Projecting Wintertime Newly Formed Arctic Sea Ice through Weighting CMIP6 Model Performance and Independence

Precipitous Arctic sea-ice decline and the corresponding increase in Arctic open-water areas in summer months give more space for sea-ice growth in the subsequent cold seasons. Compared to the decline of the entire Arctic multiyear sea ice,changes in newly formed sea ice indicate more thermodynamic and dynamic information on Arctic atmosphere–ocean–ice interaction and northern mid–high latitude atmospheric teleconnections. Here, we use a large multimodel ensemble from phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP6) to investigate future changes in wintertime newly formed Arctic sea ice. The commonly used model-democracy approach that gives equal weight to each model essentially assumes that all models are independent and equally plausible, which contradicts with the fact that there are large interdependencies in the ensemble and discrepancies in models' performances in reproducing observations. Therefore, instead of using the arithmetic mean of well-performing models or all available models for projections like in previous studies, we employ a newly developed model weighting scheme that weights all models in the ensemble with consideration of their performance and independence to provide more reliable projections. Model democracy leads to evident bias and large intermodel spread in CMIP6 projections of newly formed Arctic sea ice. However, we show that both the bias and the intermodel spread can be effectively reduced by the weighting scheme. Projections from the weighted models indicate that wintertime newly formed Arctic sea ice is likely to increase dramatically until the middle of this century regardless of the emissions scenario.Thereafter, it may decrease(or remain stable) if the Arctic warming crosses a threshold(or is extensively constrained).

Persistent Variations in the East Asian Trough from March to April and the Possible Mechanism

The East Asian trough(EAT)profoundly influences the East Asian spring climate.In this study,the relationship of the EATs among the three spring months is investigated.Correlation analysis shows that the variation in March EAT is closely related to that of April EAT.Extended empirical orthogonal function(EEOF)analysis also confirms the co-variation of the March and April EATs.The positive/negative EEOF1 features the persistent strengthened/weakened EAT from March to April.Further investigation indicates that the variations in EEOF1 are related to a dipole sea surface temperature(SST)pattern over the North Atlantic and the SST anomaly over the tropical Indian Ocean.The dipole SST pattern over the North Atlantic,with one center east of Newfoundland Island and another east of Bermuda,could trigger a Rossby wave train to influence the EAT in March−April.The SST anomaly over the tropical Indian Ocean can change the Walker circulation and influence the atmospheric circulation over the tropical western Pacific,subsequently impacting the southern part of the EAT in March−April.Besides the SST factors,the Northeast Asian snow cover could change the regional thermal conditions and lead to persistent EAT anomalies from March to April.These three impact factors are generally independent of each other,jointly explaining large variations in the EAT EEOF1.Moreover,the signals of the three factors could be traced back to February,consequently providing a potential prediction source for the EAT variation in March and April.

Preface to the Special Topic on Ocean, Sea Ice and Northern Hemisphere Climate:In Remembrance of Professor Yongqi GAO's Key Contributions

This special issue commemorates the life work of Prof. Yongqi GAO who passed away in July 2021, his time cut short by illness. He had many great achievements, but still much more to contribute. The seven articles in this special issue are from research areas where he contributed, and they illustrate how his close colleagues are continuing his work.

Impacts of monsoon break events in the western North Pacific on the cross-equatorial flows over the Maritime Continent

本文利用ERA5逐日再分析资料,探讨了1979-2020年间西北太平洋季风中断事件对海洋性大陆越赤道气流的影响.合成结果表明,西北太平洋季风中断事件会造成高,低空越赤道气流减弱,即高层南风异常,低层北风异常,与此相关的环流异常表现为西北太平洋高层气旋,低层反气旋的斜压结构。特别的是,西北太平洋季风中断对高空越赤道气流的影响更为显著,92%的季风中断事件都导致高空越赤道气流减弱,而只有70%的事件造成低空越赤道气流减弱,这是由于低空越赤道气流同时还受到赤道中东太平洋海温异常的调控.

What induced the trend shift of mixed-layer depths in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current region in the mid-1980s?

An obvious trend shift in the annual mean and winter mixed layer depth(MLD)in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current(ACC)region was detected during the 1960–2021 period.Shallowing trends stopped in mid-1980s,followed by a period of weak trends.The MLD deepening trend difference between the two periods were mainly distributed in the western areas in the Drake Passage,the areas north to Victoria Land and Wilkes Land,and the central parts of the South Indian sector.The newly formed ocean current shear due to the meridional shift of the ACC flow axis between the two periods is the dominant driver for the MLD trends shift distributed in the western areas in the Drake Passage and the central parts of the South Indian sector.The saltier trends in the regions north to Victoria Land and Wilkes Land could be responsible for the strengthening mixing processes in this region.

A Review of Seasonal Climate Prediction Research in China

The ultimate goal of climate research is to produce climate predictions on various time scales. In China, efforts to predict the climate started in the 1930 s. Experimental operational climate forecasts have been performed since the late 1950 s,based on historical analog circulation patterns. However, due to the inherent complexity of climate variability, the forecasts produced at that time were fairly inaccurate. Only from the late 1980 s has seasonal climate prediction experienced substantial progress, when the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere project of the World Climate Research program（WCRP） was launched. This paper, following a brief description of the history of seasonal climate prediction research, provides an overview of these studies in China. Processes and factors associated with the climate variability and predictability are discussed based on the literature published by Chinese scientists. These studies in China mirror aspects of the climate research effort made in other parts of the world over the past several decades, and are particularly associated with monsoon research in East Asia. As the climate warms, climate extremes, their frequency, and intensity are projected to change, with a large possibility that they will increase. Thus, seasonal climate prediction is even more important for China in order to effectively mitigate disasters produced by climate extremes, such as frequent floods, droughts, and the heavy frozen rain events of South China.

An assessment of the subduction rate in the CMIP6 historical experiment

Subduction process is a dynamical bridge for the exchanges of heat between the atmosphere and subsurface ocean water,which is regarded as a central proxy for the ocean climate studies.Given its key indicator in climate signals,it is of importance to examine the ability of a model to simulate the global subduction rate before investigating the climate dynamics.In this paper,we evaluated the ability of 21 climate models from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6(CMIP6)in simulating the subduction rate.In general,the simulation ability of the models to the subduction climatology is better than that to the long-term variation trend.Based on the comprehensive analysis of climatology distribution and long-term trend of the subduction rate,GISS-E2-1-G performs better in reproducing the subduction rate climatology and IPSL-CM6A-LR can simulate positive long-term trend for both the global mean subduction rate and the lateral induction term in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current(ACC)region.However,it is still challenging to capture both the distribution characteristics of the subduction climatology and the long-term temporal trend for the 21 CMIP6 models.In addition,the model results demonstrate that,the ACC area is the major region contributing to the long-term trend of the global mean subduction rate.The analysis in this paper indicates that the poor simulation ability of reproducing the long-term trend of global mean subduction rate might be attributed to the ocean dynamics,for example,the zonal velocity at the bottom mixed layer and zonal gradient of mixed layer depth.

Evaluation of East Asian Climatology as Simulated by Seven Coupled Models

Using observation and reanalysis data throughout 1961-1990, the East Asian surface air temperature, precipitation and sea level pressure climatology as simulated by seven fully coupled atmosphere-ocean models, namely CCSR/NIES, CGCM2, CSIRO-Mk2, ECHAM4/OPYC3, GFDL-R30, HadCM3, and NCAR-PCM, are systematically evaluated in this study. It is indicated that the above models can successfully reproduce the annual and seasonal surface air temperature and precipitation climatology in East Asia, with relatively good performance for boreal autumn and annual mean. The models' ability to simulate surface air temperature is more reliable than precipitation. In addition, the models can dependably capture the geographical distribution pattern of annual, boreal winter, spring and autumn sea level pressure in East Asia. In contrast, relatively large simulation errors are displayed when simulated boreal summer sea level pressure is compared with reanalysis data in East Asia. It is revealed that the simulation errors for surface air temperature, precipitation and sea level pressure are generally large over and around the Tibetan Plateau. No individual model is best in every aspect. As a whole, the ECHAM4/OPYC3 and HadCM3 performances are much better, whereas the CGCM2 is relatively poorer in East Asia. Additionally, the seven-model ensemble mean usually shows a relatively high reliability.

A Possible Role of Solar Radiation and Ocean in the Mid-Holocene East Asian Monsoon Climate

An atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) and an oceanic general circulation model (OGCM) are asynchronously coupled to simulate the climate of the mid-Holocene period. The role of the solar radiation and ocean in the mid-Holocene East Asian monsoon climate is analyzed and some mechanisms are revealed. At the forcing of changed solar radiation induced by the changed orbital parameters and the changed SST simulated by the OGCM, compared with when there is orbital forcing alone, there is more precipitation and the monsoon is stronger in the summer of East Asia, and the winter temperature increases over China. These agree better with the reconstructed data. It is revealed that the change of solar radiation can displace northward the ITCZ and the East Asia subtropical jet, which bring more precipitation over the south of Tibet and North and Northeast China. By analyzing the summer meridional latent heat transport, it is found that the influence of solar radiation change is mainly to increase the convergence of atmosphere toward the land, and the influence of SST change is mainly to transport more moisture to the sea surface atmosphere. Their synergistic effect on East Asian precipitation is much stronger than the sum of their respective effects.

Dynamic Downscaling of Summer Precipitation Prediction over China in 1998 Using WRF and CCSM4

To study the prediction of the anomalous precipitation and general circulation for the summer（June–July–August） of1998, the Community Climate System Model Version 4.0（CCSM4.0） integrations were used to drive version 3.2 of the Weather Research and Forecasting（WRF3.2） regional climate model to produce hindcasts at 60 km resolution. The results showed that the WRF model produced improved summer precipitation simulations. The systematic errors in the east of the Tibetan Plateau were removed, while in North China and Northeast China the systematic errors still existed. The improvements in summer precipitation interannual increment prediction also had regional characteristics. There was a marked improvement over the south of the Yangtze River basin and South China, but no obvious improvement over North China and Northeast China. Further analysis showed that the improvement was present not only for the seasonal mean precipitation, but also on a sub-seasonal timescale. The two occurrences of the Mei-yu rainfall agreed better with the observations in the WRF model,but were not resolved in CCSM. These improvements resulted from both the higher resolution and better topography of the WRF model.

Projected Potential Vegetation Change in China under the SRES A2 and B2 Scenarios

The ability of seven global coupled ocean-atmosphere models to reproduce East Asian monthly surface temperature and precipitation climatologies during 1961 1990 is evaluated. January and July climate differences during the 2050s and 2090s relative to 1961-1990 projected by the seven-model ensemble under the Special Report on Emission Scenarios （SRES） A2 and B2 scenarios are then briefly discussed. These projections, together with the corresponding atmospheric CO2 concentrations under the SRES A2 and B2 scenarios, are subsequently used to drive the biome model BIOME3 to simulate potential vegetation distribution in China during the 2050s and 2090s. It is revealed that potential vegetation belts during the 2050s shift northward greatly in central and eastern China compared to those during 1961-1990. In contrast, potential vegetation change is slight in western China on the whole. The spatial pattern of potential vegetation during the 2090s is generally similar to that during the 2050s, but the range of potential vegetation change against 1961 1990 is more extensive during the 2090s than the 2050s, particularly in western China. Additionally, there exists model-dependent uncertainty of potential vegetation change under the SRES A2 scenario during the 2090s, which is due to the scatter of projected climate change by the models. The projected change in potential vegetation under the SRES A2 scenario during the 2090s is attributable to surface temperature change south of 35°N and to the joint changes of surface temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric CO2 concentration north of 35°N.

How the “Best” Models Project the Future Precipitation Change in China

Projected changes in summer precipitation characteristics in China during the 21st century are assessed using the monthly precipitation outputs of the ensemble of three ＂best＂ models under the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios （SRES） A1B, A2, and B1 scenarios. The excellent reproducibility of the models both in spatial and temporal patterns for the precipitation in China makes the projected summer precipitation change more believable for the future 100 years. All the three scenarios experiments indicate a consistent enhancement of summer precipitation in China in the 21st century. However, the projected summer precipitation in China demonstrates large variability between sub-regions. The projected increase in precipitation in South China is significant and persistent, as well as in North China. Meanwhile, in the early period of the 21st century, the region of Northeast China is projected to be much drier than the present. But, this situation changes and the precipitation intensifies later, with a precipitation anomaly increase of 12.4%0-20.4% at the end of the 21st century. The region of the Xinjiang Province probably undergoes a drying trend in the future 100 years, and is projected to decrease by 1.7%-3.6% at the end of the 21st century. There is no significant long-term change of the projected summer precipitation in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley. A high level of agreement of the ensemble of the regional precipitation change in some parts of China is found across scenarios but smaller changes are projected for the B1 scenario and slightly larger changes for the A2 scenario.

Predictability of the East Asian Winter Monsoon Interannual Variability as Indicated by the DEMETER CGCMS

The interannual variability of East Asian winter monsoon （EAWM） circulation from the Development of a European Multi-Model Ensemble （MME） System for Seasonal to Inter-Annual Prediction （DEMETER） hindcasts was evaluated against observation reanalysis data. We evaluated the DEMETER coupled general circulation models （CGCMs）＇ retrospective prediction of the typical EAWM and its associated atmospheric circulation. Results show that the EAWM can be reasonably predicted with statistically significant accuracy, yet the major bias of the hindcast models is the underestimation of the related anomalies. The temporal correlation coefficient （TCC） of the MME-produced EAWM index, defined as the first EOF mode of 850- hPa air temperature within the EAWM domain （20^-60~N, 90^-150~E）, was 0.595. This coefficient was higher than those of the corresponding individual models （range： 0.39-0.51） for the period 1969 2001; this result indicates the advantage of the super-ensemble approach. This study also showed that the ensemble models can reasonably reproduce the major modes and their interannual variabilities for sea level pressure, geopotential height, surface air temperature, and wind fields in Eurasia. Therefore, the prediction of EAWM interannual variability is feasible using multimodel ensemble systems and that they may also reveal the associated mechanisms of the EAWM interannual variability.

Seasonal Differences of Model Predictability and the Impact of SST in the Pacific

Both seasonal potential predictability and the impact of SST in the Pacific on the forecast skill over China are investigated by using a 9-level global atmospheric general circulation model developed at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAP9L-AGCM). For each year during 1970 to 1999, the ensemble consists of seven integrations started from consecutive observational daily atmospheric fields and forced by observational monthly SST. For boreal winter, spring and summer, the variance ratios of the SST-forced variability to the total variability and the differences in the spatial correlation coefficients of seasonal mean fields in special years versus normal years are computed respectively. It follows that there are slightly inter-seasonal differences in the model potential predictability in the Tropics. At northern middle and high latitudes, prediction skill is generally low in spring and relatively high either in summer for surface air temperature and middle and upper tropospheric geopotential height or in winter for wind and precipitation. In general, prediction skill rises notably in western China, especially in northwestern China, when SST anomalies (SSTA) in the Nino-3 region are significant. Moreover, particular attention should be paid to the SSTA in the North Pacific (NP) if one aims to predict summer climate over the eastern part of China, i.e., northeastern China, North China and southeastern China.

Climate Responses to Direct Radiative Forcing of Anthropogenic Aerosols,Tropospheric Ozone,and Long-Lived Greenhouse Gases in Eastern China over 1951–2000

A unified chemistry-aerosol-climate model is applied in this work to compare climate responses to changing concentrations of long-lived greenhouse gases （GHGs, CO2, CH4, N2O）, tropospheric O3, and aerosols during the years 1951-2000. Concentrations of sulfate, nitrate, primary organic carbon （POA）, secondary organic carbon （SOA）, black carbon （BC） aerosols, and tropospheric 03 for the years 1950 and 2000 are obtained a priori by coupled chemistry-aerosol-GCM simulations, and then monthly concentrations are interpolated linearly between 1951 and 2000. The annual concentrations of GHGs are taken from the IPCC Third Assessment Report. BC aerosol is internally mixed with other aerosols. Model results indicate that the sinmlated climate change over 1951-2000 is sensitive to anthropogenic changes in atmospheric components. The predicted year 2000 global mean surface air temperature can differ by 0.8℃ with different forcings. Relative to the climate simulation without changes in GHGs, O3, and aerosols, anthropogenic forcings of SO4^2-, BC, BC＋SO4^2-, BC＋SO4^2- ＋POA, BC＋SO4^2- ＋POA＋SOA＋NO3^-, O3, and GHGs are predicted to change the surface air temperature averaged over 1971-2000 in eastern China, respectively, by -0.40℃, ＋0.62℃, ＋0.18℃, ＋0.15℃, -0.78℃, ＋0.43℃, and ＋0.85℃, and to change the precipitation, respectively, by -0.21, ＋0.07, -0.03, ＋0.02, -0.24, -0.08, and ＋0.10 mm d^-1. The authors conclude that all major aerosols are as important as GHGs in influencing climate change in eastern China, and tropospheric O3 also needs to be included in studies of regional climate change in China.

Relationship between Bering Sea Ice Cover and East Asian Winter Monsoon Year-to-Year Variations

In this study, the relationship between year-to-year variations in the Bering Sea ice cover （BSIC） and the East Asian winter monsoon （EAWM） for the period 1969-2001 was documented. The time series of total ice cover in the eastern Bering Sea correlated with the EAWM index at -0.49, indicating that they are two tightly related components. Our results show that the BSIC was closely associated with the simultaneous local and large-scale atmosphere over the Asian-northern Pacific region. Heavy BSIC corresponded to weaker EAWM circulations and light BSIC corresponded to stronger EAWM circulations. Thus, the BSIC should be considered as one of the possible factors affecting the EAWM variation.

Interdecadal Change in the Connection Between Hadley Circulation and Winter Temperature in East Asia

Based on NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, the interdecadal variability of Hadley circulation （HC） and its association with East Asian temperature in winter are investigated. Results indicate that the Northern Hemisphere winter HC underwent apparent change in the 1970s, with transition occurring around 1976/77. Along with interdecadal variability of HC, its linkage to surface air temperature （SAT） in East Asia also varied decadally, from weak relations to strong relations. Such a change may be related to the interaction between HC and the atmospheric circulation system over the Philippines, which is associated with the East Asian winter monsoon （EAWM）. Before the 1970s, the connection between HC and the anticyclonic circulation around the Philippines was insignificant, but after the late 1970s their linkage entered a strong regime. The intensification of this connection may therefore be responsible for the strong relations between HC and East Asian winter temperatures after the late 1970s.

Predicting Winter Surface Air Temperature in Northeast China

The author investigates the prediction of Northeast China's winter surface air temperature (SAT),and first forecast the year to year increment in the predic-tand and then predict the predictand.Thus,in the first step,we determined the predictors for an increment in winter SAT by analyzing the atmospheric variability associated with an increment in winter SAT.Then,multi-linear re-gression was applied to establish a prediction model for an increment in winter SAT in Northeast China.The pre-diction model shows a high correlation coefficient (0.73) between the simulated and observed annual increments in winter SAT in Northeast China throughout the period 1965-2002,with a relative root mean square error of -7.9%.The prediction model makes a reasonable hindcast for 2003-08,with an average relative root mean square error of -7.2%.The prediction model can capture the in-creasing trend of winter SAT in Northeast China from 1965-2008.The results suggest that this approach to forecasting an annual increment in winter SAT in North-east China would be relevant in operational seasonal forecasts.

Influence of the Asian-Pacific Oscillation on Spring Precipitation over Central Eastern China

The linkage between the Asian-Pacific oscillation （APO） and the precipitation over central eastern China in spring is preliminarily addressed by use of the observed data. Results show that they correlate very well, with the positive （negative） phase of APO tending to increase （decrease） the precipitation over central eastern China. Such a relationship can be explained by the atmospheric circulation changes over Asia and the North Pacific in association with the anomalous APO. A positive phase of APO, characterized by a positive anomaly over Asia and a negative anomaly over the North Pacific in the upper-tropospheric temperature, corresponds to decreased low-level geopotential height （H） and increased high-level H over Asia, and these effects are concurrent with increased low-level H and decreased high-level H over the North Pacific. Meanwhile, an anticyclonic circulation anomaly in the upper troposphere and a cyclonic circulation anomaly in the lower troposphere are introduced in East Asia, and the low-level southerly wind is strengthened over central eastern China. These changes provide advantageous conditions for enhanced precipitation over central eastern China. The situation is reversed in the negative phase of APO, leading to reduced precipitation in this region.

A Simulation Study of a Heavy Rainfall Process over the Yangtze River Valley Using the Two-Way Nesting Approach

In this study, the major features of a heavy rainfall event in the Yangtze River region on 3-7 June 2011 and its event-related large-scale circulation and predictability were studied. Both observational analysis and model simulation were used, the latter being based on the Weather Research and Forecasting （WRF） model forced by NCEP Global Forecast System （GFS） datasets. It was found that, during 3-5 June, the western Pacific subtropical high apparently extended to the west and was much stronger, and the Indian summer monsoon trough was slightly weaker than in normal years. The east-west oriented shear line over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River was favorable for the transportation and convergence of water vapor, and the precipitation band was located slightly to the south of the shear line. During 6-7 June, the western Pacific subtropical high retreated eastward, while the trough over the Okhotsk Sea deepened. The low vortex in Northeast China intensified, bringing much more cold air to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the shear line over this area moved slightly southward. The convection band moved southward and became weaker, so the rainfall during 6-7 June weakened and was located slightly to the south of the previous precipitation band. Many of the observed features, including background circulation and the distribution and amount of precipitation, were reproduced reasonably by the WRF, suggesting a feasibility of this model for forecasting extreme weather events in the Yangtze River region.