On Multi-Timescale Variability of Temperature in China in Modulated Annual Cycle Reference Frame

The traditional anomaly （TA） reference frame and its corresponding anomaly for a given data span changes with the extension of data length. In this study, the modulated annual cycle （MAC）, instead of the widely used climatological mean annual cycle, is used as an alternative reference frame for computing climate anomalies to study the multi-timescale variability of surface air temperature （SAT） in China based on homogenized daily data from 1952 to 2004. The Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition （EEMD） method is used to separate daily SAT into a high frequency component, a MAC component, an interannual component, and a decadal-to-trend component. The results show that the EEMD method can reflect historical events reasonably well, indicating its adaptive and temporally local characteristics. It is shown that MAC is a temporally local reference frame and will not be altered over a particular time span by an exten-sion of data length, thereby making it easier for physical interpretation. In the MAC reference frame, the low frequency component is found more suitable for studying the interannual to longer timescale variability （ILV） than a 13-month window running mean, which does not exclude the annual cycle. It is also better than other traditional versions （annual or summer or winter mean） of ILV, which contains a portion of the annual cycle. The analysis reveals that the variability of the annual cycle could be as large as the magnitude of interannual variability. The possible physical causes of different timescale variability of SAT in China are further discussed.

Interdecadal change of winter SST variability in the Kuroshio Extension region and its linkage with Aleutian atmospheric low pressure system

By utilizing multiple datasets from various sources available for the last 100 years, the existence for the interdecadal change of the winter sea surface temperature（SST） variability in the Kuroshio Extension（KE） region is investigated. And its linkage with the Aleutian Low（AL） activity changes is also discussed. The results find that the KE SST variability exhibits the significant ~6 a and ~10 a oscillations with obvious interdecadal change. The ~6 a oscillation is mainly detected during 1930–1950, which is largely impacted by the anomalous surface heat flux forcing and Ekman heat transport associated with the AL intensity variation. The ~10 a oscillation is most evident after the 1980s, which is predominantly triggered by the AL north-south shift through the bridge of oceanic Rossby waves.

Opposing Trends of Winter Cold Extremes over Eastern Eurasia and North America under Recent Arctic Warming

Under recent Arctic warming,boreal winters have witnessed severe cold surges over both Eurasia and North America,bringing about serious social and economic impacts.Here,we investigated the changes in daily surface air temperature(SAT)variability during the rapid Arctic warming period of 1988/89–2015/16,and found the daily SAT variance,mainly contributed by the sub-seasonal component,shows an increasing and decreasing trend over eastern Eurasia and North America,respectively.Increasing cold extremes(defined as days with daily SAT anomalies below 1.5 standard deviations)dominated the increase of the daily SAT variability over eastern Eurasia,while decreasing cold extremes dominated the decrease of the daily SAT variability over North America.The circulation regime of cold extremes over eastern Eurasia(North America)is characterized by an enhanced high-pressure ridge over the Urals(Alaska)and surface Siberian(Canadian)high.The data analyses and model simulations show the recent strengthening of the high-pressure ridge over the Urals was associated with warming of the Barents–Kara seas in the Arctic region,while the high-pressure ridge over Alaska was influenced by the offset effect of Arctic warming over the East Siberian–Chukchi seas and the Pacific decadal oscillation(PDO)–like sea surface temperature(SST)anomalies over the North Pacific.The transition of the PDO-like SST anomalies from a positive to negative phase cancelled the impact of Arctic warming,reduced the occurrence of extreme cold days,and possibly resulted in the decreasing trend of daily SAT variability in North America.The multi-ensemble simulations of climate models confirmed the regional Arctic warming as the driver of the increasing SAT variance over eastern Eurasia and North America and the overwhelming effect of SST forcing on the decreasing SAT variance over North America.Therefore,the regional response of winter cold extremes at midlatitudes to the Arctic warming could be different due to the distinct impact of decadal SST anomalies.

Thermal boundary layer in stagnation-point flow past a permeable shrinking sheet with variable surface temperature

An investigation is made to study the heat transfer in boundary layer stagnationpoint flow over a non-isothermal permeable shrinking sheet with suction/injection.In this study,power-law variation of sheet temperature is considered.By similarity transformation,the governing equations with the boundary conditions are transformed to self-similar nonlinear ordinary differential equations and then those are solved numerically by shooting method.In presence of variable sheet temperature,the variation of temperature is analysed.For larger shrinking rate compared to that of straining rate,dual solutions for velocity and temperature are obtained.It is found that for positive value of power-law exponent of variable sheet temperature heat transfer at the sheet as well as heat absorption at the sheet with temperature overshoot near the sheet occur and for negative value heat transfer from the sheet occurs though there is overshoot away from the sheet.With increasing positive power-law exponent heat transfer reduces for first solution and heat absorption enhances for second solution.Whereas,with increasing magnitude of negative power-law exponent heat transfer increases for second solution and for first solution the heat transfer increases for larger shrinking rate and it decreases for smaller shrinking rate.Due to suction heat transfer/absorption increases in all cases and for injection heat transfer/absorption increases for first solution and decreases for second solution.Also,interesting effects of suction/injection and Prandtl number on temperature distribution are observed when the sheet temperature varies(directly/inversely)along the sheet.

The regime shift in the 1960s and associated atmospheric change over the southern Indian Ocean

The change of sea surface temperature（SST） in the southern Indian Ocean（SIO） during the recent six decades has been analyzed based on oceanic reanalysis and model, as well as atmospheric data. The results show that a thermal regime shift in SIO during the 1960 s, which is not caught enough attentions, has been of equal magnitude to the linear warming since 1970. Empirical Orthogonal Function（EOF） analyses reveal that a thermal shift is combined with atmospheric changes such as the weakening of westerly during the period of 1960–1967. Inner dynamic connections can be defined that when the westerly winds turn weak, the anticyclonic wind circulation between westerly winds and the trade winds decreases, which further reduces the SST to a negative peak in this period. It is noted that the shifts in the 1960 s are also evident for Southern Hemisphere. For example, subtropical high and the entire westerly winds belt at high latitudes both change dramatically in the 1960 s. This large-scaled process maybe link to the change of southern annular mode（SAM）.

On the Relationship between Climatic Variables and Pressure Systems over Saudi Arabia in the Winter Season

The synoptic circulation over Saudi Arabia is complicated and frequently governed by the effect of large-scale pressure systems. In this work, we used NCEP–NCAR global data to illustrate the relationship between climatic variables and the main pressure systems that affect the weather and climate of Saudi Arabia, and also to investigate the influence of these pressure systems on surface air temperature（SAT） and rainfall over the region in the winter season. It was found that there are two primary patterns of pressure that influence the weather and climate of Saudi Arabia. The first occurs in cases of a strengthening Subtropical High（Sub H）, a weakening Siberian High（Sib H）, a deepening of the Icelandic Low（Ice L）, or a weakening of the Sudanese Low（Sud L）. During this pattern, the Sub H combines with the Sib H and an obvious increase of sea level pressure（SLP） occurs over southern European, the Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Middle East. This belt of high pressure prevents interaction between midlatitude and extratropical systems, which leads to a decrease in the SAT,relative humidity（RH） and rainfall over Saudi Arabia. The second pattern occurs in association with a weakening of the Sub H, a strengthening of the Sib H, a weakening of the Ice L, or a deepening of the Sud L. The pattern arising in this case leads to an interaction between two different air masses： the first（cold moist） air mass is associated with the Mediterranean depression travelling from west to east, while the second（warm moist） air mass is associated with the northward oscillation of the Sud L and its inverted V-shape trough. The interaction between these two air masses increases the SAT, RH and the probability of rainfall over Saudi Arabia, especially over the northwest and northeast regions.