Scale-dependent regional climate predictability over North America inferred from CMIP3 and CMIP5 ensemble simulations

Through the analysis of ensembles of coupled model simulations and projections collected from CMIP3 and CMIP5, we demonstrate that a fundamental spatial scale limit might exist below which useful additional refinement of climate model predictions and projections may not be possible. That limit varies among climate variables and from region to region. We show that the uncertainty (noise) in surface temperature predictions (represented by the spread among an ensemble of global climate model simulations) generally exceeds the ensemble mean (signal) at horizontal scales below 1000 km throughout North America, implying poor predictability at those scales. More limited skill is shown for the predictability of regional precipitation. The ensemble spread in this case tends to exceed or equal the ensemble mean for scales below 2000 km. These findings highlight the challenges in predicting regionally specific future climate anomalies, especially for hydroclimatic impacts such as drought and wetness.     

东北大西洋海洋捕捞渔获物营养级变化研究

东北大西洋是重要的海洋捕捞海域,该海域渔业栖息环境易受北极气候变化的影响。为此,本文基于1950-2012年东北大西洋FAO的渔获统计数据,对已开发的293种渔获物平均营养级(mTL)、营养级平衡指标(FIB)和渔获营养级分类(TrC)进行时间序列的统计,为进一步研究该海域渔业资源受北极气候变化的影响提供基础。研究认为,平均营养级(mTL)从1950年(mTL=3.71)下降至2012年(mTL=3.57),每年下降约0.02TL(r=-0.614;P<0.01),而近8年来营养级平衡指数持续下降。同时,研究表明,东北大西洋渔获物平均营养级和气候变化(海表温上升、北大西洋涛动和海冰缩减等)息息相关,其中渔获量出现高产值均在海表温异常年份:1956年、1976年和1997年。本文分析了东北大西洋渔获物营养级变动情况,为研究东北大西洋渔获组成变化与气候变化的关系提供研究基础,也为渔业资源的可持续开发提供了理论依据。     

Comparison of linear and nonlinear extreme wave statistics

An extremely large (“freak”) wave is a typical though rare phenomenon observed in the sea. Special theories (for example, the modulation instability theory) were developed to explain mechanics and appearance of freak waves as a result of nonlinear wave-wave interactions. In this paper, it is demonstrated that the freak wave appearance can be also explained by superposition of linear modes with the realistic spectrum. The integral probability of trough-to-crest waves is calculated by two methods: the first one is based on the results of the numerical simulation of a wave field evolution performed with one-dimensional and two-dimensional nonlinear models. The second method is based on calculation of the same probability over the ensembles of wave fields constructed as a superposition of linear waves with random phases and the spectrum similar to that used in the nonlinear simulations. It is shown that the integral probabilities for nonlinear and linear cases are of the same order of values     

短基线集形变模型反演的正则化解算方法

针对短基线集形变模型反演中法方程系数矩阵呈病态的问题,提出一种正则化稳健解算方法。该方法基于Tikhonov正则化理论,将形变速率求解问题转化为极小化问题,根据L-曲线法选取正则化参数,考虑最小二乘残差各个分量间的关系选取正则化矩阵,实现短基线集形变模型反演的稳健解算。分别采用LS法、岭估计法和Tikhonov正则化法对覆盖北京地区的29景ENVISAT ASAR数据进行处理,反演出研究区沉降速率图。通过对代表不同沉降情况的21个点的均方误差值和时间相干值、整个研究区的均方误差图等的对比分析,表明本文提出的短基线集形变模型反演的正则化稳健解算方法可获取更可靠的形变监测结果。     

基于整体经验模态分解和支持向量回归的北京市 PM 2．5预测

为了更好地掌握大气中PM2.5浓度的变化规律,利用EEMD-SVR混合模型对该地区的PM2.5浓度值进行了短期预测。首先,通过采用整体经验模态分解(EEMD)方法分析北京市PM2.5,把原始时间序列分解成多个固有模态函数和趋势项;然后,对各阶固有模态函数进行周期性分析,揭示了北京市PM2.5的周期性变化特点;最后,对经过EEMD分解后的各阶固有模态函数和趋势项用支持向量机回归(SVR)方法进行预测。结果表明,EEMD-SVR混合模型比单一的SVR模型预测精度更高。     

Lateral terrestrial water flow contribution to summer precipitation at continental scale – A comparison between Europe and West Africa with WRF-Hydro-tag ensembles

It is well accepted that summer precipitation can be altered by soil moisture condition. Coupled land surface – atmospheric models have been routinely used to quantify soil moisture – precipitation feedback processes. However, most of the land surface models (LSMs) assume a vertical soil water transport and neglect lateral terrestrial water flow at the surface and in the subsurface, which potentially reduces the realism of the simulated soil moisture – precipitation feedback. In this study, the contribution of lateral terrestrial water flow to summer precipitation is assessed in two different climatic regions, Europe and West Africa, for the period June–September 2008. A version of the coupled atmospheric-hydrological model WRF-Hydro with an option to tag and trace land surface evaporation in the modelled atmosphere, named WRF-Hydro-tag, is employed. An ensemble of 30 simulations with terrestrial routing and 30 simulations without terrestrial routing is generated with random realizations of turbulent energy with the stochastic kinetic energy backscatter scheme, for both Europe and West Africa. The ensemble size allows to extract random noise from continental-scale averaged modelled precipitation. It is found that lateral terrestrial water flow increases the relative contribution of land surface evaporation to precipitation by 3.6% in Europe and 5.6% in West Africa, which enhances a positive soil moisture – precipitation feedback and generates more uncertainty in modelled precipitation, as diagnosed by a slight increase in normalized ensemble spread. This study demonstrates the small but non-negligible contribution of lateral terrestrial water flow to precipitation at continental scale.     

Spatial distribution and temporal trends of mean precipitation and extremes in the arid region,northwest of China,during 1960–2010

On the basis of daily precipitation records at 76 meteorological stations in the arid region, northwest of China, the spatial and temporal distribution of mean precipitation and extremes were analysed during 1960–2010. The Mann–Kendall trend test and linear least square method were utilized to detect monotonic trends and magnitudes in annual and seasonal mean precipitation and extremes. The results obtained indicate that both the mean precipitation and the extremes have increased except in consecutive dry days, which showed the opposite trend. The changes in amplitude of both mean precipitation and extremes show seasonal variability. On an annual basis, the number of rain days (R0.1) has significantly increased. Meanwhile, the precipitation intensity as reflected by simple daily intensity index (SDII), number of heavy precipitation days (R10), very wet days (R95p), max 1‐day precipitation amount (RX1day) and max 5‐day precipitation amount (RX5day) has also significantly increased. This suggests that the precipitation increase in the arid region is due to the increase in both precipitation frequency and intensity. Trends in extremes are very highly correlated with mean trends of precipitation. The spatial correlation between trends in extremes and trends in the mean is stronger for winter (DJF) than for annual and other seasons. The regional annual and seasonal precipitation and extremes are observed the step jump in mean in the late 1980s. Overall, the results of this study are good indicators of local climate change, which will definitely enhance human mitigation to natural hazards caused by precipitation extremes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A BTOP model to extend TOPMODEL for distributed hydrological simulation of large basins

Topography is a dominant factor in hillslope hydrology. TOPMODEL, which uses a topographical index derived from a simplified steady state assumption of mass balance and empirical equations of motion over a hillslope, has many advantages in this respect. Its use has been demonstrated in many small basins (catchment areas of the order of 2–500 km²) but not in large basins (catchment areas of the order of 10 000–100 000 km²). The objective of this paper is to introduce the Block‐wise TOPMODEL (BTOP) as an extension of the TOPMODEL concept in a grid based framework for distributed hydrological simulation of large river basins. This extension was made by redefining the topographical index by using an effective contributing area af(a) (0?f(a)?1) per unit grid cell area instead of the upstream catchment area per unit contour length and introducing a concept of mean groundwater travel distance. Further the transmissivity parameter T₀ was replaced by a groundwater dischargeability D which can provide a link between hill slope hydrology and macro hydrology. The BTOP model uses all the original TOPMODEL equations in their basic form. The BTOP model has been used as the core hydrological module of an integrated distributed hydrological model YHyM with advanced modules of precipitation, evapotranspiration, flow routing etc. Although the model has been successfully applied to many catchments around the world since 1999, there has not been a comprehensive theoretical basis presented in such applications. In this paper, an attempt is made to address this issue highlighted with an example application using the Mekong basin. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

1736～1999年西安与汉中地区年冬季平均气温序列重建

基于现代气象资料所建立的西安、汉中地区冬季降雪天数与年冬季平均气温之间的相关关系,根据清代档案所记载的西安与汉中地区冬季降雪日数,恢复了西安与汉中地区1736～1910年的年冬季平均气温,重建了1736～1999年西安与汉中地区年冬季平均气温序列。序列分析表明,这两个地区年冬季平均气温变化趋势一致:18世纪和20世纪为暖期,19世纪为冷期,且20世纪的增暖趋势明显。与利用树轮重建的镇安初春(3～4月)温度序列对比分析表明:西安、汉中地区冬季平均气温与镇安初春温度的低频变化趋势基本一致,但镇安较西安与汉中有明显的位相提前。     

天山山区与南、北疆近40a来的年温度变化特征比较研究

分析天山山区近40 a来年温度变化的基本特征,并与南疆、北疆进行比较,其结果是:(1)天山山区年平均温度在冷暖变化阶段上与北疆的相似性强于南疆。(2)新疆三大区域年平均温度的最主要空间分布特征均是同步变化,但同步性的程度北疆较好,南疆及天山山区较差;而空间分布的反向变化性,南疆及天山山区较好,北疆较差。(3)三大区域年平均温度的年代际变化趋势是不同的,但均以20世纪90年代为最暖。(4)近40 a的显著线性增温趋势以年平均最低温度及年平均温度表现得空间范围最广,年平均最高温度最差;年平均温度的长期增温率以北疆最大,天山山区和南疆较小;年平均最低温度的10 a增温率变化在0.34~0.37℃之间。(5)三大区域最佳升温趋势出现的时段比较一致,增温率以北疆为最大,天山山区和南疆相同。(6)北疆与南疆年平均温度分别在1960年和1978年发生了由低向高的突变。