Efects of Cropland Cover Changes on Regional Climate over Western China Based on Simulations with RegCM3

The impacts of land cover changes on regional climate with RegCM3. Sensitivity experiments were conducted by in Shaan-Gan-Ning （SGN） in western China were simulated replacing crop grids with different new land cover types in the key area of SGN, where the returning cropland to tree/grass project has been carried out since 1999. The modified new land cover types include desert, forest, shrub and grass. They represent degraded, improved, and maintained vegetation cover with natural canopy in the key area. Results from three individual case studies show that the land cover change causes changes in temperature and terrestrial water variables especially within the key area, while changes in precipitation are found for a larger area. The strongest changes appear where the cropland is degraded to bare soil, leading to increasing temperature and decreases in rainfall, evaporation and soil water. Opposite changes occur when cropland changed into forests, especially with strong increases in soil water. When cropland changed to grass and shrub land, the climatic changes are closer to those with forest cover. This shows the importance of improving and maintaining the vegetation in SGN for the ecosystem and regional climate.

FUTURE CHANGE OF PRECIPITATION EXTREMES OVER THE PEARL RIVER BASIN FROM REGIONAL CLIMATE MODELS

Based on RegCM4,a climate model system,we simulated the distribution of the present climate(1961-1990)and the future climate(2010-2099),under emission scenarios of RCPs over the whole Pearl River Basin.From the climate parameters,a set of mean precipitation,wet day frequency,and mean wet day intensity and several precipitation percentiles are used to assess the expected changes in daily precipitation characteristics for the 21 st century.Meanwhile the return values of precipitation intensity with an average return of 5,10,20,and 50 years are also used to assess the expected changes in precipitation extremes events in this study.The structure of the change across the precipitation distribution is very coherent between RCP4.5 and RCP8.5.The annual,spring and winter average precipitation decreases while the summer and autumn average precipitation increases.The basic diagnostics of precipitation show that the frequency of precipitation is projected to decrease but the intensity is projected to increase.The wet day percentiles(q90 and q95) also increase,indicating that precipitation extremes intensity will increase in the future.Meanwhile,the5-year return value tends to increase by 30%-45%in the basins of Liujiang River,Red Water River,Guihe River and Pearl River Delta region,where the 5-year return value of future climate corresponds to the 8-to 10-year return value of the present climate,and the 50-year return value corresponds to the 100-year return value of the present climate over the Pearl River Delta region in the 2080 s under RCP8.5,which indicates that the warming environment will give rise to changes in the intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation events.

Sensitivity Study of the RegCM4’s Surface Schemes in the Simulations of West Africa Climate

Two simulations of five years (2003-2007) were conducted with the Regional Climate models RegCM4, one coupled with Land surface models BATS and the other with CLM4.5 over West Africa, where simulated air temperature and precipitation were analyzed. The purpose of this study is to assess the performance of RegCM4 coupled with the new CLM4.5 Land surface scheme and the standard one named BATS in order to find the best configuration of RegCM4 over West African. This study could improve our understanding of the sensitivity of land surface model in West Africa climate simulation, and provide relevant information to RegCM4 users. The results show fairly realistic restitution of West Africa’s climatology and indicate correlations of 0.60 to 0.82 between the simulated fields (BATS and CLM4.5) for precipitation. The substitution of BATS surface scheme by CLM4.5 in the model configuration, leads mainly to an improvement of precipitation over the Atlantic Ocean, however, the impact is not sufficiently noticeable over the continent. While the CLM4.5 experiment restores the seasonal cycles and spatial distribution, the biases increase for precipitation and temperature. Positive biases already existing with BATS are amplified over some sub-regions. This study concludes that temporal localization (seasonal effect), spatial distribution (grid points) and magnitude of precipitation and temperature (bias) are not simultaneously improved by CLM4.5. The introduction of the new land surface scheme CLM4.5, therefore, leads to a performance of the same order as that of BATS, albeit with a more detailed formulation.

Comparison of convective parameterizations in RegCM4 experiments over China with CLM as the land surface model

in the latest version of the international Centre for Theoretical Physics＇ regional climate model, RegCM4, CLM was introduced as a new land surface scheme. The performance over China of RegCM4-CLM with different convection schemes is analyzed in this study, based on a series of short- term experiments.The model is driven by ERA-Interim data at a grid spacing of 25 km.The convection schemes employed are： Emanuel; Grell; Emanuel over land and Grell over ocean; Grell over land and Emanuel over ocean; and Tiedtke. The simulated mean surface air temperature and precipitation in December-February-January and June-July-August are compared against observation. In general, better performance of Emanuel is found both for temperature and precipitation, and in both seasons. Thus, the model physics of CLM and Emanuel for the land surface processes and convection, respectively, are recommended for further application of RegCM4 over the China region. The de^ciencies that remain in the model arealso outlined and discussed.

Simulating Hydrologic Changes with Climate Change Scenarios in the Haihe River Basin

Climate change scenarios, predicted using the regional climate modeling system of PRECIS (providing regional cli-mates for impacts studies), were used to derive three-layer variable infiltration capacity (VIC-3L) land surface model forthe simulation of hydrologic processes at a spatial resolution of 0.25° × 0.25° in the Haihe River Basin. Three climatescenarios were considered in this study: recent climate (1961-1990), future climate A2 (1991-2100) and future climateB2 (1991-2100) with A2 and B2 being two storylines of future emissions developed with the Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) special report on emissions scenarios. Overall, under future climate scenarios A2 and B2, theHaihe River Basin would experience warmer climate with increased precipitation, evaporation and runoff production ascompared with recent climate, but would be still likely prone to water shortages in the period of 2031-2070. In addition,under future climate A2 and B2, an increase in runoff during the wet season was noticed, indicating a future rise in theflood occurrence possibility in the Haihe River Basin.

Dynamical Donwscaling for Railroad Areas in Eastern Amazon and Southeastern Brazil:Current Climate and Near-Future Projections

We performed a dynamic downscaling using REGCM4 regional model driven by MPI global model for current (1990/2012) and near-future (2015/2039) climate in order to characterize the seasonal rainfall regimes throughout the railroad areas in eastern Amazon and southeastern Brazil. The analysis of observational data for the current climate indicated the existence of pronounced spatial variations in rainfall regime across railroad regions during both the rainy and dry seasons. Although models have presented generalized underestimation, the regional model showed improvements on spatial representation and intensity of the rainfall in comparison with global model results. We reported the future projections taking into account the correction of simulated rainfall by the values of the biases found in each respective seasonal regime, so that the results are expressed by percentage changes of the future (2015/2037) relative to the current climate patterns. For the railroad in eastern Amazon, projections indicate a weak decrease of rainfall of about -15% in the rainy season (January to May), however during the dry season (June to October) are expected drastic reductions between -70% and -90% in south (Carajás in Pará state) and north (Sao Luis in Maranhao state) portions. Conversely, for the railroad in southeast Brazil, model projections point out for an increased rainfall regime during the rainy season (October to February) around +30% to +40% in the east part of the region over the Espírito Santo state.

不同水平分辨率区域气候模式对青藏高原气候特征模拟

青藏高原地区气候特殊、地形复杂,气象观测站点稀少,对其区域气候和水循环过程的观测和模拟存在很大的困难。本文基于RegCM模式和WRF模式,探究不同水平分辨率10km、25km、50km下区域气候模式对该地区1989—2008年气候时空分布规律的模拟能力。研究结果表明:在10 km水平分辨率下,RegCM模式模拟多年平均气温绝对误差为0.33℃,WRF模式模拟绝对误差为1.77℃,比25 km和50 km水平分辨率下绝对误差减少1.60~2.12℃,且四季气温模拟值与实测值的相关性有所提高;随着水平分辨率的提高,WRF模式对青藏高原东南部和南部的降水量高估有所改善,RegCM模式模拟值逐渐接近实测值(模拟年降水量相对误差由169%降至75%)且对高原北部降水量的模拟有所改善,但整体上模式对降雨的高估依然存在;两个模式随水平分辨率的提高对地形起伏最大的雅鲁藏布江源区降水量的误差减少最为明显。本研究可为揭示气候变化下青藏高原水文响应机理奠定基础。

Simulation of Effects of Grassland Degradation on Regional Climate over Sanjiangyuan Region in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Regional climate model （RegCM3） was applied to explore the possible effects of land use changes （e.g., grassland degradation in this study） on local and regional climate over the Sanjiangyuan region in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Two multiyear （1991-1999） numerical simulation experiments were conducted： one was a control experiment with current land use and the other was a desertification experiment with potential grassland degradation. Preliminary analysis indicated that RegCM3 is appropriate for simulating land- climate interactions, as the patterns of the simulated surface air temperature, the summer precipitation, and the geopotential height fields are consistent with the observed values. The desertification over the Sanjiangyuan region will cause different climate effects in different regions depending on the surrounding environment and climate characteristics. The area with obvious change in surface air temperature inducing by grassland degradation over the Sanjiangyuan region is located in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. A winter surface air temperature drop and the other seasons＇ surface air temperature increase will be observed over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau based on two numerical simulation experiments. Surface air temperature changes in spring are the largest （0.46℃）, and in winter are the smallest （smaller than 0.03℃）, indicating an increasing mean annual surface air temperature over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Surface air temperature changes will be smaller and more complex over the surrounding region, with minor winter changes for the regions just outside the plateau and notable summer changes over the north of the Yangtze River. The reinforced summer heat source in the plateau will lead to an intensification of heat low, causing the West Pacific subtropical high to retreat eastward. This will be followed by a decrease of precipitation in summer. The plateau＇s climate tends to become warm and dry due to the grassland degradation over the Sanjiangyuan region.

Projection of the Future Changes in Tropical Cyclone Activity Affecting East Asia over the Western North Pacific Based on Multi-RegCM4 Simulations

Future changes in tropical cyclone(TC)activity over the western North Pacific(WNP)under the representative concentration pathway RCP4.5 are investigated based on a set of 21 st century climate change simulations over East Asia with the regional climate model RegCM4 driven by five global models.The RegCM4 reproduces the major features of the observed TC activity over the region in the present-day period of 1986-2005,although with the underestimation of the number of TC genesis and intensity.A low number of TCs making landfall over China is also simulated.By the end of the 21st century(2079-98),the annual mean frequency of TC genesis and occurrence is projected to increase over the WNP by16%and 10%,respectively.The increase in frequency of TC occurrence is in good agreement among the simulations,with the largest increase over the ocean surrounding Taiwan Island and to the south of Japan.The TCs tend to be stronger in the future compared to the present-day period of 1986-2005,with a large increase in the frequency of strong TCs.In addition,more TCs landings are projected over most of the China coast,with an increase of~18%over the whole Chinese territory.

Changes of heating and cooling degree days over China in response toglobal warming of 1.5℃, 2℃, 3℃ and 4℃

Future changes of heating degree days （HDD） and cooling degree days （CDD） in the 21st century with and without considering populationfactor are investigated based on four sets of climate change simulations over East Asia using the regional climate model version 4.4 （RegCM4.4）driven by the global models of CSIRO-Mk3-6-0, EC-EARTH, HadGEM2-ES, and MPI-ESM-MR. Under global warming of 1.5℃, 2℃, 3℃,and 4℃, significant decrease of HDD can be found over China without considering population factor, with greater decrease over high elevationand high latitude regions, including the Tibetan Plateau, the northern part of Northeast China, and Northwest China; while population-weightedHDD increased in areas where population will increase in the future, such as Beijing, Tianjin, parts of southern Hebei, northern Shandong andHenan provinces. Similarly, the CDD projections with and without considering population factor are largely different. Specifically, withoutconsidering population, increase of CDD were observed over most parts of China except the Tibetan Plateau where the CDD remained zerobecause of the cold climate even under global warming; while considering population factor, the future CDD decreases in South China andincreases in North China, the Sichuan Basin, and the southeastern coastal areas, which is directly related to the population changes. The differentfuture changes of HDD and CDD when considering and disregarding the effects of population show that population distribution plays animportant role in energy consumption, which should be considered in future research.

Performance of RegCM4 over Major River Basins in China

A long-term simulation for the period 1990–2010 is conducted with the latest version of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics＇ Regional Climate Model（RegCM4）, driven by ERA-Interim boundary conditions at a grid spacing of 25 km. The Community Land Model（CLM） is used to describe land surface processes, with updates in the surface parameters,including the land cover and surface emissivity. The simulation is compared against observations to evaluate the model performance in reproducing the present day climatology and interannual variability over the 10 main river basins in China,with focus on surface air temperature and precipitation. Temperature and precipitation from the ERA-Interim reanalysis are also considered in the model assessment. Results show that the model reproduces the present day climatology over China and its main river basins, with better performances in June–July–August compared to December–January–February（DJF）.In DJF, we find a warm bias at high latitudes, underestimated precipitation in the south, and overestimated precipitation in the north. The model in general captures the observed interannual variability, with greater skill for temperature. We also find an underestimation of heavy precipitation events in eastern China, and an underestimation of consecutive dry days in northern China and the Tibetan Plateau. Similar biases for both mean climatology and extremes are found in the ERA-Interim reanalysis, indicating the difficulties for climate models in simulating extreme monsoon climate events over East Asia.

Hindcast Experiment of Extraseasonal Short-Term Summer Climate Prediction over China with RegCM3_IAP9L-AGCM

The regional climate model RegCM3 has been one-way nested into IAP9L-AGCM, the nine-level atmospheric general circulation model of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to perform a 20-yr （1982-2001） hindcast experiment on extraseaonal short-term prediction of China summer climate. The nested prediction system is referred to as RegCM3_IAP9L-AGCM in this paper. The results show that hindeasted climate fields such as 500-hPa geopotential height, 200- and 850-hPa zonal winds from RegCM3_IAP9L-AGCM have positive anomaly correlation coefficients （ACCs） with the observations, and are better than those from the stand-alone IAP9L-AGCM. Except for the 850-hPa wind field, the positive ACCs of the other two fields with observations both pass the 90% confidence level and display a zonal distribution. The results indicate that the positive correlation of summer precipitation anomaly percentage between the nested prediction system and observations covers most parts of China except for downstream of the Yangtze River and north of Northeast and Northwest China. The nested prediction system and the IAP9L-AGCM exhibit different hindcast skills over different regions of China, and the former demonstrates a higher skill over South China than the latter in predicting the summer precipitation.

印度夏季风与中国华北降水的遥相关分析及数值模拟

20世纪80年代中国学者揭示了印度夏季风与中国华北降水的正相关关系,以后国内外又有一些研究证实了这种正相关关系的存在。文中利用1951—2005年多种气象资料和数值模拟方法,详细讨论了印度夏季风和中国华北地区夏季降水的关系,并针对由印度西北部经青藏高原到中国华北地区形成的正、负、正的遥相关型,从动力因子和热力因子两方面探讨了其中的内在联系,所得结果不但确证了以往的结论,而且进一步揭示了印度夏季风对华北地区降水的影响机制。结果表明:(1)印度夏季风强(弱)时,华北地区容易出现降水偏多(少)的天气;华北地区降水偏多(少)时,印度夏季风偏强(弱)的机率却低一些,这说明印度夏季风的异常变化对华北地区夏季降水有更大的影响。(2)印度夏季风强度主要受印度季风槽的影响,在印度季风槽加深的同时,中高纬的低压槽也加深发展,而这时西太平洋高压脊西伸,来自低纬的西南风水汽输送和源于西太平洋的副热带高压南侧的东南风水汽输送共同作用,有利于华北地区的降水偏多;反之则不利于华北地区的降水。(3)区域气候模式模拟结果也很好地模拟出印度夏季风和华北夏季降水的遥相关关系,其相应的环流异常系统与诊断分析结果非常一致,这从另一方面证实了这种遥相关关系的存在和可靠性。

两种温室气体排放情景下中国汛期江淮暴雨低涡特征研究

本文基于一个水平分辨率为50 km的区域气候模式Reg CM4(Regional Climate Model,version 4.0)的模拟与预估结果,对我国汛期江淮暴雨低涡在气候变化背景下的统计特征与合成结构进行分析,进一步对两种温室排放情景下未来中国汛期的江淮暴雨低涡特征进行预估。结果表明:Reg CM4模式对环境要素及低涡都具有一定的模拟能力,低涡的伸展高度、生命期及暴雨位置模拟结果与观测较为接近,但模拟的低涡个数、最大暖区高度以及温、湿要素分布均比实际略偏低,而风速和低涡的强度模拟则偏强;在未来两种温室排放情景预估方面,RCP4.5(Representative Concentration Pathways,简称RCP)典型浓度排放情景下,暴雨低涡数量比例减少,强度减弱,但低涡发展高度仍以850 h Pa为主,生命期多为2 d以内,低涡雨区分布及最大暖区高度均与历史时段相近;RCP8.5情景下,暴雨低涡比例明显大于RCP4.5情景,低涡发展高度以700 h Pa为主,生命期达3 d的增多,强度增强,最大暖区厚度范围显著伸展。两种情景下均有低涡中温度锋区减弱,而湿度锋区增强,但RCP8.5情景减弱与增强更显著,显示更高的温室气体排放将导致未来出现更强的暴雨低涡,造成伴随暴雨的低涡灾害性天气的增加,因此应进一步深化对低涡暴雨灾害性天气发展趋势的研究。

未来黑碳气溶胶排放对区域气候变化的影响模拟

黑碳气溶胶是大气气溶胶的重要组分,其对从可见光到红外波段范围内的太阳辐射都具有强烈的吸收作用,对区域气候有较大影响。利用区域气候模式Reg CM3,加入自主编制的黑碳排放清单,以2013年为基准年,模拟研究了2030年基准排放情景(BB)、政策排放情景(EE)、政策能源排放情景(EB)和政策控制排放情景(BE)下排放的黑碳气溶胶对大气层顶太阳辐射量的影响,分析不同情景下黑碳气溶胶排放引起的气候效应。结果表明:4种情景黑碳排放量排序为BB>EB>BE>EE;BB下2030年全国的气温及降水量分布与2013年基本一致,变化不明显;EB和BE二者排放量基本一致,但是减排侧重点不同,引起的气候效应稍有差异,但差别不大;而EE下减排力度达到最大,排放量减至98万t,其引起的气温和降水量的变化相比于其他3种情景较为明显,在黑碳减排的同时,升温效应减少,降温效应突出。对比BE和EB下的排放量发现,工业部门在BE下的减排量较大,民用部门在EB下的减排量较大,表明排放控制措施在工业部门可以发挥较大的作用,民用部门的减排中能源结构调整措施较为重要。

积云对流参数化方案模拟我国东南沿海及台湾海峡地区降水的适用性

我国东南沿海及台湾海峡地区地形和下垫面情况复杂,积云对流活动强烈,这给该地区降水的模拟和预测带来很大困难。为探讨不同积云对流参数化方案在我国东南沿海及台湾海峡地区的适用性,选择了4种参数化方案(Anthes-Kuo方案、Arakawa-Schubert方案、Fritsch-Chappell方案和MIT-Emanuel方案),基于区域气候模式RegCM 4.0分别模拟了该地区的降水情况,并选用了与模式分辨率相当的TRMM(Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission,0.25°×0.25°)月平均降水资料进行验证。模拟结果表明,4种方案均能大致模拟出我国东南沿海及台湾海峡地区降水的空间结构和季节变化特征。其中,Fritsch-Chappell方案和MIT-Emanuel方案均能较好地模拟出降水空间分布,包括台湾岛南部和广东沿海的降水极值中心,而MIT-Emanuel方案降水的季节和年际变化特征模拟最好,如能够基本再现夏季降水在6月和8月份的双峰结构。此外,基于各高度层假相当位温的计算结果表明,MIT-Emanuel方案模拟的对流活动强烈,产生的对流性降水较多,使得其模拟的降水量值更接近实测资料。因此,MIT-Emanuel方案可能是最适用于模拟我国东南沿海和台湾海峡地区降水的积云对流参数化方案。

NUMERICAL STUDY OF INFLUENCE OF THE SSTA IN WESTERN PACIFIC WARM POOL ON RAINFALL IN THE FIRST FLOOD PERIOD IN SOUTH CHINA

A brief introduction of a global atmospheric circulation model CCM3, which is used to simulate the precipitation in China, the height and the flow fields of the atmosphere, is made and the reliability of simulation is analyzed. According to the negative correlation between rainfall in the first flood period in South China (FFSC) and sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in a key region in western Pacific warm pool (West Region), two sensitive experiments are designed to investigate the effects of the latter on the former and the possible physical mechanism is discussed. It is found that in cold water (warm water) years, the rainfall in South China (SC) is far more (less) than normal, while the rainfall in the middle and low reaches of the Yangtze River is relatively less (more). The best correlative area of precipitation is located in Guangdong Province. It matches the diagnostic result well. The effect of SSTA on precipitation of FFSC is realized through the abnormality of atmospheric circulation and tested by a P-σnine-layer regional climate model. Moreover, the simulated result of the P-σmodel is basically coincident with that of the CCM3.

Effects of Updated RegCM4 Land Use Data on Near-Surface Temperature Simulation in China

Biogeophysical effects of land use and land cover （LULC） changes play a significant role in modulating climate on various spatial scales. In this study, a set of recent LULC products with a spatial resolution of 500 m was developed in China for update in RegCM4 （regional climate model version 4）. Two sets of comparative numerical experiments were conducted to study the effects of LULC changes on near-surface temperature simulation. The results show that after LULC changes, areas of crops and mixed woodlands as well as urban areas increase over entire China, accom- panied with greatly expanded mixed farming and forests/field mosaics in southern China, and reduced areas of 1） ir- rigated crops and short grasses in northern China and the Tibetan Plateau, and 2） semi-desert and desert in northwest-em China. Improvements in the LULC data clearly result in more accurate simulations of the near-surface temperat-ure. Specifically, increasing latent heat and longwave albedo due to enhanced LULC in certain areas lead to reduc-tion in land surface temperature （LST）, while changes in shortwave albedo and sensible heat also exert a great influ- ence on the LST. Overall, these parameter adjustments reduce the biases in near-surface temperature simulation.