improvement in the representation of the air–sea interaction over these regions in CGCMs is a key for long-lead seasonal forecast over the WNP and East Asia. On the other hand, the prediction of the WNP summer climate anomalies exhibits a remarkable spread resulted from uncertainty in initial conditions. The summer anomalies related to the prediction spread, including the lower-tropospheric circulation, SST and precipitation anomalies, show a Pacific-Japan or East Asia-Pacific pattern in the meridional direction over the WNP. Our further investigations suggest that the WNPMI prediction spread arises mainly from the internal dynamics in air–sea interaction over the WNP and Indian Ocean, since the local relationships among the anomalous SST, circulation, and precipitation associated with the spread are similar to those associated with the interannual variation of the WNPMI in both observations and MME. However, the magnitudes of these anomalies related to the spread are weaker, ranging from one third to a half of those anomalies associated with the interannual variation of the WNPMI in MME over the tropical Indian Ocean and subtropical WNP. These results further support that the improvement in the representation of the air–sea interaction over the tropical Indian Ocean and subtropical WNP in CGCMs is a key for reducing the prediction spread and for improving the long-lead seasonal forecast over the WNP and East Asia.     

CMIP5/AMIP GCM simulations of East Asian summer monsoon

The East Asian summer monsoon （EASM） is a distinctive component of the Asian climate system and critically influences the economy and society of the region.To understand the ability of AGCMs in capturing the major features of EASM,10 models that participated in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project/Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project （CMIP5/AMIP）,which used observational SST and sea ice to drive AGCMs during the period 1979-2008,were evaluated by comparing with observations and AMIP Ⅱ simulations.The results indicated that the multi-model ensemble （MME） of CMIP5/AMIP captures the main characteristics of precipitation and monsoon circulation,and shows the best skill in EASM simulation,better than the AMIP Ⅱ MME.As for the Meiyu/Changma/Baiyu rainbelt,the intensity of rainfall is underestimated in all the models.The biases are caused by a weak western Pacific subtropical high （WPSH） and accompanying eastward southwesterly winds in group Ⅰ models,and by a too strong and west-extended WPSH as well as westerly winds in group Ⅱ models.Considerable systematic errors exist in the simulated seasonal migration of rainfall,and the notable northward jumps and rainfall persistence remain a challenge for all the models.However,the CMIP5/AMIP MME is skillful in simulating the western North Pacific monsoon index （WNPMI）.     

热带太平洋、印度洋海温异常对处于厄尔尼诺事件成熟期的东亚Hadley环流的影响

分析了热带太平洋El Nino事件和热带印度洋海盆一致的暖海温异常事件（记为暖海盆模态）与东亚Hadley环流的关系及海温异常对东亚Hadley环流的影响。结果表明：（1）东亚Hadley环流与El Nino循环的关系密切,El Nino事件从开始到消亡的不同位相期,东亚地区表现为随位相变化的异常经向垂直环流,在El Nino成熟期由异常顺时针经向环流圈转换为异常逆时针经向环流圈,意味着东亚Hadley环流圈的显著减弱。（2）冬季Nino3指数、赤道印度洋海盆一致型模态指数（IOBMI）与东亚Hadley环流指数间呈负相关关系,相关系数分别为-0.42、-0.39,远超过0.01信度的显著性检验,表明当El Nino事件和印度洋暖海盆模事件发生时,东亚Hadley环流减弱。模拟结果与诊断分析结果一致。（3）鉴于印度洋海盆模态和太平洋El Nino事件的密切联系,在考虑冬季东亚Hadley环流变化时,应考虑El Nino事件和印度洋海盆一致型海温异常事件的共同作用。数值试验结果表明两大洋的共同作用会产生更强的东亚异常逆时针经向垂直环流,使得东亚Hadley环流显著减弱。     

Global high resolution versus Limited Area Model climate change projections over Europe: quantifying confidence level from PRUDENCE results

Four high resolution atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs) have been integrated with the standard forcings of the PRUDENCE experiment: IPCC-SRES A2 radiative forcing and Hadley Centre sea surface temperature and sea-ice extent. The response over Europe, calculated as the difference between the 2071–2100 and the 1961–1990 means is compared with the same diagnostic obtained with nine Regional Climate Models (RCM) all driven by the Hadley Centre atmospheric GCM. The seasonal mean response for 2m temperature and precipitation is investigated. For temperature, GCMs and RCMs behave similarly, except that GCMs exhibit a larger spread. However, during summer, the spread of the RCMs—in particular in terms of precipitation—is larger than that of the GCMs. This indicates that the European summer climate is strongly controlled by parameterized physics and/or high-resolution processes. The temperature response is larger than the systematic error. The situation is different for precipitation. The model bias is twice as large as the climate response. The confidence in PRUDENCE results comes from the fact that the models have a similar response to the IPCC-SRES A2 forcing, whereas their systematic errors are more spread. In addition, GCM precipitation response is slightly but significantly different from that of the RCMs.     

一组RegCM4动力降尺度对中国群发性高温事件的模拟评估

基于高分辨率格点数据集CN05.1和区域气候模式RegCM4对4个全球气候模式动力降尺度模拟（CdR、EdR、HdR、MdR）,识别了观测和模拟的1981—2005年中国群发性高温事件（CHTE）。在此基础上,评估了模式对中国CHTE的模拟能力。结果表明：4个动力降尺度模拟以及多模式集合（MME）均能很好地模拟出中国CHTE频次、持续时间和累计强度的空间分布。不过,HdR模拟的CHTE发生次数在新疆地区略偏少,而其他3个模拟试验的CHTE次数在中国东南部略偏多。观测中CHTE持续时间、极端强度、累计强度、最大影响面积、平均影响面积、综合强度等的频率分布规律均能被合理再现。MME也能很好模拟观测揭示的CHTE综合强度以及频次、持续时间、强度、影响面积等单项指标的上升趋势。单模式成员亦可再现大多数指标的上升趋势,但也存在一定不足,如EdR模拟的CHTE综合强度呈减弱趋势,MdR模拟的CHTE频次和极端强度呈弱的下降趋势。     

1948-2004年全球平均Hadley环流强度指数与特征

利用NCEP/NCAR逐月平均风场资料,研究了全球平均Hadley环流特征.利用3层4个关键区的风定义并计算了1948年1月-2004年12月的全球纬向平均的南/北半球和全球Hadley环流逐月强度指数.结果表明:计算的Hadley环流指数可以合理地表示Hadley环流的强度;北半球Hadley环流除7-9月(南半球除5月)外都呈增强趋势;南/北半球的年平均Hadley环流也是增强的.年际相关分析表明:Hadley环流指数与SOI有非常高的负相关,Hadley环流强度的年际变化与ENSO关系密切.     

Responses of Grassland and Forest to Temperature and Precipitation Changes in Northeast China

Using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as an indicator of vegetation growth, we explored the characteristics and differences in the response to drought of five vegetation biomes in Northeast China, including typical steppe, desert steppe, meadow steppe, deciduous coniferous forest and deciduous broad-leaved forest during the period 1982-2009. The results indicate that growing season precipitation may be the primary vegetation growth-limiting factor in grasslands. More than 70% of the temporal variations in NDVI can be explained by the amount of precipitation during the growing season in typical and desert steppes. During the same period, the mean temperature in the growing season could explain nearly 43% of the variations in the mean growing season NDVI and is therefore a dominant growth-limiting factor for forest ecosystems. Therefore, the NDVI trends differ largely due to differences in the vegetation growth-limiting factors of the different vegetation biomes. The NDVI responses to droughts vary in magnitude and direction and depend on the drought-affected areas of the five vegetation types. Specifically, the changes in NDVI are consistent with the variations in precipitation for grassland ecosystems. A lack of precipitation resulted in decreases in NDVI, thereby reducing vegetation growth in these regions. Conversely, increasing precipitation decreased the NDVI of forest ecosystems. The results also suggest that grasslands under arid and semi-arid environments may be more sensitive to drought than forests under humid environments. Among grassland ecosystems, desert steppe was most sensitive to drought, followed by typical steppe; meadow steppe was the least sensitive.     

Assessment of the Summer South Asian High in Eighteen CMIP5 Models

The South Asian High(SAH) is one of the most important components of the Asian summer monsoon system. To understand the ability of state-of-the-art general circulation models(GCMs) to capture the major characteristics of the SAH, the authors evaluate 18 atmospheric models that participated in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5/Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP5/AMIP). Results show that the multi-model ensemble(MME) mean is able to capture the climatological pattern of the SAH, although its intensity is slightly underestimated. For the interannual variability of the SAH, the MME exhibits good correlation with the reanalysis for the area and intensity index, but poor skill in capturing the east-west oscillation of the SAH. For the interdecadal trend, the MME shows pronounced increasing trends from 1985 to 2008 for the area and intensity indexes, which is consistent with the reanalysis, but fails to capture the westward shift of the SAH center. The individual models show different capacities for capturing climatological patterns, interannual variability, and interdecadal trends of the SAH. Several models fail to capture the climatological pattern, while one model overestimates the intensity of the SAH. Most of the models show good correlations for interannual variability, but nearly half exhibit high root-mean-square difference(RMSD) values. Six models successfully capture the westward shift of the SAH center in the interdecadal trends, while other models fail. The possible causes of the systematic biases involved in several models are also discussed.     

The Hadley circulation: assessing NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and sparse in-situ estimates

 We present a comparison of the zonal mean meridional circulations derived from monthly in situ data (i.e. radiosondes and ship reports) and from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis product. To facilitate the interpretation of the results, a third estimate of the mean meridional circulation is produced by subsampling the reanalysis at the locations where radiosonde and surface ship data are available for the in situ calculation. This third estimate, known as the subsampled estimate, is compared to the complete reanalysis estimate to assess biases in conventional, in situ estimates of the Hadley circulation associated with the sparseness of the data sources (i.e., radiosonde network). The subsampled estimate is also compared to the in situ estimate to assess the biases introduced into the reanalysis product by the numerical model, initialization process and/or indirect data sources such as satellite retrievals. The comparisons suggest that a number of qualitative differences between the in situ and reanalysis estimates are mainly associated with the sparse sampling and simplified interpolation schemes associated with in situ estimates. These differences include: (1) a southern Hadley cell that consistently extends up to 200 hPa in the reanalysis, whereas the bulk of the circulation for the in situ and subsampled estimates tends to be confined to the lower half of the troposphere, (2) more well-defined and consistent poleward limits of the Hadley cells in the reanalysis compared to the in-situ and subsampled estimates, and (3) considerably less variability in magnitude and latitudinal extent of the Ferrel cells and southern polar cell exhibited in the reanalysis estimate compared to the in situ and subsampled estimates. Quantitative comparison shows that the subsampled estimate, relative to the reanalysis estimate, produces a stronger northern Hadley cell (∼20%), a weaker southern Hadley cell (∼20–60%), and weaker Ferrel cells in both hemispheres. These differences stem from poorly measured oceanic regions which necessitate significant interpolation over broad regions. Moreover, they help to pinpoint specific shortcomings in the present and previous in situ estimates of the Hadley circulation. Comparisons between the subsampled and in situ estimates suggest that the subsampled estimate produces a slightly stronger Hadley circulation in both hemispheres, with the relative differences in some seasons as large as 20–30%. 6These differences suggest that the mean meridional circulation associated with the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis is more energetic than observations suggest. Examination of ENSO-related changes to the Hadley circulation suggest that the in situ and subsampled estimates significantly overestimate the effects of ENSO on the Hadley circulation due to the reliance on sparsely distributed data. While all three estimates capture the large-scale region of low-level equatorial convergence near the dateline that occurs during El Nino, the in situ and subsampled estimates fail to effectively reproduce the large-scale areas of equatorial mass divergence to the west and east of this convergence area, leading to an overestimate of the effects of ENSO on the zonal mean circulation. Received: 16 September 1998 / Accepted: 22 April 1999     

青藏高原季风对我国西北干旱区气候的影响

基于ERA-Interim逐月再分析资料及同期高原和我国西北干旱区观测站温度与降水资料,分析高原季风与西北干旱区气候的关系,对比高原典型强弱季风年平均大尺度环流和水汽输送条件的差异,探讨高原强弱季风年西北干旱区气候差异形成的原因。研究结果表明:高原季风与我国西北干旱区气候相关关系显著;高原强弱季风年对应的大尺度环流和垂直环流系统存在明显差异;水汽条件和抬升条件好坏与降水量多寡配合得较好,即强高原季风年,高原北部边缘水汽条件和抬升条件更有利于降水,而弱高原季风年,高原北部边缘水汽条件和抬升条件偏差,对应降水量较常年同期偏少。     

Observational Evidence for Poleward Expansion of the Hadley Circulation

How the Hadley circulation changes in response to global climate change and how its change impacts upon regional and global climates has generated a lot of interest in the literature in the past few years. In this paper, consistent and statistically significant poleward expansion of the Hadley circulation in the past few decades is demonstrated, using independent observational datasets as proxy measures of the Hadley circulation. Both observational outgoing longwave radiation and precipitation datasets show an annual average total poleward expansion of the Hadley cells of about 3.6° latitude. Sea level pressure from observational and reanalysis datasets show smaller magnitudes of poleward expansion, of about 1.2° latitude. Ensemble general circulation model simulations forced by observed time-varying sea surface temperatures were found to generate a total poleward expansion of about 1.23°latitude. Possible mechanisms behind the changes in the horizontal extent of the Hadley circulation are discussed.     

The two interannual variability modes of the Western North Pacific Subtropical High simulated by 28 CMIP5–AMIP models

Using the output of the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) experiments of 28 models from the Fifth Phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), the models’ performances in the simulation of the two dominant interannual variability modes of the Western North Pacific Subtropical High (WNPSH) are investigated. In the observation, the positive phases of these two modes feature an anomalous anticyclone over the western North Pacific (WNP), but the first mode (M1) is closely connected with the sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies over the tropical Indian Ocean (TIO), the maritime continent (MC) and the equatorial central Pacific (CP), while the second mode (M2) is closely connected with the SST anomalies over the WNP. The M1 is well captured by the CMIP5–AMIP models forced by the historical SST, suggesting the M1 is an SST-forced mode. The CMIP5–AMIP models capture the close relationship of the M1 with the SST anomalies over the TIO, the MC and the CP. The forcing mechanisms of M1 in the CMIP5–AMIP models are consistent with the observation, including a Kelvin wave emanating from the TIO and a local Hadley circulation originating from the MC. Different from the high reproducibility of the M1, the M2 is only moderately reproduced by the multi-model ensemble (MME) mean of the CMIP5–AMIP models. The simulated anomalous WNPSH of the M2 is weaker and shifts southwestward in the MME and many individual models compared to the observation. Among the five anomalous WNPSH years associated with the M2, the MME captures the anomalous WNPSH only in 1993 and 1994 but not in 1980, 1981 and 1987. The partial reproducibility of the M2 by the CMIP5–AMIP models suggests the M2 is neither a pure atmospheric internal mode nor a pure SST-forced mode. The observed close relationship between the anomalous WNPSH and the WNP SST anomalies is underestimated by the CMIP5–AMIP models, suggesting the local SST–WNPSH relationship may depend on the air–sea interaction over the WNP.     

Seasonal prediction of June rainfall over South China: Model assessment and statistical downscaling

The performances of various dynamical models from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) Climate Center(APCC) multi-model ensemble(MME) in predicting station-scale rainfall in South China(SC) in June were evaluated.It was found that the MME mean of model hindcasts can skillfully predict the June rainfall anomaly averaged over the SC domain.This could be related to the MME's ability in capturing the observed linkages between SC rainfall and atmospheric large-scale circulation anomalies in the Indo-Pacific region.Further assessment of station-scale June rainfall prediction based on direct model output(DMO) over 97 stations in SC revealed that the MME mean outperforms each individual model.However,poor prediction abilities in some in-land and southeastern SC stations are apparent in the MME mean and in a number of models.In order to improve the performance at those stations with poor DMO prediction skill,a station-based statistical downscaling scheme was constructed and applied to the individual and MME mean hindcast runs.For several models,this scheme can outperform DMO at more than 30 stations,because it can tap into the abilities of the models in capturing the anomalous Indo-Paciric circulation to which SC rainfall is considerably sensitive.Therefore,enhanced rainfall prediction abilities in these models should make them more useful for disaster preparedness and mitigation purposes.     

Noah-MP陆面模式对干旱区不同下垫面水热通量模拟评估

陆面水热通量的准确模拟可为气候模式提供高质量的下边界条件，对气候模拟和预测具有重要意义。本研究基于干旱区张掖国家气候观象台2021年1月-2022年6月和大满灌区绿洲农田站2020年1-12月的观测数据，评估Noah-MP模式对干旱区荒漠和农田两种下垫面的水热通量的模拟性能。结果表明：Noah-MP模式模拟的干旱区荒漠下垫面辐射及感热和潜热通量的变化特征、峰谷值与观测值总体一致，模拟效果较好；模拟的5 cm土壤湿度对降水过程有明显的响应，表现出明显的冷暖季差异，但其模拟性能仍有待改进。Noah-MP模式对干旱区农田下垫面辐射通量及各层土壤温度的模拟效果较理想，但模拟的潜热通量及各层土壤湿度较观测值偏低，尤其在生长季模拟性能并不理想。总体而言，Noah-MP模式对干旱区荒漠下垫面水热通量的模拟性能优于农田下垫面，优化和发展模式水文过程的参数化方案，在模式中考虑人为作用，是提高干旱区陆面过程模式模拟能力的重要方向。