Inhomogeneous features in mel-yu frontal cloud system

The structure of radar echo in stratiform cloud which was found in mei-yu frontal cloud system is generally inhomogeneous, especially in the structure of bright band echoes. The inhomogeneous structure of warm region in stratiform cloud and the shower feature of precipitation are closely related to the inhomogeneous structure of bright band and convective cells embedded in stratiform cloud.During Summer time the mei-yu cloud system is an important precipitating system in the southern part of China. To study its structure is of great significance for weather forecast and understanding the physical processes of cloud and precipitation. Therefore, we have observed mei-yu frontal cloud system by use of 711 type radar (3 cm) and airplane at Tunxi, Anhui Province since 1979. It was found that the structure of stratiform cloud, especially the structure of its warm region appears to be inhomogeneous1),2). This is a significant feature of cloud structure in mei-yu frontal cloud system. In this paper, we shall further analyse this inhomogeneous structure of stratiform cloud and study its effect on the precipitation.     

Cloud Variations under Subtropical High Conditions

The cloud variations under subtropical high(STH) conditions during summers over a ten-year period are studied using combined data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction.The results reveal that clouds mainly experience an isolated evolution in the STHs,which is designated in this study by the 1540 gpm geopotential lines at 850 hPa.In the STH domain throughout the Northern Hemisphere,the average amount of total clouds exceeds 30%.Low clouds dominate in the STH domain,contributing over 60%of total cloud amount within the Pacific subtropical high and over 40%within the Atlantic subtropical high.The prevalence of low clouds in above regions is determined by the circulation pattern around 150°-180°E and 850 hPa,which suppresses both the upward development of the cloud tops and the water vapor divergences near the surface.Furthermore,clouds present great geographical incoherence within the STH domain.In the eastern STHs,the amount of middle and low clouds increases to peak in the early morning and decreases to a trough in the afternoon,while the amount of high clouds remains stable throughout the day.Conversely,in the western STHs,the diurnal amplitude of low and middle clouds is less than three,while high clouds dramatically reach the maximum in the afternoon and drop to the minimum in the evening.Among the nine cloud categories,stratocumulus clouds with greater optical thickness account for the most under STH conditions,no matter their occurrence or amount,causing more shortwave cloud radiative forcing to cool the local atmosphere and surface as a consequence.     

Extreme precipitation events identified using detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) in Anhui,China

Extreme weather events include unusual, severe or unseasonal weather, and weather at the extremes of the historical distribution. They have become more frequent and intense under global warming, especially in mid-latitude areas. They bring about great agricultural and economic losses. It is important to define the threshold of extreme weather event because it is the starting point of extreme weather event research, though it has been of seldom concern. Taking extreme precipitation events in Anhui, China as an example, the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) method is introduced to define the threshold of extreme weather events. Based on it, the spatial and temporal distributions of extreme precipitation events are analyzed. Compared to the traditional percentile method, DFA is based on the long-term correlation of time series. Thresholds calculated by DFA are much higher than the 99th percentile and the values are higher in the south and lower in the north. This spatial pattern is similar to the annual precipitation spatial pattern. There is an obvious increasing trend in the number of days with extreme precipitation, especially after the 1980s. This observation supports the point that more extreme events happen under global warming.     

Parameterization of the thermal impacts of sub-grid orography on numerical modeling of the surface energy budget over East Asia

Summary A parameterization scheme for the thermal effects of subgrid scale orography is incorporated into a regional climate model (developed at Nanjing University) and its impact on modeling of the surface energy budget over East Asia is evaluated. This scheme includes the effect of terrain slope and orientation on the computation of solar and infrared radiation fluxes at the surface, as well as the surface sensible and latent heat fluxes. Calculations show that subgrid terrain parameters alter the diurnal cycle and horizontal distributions of surface energy budget components. This effect becomes more significant with increased terrain slope, especially in winter. Due to the inclusion of the subgrid topography, the surface area of a model grid box changes over complex terrain areas. Numerical experiments, with and without the subgrid scale topography scheme, show that the parameterization scheme of subgrid scale topography modifies the distribution of the surface energy budget and surface temperature around the Tibetan Plateau. Comparisons with observations indicate that the subgrid topography scheme, implemented in the climate model, reproduces the observed detailed spatial temperature structures at the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and reduces the tendency to overestimate precipitation along the southern coastal areas of China in summer.     

Characteristics of carbonyl compounds in ambient air of Shanghai,China

The levels of carbonyl compounds in Shanghai ambient air were measured in five periods from January 2007 to October 2007 (covering winter, high-air-pollution days, spring, summer and autumn). A total of 114 samples were collected and eighteen carbonyls were identified. Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acetone were the most abundant carbonyls and their mean concentrations of 19.40 ± 12.00, 15.92 ± 12.07 and 11.86 ± 7.04 μg m⁻³ respectively, in the daytime for five sampling periods. Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde showed similar diurnal profiles with peak mixing ratios in the morning and early afternoon during the daytime. Their mean concentrations were highest in summer and lowest in winter. Acetone showed reversed seasonal variation. The high molecular weight (HMW, ≥C5) carbonyls also showed obvious diurnal variations with higher concentrations in the daytime in summer and autumn, while they were all not detected in winter. Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde played an important role in removing OH radicals in the atmosphere, but the contribution of acetone was below 1%. The carbonyls levels in high-air-pollution days were reported. More carbonyl species with higher concentrations were found in high-air-pollution days than in spring. These carbonyls were transported with other pollutants from north and northwest in March 27 to April 2, 2007 and then mixed with local sources. Comparing with Beijing and Guangzhou, the concentrations of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde in Shanghai were the highest, which indicated that the air pollution in Shanghai was even worse than expected.     

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.     

台风云娜后部强降水分析

通过对中尺度自动站、常规气象要素、1°×1°NCEP格点资料和多普勒雷达资料的诊断分析,发现台风云娜登陆后西行路径对其后部的强降水起了关键性作用;高层辐散和低层辐合差加大,抽吸作用加强,上升运动加剧是后部降水加强的动力原因;沿海较冷的温度场配合台风后部强烈的东南偏南水汽输送,是台风后部降水加强的热力原因;台风后部海面上形成北上的螺旋雨带是造成台风后部强降水的直接原因;浙江东部地形与台风后部强烈的东南偏南水汽输送正交是造成台风后部降水增幅的重要原因。该分析结果对今后台风预报服务实际工作具有一定的参考作用。     

一种等压面上流场的可视化方法

结合等压面上高度场及其气象要素矢量场数据的空间分布特征，设计了一种能客观反映大气在等压面上的运行规律的可视化方法－表面场线映射，它在气象上有较好的实用价值。     

华南区域季节性降水的差异分析

运用EOF方法研究华南区域降水时空分布特征,结果表明：（1）华南地区各季节降水在年际和年代际的时间变化上有区域一致性,但有季节性差异,其中春季和秋季在20世纪80年代后降水明显减少,旱年增多;而夏季90年代后降水明显增加,涝年增多;冬季变化则不明显。（2）华南地区各季节降水在空间分布上也有差异,其中春季降水呈现东多西少的分布特征,大值中心位于广西东北部、广东中部及西南沿海。夏季和秋季降水相似,呈南多北少的分布特征,大值中心位于广西沿海和广东西南沿海。冬季降水呈东北多西南少的分布特征,大值中心位于粤北。     

近百年来湖泊有机碳与无机碳埋藏响应流域开发的协同变化——以石林喀斯特地区为例

有机碳和无机碳的流域输出是湖泊碳埋藏的重要驱动因子,而喀斯特地区无机碳循环具有反应迅速且对人类活动影响敏感的特点.在流域开发持续增强的背景下,喀斯特地区湖泊有机碳和无机碳的来源、含量与埋藏通量可能会出现同步变化的协同模式.本文以云南省石林喀斯特地区流域土地利用类型不同的两个中型湖泊(长湖、月湖)开展对比分析,通过对沉积物钻孔的土壤侵蚀强度(磁化率)、流域外源输入(C:N比值)、水动力(粒度)、营养盐(总氮、总磷)、藻类生产力(叶绿素色素)等代用指标的分析,结合监测数据和历史资料重建了两个湖泊环境变化的近百年历史,并定量识别了有机碳和无机碳埋藏响应流域开发的变化特征与协同模式.沉积物磁化率和C:N比值结果揭示了流域地表侵蚀和外源输入的阶段性特征,同时总氮和总磷含量记录了长湖和月湖营养水平上升的长期模式.在流域森林覆被较高(33.43%)的长湖中,全岩和有机质C:N比值分别与磁化率信号呈显著正相关(r=0.95和0.89,P<0.001),且与无机碳和有机碳含量呈显著负相关(r=-0.94,P<0.001和r=-0.52,P=0.01),反映了森林植被退化时流域碳输出的减少对沉...