Trends of Temperature Extremes in Summer and Winter during 1971–2013 in China

The diurnal temperature range(DTR) has decreased dramatically in recent decades, but it is not yet obvious whether the extreme values of DTR have also reduced. Based on the daily maximum and minimum temperature data of 653 stations in China, a set of monthly indices of warm extremes, cold extremes, and DTR extremes in summer(June, July, August) and winter(December, January, February) were studied for spatial and temporal features during the period 1971–2013. Results show that the incidence of warm extremes has been increasing in most parts of China, while the opposite trend was found in the cold extremes for summer and winter months. Both increasing and decreasing trends of monthly DTR extremes were identified in China for both seasons. For high DTR extremes, decreasing trends were identified in northern China for both seasons, but increasing trends were found only in southern China in summer, while in winter, they were found in central China. Monthly low DTR extreme indices demonstrated consistent positive trends in summer and winter, while significant increases(P 0.05) were identified for only a few stations.     

Contrast of Evolution Characteristics of Boreal Summer and Winter Intraseasonal Oscillations over Tropical Indian Ocean

A most striking summer–winter difference of evolution of the intraseasonal oscillation(ISO) over the equatorial Indian Ocean is a quasi-stationary oscillation in boreal summer but eastward propagation in boreal winter. This feature is consistent with the observational fact that maximum ISO variance appears only in the eastern Indian Ocean in boreal summer while it appears across the entire basin in boreal winter. The cause of the distinctive propagation and initiation characteristics is investigated through the diagnosis of observational and reanalysis data for the period of 1982–2012. It is found that when the ISO convection appears over eastern Indian Ocean, a positive(negative) moisture tendency appears to the east of the convection in boreal winter(summer). It is the moisture tendency difference that is responsible for different propagation behavior in the summer and winter. A further diagnosis of the moisture budget indicates that the major difference lies in anomalous moisture advection by the mean flow. In addition, air–sea interaction also plays a role. While boreal winter ISO starts over western Indian Ocean, boreal summer ISO is initiated over central–eastern equatorial Indian Ocean, due to boundary layer moistening. The moisture increase is caused primarily by the horizontal advection of mean specific humidity by anomalous easterlies induced by preceding suppressed-phase ISO over eastern Indian Ocean. Besides, a delayed SST feedback also plays a role. The overall difference of ISO evolution between the summer and winter is regulated by the seasonal mean state including the mean SST and water vapor content.     

2018: The Hottest Summer in China and Possible Causes

In 2018, China experienced the hottest summer since 1961. The maximum, mean, and minimum temperatures all reached the highest. Air temperatures in most regions were much higher than normal; in northern China especially,the temperature anomalies were above double of the standard deviations. Consistent variations of temperature anomalies appeared in the national mean and in northern China on different timescales from intraseasonal to annual, indicating that the above normal temperature in northern China contributed significantly to the record-breaking hot summer of entire China. Relationships among the high temperature in summer 2018, the tropospheric circulation, and the global sea surface temperatures(SSTs) are further analyzed. It is found that the intensified and more northward western Pacific subtropical high(WPSH), weakened Northeast China cold vortex(NECV), and positive geopotential height anomaly from northern China to the Sea of Japan resulted in the abnormally high temperature in summer 2018. From late July to mid August, the WPSH was stronger than normal, with its ridge line jumping to north of 40°N; meanwhile, the NECV was much weaker and more northward than normal; both of the two systems led to the persistent high temperature in northern China during this period. In addition, the SSTs in Kuroshio and its extension area(K–KE) in summer 2018 were also the highest since 1961 and the greatest positive SST anomaly in K–KE was favorable for the above normal geopotential height over North China–Northeast China–Japan at 500 hPa, giving rise to the exceptionally high temperature in northern China.     

Characteristics of Carbonaceous Particles in Beijing During Winter and Summer 2003

Campaigns were conducted to measure Organic Carbon (OC) and Elemental Carbon (EC) in PM2.5 during winter and summer 2003 in Beijing. Modest differences of PM2.5 and PM10 mean concentrations were observed between the winter and summer campaigns. The mean PM2.5/PM10 ratio in both seasons was around 60%, indicating PM2.5 contributed significantly to PM10. The mean concentrations of OC and EC in PM2.5 were 11.2±7.5 and 6.0±5.0μg m-3 for the winter campaign, and 9.4±2.1 and 4.3±3.0 μg m-3 for the summer campaign, respectively. Diurnal concentrations of OC and EC in PM2.5 were found high at night and low during the daytime in winter, and characterized by an obvious minimum in the summer afternoon. The mean OC/EC ratio was 1.87±0.09 for winter and Z39±0.49 for summer. The higher OC/EC ratio in summer indicates some formation of Secondary Organic Carbon (SOC). The estimated SOC was 2.8 μg m-3 for winter and 4.2μg m-3 for summer.     

Interdecadal Variations of Precipitation and Temperature in China Around the Abrupt Change of Atmospheric Circulation in 1976

The interdecadal characteristics of rainfall and temperature in China before and after the abrupt change of the general circulation in 1976 are analyzed using the global 2.5°×2.5° monthly mean reanalysis data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction of US and the precipitation and temperature data at the 743 stations of China from the National Climate Center of China. The results show that after 1976, springtime precipitation and temperature were anomalously enhanced and reduced respectively in South China, while the reverse was true in the western Yangtze River basin. In summer, precipitation was anomalously less in South China, more in the Yangtze River basin, less again in North China and more again in Northeast China, showing a distribution pattern alternating with negative and positive anomalies （＂ , ＋, -, ＋＂）. Meanwhile, temperature shows a distribution of warming in South China, cooling in the Yangtze and Huaihe River basins, and warming again in northern China. In autumn, precipitation tended to decrease and temperature tended to increase in in South China and warming was most parts of the country. In winter, the trend across all parts of China. precipitation increased moderately The interdecadal decline of mean temperature in spring and summer in China was mainly due to the daily maximum temperature variation, while the interdecadal increase was mainly the result of the minimum temperature change. The overall warming in autumn （winter） was mostly influenced by the minimum （maximum） temperature variation. These changes were closely related to the north-south shifts of the ascending and descending branches of the Hadley cell, the strengthening and north-south progression of the westerly jet stream, and the atmospheric stratification and water vapor transport conditions.     

The Role of Changes in the Annual Cycle in Earlier Onset of Climatic Spring in Northern China

Climatic changes in the onset of spring in northern China associated with changes in the annual cycle and with a recent warming trend were quantified using a recently developed adaptive data analysis tool, the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition. The study was based on a homogenized daily surface air temperature (SAT) dataset for the period 1955–2003. The annual cycle here is referred to as a refined modulated annual cycle (MAC). The results show that spring at Beijing has arrived significantly earlier by about 2.98 d (10 yr)-1, of which about 1.85 d (10 yr)-1 is due to changes in the annual cycle and 1.13 d (10 yr)-1 due to the long-term warming trend. Variations in the MAC component explain about 92.5% of the total variance in the Beijing daily SAT series and could cause as much as a 20-day shift in the onset of spring from one year to another. The onset of spring has been advancing all over northern China, but more significant in the east than in the west part of the region. These differences are somehow unexplainable by the zonal pattern of the warming trend over the whole region, but can be explained by opposite changes in the spring phase of the MAC, i.e. advancing in the east while delaying in the west. In the east of northern China, the change in the spring phase of MAC explains 40%–60% of the spring onset trend and is attributable to a weakening Asian winter monsoon. The average sea level pressure in Siberia (55°–80°N, 50°–110°E), an index of the strength of the winter monsoon, could serve as a potential short-term predictor for the onset of spring in the east of northern China.     

Sensitivity of Precipitation over China to Different Cumulus Parameterization Schemes in RegCM4

The effect of different cumulus parameterization schemes(CPSs) on precipitation over China is investigated by using the International Centre for Theoretical Physics(ICTP) Regional Climate Model version 4.3(Reg CM-4.3) coupled with the land surface model BATS1e(Biosphere-Atmosphere Transfer Scheme version1e). The ERA-interim data are utilized to drive a group of simulations over a 31-yr period from September1982 to December 2012. Two typically sensitive regions, i.e., the eastern Tibetan Plateau(TP; 29°–38°N,90°–100°E) and eastern China(EC; 26°–32°N, 110°–120°E), are focused on. The results show that all the CPSs have well reproduced the spatial distribution of annual precipitation in China. The simulation with the Emanuel scheme shows an overall overestimation of precipitation in China, different from the other three CPSs which only overestimate over northern and northwestern China but underestimate over southern China. Seasonally, the Tiedtke scheme shows the smallest overestimation in winter and summer, and the best simulation of the annual variance of precipitation. Interannual variations of precipitation among the four CPSs are generally simulated better in summer than in winter, and better for entire China than in the subregions of TP and EC. The precipitation trend is simulated better over EC than over TP, and better in summer than in winter. An overestimate(underestimate) of the East Asian summer monsoon index(EASMI) exists in the simulations with the Grell and the Emanuel(the Kuo and the Tiedtke) schemes.The smallest EASMI bias in the Tiedtke simulation could explain its small precipitation bias. A negative correlation between the EASMI and summer precipitation over the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River is found in the Grell and the Emanuel simulations, but was missed by the simulations using the Kuo and the Tiedtke schemes.     

Changes in Wind Speed and Extremes in Beijing during 1960--2008 Based on Homogenized Observations

Daily observations of wind speed at 12 stations in the Greater Beijing Area during 1960–2008 were homogenized using the Multiple Analysis of Series for Homogenization method. The linear trends in the regional mean annual and seasonal (winter, spring, summer and autumn) wind speed series were-0.26,-0.39,-0.30,-0.12 and-0.22 m s-1 (10 yr)-1 , respectively. Winter showed the greatest magnitude in declining wind speed, followed by spring, autumn and summer. The annual and seasonal frequencies of wind speed extremes (days) also decreased, more prominently for winter than for the other seasons. The declining trends in wind speed and extremes were formed mainly by some rapid declines during the 1970s and 1980s. The maximum declining trend in wind speed occurred at Chaoyang (CY), a station within the central business district (CBD) of Beijing with the highest level of urbanization. The declining trends were in general smaller in magnitude away from the city center, except for the winter case in which the maximum declining trend shifted northeastward to rural Miyun (MY). The influence of urbanization on the annual wind speed was estimated to be about-0.05 m s-1 (10 yr)-1 during 1960–2008, accounting for around one fifth of the regional mean declining trend. The annual and seasonal geostrophic wind speeds around Beijing, based on daily mean sea level pressure (MSLP) from the ERA-40 reanalysis dataset, also exhibited decreasing trends, coincident with the results from site observations. A comparative analysis of the MSLP fields between 1966–1975 and 1992–2001 suggested that the influences of both the winter and summer monsoons on Beijing were weaker in the more recent of the two decades. It is suggested that the bulk of wind in Beijing is influenced considerably by urbanization, while changes in strong winds or wind speed extremes are prone to large-scale climate change in the region.     

Deep convective clouds over the northern Pacific and their relationship with oceanic cyclones

Based on combined Cloud Sat/CALIPSO detections, the seasonal occurrence of deep convective clouds(DCCs) over the midlatitude North Pacific(NP) and cyclonic activity in winter were compared. In winter, DCCs are more frequent over the central NP, from approximately 30°N to 45°N, than over other regions. The high frequencies are roughly equal to those occurring in this region in summer. Most of these DCCs have cloud tops above a 12 km altitude, and the highest top is approximately 15 km. These wintertime marine DCCs commonly occur during surface circulation conditions of low pressure, high temperature, strong meridional wind, and high relative humidity. Further, the maximum probability of DCCs,according to the high correlation coefficient, was found in the region 10°–20° east and 5°–10° south of the center of the cyclones. The potential relationship between DCCs and cyclones regarding their relative locations and circulation conditions was also identified by a case study. Deep clouds were generated in the warm conveyor belt by strong updrafts from baroclinic flows. The updrafts intensified when latent heat was released during the adjustment of the cyclone circulation current. This indicates that the dynamics of cyclones are the primary energy source for DCCs over the NP in winter.     

Indirect Radiative and Climatic Effects of Sulfate and Organic Carbon Aerosols over East Asia Investigated by RIEMS

The indirect radiative and climatic effects of sulfate and organic carbon aerosols over East Asia were investigated using a Regional Integrated Environment Model System (RIEMS) with an empirical aerosol-cloud parameterization.The first indirect radiative forcing was negative and ranged from-9-0 W m-2 in the domain.The maximum cooling,up to-9 W m-2,occurred in the Chongqing District in winter,whereas the cooling areas were larger during summer than in winter.Organic carbon (OC) aerosols were more abundant in winter than in summer,whereas the sulfate concentration during summer was much higher than during winter.The concentrations of sulfate and OC were comparable in winter,and sulfate played a dominant role in determining indirect radiative forcing in summer,whereas in winter,both sulfate and OC were important.The regional mean indirect radiative forcings were-0.73 W m-2 and-0.41 W m-2 in summer and winter,respectively.The surface cooling caused by indirect effects was more obvious in winter than that in summer.The ground temperature decreased by ～1.2 K in most areas of eastern China in winter,whereas in summer,the temperature decreased (～-1.5 K) in some regions,such as the Yangtze River region,but increased (～0.9 K) in the areas between the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers.In winter,the precipitation decreased by 0-6 mm in most areas of eastern China,but in summer,alternating bands of increasing (up to 80 mm) and decreasing (～-80 mm) precipitation appeared in eastern China.     

Recent Progress in Studies of Climate Change in China

An overview of basic research on climate change in recent years in China is presented. In the past 100 years in China, average annual mean surface air temperature (SAT) has increased at a rate ranging from 0.03℃ (10 yr)-1 to 0.12℃ (10 yr)-1 . This warming is more evident in northern China and is more significant in winter and spring. In the past 50 years in China, at least 27% of the average annual warming has been caused by urbanization. Overall, no significant trends have been detected in annual and/or summer precipitation in China on a whole for the past 100 years or 50 years. Both increases and decreases in frequencies of major extreme climate events have been observed for the past 50 years. The frequencies of extreme temperature events have generally displayed a consistent pattern of change across the country, while the frequencies of extreme precipitation events have shown only regionally and seasonally significant trends. The frequency of tropical cyclone landfall decreased slightly, but the frequency of sand/dust storms decreased significantly. Proxy records indicate that the annual mean SAT in the past a few decades is the highest in the past 400-500 years in China, but it may not have exceeded the highest level of the Medieval Warm Period (1000-1300 AD). Proxy records also indicate that droughts and floods in eastern China have been characterized by continuously abnormal rainfall periods, with the frequencies of extreme droughts and floods in the 20th century most likely being near the average levels of the past 2000 years. The attribution studies suggest that increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere are likely to be a main factor for the observed surface warming nationwide. The Yangtze River and Huaihe River basins underwent a cooling trend in summer over the past 50 years, which might have been caused by increased aerosol concentrations and cloud cover. However, natural climate variability might have been a main driver for the mean and extreme precipitation variations observed over the past century. Climate models generally perform well in simulating the variations of annual mean SAT in China. They have also been used to project future changes in SAT under varied GHG emission scenarios. Large uncertainties have remained in these model-based projections, however, especially for the projected trends of regional precipitation and extreme climate events.     

Changes in temperature extremes based on a 6-hourly dataset in China from 1961–2005

Changes in Chinese temperature extremes are presented based on a six-hourly surface air temperature dataset for the period 1961--2005. These temperature series are manually observed at 0200, 0800, 1400, and 2000 Beijing Time (LST), and percentile based extreme indices of these time series are chosen for analysis. Although there is a difference in time among the different time zones across China, as more than 80% of the stations are located in two adjacent time zones, these indices for all the stations are called warm (cold) nights (0200 LST), warm (cold) mornings (0800 LST), warm (cold) days (1400 LST), and warm (cold) evenings (2000 LST), respectively for convenience. The frequency of the annual warm extremes has generally increased, while the frequency of the annual cold extremes has decreased, and significant changes are mainly observed in northern China, the Tibetan Plateau, and the southernmost part of China. Based on the national average, annual warm (cold) nights increase (decrease) at a rate of 5.66 (-5.92) d (10 yr)^-1, annual warm (cold) days increase (decrease) at a rate of 3.97 (-2.98) d (10 yr)^-1, and the trends for the annual warm (cold) mornings and evenings are 4.35 (-4.96) and 5.95 (-4.35) d (10 yr)^-1, respectively. For China as a whole, the increasing rates for the occurrence of seasonal warm extremes are larger in the nighttime (0200, 2000 LST) than these in the daytime (0800, 1400 LST), the maximal increase occurs at 2000 LST except in the summer and the minimal increase occurs at 1400 LST except in autumn; the maximal decrease in the occurrence of seasonal cold extremes occurs at 0200 LST and the minimal decrease occurs at 1400 LST.     

A daily temperature dataset over China and its application in validating a RCM simulation

This paper describes the construction of a 0.5°×0.5°daily temperature dataset for the period of 1961- 2005 over mainland China for the purpose of climate model validation. The dataset is based on the in- terpolation from 751 observing stations in China and comprises 3 variables: daily mean,minimum,and maximum temperature.The"anomaly approach"is applied in the interpolation.The gridded climatology of 1971-2000 is first calculated and then a gridded daily anomaly for 1961-2005 is added to the climatologY to o...     

Trends in Temperature Extremes in Association with Weather-Intraseasonal Fluctuations in Eastern China

Trends in the frequencies of four temperature extremes (the occurrence of warm days, cold days, warm nights and cold nights) with respect to a modulated annual cycle (MAC), and those associated exclusively with weather-intraseasonal fluctuations (WIF) in eastern China were investigated based on an updated homogenized daily maximum and minimum temperature dataset for 1960–2008. The Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) method was used to isolate the WIF, MAC, and longer-term components from the temperature series. The annual, winter and summer occurrences of warm (cold) nights were found to have increased (decreased) significantly almost everywhere, while those of warm (cold) days have increased (decreased) in northern China (north of 40°N). However, the four temperature extremes associated exclusively with WIF for winter have decreased almost everywhere, while those for summer have decreased in the north but increased in the south. These characteristics agree with changes in the amplitude of WIF. In particular, winter WIF of maximum temperature tended to weaken almost everywhere, especially in eastern coastal areas (by 10%–20%); summer WIF tended to intensify in southern China by 10%–20%. It is notable that in northern China, the occurrence of warm days has increased, even where that associated with WIF has decreased significantly. This suggests that the recent increasing frequency of warm extremes is due to a considerable rise in the mean temperature level, which surpasses the effect of the weakening weather fluctuations in northern China.     

An analysis of the time scales of variability in centuries-long enso-sensitive records in the last 1000 years

We document the characteristic time scales of variability for seven climate indices whose time-dependent behavior is sensitive to some aspect of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The ENSO sensitivity arises from the location of these long-term records on the periphery of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Three of the indices are derived principally from historical sources, three others consist of tree-ring reconstructions (one of summer temperature, and the other two of winter rainfall), and one is an annual record of oxygen isotopic composition for a high-elevation glacier in Peru. Five of the seven indices sample at least portions of the Medieval Warm Period (~ A.D. 950 to 1250).Time series spectral analysis was used to identify the major time scales of variability among the different indices. We focus on two principal time scales: a high frequency band (~ 2–10 yr), which comprises most of the variability found in the modern record of ENSO activity, and a low frequency band to highlight variations on decadal to century time scales (11 <P < 150 yr). This last spectral band contains variability on time scales that are of general interest with respect to possible changes in large-scale air-sea exchanges. A technique called evolutive spectral analysis (ESA) is used to ascertain how stable each spectral peak is in time. Coherence and phase spectra are also calculated among the different indices over each full common period, and following a 91-yr window through time to examine whether the relationships change.In general, spectral power on time scales of ~ 2–6 yr is statistically significant and persists throughout most of the time intervals sampled by the different indices. Assuming that the ENSO phenomenon is the source of much of the variability at these time scales, this indicates that ENSO has been an important part of interannual climatic variations over broad areas of the circum-Pacific region throughout the last millennium. Significant coherence values were found for El Niño and reconstructed Sierra Nevada winter precipitation at ~ 2–4 yr throughout much of their common record (late 1500s to present) and between 6 and 7 yr from the mid-18th to the early 20th century.At decadal time scales each record generally tends to exhibit significant spectral power over different periods at different times. Both the Quelccaya Ice Cap ¹⁸O series and the Quinn El Niño event record exhibit significant spectral power over frequencies ~ 35 to 45 yr; however, there is low coherence between these two series at those frequencies over their common record. The Sierra Nevada winter rainfall reconstruction exhibits consistently strong variability at periods of ~ 30–60 yr.     

Trends of Temperature Extremes in China and its Relationship with Global temperature anomalies Relationship with Global Temperature Anomalies

Changes of temperature extremes over China were evaluated using daily maximum and minimum temperature data from 591 stations for the period 1961--2002. A set of indices of warm extremes, cold extremes and daily temperature range (DTR) extremes was studied with a focus on trends. The results showed that the frequency of warm extremes (F_WE) increased obviously in most parts of China, and the intensity of warm extremes (I_WE) increased significantly in northern China. The opposite distribution was found in the frequency and intensity of cold extremes. The frequency of high DTR extremes was relatively uniform with that of intensity: an obvious increasing trend was located over western China and the east coast, while significant decreases occurred in central, southeastern and northeastern China; the opposite distribution was found for low DTR extreme days. Seasonal trends illustrated that both F_WE and I_WE showed significant increasing trends, especially over northeastern China and along the Yangtze Valley basin in spring and winter. A correlation technique was used to link extreme temperature anomalies over China with global temperature anomalies. Three key regions were identified, as follows: northeastern China and its coastal areas, the high-latitude regions above 40^oN, and southwestern China and the equatorial eastern Pacific.     

Analysis of Sampling Error Uncertainties and Trends in Maximum and Minimum Temperatures in China简

In this paper we report an analysis of sampling error uncertainties in mean maximum and minimum temperatures （Tmax and Tmin） carried out on monthly,seasonal and annual scales,including an examination of homogenized and original data collected at 731 meteorological stations across China for the period 1951-2004.Uncertainties of the gridded data and national average,linear trends and their uncertainties,as well as the homogenization effect on uncertainties are assessed.It is shown that the sampling error variances of homogenized Tmax and Tmin,which are larger in winter than in summer,have a marked northwest-southeast gradient distribution,while the sampling error variances of the original data are found to be larger and irregular.Tmax and Tmin increase in all months of the year in the study period 1951-2004,with the largest warming and uncertainties being 0.400℃ （10 yr）-1 ＋ 0.269℃ （10 yr）-1 and 0.578℃ （10 yr）-1 ＋ 0.211℃ （10 yr）-1 in February,and the least being 0.022℃ （10 yr）-1 ＋ 0.085℃ （10 yr）-1 and 0.104℃ （10 yr）-1 ＋0.070℃ （10 yr）-1 in August.Homogenization can remove large uncertainties in the original records resulting from various non-natural changes in China.     

Interdecadal Variability of East Asian Summer Monsoon Precipitation over 220 Years （1777-1997）

In this study, long-term (1777–1997) precipitation data for Seoul, Korea, wetness indices from eastern China, and modern observations are used to identify the interdecadal variability in East Asian summer monsoon precipitation over the last 220 years. In the East Asian monsoon region, two long-term timescales of dry–wet transitions for the interdecadal variability and quasi-40-and quasi-60-year timescales are dominant in the 220-year precipitation data of Seoul, as well as in the wetness indices over China....