Simulation of East Asian Summer Monsoon by Using an Improved AGCM

The IAP 2-L AGCM is modified by introducing a set of climatological surface albedo data into the model for substituting the model’s original surface albedo parameterization. The comparison between the observations and the simulation results by the modified model shows that the general features of the East Asian summer monsoon can be well reproduced by the modified IAP 2-L AGCM. Especially for the simulation of monsoon precipitation, the modi-fied model can well reproduce not only the monthly mean features of the summer monsoon rainfall over East Asia, but also the stepwise advance and retreat of the East Asian summer monsoon rainbelt. Analysis results demonstrate that the good simulation of the monsoon rainfall is closely related to the reasonable simulation of the large scale gen-eral circulation over East Asian region, such as the western Pacific subtropical high, Asian monsoon low and the low level flows. The good performance of the modified model in the rainfall simulation shows its great potential to serve as a useful tool for the prediction of summer drought / flood events over East Asia.     

The sensitivity of numerical simulation of the east asian monsoon to different cumulus parameterization schemes

In this paper, a 5-level spectral AGCM is used to examine the sensitivity of simulated East Asian summer monsoon circulation and rainfall to cumulus parameterization schemes. From the simulated results of East Asian monsoon circulations and rainfalls during the summers of 1987 and 1995, it is shown that the Kuo’s convective parameterization scheme is more suitable for the numerical simulation of East Asian summer monsoon rainfall and circulation. This may be due to that the cumulus in the rainfall system is not strong in the East Asian monsoon region. This paper is supported by the National Key Progranmme “96-908”.     

Effect of Horizontal Resolution on the Representation of the Global Monsoon Annual Cycle in AGCMs

The sensitivity of the representation of the global monsoon annual cycle to horizontal resolution is compared in three AGCMs:the Met Office Unified Model-Global Atmosphere 3.0;the Meteorological Research Institute AGCM3;and the Global High Resolution AGCM from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.For each model,we use two horizontal resolution configurations for the period 1998–2008.Increasing resolution consistently improves simulated precipitation and low-level circulation of the annual mean and the first two annual cycle modes,as measured by the pattern correlation coefficient and equitable threat score.Improvements in simulating the summer monsoon onset and withdrawal are region-dependent.No consistent response to resolution is found in simulating summer monsoon retreat.Regionally,increased resolution reduces the positive bias in simulated annual mean precipitation,the two annual-cycle modes over the West African monsoon and Northwestern Pacific monsoon.An overestimation of the solstitial mode and an underestimation of the equinoctial asymmetric mode of the East Asian monsoon are reduced in all high-resolution configurations.Systematic errors exist in lower-resolution models for simulating the onset and withdrawal of the summer monsoon.Higher resolution models consistently improve the early summer monsoon onset over East Asia and West Africa,but substantial differences exist in the responses over the Indian monsoon region,where biases differ across the three low-resolution AGCMs.This study demonstrates the importance of a multi-model comparison when examining the added value of resolution and the importance of model physical parameterizations for simulation of the Indian monsoon.     

Spatial variability of Holocene changes in the annual precipitation pattern: a model-data synthesis for the Asian monsoon region

This study provides a detailed analysis of the mid-Holocene to present-day precipitation change in the Asian monsoon region. We compare for the first time results of high resolution climate model simulations with a standardised set of mid-Holocene moisture reconstructions. Changes in the simulated summer monsoon characteristics (onset, withdrawal, length and associated rainfall) and the mechanisms causing the Holocene precipitation changes are investigated. According to the model, most parts of the Indian subcontinent received more precipitation (up to 5 mm/day) at mid-Holocene than at present-day. This is related to a stronger Indian summer monsoon accompanied by an intensified vertically integrated moisture flux convergence. The East Asian monsoon region exhibits local inhomogeneities in the simulated annual precipitation signal. The sign of this signal depends on the balance of decreased pre-monsoon and increased monsoon precipitation at mid-Holocene compared to present-day. Hence, rainfall changes in the East Asian monsoon domain are not solely associated with modifications in the summer monsoon circulation but also depend on changes in the mid-latitudinal westerly wind system that dominates the circulation during the pre-monsoon season. The proxy-based climate reconstructions confirm the regional dissimilarities in the annual precipitation signal and agree well with the model results. Our results highlight the importance of including the pre-monsoon season in climate studies of the Asian monsoon system and point out the complex response of this system to the Holocene insolation forcing. The comparison with a coarse climate model simulation reveals that this complex response can only be resolved in high resolution simulations.     

The role of ocean thermodynamics and dynamics in Asian summer monsoon changes during the mid-Holocene

Studies of climate change 6,000 years before present using atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs) suggest the enhancement and northward shift of the summer Asian and African monsoons in the Northern Hemisphere. Although enhancement of the African monsoonal precipitation by ocean coupling is a common and robust feature, contradictions exist between analyses of the role of the ocean in the strength of the Asian monsoon. We investigated the role of the ocean in the Asian monsoon and sought to clarify which oceanic mechanisms played an important role using three ocean coupling schemes: MIROC, an atmosphere–ocean coupled general circulation model [C]; an AGCM extracted from MIROC coupled with a mixed-layer ocean model [M]; and the same AGCM, but with prescribed sea surface temperatures [A]. The effect of “ocean dynamics” is quantified through differences between experiments [C] and [M]. The effect of “ocean thermodynamics” is quantified through differences between experiments [M] and [A]. The precipitation change for the African and Asian monsoon area suggested that the ocean thermodynamics played an important role. In particular, the enhancement of the Asian monsoonal precipitation was most vigorous in the AGCM simulations, but mitigated in early summer in ocean coupled cases, which were not significantly different from each other. The ocean feedbacks were not significant for the precipitation change in late summer. On the other hand, in Africa, ocean thermodynamics contributed to the further enhancement of the precipitation from spring to autumn, and the ocean dynamics had a modest impact in enhancing precipitation in late summer.     

Diagnostic metrics for evaluation of annual and diurnal cycles

Two sets of diagnostic metrics are proposed for evaluation of global models?? simulation of annual and diurnal cycles of precipitation. The metrics for the annual variation include the annual mean, the solstice and equinoctial asymmetric modes of the annual cycle (AC), and the global monsoon precipitation domain and intensity. The metrics for the diurnal variation include the diurnal range, the land?Csea contrast and transition modes of the diurnal cycle (DC), and the diurnal peak propagation in coastal regions. The proposed modes for the AC and DC represent faithfully the first two leading empirical orthogonal functions and explain, respectively, 82% of the total annual variance and 87% of the total diurnal variance over the globe between 45°S and 45°N. The simulated AC and DC by the 20-km-mesh MRI/JMA atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) are in a wide-ranging agreement with observations; the model considerably outperforms any individual AMIP II GCMs and has comparable performance to 12-AMIP II model ensemble simulation measured by Pearson??s pattern correlation coefficient. Comparison of four versions of the MRI/JMA AGCM with increasing resolution (180, 120, 60, and 20?km) reveals that the 20-km version reproduces the most realistic annual and diurnal cycles. However, the improved performance is not a linear function of the resolution. Marked improvement of the simulated DC (AC) occurs at the resolution of 60?km (20?km). The results suggest that better represented parameterizations that are adequately tuned to increased resolutions may improve models?? simulation on the forced responses. The common deficiency in representing the monsoon domains suggests the models having difficulty in replicating annual march of the Subtropical Highs that is largely driven by prominent east-west land?Cocean thermal contrast. Note that the 20-km model reproduces realistic diurnal cycle, but fails to capture realistic Madden-Julian Oscillation.     

东亚夏季风降水和环流数值模拟对不同对流参数化方案的敏感性

A 5-level spectral AGCM (ImPKU-5LAGCM) is used to examine the sensitivity of the simulated results of the summer monsoon rainfall and circulation in East Asia to different cumulus parameterization schemes in the climatological-mean case and in the cases of weak and strong Asian summer monsoons,respectively. The results simulated with the Arakawa-Schubert＇s(hereafter A-S＇s), Kuo＇s and Manabe＇s cumulus parameterization schemes show that these simulated distributions of the summer monsoon rainfall and circulation in East Asia depend strongly on the cumulus parameterization schemes either in the climatological-mean case or in the cases of weak and strong Asian summer monsoons. From the simulated results, it might be shown that the Kuo scheme appears to be more suitable for the simulation of the summer monsoon rainfall and circulation in East Asia than the A-S scheme or the Manabe scheme, although the A-S scheme is somewhat better in the simulations of the tropical rainfall. This might be due to that the Kuo＇s cumulus parameterization scheme is able to reflect well the characteristics of rainfall cloud system in the East Asian summer monsoon region, where the rainfall system used to be a mixing of cumulus and stratus.     

Simulations of the Indian summer monsoon using a nested regional climate model: domain size experiments

Seasonal simulations of the Indian summer monsoon using a 50-km regional climate model (RCM) are described. Results from three versions of the RCM distinguished by different domain sizes are compared against those of the driving global general circulation model (AGCM). Precipitation over land is 20% larger in the RCMs due to stronger vertical motions arising from finer horizontal resolution. The resulting increase in condensational heating helps to intensify the monsoon trough relative to the AGCM. The RCM precipitation distributions show a strong orographically forced mesoscale component (similar in each version). This component is not present in the AGCM. The RCMs produce two qualitatively realistic intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs) associated respectively with monsoon depressions which propagate northwestward from the Bay of Bengal and repeated northward migrations of the regional tropical convergence zone. The RCM simulations are relatively insensitive to domain size in several respects: (1) the mean bias relative to the AGCM is similar for all three domains; (2) the variability simulated by the RCM is strongly correlated with that of the driving AGCM on both daily and seasonal time scales, even for the largest domain; (3) the mesoscale features and ISOs are not damped by the relative proximity of the lateral boundaries in the version with the smallest domain. Results (1) and (2) contrast strongly with a previous study for Europe carried out with the same model, probably due to inherent differences between mid-latitude and tropical dynamics.     

THE THREE-LEVEL GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC GENERAL CIRCULATION MODEL: FORMULATION AND RESULTS

The "climate draft" often occurs in the coupling process of the atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) and oceanic general circulation model (OGCM).One of the main methods to overcome the "climate draft" is to simulate the flow and temperature fields in the low-layer correctly.Therefore we designed a three-level AGCM including a planetary boundary layer (PBL) and have run it seven model years to do climate simulation.The results show that the simulated lower level air flow,surface air temperature and sea-level pressure in January and July,approximate to the climate average fields,especially in Asian monsoon area.The simulated upper level flow and geopotential height are also in better agreement with the observed fields.Moreover,the two westerly jets over the northern and southern sides of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau in winter,the disappearance of its southern subtropical jet during the seasonal transition from spring to summer,the establishment of the two easterly jets near the equator and over the subtropical region during the seasonal transition,are also simulated well.In the mainland of China,the seasonal abrupt shift of the rainfall belt,such as the Meiyu belt in South China during April to May,which jumps to the Changjiang River region in June,again jumps back to the north China in July,and rapidly withdraws to the south in August,are simulated very well.Now we are coupling this model to a global six-level OGCM and nesting a fine mesh (1°×1.25°)regional climate model over China area with it.     

ECHAM4/OPYC3海气耦合模式对东亚季风年循环及其未来变化的模拟

德国马普研究所海气耦合摸式ECHAM4/OPYC3对东亚地区2 m温度年循环的模拟尽管有一些偏差,但还是相当成功的.其模拟的东亚夏季风偏弱,而冬季风偏强,此偏差可能与2 m温度以及西太平洋副热带高压模拟偏差有关.该模式模拟的东亚季风区夏季降水量偏弱,这与上述夏季风环流的模拟结果是一致的.该模式较好地抓住了华北地区经向环流和降水量的年循环特征.利用最新的温室气体和SO2排放方案,即政府间气候变化委员会(IPCC)排放方案特别报告(SRES)的A2和B2方案,通过该模式111年的积分结果讨论了东亚季风气候在21世纪后30年中的变化,其主要结果为:全球变暖导致夏季海陆温差增大和冬季海陆温差减弱,进而使东亚季风环流在夏季加强,冬季减弱.长江流域和华北地区的夏季降水量显著增强,而后者的增强更为显著,使得东亚季风区的夏季多雨区向北延伸;东亚季风区9月份的降水量在两个方案中都显著增加,说明在全球变暖条件下东亚季风区的多雨季节将延迟一个月.     

Monsoon circulation interaction with Western Ghats orography under changing climate

In this study, the authors have investigated the likely future changes in the summer monsoon over the Western Ghats (WG) orographic region of India in response to global warming, using time-slice simulations of an ultra high-resolution global climate model and climate datasets of recent past. The model with approximately 20-km mesh horizontal resolution resolves orographic features on finer spatial scales leading to a quasi-realistic simulation of the spatial distribution of the present-day summer monsoon rainfall over India and trends in monsoon rainfall over the west coast of India. As a result, a higher degree of confidence appears to emerge in many aspects of the 20-km model simulation, and therefore, we can have better confidence in the validity of the model prediction of future changes in the climate over WG mountains. Our analysis suggests that the summer mean rainfall and the vertical velocities over the orographic regions of Western Ghats have significantly weakened during the recent past and the model simulates these features realistically in the present-day climate simulation. Under future climate scenario, by the end of the twenty-first century, the model projects reduced orographic precipitation over the narrow Western Ghats south of 16°N that is found to be associated with drastic reduction in the southwesterly winds and moisture transport into the region, weakening of the summer mean meridional circulation and diminished vertical velocities. We show that this is due to larger upper tropospheric warming relative to the surface and lower levels, which decreases the lapse rate causing an increase in vertical moist static stability (which in turn inhibits vertical ascent) in response to global warming. Increased stability that weakens vertical velocities leads to reduction in large-scale precipitation which is found to be the major contributor to summer mean rainfall over WG orographic region. This is further corroborated by a significant decrease in the frequency of moderate-to-heavy rainfall days over WG which is a typical manifestation of the decrease in large-scale precipitation over this region. Thus, the drastic reduction of vertical ascent and weakening of circulation due to ??upper tropospheric warming effect?? predominates over the ??moisture build-up effect?? in reducing the rainfall over this narrow orographic region. This analysis illustrates that monsoon rainfall over mountainous regions is strongly controlled by processes and parameterized physics which need to be resolved with adequately high resolution for accurate assessment of local and regional-scale climate change.     

Multi-year simulation of the East Asian Monsoon and Precipitation in China using a Regional Climate Model and Evaluation

1. Introduction As an important way to study the global climate change, because of its low resolution, GCM (general circulation model) shows obvious deficiency and uncer- tainty in capturing some regional features when used in the regional climate study, and the uncertainty is even serious in regional climate simulation over East Asia (Ding et al., 2000; Zhao and Luo, 1998; Qian et al., 1999). The high-resolution regional climate model (RegCM) developed in the 1980s can provide better simu…     

Comparative tests and analyses on monsoon and regional precipitation

Summary Due to the strong variation of the Asian monsoon, many countries in Asia often suffer from serious natural disasters. Droughts and floods appear in East China frequently related to the large anomalies of the two branches of East Asian monsoon. Based on rainfall data recorded by 336 Chinese stations in the 1980s, two distinctly opposite rainfall types over East China in summer (JJA) are discovered. Correspondly, 850 hPa anomalous wind fields in the Eastern Hemisphere are also possessed by two types of converse patterns in spring (MAM) and summer (JJA). The onset time and intensity of the Somali jet and the two branches of Southeast and Indian monsoon are quite different. Furthermore, in the 500 hPa geopotential height anomaly fields in spring and summer, the variations of the previous general atmospheric circulation (in spring) are closely correlated to the two kinds of conversely distributed rainfall in summer. These two types of rainfall are also related to two types of conversely distributed sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) in the equatorial Pacific and Indian Oceans. To investigate model capabilities refelecting the above observed features, eight numerical experiments are carried out using the IAP 2-L AGCM, with observed monthly mean global SSTs as external forcing and observed atmospheric data on February 15 as initial conditions. The simulated distributions of rainfall anomalies over East China in summer are in good accordance with observations. With conversely distributed SSTAs in the equatorial Pacific, the simulated 850 hPa anomalous wind fields and the 500 hPa geopotential height anomalies are also conversely distributed, and are closely related to the two types of simulated rainfall anomalies over East China. The cross equatorial wind varies in strength, space and time. The simulated distributions of anomalous 500 hPa geopotential height in spring and the anomalous wind at 850 hPa in spring and summer are quite similar to observations.With 10 Figures     

Sensitivity of the GCM driven summer monsoon simulations to cumulus parameterization schemes in nested RegCM3

The regional climate model (RegCM3) from the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics has been used to simulate the Indian summer monsoon for three different monsoon seasons such as deficit (1987), excess (1988) and normal (1989). Sensitivity to various cumulus parameterization and closure schemes of RegCM3 driven by the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting global spectral model products has been tested. The model integration of the nested RegCM3 is conducted using 90 and 30-km horizontal resolutions for outer and inner domains, respectively. The India Meteorological Department gridded rainfall (1° × 1°) and National Centre for Environment Prediction (NCEP)–Department of Energy (DOE) reanalysis-2 of 2.5° × 2.5° horizontal resolution data has been used for verification. The RegCM3 forced by NCEP–DOE reanalysis-2 data simulates monsoon seasons of 1987 and 1988 reasonably well, but the monsoon season of 1989 is not represented well in the model simulations. The RegCM3 runs driven by the global model are able to bring out seasonal mean rainfall and circulations well with the use of the Grell and Anthes–Kuo cumulus scheme at 90-km resolution. While the rainfall intensity and distribution is brought out well with the Anthes–Kuo scheme, upper air circulation features are brought out better by the Grell scheme. The simulated rainfall distribution is better with RegCM3 using the MIT-Emanuel cumulus scheme for 30-km resolution. Several statistical analyses, such as correlation coefficient, root mean square error, equitable threat score, confirm that the performance of MIT-Emanuel scheme at 30-km resolution is better in simulating all-India summer monsoon rainfall. The RegCM3 simulated rainfall amount is more and closer to observations than that from the global model. The RegCM3 has corrected its driven GCM in terms of rainfall distribution and magnitude over some parts of India during extreme years. This study brings out several weaknesses of the RegCM model which are documented in this paper.     

Multi-decadal scenario simulation over Korea using a one-way double-nested regional climate model system. Part 1: recent climate simulation (1971–2000)

We present an analysis of a high resolution multi-decadal simulation of recent climate (1971–2000) over the Korean Peninsula with a regional climate model (RegCM3) using a one-way double-nested system. Mean climate state as well as frequency and intensity of extreme climate events are investigated at various temporal and spatial scales, with focus on surface air temperature and precipitation. The mother intermediate resolution model domain encompasses the eastern regions of Asia at 60 km grid spacing while the high resolution nested domain covers the Korean Peninsula at 20 km grid spacing. The simulation spans the 30-year period of January 1971 through December 2000, and initial and lateral boundary conditions for the mother domain are provided from ECHO-G fields based on the IPCC SRES B2 scenario. The model shows a good performance in reproducing the climatological and regional characteristics of surface variables, although some persistent biases are present. Main results are as follows: (1) The RegCM3 successfully simulates the fine-scale structure of the temperature field due to topographic forcing but it shows a systematic cold bias mostly due to an underestimate of maximum temperature. (2) The frequency distribution of simulated daily mean temperature agrees well with the observed seasonal and spatial patterns. In the summer season, however, daily variability is underestimated. (3) The RegCM3 simulation adequately captures the seasonal evolution of precipitation associated to the East Asia monsoon. In particular, the simulated winter precipitation is remarkably good, clearly showing typical precipitation patterns that occur on the northwestern areas of Japan during the winter monsoon. Although summer precipitation is underestimated, area-averaged time series of precipitation over Korea show that the RegCM3 agrees better with observations than ECHO-G both in terms of seasonal evolution and precipitation amounts. (4) Heavy rainfall phenomena exceeding 300 mm/day are simulated only at the high resolution of the double nested domain. (5) The model shows a tendency to overestimate the number of precipitation days and to underestimate the precipitation intensities. (6) A CSEOF analysis reveals that the model captures the strength of the annual cycle and the surface warming trend throughout the simulated period.     

South Asian summer monsoon precipitation variability: Coupled climate model simulations and projections under IPCC AR4

Summary South Asian summer monsoon precipitation and its variability are examined from the outputs of the coupled climate models assessed as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment. Out of the 22 models examined, 19 are able to capture the maximum rainfall during the summer monsoon period (June through September) with varying amplitude. While two models are unable to reproduce the annual cycle well, one model is unable to simulate the summer monsoon season. The simulated inter-annual variability from the 19 models is examined with respect to the mean precipitation, coefficient of variation, long-term trends and the biennial tendency. The model simulated mean precipitation varies from 500 mm to 900 mm and coefficient of variation from 3 to 13%. While seven models exhibit long-term trends, eight are able to simulate the biennial nature of the monsoon rainfall. Six models, which generate the most realistic 20th century monsoon climate over south Asia, are selected to examine future projections under the doubling CO₂ scenario. Projections reveal a significant increase in mean monsoon precipitation of 8% and a possible extension of the monsoon period based on the multi-model ensemble technique. Extreme excess and deficient monsoons are projected to intensify. The projected increase in precipitation could be attributed to the projected intensification of the heat low over northwest India, the trough of low pressure over the Indo-Gangetic plains, and the land–ocean pressure gradient during the establishment phase of the monsoon. The intensification of these pressure systems could be attributed to the decline in winter/spring snowfall. Furthermore, a decrease of winter snowfall over western Eurasia is also projected along with an increase of winter snowfall over Siberia/eastern Eurasia. This projected dipole snow configuration during winter could imply changes in mid-latitude circulation conducive to subsequent summer monsoon precipitation activity. An increase in precipitable water of 12–16% is projected over major parts of India. A maximum increase of about 20–24% is found over the Arabian Peninsula, adjoining regions of Pakistan, northwest India and Nepal. Although the projected summer monsoon circulation appears to weaken, the projected anomalous flow over the Bay of Bengal (Arabian Sea) will support oceanic moisture convergence towards the southern parts of India and Sri Lanka (northwest India and adjoining regions). The ENSO-Monsoon relationship is also projected to weaken.     

Simulation of Asian Monsoon Seasonal Variations with Climate Model R42L9／LASG

The seasonal variations of the Asian monsoon were explored by applying the atmospheric general circulation model R42L9 that was developed recently at the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (LASG/IAP/CAS). The 20-yr (1979-1998) simulation was done using the prescribed 20-yr monthly SST and sea-ice data as required by Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP)Ⅱ in the model. The monthly precipitation and monsoon circulations were analyzed and compared with the observations to validate the model‘s performance in simulating the climatological mean and seasonal variations of the Asian monsoon. The results show that the model can capture the main features of the spatial distribution and the temporal evolution of precipitation in the Indian and East Asian monsoon areas. The model also reproduced the basic patterns of monsoon circulation. However, some biases exis tin this model. The simulation of the heating over the Tibetan Plateau in summer was too strong. The overestimated heating caused a stronger East Asian monsoon and a weaker Indian monsoon than the observations. In the circulation fields, the South Asia high was stronger and located over the Tibetan Plateau. The western Pacific subtropical high was extended westward, which is in accordance with the observational results when the heating over the Tibetan Plateau is stronger. Consequently, the simulated rainfall around this area and in northwest China was heavier than in observations, but in the Indian monsoon area and west Pacific the rainfall was somewhat deficient.     

亚洲夏季风的年际和年代际变化及其未来预测

本文是对我们近五年在亚洲夏季风年代际与年际变率及其未来预测方面研究的一个综述.主要包括下列三个问题:(1)根据123年中国夏季降水资料和印度学者的分析,检测出亚洲夏季风具有明显的年代际尺度减弱,这种年代际变化使中国东部(包括东亚)和南亚夏季降水的格局在过去60年中发生了明显变化.在东亚,从1970年代后期开始,主要异常雨带有不断南移的趋势,结果造成了南涝北旱的降水分布,这主要受到60～80年年代际振荡的影响.青藏高原前冬和春季积雪的年代际减少与热带中东太平洋海表温度的年代际增加是东亚降水型改变的主要原因,这是通过减弱亚洲地区夏季海陆温差与夏季风强度而实现的.未来亚洲夏季风的预测表明,东亚夏季风和南亚夏季风对气候变暖有十分不同的响应.东亚夏季风在本世纪将增强,雨带北推,尤其在2040年代之后;而南亚夏季风环流将继续减弱.这种不同的变化是由于两者对高低层海陆热力差异的不同响应造成.(2)年际尺度的变率在亚洲夏季风区主要表现为2年与4～7年的振荡.本文着重分析了2年振荡(TBO)形成的过程、机理及其对东亚降水的影响.对TBO-海洋机理进行了具体的改进,说明了东亚夏季风降水深受TBO影响的原因,尤其是阐明了长江型(YRV) TBO和淮河型(HRV) TBO的特征及其形成的循环过程.(3)在总结亚洲夏季风时期遥相关型的基础上,本文提出了季节内和年际尺度的低空遥相关型:即西北太平洋季风的遥相关型与印度“南支”和“北支”遥相关型.它们基本上反映了沿低空夏季风强风速带Rossby波群速度传播的结果.据此可以根据西北太平洋和印度夏季风的变化分别预测中国梅雨和华北雨季来临和降水异常.最后研究还表明,在本世纪亚洲夏季风可能更显著地受到人类活动造成的全球变暖的影响,未来的亚洲夏季风活动是人类排放的CO2引起的全球变暖与自然变化(海洋和陆面过程(积雪))共同作用的结果.     

Validating a regional climate model’s downscaling ability for East Asian summer monsoonal interannual variability

Performance of a regional climate model (RCM), WRF, for downscaling East Asian summer season climate is investigated based on 11-summer integrations associated with different climate conditions with reanalysis data as the lateral boundary conditions. It is found that while the RCM is essentially unable to improve large-scale circulation patterns in the upper troposphere for most years, it is able to simulate better lower-level meridional moisture transport in the East Asian summer monsoon. For precipitation downscaling, the RCM produces more realistic magnitude of the interannual variation in most areas of East Asia than that in the reanalysis. Furthermore, the RCM significantly improves the spatial pattern of summer rainfall over dry inland areas and mountainous areas, such as Mongolia and the Tibetan Plateau. Meanwhile, it reduces the wet bias over southeast China. Over Mongolia, however, the performance of precipitation downscaling strongly depends on the year: the WRF is skillful for normal and wet years, but not for dry years, which suggests that land surface processes play an important role in downscaling ability. Over the dry area of North China, the WRF shows the worst performance. Additional sensitivity experiments testing land effects in downscaling suggest the initial soil moisture condition and representation of land surface processes with different schemes are sources of uncertainty for precipitation downscaling. Correction of initial soil moisture using the climatology dataset from GSWP-2 is a useful approach to robustly reducing wet bias in inland areas as well as to improve spatial distribution of precipitation. Despite the improvement on RCM downscaling, regional analyses reveal that accurate simulation of precipitation over East China, where the precipitation pattern is strongly influenced by the activity of the Meiyu/Baiu rainfall band, is difficult. Since the location of the rainfall band is closely associated with both lower-level meridional moisture transport and upper-level circulation structures, it is necessary to have realistic upper-air circulation patterns in the RCM as well as lower-level moisture transport in order to improve the circulation-associated convective rainfall band in East Asia.