2008年南海季风爆发前后西沙海域海气通量变化特征

基于2008年4至5月在南海西沙永兴岛进行的海气通量观测试验资料和NCEP资料,应用COARE3.0通量算法计算了海气通量,分析了季风爆发前后西沙海域天气变化特点和海气通量对南海季风爆发的响应。结果表明:2008年南海季风首先于5月第1候在南海南部爆发,受热带气旋等因素的影响,北部海区季风爆发推迟到5月18日。季风爆发和热带气旋活动对西沙海域的风速和海气通量影响较大,其中热带气旋的影响更强烈。热带气旋来临之前,潜热通量、感热通量以及动量通量均较小;在气旋活动及此后的季风爆发时期,大风使潜热通量和动量通量显著增强,感热通量则在降水期间变化明显;动量通量的最大值出现在热带气旋活动期间,其在此过程中的均值是观测初期均值的3倍以上。在整个观测过程中,潜热通量明显大于感热通量,后者是前者的16∶1。不同类型天气过程中,潜热通量的日变化相似,而感热通量的日变化有差异。湍流交换系数与风速有较好的相关关系。     

南海夏季风爆发与西北太平洋热带气旋活动

利用1965—2007年美国台风预警中心(JTWC)的热带气旋(TC)及NCEP/NCAR再分析资料,初步研究南海夏季风爆发与西北太平洋(包括南海)热带气旋活动之间的关系。结果表明,南海夏季风的爆发伴随着西北太平洋(尤其南海区域)TC生成个数和活动频数比爆发前有显著增加,而超过1/2的年份南海夏季风爆发前2候和爆发候西北太平洋(150°E以西)有TC活动,表明TC活动可能是南海夏季风爆发的触发机制之一。在大多数(77%)南海夏季风爆发偏早年,爆发前2候和爆发候西北太平洋TC活动偏多,且TC生成位置偏西;而大多数(77%)爆发偏晚年份,爆发前2候和爆发候没有TC活动。季风的偏早爆发受季节内振荡、西北太平洋TC活动、中纬度冷空气活动等复杂因素影响,而季风的偏晚爆发则主要受季节内振荡影响。     

夏季澜沧江跨境径流量变化与夏季风的关系

以澜沧江跨境径流量观测数据、NCEP/NCAR的U场、V场和NOAA的OLR场资料为基础,应用统计分析方法,研究了纵向岭谷作用下的夏季澜沧江跨境径流量变化与夏季风的关系。结果表明:澜沧江夏季跨境径流量变化在20世纪60年代中期至80年代末期为显著减少时段,而从90年代初期以来则表现出了一种显著增多的演变趋势;夏季澜沧江跨境径流量变化与较低层东西风分量变化的相关性不显著,与较高层东西风分量变化的相关性显著;夏季澜沧江跨境径流量变化与中低层和较高层南北风分量变化的相关性都是显著的,与OLR场变化的负相关性也是显著的;根据这些相关性特征建立的影响澜沧江夏季跨境径流量变化的夏季风环流指数能够较好地反映出澜沧江夏季跨境径流量变化的基本特征和规律。     

Analysis of the Decadal and Interdecadal Variations of the East Asian Winter Monsoon as Simulated by 20 Coupled Models in IPCC AR4

Using the output data of 20 coupled climate models used in IPCC AR4 and observational data from NCEP, the capability of the models to simulate the boreal winter climatology of the East Asian sea level pressure, 850-hPa wind, and surface air temperature; the decadal variations of the East Asian winter mon- soon (EAWM) intensity and EAWM-related circulation, and the interdecadal variations of EAWM-related circulation are systematically evaluated. The results indicate that 16 models can weakly simulate the declin- ing trend of the EAWM in the 1980s. More than half of the models produce relatively reasonable decadal variations of the EAWM-related circulation and the interdecadal di?erences of EAWM-related circulation between the boreal winters of 1960-1985 and 1986-1998, including the weakened Siberian high, Aleutian low, and East Asian trough, the enhanced Arctic oscillation and North Pacific oscillation, and a deepened polar vortex. It is found that the performance of the multi-selected-model ensemble in reproducing the spatial dis- tribution of the variations is encouraging, although the variational amplitudes are generally smaller than the observations. In addition, it is found that BCCR_BCM2.0, CGCM3.1_T63, CNRM_CM3, CSIRO_MK3.0, GISS-ER, INM_CM3.0, and MRI_CGCM2.3.2 perform well in every aspect     

Pacific coral oxygen isotope and the tropospheric temperature gradient over the Asian monsoon region: a tool to reconstruct past Indian summer monsoon rainfall

Having recognized that it is the tropospheric temperature (TT) gradient rather than the land–ocean surface temperature gradient that drives the Indian monsoon, a new mechanism of El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) monsoon teleconnection has been unveiled in which the ENSO influences the Indian monsoon by modifying the TT gradient over the region. Here we show that equatorial Pacific coralline oxygen isotopes reflect TT gradient variability over the Indian monsoon region and are strongly correlated to monsoon precipitation as well as to the length of the rainy season. Using these relationships we have been able to reconstruct past Indian monsoon rainfall variability of the first half of the 20th century in agreement with the instrumental record. Additionally, an older coral oxygen isotope record has been used to reconstruct seasonally resolved summer monsoon rainfall variability of the latter half of the 17th century, indicating that the average annual rainfall during this period was similar to that during the 20th century. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Extreme events as drivers of early human behaviour in Africa? The case for variability,not catastrophic drought

Extreme Late Quaternary climatic events, sometimes of considerable continental extent, are being proposed as major contributors to ancestral human behaviour, particularly migration, in Africa. Most recently, a catastrophic drought in the Afro‐Asian monsoon region has been proposed for 16 000–17 000 years ago, driven by global impacts of the Heinrich event 1 (H1), with potentially significant consequences for Palaeolithic cultures. We provide a new analysis of the assertion and find, on examination of a wide set of palaeoenvironmental records, that the scale and extent of the proposed drought is not supported. While some parts of the African tropics, close to the equator, do appear dry at this time, data for the tropics as a whole suggest markedly variable terrestrial conditions, with some environmental systems experiencing very positive hydrological excursions during H1. We contend that in the quest for evidence of climate drivers of ancestral human behaviour, the variability associated with spatially and temporally complex climatic conditions is a significant factor in itself. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Quaternary fluvial aggradation and incision in the monsoon‐dominated Alaknanda valley,Central Himalaya,Uttrakhand, India

The present study aims to explain the spatial and temporal variability in phases of aggradation/incision in response to changes in climate and seismicity during the late Quaternary in the Alaknanda River valley (a major tributary of the river Ganges or Ganga). Geomorphology, stratigraphy and optical dating of the fluvial sediment reveal that the oldest fluvial landforms preserved in the south of the Main Central Thrust are debris flow terraces developed during the early part of pluvial Marine Isotopic Stage 3. Following this, a period of accelerated incision/erosion owing to an increase in uplift rate and more intense rainfall occurred. In the Lesser Himalaya, three phases of valley fill aggradation around 26 ± 3 ka, 18 ± 2 ka and 15 ± 1 ka and 8 ± 1 ka occurred in response to changes in monsoon intensity and sediment flux. The last phase was regionally extensive and corresponds to a strengthening of the early Holocene Indian Summer Monsoon. A gradual decline in the monsoon strength after 8 ± 1 ka resulted in reduced fluvial discharge and lower sediment transport capacity of the Alaknanda River, leading to valley fill incision and the development of terraces. The study suggests that fluvial dynamics in the Alaknanda valley were modulated by monsoon variability and the role of tectonics was subordinate, limited to providing accommodation space and post‐deposition modification of the fluvial landforms. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Curve‐Number/Green–Ampt mixed procedure for streamflow predictions in ungauged basins: Parameter sensitivity analysis

A procedure combining the Soil Conservation Service‐Curve Number (SCS‐CN) method and the Green–Ampt (GA) infiltration equation was recently developed to overcome some of the drawbacks of the classic SCS‐CN approach when estimating the volume of surface runoff at a sub‐daily time resolution. The rationale of this mixed procedure, named Curve Number for Green–Ampt (CN4GA), is to use the GA infiltration model to distribute the total volume of the net hyetograph (rainfall excess) provided by the SCS‐CN method over time. The initial abstraction and the total volume of rainfall given by the SCS‐CN method are used to identify the ponding time and to quantify the hydraulic conductivity parameter of the GA equation. In this paper, a sensitivity analysis of the mixed CN4GA parameters is presented with the aim to identify conditions where the mixed procedure can be effectively used within the Prediction in Ungauged Basin perspective. The effects exerted by changes in selected input parameters on the outputs are evaluated using rectangular and triangular synthetic hyetographs as well as 100 maximum annual storms selected from synthetic rainfall time series. When applied to extreme precipitation events, which are characterized by predominant peaks of rainfall, the CN4GA appears to be rather insensitive to the input hydraulic parameters of the soil, which is an interesting feature of the CN4GA approach and makes it an ideal candidate for the rainfall excess estimation at sub‐daily temporal resolution at ungauged sites. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Applications of satellite data in the study of monsoon variability

This paper discusses the use of satellite data for studying climate change, with particular emphasis on the inter-annual variability of the Indian southwest monsoon. Precipitation estimates made from INSAT-1B radiance data are shown to bring out the variations that occurred in the monsoon rainfall of 1987 and 1988. Outgoing Longwave Radiation derived from INSAT-1B shows good correspondence with precipitation patterns.     

近40年中国区域的气候型变化与北半球大气环流特征10年际时空变化的关系

根据１８００－１９８９年（１１０年）的资料，分析研究了新加坡地区月平均和年平均降雨量的一些特征。主要结论是：新加坡年平均降雨量存在准２－６年和１８年的周期振荡；亚洲季风以及ＥＮＳＯ对新加坡降雨量有明显的影响。新加坡年雨量的谷值出现在西南季风期而峰值在东北季风期。在Ｅｌ Ｎｉｎｏ年，新加坡降雨量多为负距平；而在反Ｅｌ Ｎｉｎｏ年，新加坡降雨量多为正距平。