Trends of Regional Precipitation and Their Control Mechanisms during 1979–2013

Trends in precipitation are critical to water resources. Considerable uncertainty remains concerning the trends of regional precipitation in response to global warming and their controlling mechanisms. Here, we use an interannual difference method to derive trends of regional precipitation from GPCP(Global Precipitation Climatology Project) data and MERRA(ModernEra Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications) reanalysis in the near-global domain of 60?S–60?N during a major global warming period of 1979–2013. We find that trends of regional annual precipitation are primarily driven by changes in the top 30% heavy precipitation events, which in turn are controlled by changes in precipitable water in response to global warming, i.e., by thermodynamic processes. Significant drying trends are found in most parts of the U.S. and eastern Canada,the Middle East, and eastern South America, while significant increases in precipitation occur in northern Australia, southern Africa, western India and western China. In addition, as the climate warms there are extensive enhancements and expansions of the three major tropical precipitation centers–the Maritime Continent, Central America, and tropical Africa–leading to the observed widening of Hadley cells and a significant strengthening of the global hydrological cycle.     

Searching for Added Value in Simulating Climate Extremes with a High-Resolution Regional Climate Model over Western Canada

We evaluate the capacity of a regional climate model to represent observed extreme temperature and precipitation events and also examine the impact of increased resolution, in an effort to identify added value in this respect. Two climate simulations of western Canada (WCan) were conducted with the Canadian Regional Climate Model (version 4) at 15 (CRCM15) and 45?km (CRCM45) horizontal resolution driven at the lateral boundaries by data from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 40-year Reanalysis (ERA-40) for the period 1973–1995. The simulations were evaluated using the spline-interpolated dataset ANUSPLIN, a daily observational gridded surface temperature and precipitation product with a nominal resolution of approximately 10?km. We examine a range of climate extremes, comprising the 10th and 90th percentiles of daily maximum (TX) and minimum (TN) temperatures, the 90th percentile of daily precipitation (PR90), and the 27 core Climate Daily Extremes (CLIMDEX) indices.

Both simulations exhibit cold biases compared with observations over WCan, with the bias exacerbated at higher resolution, suggesting little added value for temperature overall. There are instances, however, of regional improvement in the spatial pattern of temperature extremes at the higher resolution of CRCM15 (e.g., the CLIMDEX index for the annual number of days when TX?>?25°C). The high-resolution simulations also reveal similarly localized features in precipitation (e.g., rain shadows) that are not resolved at the 45?km resolution. With regard to precipitation extremes, although both simulations generally display wet biases, CRCM15 features a reduced bias in PR90 in all seasons except winter. This improvement occurs despite the fact that spatial and interannual variability of PR90 in CRCM15 is significantly overestimated relative to both CRCM45 and ANUSPLIN. We posit that these characteristics are the result of demonstrable differences between corresponding topographical datasets used in the gridded observations and CRCM, the resulting errors propagated to physical variables tied to elevation and the beneficial effect of subsequent spatial averaging. Because topographical input is often discordant between simulations and gridded observations, it is argued that a limited form of spatial averaging may contribute added value beyond that which has already been noted in previous studies with respect to small-scale climate variability.     

年最大值抽样估算的暴雨频率设计值的低估问题探讨

由年最大值抽样（AMS）和年超大值抽样（AES）的基本理论及重现期（RP）的定义可知,AMS并不符合以“事件”为基础的重现期的定义.以美国西南半干旱区1438个雨量站和太湖流域96个雨量站的降雨资料为例,通过经验频率与超过概率的比较,发现AMS估算的暴雨频率设计值偏小,尤其是对常遇频率降雨设计值的影响更加显著.美国的降雨量资料站点多、系列长,实际资料验证与理论分析一致.通过对太湖流域AMS资料的分布形态进行分析的结果表明：太湖流域的站点不多,资料长度不够,且大部分站点在雨量大值区数据稀少,使得频率直方图不连续,是造成我国太湖流域的资料验证效果不理想的可能原因.     

中国东部7类暴雨异常环流型

近年来的研究发现,瞬变扰动天气图上的扰动场天气系统对区域暴雨的落区指示能力强于传统天气图上的总场天气系统。为供预报员在业务预报中参考,本文划分1998年发生在中国东部地区的41日次区域暴雨为7类扰动场天气系统。与区域暴雨相联系的7类异常环流型分别是:华南切变线、华南涡旋、华南倒槽、长江切变线与槽、沿江涡旋、华北涡旋和东北涡旋。无论是在对流层的垂直剖面上,还是在850 hPa水平分布上,扰动天气图上位势高度低值和风扰动辐合处并配合大的水汽扰动对应有区域暴雨,而传统天气图上的低值系统和高水汽区与暴雨之间存在位置上的偏移。由此建议,用实况大气变量和中期数值模式产品绘制扰动天气图有助于预报员确定区域暴雨落区。     

一种精确估计区域北斗接收机硬件延迟的方法

提出了一种精确估计区域北斗接收机硬件延迟(DCB)的方法。该方法不需要传统复杂的电离层模型,在已知一个参考站接收机硬件延迟的条件下,利用正常情况下电离层延迟量和卫星-接收机几何距离强相关这一特点,采用站间单差法来精确估计区域内BDS接收机的硬件延迟。试验结果表明,该方法单站估计的单站北斗接收机连续30d的硬件延迟RMS在0.3ns左右。通过GEO卫星双频观测值扣除已知卫星DCB和本文方法估计的接收机DCB,计算对应穿刺点一天的VTEC并和GIM格网内插结果并进行比对分析,二者大小和变化趋势均符合较好,进一步验证了本文提出的方法具有可靠性。     

广义残差地形模型及其在局部重力场逼近中的应用

研究了残差地形模型中的非调和性问题,比较了基于棱柱体和球冠体的积分模型,提出了基于球冠体积分的广义残差地形模型。以泊松小波径向基函数为构造基函数,结合广义残差地形模型,融合多源实测重力数据构建了局部区域重力场模型。研究结果表明:基于棱柱体积分的残差地形模型精度较低,在山区可能引入毫伽级以上的误差,建议采用更为接近真实地形表面的球冠体积分模型。相比于原始的残差地形模型,基于球冠体积分的广义残差地形模型能更为精确地逼近局部重力场模型中地形因素引起的高频效应。     

遥感在宁夏贺兰山东北段1∶50000区域地质调查中的应用研究

以SPOT5及ETM+影像为基础数据,采用3D GIS遥感技术,通过对研究区岩性地层、线性构造、环形构造等地质体的遥感影像特征系统总结,结合野外调查,建立岩性地层及构造解译标志,对宁夏贺兰山东北段1∶50 000区域地质调查工作区进行遥感地质解译。解译结果表明:研究区西部多被贺兰山岩群和古元古代花岗岩覆盖,中部及东南部大部分为第四系和新近系地层;东部石峡谷、黑龙贵及老石旦镇地区,主要出露地层有奥陶系及寒武系;研究区构造发育,主要分布在西部贺兰山基岩区,共解译出线性构造113条,以NEE向和近SN向线性构造最为发育,线性构造相互切割,形成"块状"特征;环形构造33个,在区域上总体呈SN向条带状分布;褶皱4处,均为紧密型褶皱组合;不整合界线1条;总体呈"西部构造发育,局部呈块状,东西差异明显"的特点。实践表明,在1∶50 000区域地质调查中应用遥感和GIS相结合的方法,对提高区域地层构造认识以及遥感解译精度有较大帮助,能有效提高填图质量和工作效率,在区域地质调查工作中有良好的应用价值。     

高放废物处置库新疆阿奇山预选地段区域水文地质特征

新疆阿奇山地区是我国高放废物处置库预选地段之一。在野外调查、样品采集和测试的基础上,讨论了该地段区域水文地质特征,结果表明,阿奇山地段地下水可划分为松散岩类孔隙水、碎屑岩类裂隙孔隙水和基岩裂隙水3种类型,其单井涌水量一般10m~3/d,属于典型的低含水介质;区域地下水流向为自南东流向北西;位于吐鲁番盆地的艾丁湖一带为阿奇山地段地下水的最终排泄区。     

Spatial Concentration in Australian Regional Development,Exogenous Shocks and Regional Demographic Outcomes: a South Australian case study

ABSTRACT

As a tribute to the massive contribution of our friend and colleague Graeme Hugo to the population and settlement geography of Australian rural areas, this paper presents a longitudinal study from his home State. It forms part of a wider study of the long-term demographic relationships between Australia’s rapidly growing regional cities and their surrounding functional regions. Of particular interest is the question of what effect the accelerating concentration of population and economic activity into a given regional city will have for the longer term demographic sustainability of its functional region as a whole. Taking the case of Port Lincoln, regional capital of most of South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, it examines the nature of change in the functional region over the period 1947–2011, and investigates the forces feeding, and partly counteracting, the population concentration process, informed by concepts of evolutionary economic geography. In particular it traces the demographic impact (particularly differential migration and ageing trends) of exogenous shocks to the region’s essentially primary productive economic base during the period of major change from 1981 to 2011.     

“To Understand the Place”: Geographical Knowledge and Diplomatic Practice

Diplomats produce a great deal of geographical knowledge: By reporting on distant places to their governments, they create particular understandings of political space. Yet these professionals rarely link their work to geography: What a geographer might call a geographical sensibility is labeled cultural knowledge by a diplomat. This article clarifies the relationship between geographical knowledge and diplomatic practice. Empirically, it draws from nearly 100 interviews with foreign policy professionals to offer a more “peopled” or quasi-ethnographic account of diplomacy than is usually available in scholarly literature. Conceptually, the article contributes to our understanding of how geographical knowledge is created inside diplomatic and bureaucratic institutions.