A Modeling Study of the Effects of Anomalous Snow Cover over the Tibetan Plateau upon the South Asian Summer Monsoon

The effect of anomalous snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau upon the South Asian summer monsoon is investigated by numerical simulations using the NCAR regional climate model (RegCM2) into which gravity wave drag has been introduced. The simulations adopt relatively realistic snow mass forcings based on Scanning Multi-channel Microwave Radiometer (SNINIR) pentad snow depth data. The physical mechanism and spatial structure of the sensitivity of the South Asian early summer monsoon to snow cover anomaly over the Tibetan Plateau are revealed. The main results are summarized as follows. The heavier than normal snow cover over the Plateau can obviously reduce the shortwave radiation absorbed by surface through the albedo effect, which is compensated by weaker upward sensible heat flux associated with colder surface temperature, whereas the effects of snow melting and evaporation are relatively smaller.The anomalies of surface heat fluxes can last until June and become unobvious in July. The decrease of the Plateau surface temperature caused by heavier snow cover reaches its maximum value from late April to early May. The atmospheric cooling in the mid-upper troposphere over the Plateau and its surrounding areas is most obvious in May and can keep a fairly strong intensity in June. In contrast, there is warming to the south of the Plateau in the mid-lower troposphere from April to June with a maximum value in May.The heavier snow cover over the Plateau can reduce the intensity of the South Asian summer monsoon and rainfall to some extent, but this influence is only obvious in early summer and almost disappears in later stages.     

Variographic analysis of tropical forest cover from multi-scale remotely sensed imagery

Tropical forest mapping is one of the major environmental concerns at global and regional scales in which remote sensing techniques are firmly involved. This study examines the use of the variogram function to analyse forest cover fragmentation at different image scales. Two main aspects are considered here: (1) analysis of the spatial variability structure of the forest cover observed at three different scales using fine, medium and coarse spatial resolution images; and (2) the study of the relationship between rescaled images from the finest spatial resolution and those of the medium and coarse spatial resolutions. Both aspects are analysed using the variogram function as a basic tool to calculate and interpret the spatial variability of the forest cover. An example is presented for a Brazilian tropical forest zone using satellite images of different spatial resolutions acquired by Landsat TM (30 m), Resurs MSU (160 m) and ERS ATSR (1000 m). The results of this study contribute to establishing a suitable spatial resolution of remotely sensed data for tropical forest cover monitoring.     

Impact of a Tropical Cyclone on Coastal Upwelling Processes

A three-dimensional numerical model is described to study theresponse of a coastal ocean excited by a tropical cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. The numericalexperiments have been carried out using the model to understand the dynamics and thermodynamics ofthe ocean due to different cyclonic systems approaching in different directions. In the firstexperiment, the model is used to simulate the vertical thermal structure of the ocean as a response ofpassage of the less intensified 1997 cyclone, which was skirting the east coast of India before crossingthe Bangladesh coast. The simulations are compared with the buoy data available during the storm period.In the next experiment, it is considered an idealized cyclone with hurricane winds movingnormal to the east coast of India crossing between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada to evolve thermalstructure and currents of the ocean. A net decrease of the SST of 6–7 °C is simulated whenthe severe cyclonic storm moved over the coastal ocean.     

Application of Remote Sensing in Flood Management with Special Reference to Monsoon Asia: A Review

The conventional means to record hydrological parameters of aflood often fail to record an extreme event. Remote sensingtechnology along with geographic information system (GIS)has become the key tool for flood monitoring in recent years.Development in this field has evolved from optical to radarremote sensing, which has provided all weather capabilitycompared to the optical sensors for the purpose of flood mapping.The central focus in this field revolves around delineation of floodzones and preparation of flood hazard maps for the vulnerable areas.In this exercise flood depth is considered crucial for flood hazardmapping and a digital elevation model (DEM) is considered to bethe most effective means to estimate flood depth from remotelysensed or hydrological data. In a flat terrain accuracy of floodestimation depends primarily on the resolution of the DEM. Riverflooding in the developing countries of monsoon Asia is very acutebecause of their heavy dependence on agriculture but any floodestimation or hazard mapping attempt in this region is handicappedby poor availability of high resolution DEMs. This paper presents areview of application of remote sensing and GIS in flood managementwith particular focus on the developing countries of Asia.     

Seasonal and inter-annual relationships between vegetation and climate in central New Mexico, USA

Linear correlations between seasonal and inter-annual measures of meteorological variables and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) are calculated at six nearby yet distinct vegetation communities in semi-arid New Mexico, USA Monsoon season (June–September) precipitation shows considerable positive correlation with NDVI values from the contemporaneous summer, following spring, and following summer. Non-monsoon precipitation (October–May), temperature, and wind display both positive and negative correlations with NDVI values. These meteorological variables influence NDVI variability at different seasons and time lags. Thus vegetation responds to short-term climate variability in complex ways and serves as a source of memory for the climate system.     

青藏高原对亚洲夏季风爆发位置及强度的影响

通过数值模拟,研究了青藏高原位于不同经度位置时,亚洲夏季风的爆发和演变情况,从动力和热力学角度分析了青藏高原大地形对亚洲夏季风爆发位置的影响。结果表明,青藏高原的“热力滑轮”作用引起:高原东南面热带陆地上空的偏南气流加强,降水增加,凝结潜热加强;高原西南面热带陆地上空出现偏北气流,降水减弱,陆面的感热加热加强。青藏高原对于亚洲夏季风的爆发地点有锚定的作用,在热带海陆分布的背景下,使亚洲夏季风首先在高原东南面的海洋东岸—陆地西岸爆发,并使亚洲季风降水重新分布。     

Possible Impacts of the Arctic Oscillation on the Interdecadal Variation of Summer Monsoon Rainfall in East Asia

The influences of the wintertime AO (Arctic Oscillation) on the interdecadal variation of summer monsoon rainfall in East Asia were examined. An interdecadal abrupt change was found by the end of the 1970s in the variation of the AO index and the leading principal component time series of the summer rainfall in East Asia, The rainfall anomaly changed from below normal to above normal in central China, the southern part of northeastern China and the Korean peninsula around 1978. However,the opposite interdecadal variation was found in the rainfall anomaly in North China and South China.The interdecadal variation of summer rainfall is associated with the weakening of the East Asia summer monsoon circulation. It is indicated that the interdecadal variation of the AO exerts an influence on the weakening of the monsoon circulation. The recent trend in the AO toward its high-index polarity during the past two decades plays important roles in the land-sea contrast anomalies and wintertime precipitation anomaly. The mid- and high-latitude regions of the Asian continent are warming, while the low-latitude regions are cooling in winter and spring along with the AO entering its high-index polarity after the late 1970s. In the meantime, the precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau and South China is excessive, implying an increase of soil moisture. The cooling tendency of the land in the southern part of Asia will persist until summer because of the memory of soil moisture. So the warming of the Asian continent is relatively slow in summer. Moreover, the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean which are located southward and eastward of the Asian land, are warming from winter to summer. This suggests that the contrast between the land and sea is decreased in summer. The interdecadal decrease of the land-sea heat contrast finally leads to the weakening of the East Asia summer monsoon circulation.     

Impacts of Previous Winter Kuroshio SSTA on Summer Rainfall in China

1. IntroductionAs well known, Kuroshio is a famous and strongwest boundary current in the North Pacific. It trans-fers enormous energy from the low latitudes to themid-high latitudes and releases huge heat flux to theatmosphere above (Hsiung, 1985). The variation ofKuroshio exerts great influence on weather and cli-mate in East Asian.During 1950-60s, Lü (1950, 1964) found that thewestern North Pacific SSTA had a close relation withsummer rainfall in China. In the 1970s, evidencesshowed…     

Mesoscale Diagnosis of a Torrential Rainfall Caused by a Tropical Depression

On August 5, 2001, Shanghai was struck by a torrential rainfall due to the passage of a tropical depression (TD). The rainfall intensity has been the strongest in recent 50 years. In this paper, a set of mesoscale re-analyses data and the planetary boundary layer observation from a wind profiler are used to understand the possible mechanism of such a heavy rain. Results show that the outburst of a southerly jet in the lower atmosphere triggered the explosive development of cyclonically vertical vorticity in the region with steep potential temperature surfaces in front of the TD; while the cyclonic vorticity increased notably at higher levels due to the small atmospheric vertical stability of westerly currents in the vicinity of Shanghai. The simultaneous sharp development of cyclonic vorticity at different levels should be the main cause for the torrential rainfall.     

The Terrestrial NPP Simulation in China since 6ka BP

1. IntroductionAccording to the reconstruction of paleo-temperature based on δ18 O data of ice core in theGreenland (see Jouzel et al., 1987; Grootes et al.,1993; Blunier and Brook, 2001), the current inter-glacial epoch, the Holocene, began at ca. 11.5 thou-sand years before present (ka BP). Multiple sources(pollen data, macrofossils) reveal that the summer cli-mate in the Northern Hemisphere was warmer in theearly to middle Holocene (MH) (ca. 8-6ka BP) relativeto the present climate. …