The Observed and Simulated Major Summer Climate Features in Northwest China and Their Sensitivity to Land Surface Processes

Northwest China （NWC） is a typical arid and semi-arid region. In this study, the main summer climate features over NWC are presented and the performance of an atmospheric general circulation model （NCEP GCM/SSiB） over this region is evaluated. Satellite-derived vegetation products are applied in the model. Based on comparison with observational data and Reanalysis II data, the model generally captures major features of the NWC summer energy balance and circulation. These features include： a high surface tem- perature center dominating the planetary boundary layer; widespread descending motion; an anticyclone （cyclone） located in the lower and middle （upper） troposphere, covering most parts of central NWC; and the precipitation located mainly in the high elevation areas surrounding NWC.
The sensitivity of the summer energy balance and circulation over NWC and surrounding regions to land surface processes is assessed with specified land cover change. In the sensitivity experiment, the degradation over most parts of NWC, except the Taklimakan desert, decreases the surface-absorbed radiation and leads to weaker surface thermal effects. In northern Xinjiang and surrounding regions, less latent heating causes stronger anomalous lower-level anticyclonic circulation and upper-level cyclonic circulation, leading to less summer precipitation and higher surface temperature. Meanwhile, the dry conditions in the Hexi Corridor produce less change in the latent heat flux. The circulation change to the north of this area plays a domi- nant role in indirectly changing lower-level cyclonic conditions, producing more convergence, weaker vertical descending motion, and thus an increase in the precipitation over this region.     

Progress in Studies of the Precipitation Diurnal Variation over Contiguous China

This paper summarizes the recent progress in studies of the diurnal variation of precipitation over con- tiguous China. The main results are as follows. （1） The rainfall diurnal variation over contiguous China presents distinct regional features. In summer, precipitation peaks in the late afternoon over the south- ern inland China and northeastern China, while it peaks around midnight over southwestern China. In the upper and middle reaches of Yangtze River valley, precipitation occurs mostly in the early morning. Summer precipitation over the central eastern China （most regions of the Tibetan Plateau） has two diurnal peaks, i.e., one in the early morning （midnight） and the other in the late afternoon. （2） The rainfall diurnal variation experiences obvious seasonal and sub-seasonal evolutions. In cold seasons, the regional contrast of rainfall diurnal peaks decreases, with an early morning maximum over most of the southern China. Over the central eastern China, diurnal monsoon rainfall shows sub-seasonal variations with the movement of summer monsoon systems. The rainfall peak mainly occurs in the early morning （late afternoon） during the active （break） monsoon period. （3） Cloud properties and occurrence time of rainfall diurnal peaks are different for long- and short-duration rainfall events. Long-duration rainfall events are dominated by strat- iform precipitation, with the maximum surface rain rate and the highest profile occurring in the late night to early morning, while short-duration rainfall events are more related to convective precipitation, with the maximum surface rain rate and the highest profile occurring between the late afternoon and early night. （4） The rainfall diurnal variation is influenced by multi-scale mountain-valley and land-sea breezes as well as large-scale atmospheric circulation, and involves complicated formation and evolution of cloud and rainfall systems. The diurnal cycle of winds in the lower troposphere also contributes to the regional differences     

Chinese Contribution to CMIP5：An Overview of Five Chinese Models’Performances

An overview of Chinese contribution to Coupled Model Intercomparison Project-Phase 5 （CMIP5） is presented. The performances of five Chinese Climate/Earth System Models that participated in the CMIP5 pro ject are assessed in the context of climate mean states, seasonal cycle, intraseasonal oscillation, interan-nual variability, interdecadal variability, global monsoon, Asian-Australian monsoon, 20th-century historical climate simulation, climate change pro jection, and climate sensitivity. Both the strengths and weaknesses of the models are evaluated. The models generally show reasonable performances in simulating sea surface tem-perature （SST） mean state, seasonal cycle, spatial patterns of Madden-Julian oscillation （MJO） amplitude and tropical cyclone Genesis Potential Index （GPI）, global monsoon precipitation pattern, El Ni-no-Southern Oscillation （ENSO）, and Pacific Decadal Oscillation （PDO） related SST anomalies. However, the perfor-mances of the models in simulating the time periods, amplitude, and phase locking of ENSO, PDO time periods, GPI magnitude, MJO propagation, magnitude of SST seasonal cycle, northwestern Pacific mon-soon and North American monsoon domains, as well as the skill of large-scale Asian monsoon precipitation need to be improved. The model performances in simulating the time evolution and spatial pattern of the 20th-century global warming and the future change under representative concentration pathways pro jection are compared to the multimodel ensemble of CMIP5 models. The model discrepancies in terms of climate sensitivity are also discussed.     

An Overview of Nowcasting Development, Applications, and Services in the Hong Kong Observatory

The Hong Kong Observatory （HKO） has been developing a suite of nowcasting systems to support op- erations of the forecasting center and to provide a variety of nowcasting services for the general public and specialized users. The core system is named the Short-range Warnings of Intense Rainstorm of Localized Systems （SWIRLS）, which is a radar-based nowcasting system mainly for the automatic tracking of the movement of radar echoes and the short-range Quantitative Precipitation Forecast （QPF）. The differential, integral （or variational）, and object-oriented tracking algorithms were developed and integrated into the nowcasting suite. In order to predict severe weather associated with intense thunderstorms, such as high gust, hail, and lightning, SWIRLS was enhanced to SWIRLS-II by introduction of a number of physical models, especially the icing physics as well as the thermodynamics of the atmosphere. SWIRLS-Ⅱ was further enhanced with non-hydrostatic, high resolution numerical models for extending the forecast range up to 6h ahead. Meanwhile, SWIRLS was also modified for providing nowcasting services for aviation community and specialized users. To take into account the rapid development of lightning events, ensemble nowcasting techniques such as time-lagged and weighted average ensemble approaches were also adopted in the nowcasting system. Apart from operational uses in Hong Kong, SWIRLS/SWIRLS-Ⅱ was also exported to other places to participate in several international events such as the WMO/WWRP Forecast Demon- stration Project （FDP） during the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games and the Shanghai Expo 2010. Meanwhile, SWIRLS has also been transferred to various regional meteorological organizations for establishing their nowcasting infrastructure. This paper summarizes the history and the technologies of SWIRLS/SWIRLS-Ⅱ and its variants and the associated nowcasting applications and services provided by the HKO since the mid 1990s.     

Surface rainfall and cloud budgets associated with mei-yu torrential rainfall over eastern China during June 2011

Surface rainfall and cloud budgets associated with three heavy rainfall events that occurred over eastern China during the mei-yu season in June 2011 were analyzed using 2D cumulus ensemble model simulation data.Model domain mean rainfall showed three peaks in response to three prescribed ascending motion maxima,primarily through the mean moisture convergence during the torrential rainfall period.Prescribed ascending motion throughout the troposphere produced strong convective rainfall during the first （9 June） and third （17-18 June） rainfall events,whereas strong prescribed ascending motion in the mid and upper troposphere and weak subsidence near the surface generated equally important stratiform and convective rainfall during the second rainfall event （14 June）.The analysis of surface rainfall budgets reveals that convective rainfall was associated with atmospheric drying during the first event and moisture convergence during the third event.Both stratiform and convective rainfall responded primarily to moisture convergence during the second event.An analysis of grid data shows that the first and third mean rainfall maxima had smaller horizontal scales of the precipitation system than the second.     

天气如何影响空气质量？

空气质量与天气密切相关。风、降水等对污染物的扩散起到重要作用,从而影响空气质量。 风搬运污染物风是大气中污染物的搬运工。森林大火产生的浓烟及其他污染物都可能随风飘向远方,也有可能飘到我们的家门前。无风或者微风的天气中,污染物很难扩散,因此不断增多。     

趣谈史上台风之最

每年夏季是台风活动的活跃时期,一个接一个的台风在西太平洋上生成发展,并经常地登陆我国、韩国、日本和东南亚各阳,给陆地带来降水的同时也可能造成灾难。     

2021年夏季中国大陆涝渍灾害时空分布分析

涝渍害是中国除干旱以外对农作物影响最严重的气象灾害,涝渍害的发生和发展对人民的生命和财产安全以及农作物的生长发育产生巨大的影响。2021年7月至8月间,中国北方多地降水达到历史观测极值,而相应时期地面的涝渍害发生和发展状况及其时空特征并未得到有效研究。因此,本研究首先利用中国大陆土壤水分站点日数据和被动微波遥感卫星SMAP反演土壤水分日产品获取中国高精度表层土壤湿度数据（0—10 cm）;随后,结合田间持水量数据计算土壤表层相对含水量。在此基础上,以连续10 d土壤相对含水量大于等于90%为标准,分析中国大陆2021年7月1日—8月25日的涝渍害时空分布情况。结果表明：（1）融合后的土壤水分产品较原始的SMAP微波土壤水分产品精度具有明显的提高;（2）中国东北地区水稻田种植区的土壤相对含水量大于等于90%的最长持续天数均为56 d,土壤的水分长期处于饱和状态,说明了本文方法能够较为准确的反应出土壤涝渍害的情况;（3）中国东北及华北地区受灾较为严重,其中黑龙江的西部和河北、河南、山东发生的涝渍面积最大。中国大陆耕地部分受涝渍灾害区域占到总耕地面积的1/2左右,重灾区面积为1.940×10⁵ km²;（4）黑龙江的西部及河北、河南、山东等地较往年降水偏多,这与涝渍害受灾区基本吻合。     

全球降水观测计划多卫星联合反演降水产品的极端降水监测潜力研究

基于全国自动站与CMORPH融合降水数据集,综合评估全球降水计划（GPM）下的IMERG与GSMaP的4套纯卫星降水数据,从极端降水指标、极端降水事件探测能力、对于不同历时的极端降水事件精度评估3个方面研究纯卫星降水产品监测极端降水的能力。依据极端降水的阈值将研究区分为3个区域进行研究,结果表明：（1）在RX1指标中,IMERG、GSMaP数据均在受季风影响的复杂地形区域呈现出明显的高估状态,在其余地区存在不同程度的低估现象;在R95pTOT指标中,卫星数据均表现较好,与地面参考数据具有较高的相关性。（2）在极端降水事件探测方面,4套纯卫星产品在东北地区的表现均优于其他区域;GSMaP表现优于IMERG数据,具有较低的误报率,但对极端降水的反演精度较低。（3）在不同历时的极端降水事件精度评估中,IMERG、GSMaP卫星降水产品在历时较长的极端降水事件中的表现较好,具有更高的精度;对于极端日降水事件,卫星降水产品在高雨强下的误差显著性十分明显,远远高于复杂地形对卫星降水反演精度的影响,导致卫星降水在复杂地形区域（Ⅲ区）的表现优于其他区域。总体上,IMERG产品在研究区对极端降水的监测能力优于GSMaP产品,其中又以IMERG_Late表现最佳;4套卫星降水产品均能表现出研究区的极端降水区域特征,但在研究区大部分区域呈现出低估状态,卫星降水产品对于雨强的误差订正仍是未来极端降水反演的重点与难点之一。     

某高速公路岩溶隧道涌突水量预测

涌突水是隧道施工中常见的一种灾害现象,特别是岩溶隧道,尤为严重。文章结合某高速公路岩溶隧道实例,根据水文地质调查、试验和观测等工作,查明了隧址区地表浅部及其过渡带岩溶发育范围、形态、规模及高程,分析了岩溶发育规律及岩溶水的补、径、排特征。分别采用降水入渗法和地下水径流模数法计算了隧道涌突水量,预测了可能突水段。对隧道工程建设环境影响进行了分析,为隧道设计和施工提供了依据。