Climatic Regionalization of Orange Osmanthus in Pucheng County Based on GIS

[Objectives]This study was conducted to scientifically plan orange osmanthus planting in Pucheng County to promote the development of agricultural economy.[Methods]Two factors,the total number of days with daily average temperature≥15℃from March to August and the total number of days with daily average temperature≥20℃in September were determined as the regionalization index factors using the weather data and geographic information data of Pucheng County,according to the 80%guarantee rate principle,the mean square error method and the actual growth law of orange osmanthus.Then,according to the weighted stack method,comprehensively considering the on-site inspection results and expert opinions,the suitability of orange osmanthus planting layout in Pucheng County was evaluated,and the GIS spatial interpolation technology was applied to complete the refined agroclimatic regionalization.[Results]The growth of Pucheng orange osmanthus has a great relationship with the thermal conditions,and it is clear that the suitable,sub-suitable and unsuitable areas for orange osmanthus planting in Pucheng County have certain applicability and maneuverability.[Conclusions]This study will play a scientific guiding role in the industrialization and development of orange osmanthus planting in Pucheng County.

Climate Regionalization for Morchella esculenta Cultivation in the Western Sichuan Plateau Based on GIS

Based on the meteorological data and DEM data in the producing areas of Morchella esculenta in the western Sichuan plateau from 1991 to 2020, the biological characteristics of M. esculenta, as well as the survey of production in the planting area, the correlation between M. esculenta production and the climatic ecological conditions at an altitude of 1 200-3 000 m in the western Sichuan plateau was comprehensively analyzed by using the inverse distance weight method, analytic hierarchy process, climate risk assessment model and geographic information system(GIS), and restrictive or high impact climatic ecological factors were selected as the suitability zoning indicators to carry out the analysis of climatic ecological suitability and planting zoning. The results show that the climatic factors affecting M. esculenta cultivation in the western Sichuan plateau were mainly temperature, temperature difference between day and night, and humidity, and the main meteorological disaster was freezing disaster. Under the influence of vertical changes in temperature, topography and cold damage, the growing areas of M. esculenta in the western Sichuan plateau were mainly distributed in the Minjiang River basin and the river valley along the Dadu River basin at an altitude of 1 200-2 000 m, and were distributed in strips and branches along the rivers. The suitable areas were mainly distributed in Wenchuan, Lixian, Maoxian, Kangding, Jiulong and Luding counties(cities), which were the main producing areas of M. esculenta, but the area was small, accounting for only 3.5% of the study area;the sub-suitable areas were mainly distributed in some towns of Danba, Xiaojin, Wenchuan, Lixian, Maoxian, Heishui and Jiuzhaigou counties, accounting for 36.0% of the total area, and they were the main planting areas of M. esculenta.

Indirect Radiative Forcing and Climatic Effect of the Anthropogenic Nitrate Aerosol on Regional Climate of China

The regional climate model （RegCM3） and a tropospheric atmosphere chemistry model （TACM） were coupled, thus a regional climate chemistry modeling system （RegCCMS） was constructed, which was applied to investigate the spatial distribution of anthropogenic nitrate aerosols, indirect radiative forcing, as well as its climatic effect over China. TACM includes the thermodynamic equilibrium model ISORROPIA and a condensed gas-phase chemistry model. Investigations show that the concentration of nitrate aerosols is relatively high over North and East China with a maximum of 29μg m-3 in January and 8 μg m-3 in July. Due to the influence of air temperature on thermodynamic equilibrium, wet scavenging of precipitation and the monsoon climate, there are obvious seasonal differences in nitrate concentrations. The average indirect radiative forcing at the tropopause due to nitrate aerosols is -1.63 W m 2 in January and -2.65 W m 2 in July, respectively. In some areas, indirect radiative forcing reaches -10 W m-2. Sensitivity tests show that nitrate aerosols make the surface air temperature drop and the precipitation reduce on the national level. The mean changes in surface air temperature and precipitation are 0.13 K and -0.01 mm d-1 in January and -0.09 K and -0.11 mm d-1 in July, respectively, showing significant differences in different regions.

Changes in Climate Regionalization Indices in China during 1961–2010

The regionalization of climate in China is based on a three-level classification in terms of lasting days for accumulated temperature （AT）,aridity index,and July mean temperature.Based on daily meteorological observational data from 756 stations,trends and interdecadal variation in indices for classifying temperature zones,moisture regions and climatic subregions in the period 1961-2010 are discussed.Results reveal that the nationwide AT ≥ 10℃C （AT10） and its lasting days are basically increasing,while aridity in northern Xinjiang is decreasing.The increasing trend of July mean temperature in North China is found to be notably larger than in South China.In terms of their national averages,a marked step increase of AT10 and its lasting period,as well as July mean temperature occurred around 1997,while the aridity index presents no such clear change.By comparing regionalization areas for 1998-2010 with those for 1961-97,it is found that the semi-humid,semi-dry and dry regions in the sub-temperate zone,as well as the humid region in the middle subtropical zone,have experienced substantial shrinkage in terms of area.In contrast,the areas of semi-dry and dry regions in the warm temperate zone,as well as the humid region in the south subtropical zone,present drastically increasing trends.Owing to the influence of such step changes that took place in 1997,that particular point in time should be given close attention in future studies regarding the regionalization of climate in China.

Retrieving Multi-Scale Climatic Variations from High Dimensional Time-Series MODIS Green Vegetation Cover in a Tropical/Subtropical Mountainous Island

There are knowledge gaps in our understanding of vegetation responses to multi-scale climate-related variables in tropical/subtropical mountainous islands in the Asia-Pacific region.Therefore, this study investigated inter-annual vegetation dynamics and regular/irregular climate patterns in Taiwan. We applied principal component analysis(PCA) on 11 years(2001~2011) of highdimensional monthly photosynthetically active vegetation cover(PV) derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) and investigated the relationships between spatiotemporal patterns of the eigenvectors and loadings of each component through time and multi-scale climaterelated variations. Results showed that the first five components contributed to 96.4% of the total variance. The first component(PC1, explaining 94.5%of variance) loadings, as expected, were significantly correlated with the temporal dynamics of the PV(r =0.94), which was mainly governed by regional climate The temporal loadings of PC2 and PC3(0.8% and0.6% of variance, respectively) were significantly correlated with the temporal dynamics of the PV of forests(r = 0.72) and the farmlands(r = 0.80),respectively. The low-order components(PC4 and PC5, 0.3% and 0.2% of variance, respectively) were closely related to the occurrence of drought(r = 0.49)and to irregular ENSO associated climate anomalies(r =-0.54), respectively. Pronounced correlations were also observed between PC5 and the Southern Oscillation Index(SOI) with one to three months of time lags(r =-0.35 ^-0.43, respectively), revealing biophysical memory effects on the time-series pattern of the vegetation through ENSO-related rainfall patterns. Our findings reveal that the sensitivity of the ecosystems in this tropical/subtropical mountainous island may not only be regulated by regional climate and human activities but also be susceptible to largescale climate anomalies which are crucial and comparable to previous large scale analyses. This study demonstrates that PCA can be an effective tool for analyzing seasonal and inter-annual variability of vegetation dynamics across this tropical/subtropical mountainous islandin the Pacific Ocean, which provides an opportunity to forecast the responses and feedbacks of terrestrial environments to future climate scenarios.

A Modeling Study of Climatic Change and Its Implication for Agriculture in C

The trends and features of China's climatic change in the past and future are analysed by applying station observations and GCM simulation results. Nationally, the country has warmed by 0.3℃ in annual mean air temperatureand decreased by 5% in annual precipitation over 1951-1990. Regionally, temperature change has varied from acooling of 0.3℃ in Southwest China to a'warming of 1 .0℃ in Northeast China. With the exception of South China,all regions of China have shown a declination in precipitation. Climatic change has the features of increasing remarkably in winter temperature and decreasing obviously in summer precipitation. Under doubled CO2 concentration,climatic change in China will tend to be warmer and moister, with increases of 4.5℃ in annual mean air temperatureand 11% in annual precipitation on the national scale. Future climatic change will reduce the temporal and spatialdifferences of climatic factors.

Spatial and temporal patterns of the sensitivity of radial growth response by Picea schrenkiana to regional climate change in the Tianshan Mountains

Climate change significantly impacts forest ecosystems in arid and semi-arid regions.However,spatiotemporal patterns of climate-sensitive changes in individual tree growth under increased climate warming and precipitation in north-west China is unclear.The dendrochronological method was used to study climate response sensitivity of radial growth of Picea schrenkiana from 158 trees at six sites during 1990-2020.The results show that climate warming and increased precipitation significantly promoted the growth of trees.The response to temperature first increased,then decreased.However,the response to increased precipitation and the self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index(scPDSI)increased significantly.In most areas of the Tianshan Mountains,the proportion of trees under increased precipitation and scPDSI positive response was relatively high.Over time,small-diameter trees were strongly affected by drought stress.It is predicted that under continuous warming and increased precipitation,trees in most areas of the Tianshan Mountains,especially those with small diameters,will be more affected by precipitation.

Sedimentary elements,evolutions and controlling factors of the Miocene channel system:a case study of the deep-water Taranaki Basin in New Zealand

Deep-water channel systems are important petroleum reservoirs,and many have been discovered worldwide.Understanding deep-water channel sedimentary elements and evolution is helpful for deep-sea petroleum exploration and development.Based on high-resolution 3D seismic data,the Miocene channel system in the deep-water Taranaki Basin,New Zealand,was analyzed by using seismic interpretation techniques such as interlayer attribute extraction and strata slicing.The channel system was divided into five composite channels(CC-I to CC-V)according to four secondary level channel boundaries,and sedimentary elements such as channels,slump deposits,inner levees,mass transport deposits,and hemipelagic drape deposits were identified in the channel system.The morphological characteristics of several composite channels exhibited stark variances,and the overall morphology of the composite channels changed from relatively straight to highly sinuous to relatively straight.The evolution of the composite channels involved a gradual and repeated process of erosion and filling,and the composite channels could be divided into three evolutionary stages:initial erosion-filling,later erosion-filling(multistage),and channel abandonment.The middle Miocene channel system may have formed as a consequence of combined regional tectonic activity and global climatic change,and its intricate morphological alterations may have been influenced by the channel's ability to self-regulate and gravity flow properties.When studying the sedimentary evolution of a large-scale deep-water channel system in the Taranaki Basin during the Oligocene-Miocene,which transitioned from a passive margin to plate convergence,it can be understood how tectonic activity affected the channel and can also provide a theoretical reference for the evolution of the deepwater channels in areas with similar tectonic conversion environments around the world.

The Climate Response to Global Forest Area Changes under Different Warming Scenarios in China

Human activities have notably affected the Earth’s climate through greenhouse gases(GHG), aerosol, and land use/land cover change(LULCC). To investigate the impact of forest changes on regional climate under different shared socioeconomic pathways(SSPs), changes in surface air temperature and precipitation over China under low and medium/high radiative forcing scenarios from 2021 to 2099 are analyzed using multimodel climate simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6(CMIP6). Results show that the climate responses to forest changes are more significant under the low radiative forcing scenario. Deforestation would increase the mean, interannual variability, and the trend of surface air temperature under the low radiative forcing scenario, but it would decrease those indices under the medium/high radiative forcing scenario. The changes in temperature show significant spatial heterogeneity. For precipitation, under the low radiative forcing scenario, deforestation would lead to a significant increase in northern China and a significant decrease in southern China, and the effects are persistent in the near term(2021–40), middle term(2041–70), and long term(2071–99). In contrast, under the medium/high radiative forcing scenario, precipitation increases in the near term and long term over most parts of China, but it decreases in the middle term, especially in southern, northern,and northeast China. The magnitude of precipitation response to deforestation remains comparatively small.

Recent Progress in Studies on the Influences of Human Activity on Regional Climate over China

The influences of human activity on regional climate over China have been widely reported and drawn great attention from both the scientific community and governments.This paper reviews the evidence of the anthropogenic influence on regional climate over China from the perspectives of surface air temperature(SAT),precipitation,droughts,and surface wind speed,based on studies published since 2018.The reviewed evidence indicates that human activities,including greenhouse gas and anthropogenic aerosol emissions,land use and cover change,urbanization,and anthropogenic heat release,have contributed to changes in the SAT trend and the likelihood of regional record-breaking extreme high/low temperature events over China.The anthropogenically forced SAT signal can be detected back to the 1870s in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau region.Although the anthropogenic signal of summer precipitation over China is detectable and anthropogenic forcing has contributed to an increased likelihood of regional record-breaking heavy/low precipitation events,the anthropogenic precipitation signal over China is relatively obscure.Moreover,human activities have also contributed to a decline in surface wind speed,weakening of monsoon precipitation,and an increase in the frequency of droughts and compound extreme climate/weather events over China in recent decades.This review can serve as a reference both for further understanding the causes of regional climate changes over China and for sound decision-making on regional climate mitigation and adaptation.Additionally,a few key or challenging scientific issues associated with the human influence on regional climate changes are discussed in the context of future research.

Climatic impacts induced by winter wheat irrigation over North China simulated by the nonhydrostatic RegCM4.7

Quantification of the impact of winter wheat irrigation on the climate and the occurrence of extreme climatic events over North China is crucial for regional adaptation planning.Previous related studies mainly focused on the impact on surface processes;however,few focused on the effects of extreme events using high-resolution nonhydrostatic regional climate models.Here,the 9-km-resolution nonhydrostatic RegCM4.7 was coupled with a crop irrigation scheme and an updated winter wheat irrigation dataset to better simulate irrigation effects.Two experiments were conducted with and without winter wheat irrigation to isolate the effects of irrigation.Results showed that irrigation simulation reduces the model biases in temperature,precipitation,latent heat flux,soil moisture,sensitive heat flux,and top-layer soil moisture.Moreover,it also reduces the bias and increases the correlation with observations obtained in irrigated areas,especially in summer,indicating better representation of irrigation schemes.Winter wheat irrigation tends to cause substantial cooling of the local surface maximum,minimum,and mean air temperatures(by-1.68,-0.34,and-0.79℃,respectively)over irrigated areas of North China,with the largest changes observed in relation to maximum temperature.Additionally,precipitation is found to increase during spring and summer,which is strongly related to water vapor transport in the lower levels of the atmosphere.Further analyses indicated that the number of annual mean hot days decrease(-13.9 d),whereas the number of both comfort days(+10.2 d)and rainy days(days with total precipitation greater than 1 mm:+6.6 d)increase over irrigated areas,demonstrating beneficial feedback to human perception and agriculture.Fortunately,although the heat wave risk increases(number of annual mean heat wave days:+5.8 d),the impact is limited to small areas within irrigated region.Additionally,no notable change was found in terms of heavy rainfall events and precipitation intensity,which might be an undereastimation caused by the less water use in model simulation.Although winter wheat irrigation does not have notable impact on the climate of the surrounding region,it is an important factor for the local-scale climate.

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 China's Mainland for the purpose of climate model validation. The dataset is based on the interpolation 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 obtain the final dataset. Comparison of the dataset with CRU （Climatic Research Unit） observations at the monthly scale shows general agreement between the two datasets. The differences found can be largely attributed to the introduction of observations at new stations. The dataset shows similar interannual variability as does CRU data over North China and eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, but with a slightly larger linear trend. The dataset is employed to validate the simulation of three extreme indices based on daily mean, minimum, and maximum temperature by a high-resolution regional climate model. Results show that the model reproduces these indices well. The data are available at the National Climate Center of China Meteorological Administration, and a coarser resolution （1°× 1°） version can be accessed via the World Wide Web.

Changes of Extreme Events in Regional Climate Simulations over East Asia

Changes of extreme events due to greenhouse effects (2 × CO2) over East Asia, with a focus on the China region as simulated by a regional climate model (RegCM2), are investigated. The model is nested to a global coupled ocean-atmosphere model (CSIRO R21L9 AOGCM). Analysis of the control run of the regional model indicates that it can reproduce well the extreme events in China. Statistically significant changes of the events are analyzed. Results show that both daily maximum and daily minimum temperature increase in 2 × CO2 conditions, while the diurnal temperature range decreases. The number of hot spell days increases while the number of cold spell days decreases. The number of rainy days and heavy rain days increases over some sub-regions of China. The 2 × CO2 conditions also cause some changes in the tropical storms affecting China.

Multi-year Simulations and Experimental Seasonal Predictions for Rainy Seasons in China by Using a Nested Regional Climate Model (RegCM_NCC). Part Ⅰ: Sensitivity Study

A modified version of the NCAR/RegCM2 has been developed at the National Climate Center （NCC）, China Meteorological Administration, through a series of sensitivity experiments and multi-year simulations and hindcasts, with a special emphasis on the adequate choice of physical parameterization schemes suitable for the East Asian monsoon climate. This regional climate model is nested with the NCC/IAP （Institute of Atmospheric Physics） T63 coupled GCM to make an experimental seasonal prediction for China and East Asia. The four-year （2001 to 2004） prediction results are encouraging. This paper is the first part of a two-part paper, and it mainly describes the sensitivity study of the physical process paraxneterization represented in the model. The systematic errors produced by the different physical parameterization schemes such as the land surface processes, convective precipitation, cloud-radiation transfer process, boundary layer process and large-scale terrain features have been identified based on multi-year and extreme flooding event simulations. A number of comparative experiments has shown that the mass flux scheme （MFS） and Betts-Miller scheme （BM） for convective precipitation, the LPMI （land surface process model I） and LPMII （land surface process model Ⅱ） for the land surface process, the CCM3 radiation transfer scheme for cloud-radiation transfer processes, the TKE （turbulent kinetic energy） scheme for the boundary layer processes and the topography treatment schemes for the Tibetan Plateau are suitable for simulations and prediction of the East Asia monsoon climate in rainy seasons. Based on the above sensitivity study, a modified version of the RegCM2 （RegCM_NCC） has been set up for climate simulations and seasonal predictions.

Multi-Year Simulations and Experimental Seasonal Predictions for Rainy Seasons in China by Using a Nested Regional Climate Model (RegCM_NCC) Part Ⅱ:The Experimental Seasonal Prediction

A nested regional climate model has been experimentally used in the seasonal prediction at the China National Climate Center （NCC） since 2001. The NCC/IAP （Institute of Atmospheric Physics） T63 coupled GCM （CGCM） provides the boundary and initial conditions for driving the regional climate model （RegCM_NCC）. The latter has a 60-km horizontal resolution and improved physical parameterization schemes including the mass flux cumulus parameterization scheme, the turbulent kinetic energy closure scheme （TKE） and an improved land process model （LPM）. The large-scale terrain features such as the Tibetan Plateau are included in the larger domain to produce the topographic forcing on the rain-producing systems. A sensitivity study of the East Asian climate with regard to the above physical processes has been presented in the first part of the present paper. This is the second part, as a continuation of Part Ⅰ. In order to verify the performance of the nested regional climate model, a ten-year simulation driven by NCEP reanalysis datasets has been made to explore the performance of the East Asian climate simulation and to identify the model＇s systematic errors. At the same time, comparative simulation experiments for 5 years between the RegCM2 and RegCM_NCC have been done to further understand their differences in simulation performance. Also, a ten-year hindcast （1991-2000） for summer （June-August）, the rainy season in China, has been undertaken. The preliminary results have shown that the RegCM_NCC is capable of predicting the major seasonal rain belts. The best predicted regions with high anomaly correlation coefficient （ACC） are located in the eastern part of West China, in Northeast China and in North China, where the CGCM has maximum prediction skill as well. This fact may reflect the importance of the largescale forcing. One significant improvement of the prediction derived from RegCM_NCC is the increase of ACC in the Yangtze River valley where the CGCM has a very low, even a negative, ACC. The reason behind this improvement is likely to be related to the more realistic representation of the large-scale terrain features of the Tibetan Plateau. Presumably, many rain-producing systems may be generated over or near the Tibetan Plateau and may then move eastward along the Yangtze River basin steered by upper-level westerly airflow, thus leading to enhancement of rainfalls in the mid and lower basins of the Yangtze River. The real-time experimental predictions for summer in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 by using this nested RegCM-NCC were made. The results are basically reasonable compared with the observations.

土地利用变化对我国区域气候影响的数值试验(英)

Climate effects of land use change in China as simulated by a regional climate model (RegCM2) are investigated. The model is nested in one-way mode within a global coupled atmosphere-ocean model (CSIRO R21L9 AOGCM). Two multi-year simulations, one with current land use and the other with potential vegetation cover, are conducted. Statistically significant changes of precipitation, surface air temperature, and daily maximum and daily minimum temperature are analyzed based on the difference between the two simulations. The simulated effects of land use change over China include a decrease of mean annual precipitation over Northwest China, a region with a prevalence of arid and semi-arid areas; an increase of mean annual surface air temperature over some areas; and a decrease of temperature along coastal areas. Summer mean daily maximum temperature increases in many locations, while winter mean daily minimum temperature decreases in East China and increases in Northwest China. The upper soil moisture decreases significantly across China. The results indicate that the same land use change may cause different climate effects in different regions depending on the surrounding environment and climate characteristics.

区域气候模式对温室效应引起的中国地区气候变化的数值模拟(英文)

Impacts of greenhouse effects (2 × CO2) upon climate change over China as simulated by a regional climate model over China (RegCM / China) have been investigated. The model was based on RegCM2 and was nested to a global coupled ocean-atmosphere model (CSIRO R21L9 AOGCM model). Results of the control run (1 × CO2) indicated that simulations of surface air temperature and precipitation in China by RegCM are much better than that by the global coupled model because of a higher resolution. Results of sensitive experiment by RegCM with 2 × CO2 showed that the surface air temperature over China might increase remarkably due to greenhouse effect, especially in winter season and in North China. Precipitation might also increase in most parts of China due to the CO2 doubling. Key words Regional climate model - Greenhouse effect This research was supported by National Key Programme for Developing Basic Sciences (G1998040900 — Part I), Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Program KZCX2-203 and KZ981-B1-108.

Impact of Anthropogenic Heat Release on Regional Climate in Three Vast Urban Agglomerations in China

We simulated the impact of anthropogenic heat release （AHR） on the regional climate in three vast city agglomerations in China using the Weather Research and Forecasting model with nested high-resolution modeling.Based on energy consumption and high-quality land use data,we designed two scenarios to represent no-AHR and current-AHR conditions.By comparing the results of the two numerical experiments,changes of surface air temperature and precipitation due to AHR were quantified and analyzed.We concluded that AHR increases the temperature in these urbanized areas by about 0.5℃-1℃,and this increase is more pronounced in winter than in other seasons.The inclusion of AHR enhances the convergence of water vapor over urbanized areas.Together with the warming of the lower troposphere and the enhancement of ascending motions caused by AHR,the average convective available potential energy in urbanized areas is increased.Rainfall amounts in summer over urbanized areas are likely to increase and regional precipitation patterns to be altered to some extent.

Regional Variability of Climate Change Hot-Spots in East Asia

The regional climate change index （RCCI） is employed to investigate hot-spots under 21st century global warming over East Asia. The RCCI is calculated on a 1-degree resolution grid from the ensemble of CMIP3 simulations for the B1, AIB, and A2 IPCC emission scenarios. The RCCI over East Asia exhibits marked sub-regional variability. Five sub-regional hot-spots are identified over the area of investigation： three in the northern regions （Northeast China, Mongolia, and Northwest China）, one in eastern China, and one over the Tibetan Plateau. Contributions from different factors to the RCCI are discussed for the sub-regions. Analysis of the temporal evolution of the hot-spots throughout the 21st century shows different speeds of response time to global warming for the different sub-regions. Hot-spots firstly emerge in Northwest China and Mongolia. The Northeast China hot-spot becomes evident by the mid of the 21st century and it is the most prominent by the end of the century. While hot-spots are generally evident in all the 5 sub-regions for the A1B and A2 scenarios, only the Tibetan Plateau and Northwest China hot-spots emerge in the B1 scenario, which has the lowest greenhouse gas （GHG） concentrations. Our analysis indicates that subregional hot-spots show a rather complex spatial and temporal dependency on the GHG concentration and on the different factors contributing to the RCCI.

Impacts of Upper Tropospheric Cooling upon the Late Spring Drought in East Asia Simulated by a Regional Climate Model

Responses of late spring （21 April 20 May） rainfall to the upper tropospheric cooling over East Asia are investigated with a regional climate model based on Laboratoire de M6t6orologie Dynamique Zoom （LMDZ4-RCM）. A control experiment is performed with two runs driven by the mean ERA-40 data during 1958-1977 and 1981 2000, respectively. The model reproduces the major decadal-scale circulation changes in late spring over East Asia, including a cooling in the upper troposphere and an anomalous meridional cell. Accordingly, the precipitation decrease is also captured in the southeast of the upper-level cooling region. To quantify the role of the upper-level cooling in the drought mechanism, a sensitivity experiment is further conducted with the cooling imposed in the upper troposphere. It is demonstrated that the upper-level cooling can generate the anomalous meridional cell and consequently the drought to the southeast of the cooling center. Therefore, upper tropospheric cooling should have played a dominant role in the observed late spring drought over Southeast China in recent decades.