Seasonal Evolution of Subtropical Anticyclones in the Climate System Model FGOALS-s2

The simulation characteristics of the seasonal evolution of subtropical anticyclones in the Northern Hemisphere are documented for the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model, Spectral Version 2 （FGOALS-s2）, developed at the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics. An understanding of the seasonal evolution of the subtropical anticyclones is also addressed. Compared with the global analysis established by the European Centre for Medium-Range Forecasts, the ERA-40 global reanalysis data, the general features of subtropical anticyclones and their evolution are simulated well in both winter and summer, while in spring a pronounced bias in the generation of the South Asia Anticyclone（SAA） exists. Its main deviation in geopotential height from the reanalysis is consistent with the bias of temperature in the troposphere. It is found that condensation heating （CO） plays a dominant role in the seasonal development of the SAA and the subtropical anticyclone over the western Pacific （SAWP） in the middle troposphere. The CO biases in the model account for the biases in the establishment of the SAA in spring and the weaker strength of the SAA and the SAWP from spring to summer. CO is persistently overestimated in the central-east tropical Pacific from winter to summer, while it is underestimated over the area from the South China Sea to the western Pacific from spring to summer. Such biases generate an illusive anticyclonic gyre in the upper troposphere above the middle Pacific and delay the generation of the SAA over South Asia in April. In mid- summer, the simulated SAA is located farther north than in the ERA-40 data owing to excessively strong surface sensible heating （SE） to the north of the Tibetan Plateau. Whereas, the two surface subtropical anticyclones in the eastern oceans during spring to summer are controlled mainly by the surface SE over the two continents in the Northern Hemisphere, which are simulated reasonably well, albeit with their centers shifted westwards owing to the weaker longwave radiation cooling in the simulation associated with much weaker local stratiform cloud. Further improvements in the related parameterization of physical processes are therefore identified.

Seasonal evolution of the englacial and subglacial drainage systems of a temperate glacier revealed by hydrological analysis

Englacial and subglacial drainage systems of temperate glaciers have a strong influence on glacier dynamics, glacier-induced floods, glacier-weathering processes, and runoff from glacierized drainage basins. Proglacial discharge is partly controlled by the geometry of the glacial drainage network and by the process of producing meltwater. The glacial-drainage system of some alpine glaciers has been characterized using a model based on proglacial discharge analysis. In this paper, we apply cross-correlation analysis to hourly hydro-climatic data collected from China＇s Hailuogou Glacier, a typical temperate glacier in Mt. Gongga, to study the seasonal status changes of the englacial and subglacial drainage systems by discharge-temperature （Q-T） time lag analy-sis. During early ablation season （April-May） of 2003, 2004 and 2005, the change of englacial and subglacial drainage system usually leads several outburst flood events, which are also substantiated by observing the leakage of supraglacial pond and cre-vasses pond water during field works in April, 2008. At the end of ablation season （October-December）, the glacial-drainage net-works become less hydro-efficient. Those events are evidenced by hourly hydro-process near the terminus of Hailuogou Glacier, and the analysis of Q-T time lags also can be a good indicator of those changes. However, more detailed observations or experi-ments, e.g. dye-tracing experiment and recording borehole water level variations, are necessary to describe the evolutionary status and processes of englacial and subglacial drainage systems evolution during ablation season.

Seasonal evolution of the effects of the El Nino–Southern Oscillation on lower stratospheric water vapor:Delayed effects in late winter and early spring

Water vapor in the stratosphere makes a significant contribution to global climate change by altering the radiative energy budget of the Earth’s climate system.Although many previous studies have shown that the El Ni?o–Southern Oscillation(ENSO)has significant effects on the water vapor content of the stratosphere in terms of the annual or seasonal mean,a comprehensive analysis of the seasonal evolution of these effects is still required.Using reanalysis data and satellite observations,we carried out a composite analysis of the seasonal evolution of stratospheric water vapor during El Ni?o/La Ni?a peaks in winter and decays in spring.The ENSO has a distinct hysteresis effect on water vapor in the tropical lower stratosphere.The El Ni?o/La Ni?a events moisten/dry out the tropical lower stratosphere in both winter and spring,whereas this wetting/dehydration effect is more significant in spring.This pattern is due to a warmer temperature in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere during the El Ni?o spring phase,which causes more water vapor to enter the stratosphere,and vice versa for La Ni?a.This delayed warming/cooling in the lower stratosphere during the El Ni?o/La Ni?a decay in spring leads to the seasonal evolution of ENSO effects on water vapor in the lower stratosphere.

Numerical Study of Impacts of Soil Moisture on the Diurnal and Seasonal Cycles of Sensible/Latent Heat Fluxes over Semi-arid Region

The semi-arid regions, as climatic and ecosystem transitional zones, are the most vulnerable to global environmental change. Earlier researches indicate that the semi-arid regions are characterized by strong landatmosphere coupling in which soil moisture is the crucial variable in land surface processes. In this paper, we investigate the sensitivity of the sensible/latent heat fluxes to soil moisture during the growing season based on the enhanced observations at Tongyu in the Jilin province of China, a reference site of international Coordinated Energy and Water Cycle Observations Project （CEOP） in the semi-arid regions, by using a sophisticated land surface model （NCAR_CLM3.0）. Comparisons between the observed and simulated sensible/latent heat fluxes indicate that the soil moisture has obvious effects on the sensible/latent heat fluxes in terms of diurnal cycle and seasonal evolution. Better representation of the soil moisture could improve the model performance to a large degree. Therefore, for the purpose of simulating the land-atmosphere interaction and predicting the climate and water resource changes in semi-arid regions, it is necessary to enhance the description of the soil moisture distribution both in the way of observation and its treatment in land surface models.

Agro-Climatic Risks Analysis in Climate Variability Context in Ségou Region

In the Sahel region, the population depends largely on rain-fed agriculture. In West Africa in particular, climate models turn out to be unable to capture some basic features of present-day climate variability. This study proposes a contribution to the analysis of the evolution of agro-climatic risks in the context of climate variability. Some statistical tests are used on the main variables of the rainy season to determine the trends and the variabilities described by the data series. Thus, the paper provides a statistical modeling of the different agro-climatic risks while the seasonal variability of agro-climatic parameters was analyzed as well as their inter annual variability. The study identifies the probability distributions of agroclimatic risks and the characterization of the rainy season was clarified.

Relation of ice conditions to climate change in the Bohai Sea of China

The ice conditions in the Bohai Sea and the northern Huanghai Sea greatly change from year to year with winter climate. Ice only covers below 15% of the the waters during the wannest win-ter, while it covers more than 80% during the coldest winter. Ice observation and data acquisition are outlined in the paper. The ice-covered area, the position of ice edge and the ice grades give indication of the ice conditions. The local climate of the waters can be expressed by using the air temperature of the stations of Dalian and Yingkou. The variation of the ice condition indexes with the monthly mean air temperature at Dalian from 1952 to 2000 is shown, as well. The local climate and ice conditions in the waters are affected by many factors,such as, evolution of the general atmospheric circulation and the solar activity. The delayed correlation between the ice conditions and lots of the affecting factors is analysed in the paper. The ice conditions are continuously mild since the 1990s, that is relative to the tendency of the global warming. The ice condition variation of the Bohai Sea is related to the El Nino event and the sunspot period. The seasonal evolution of the ice conditions is also described in the paper.

Changes in the East Asian Cold Season since 2000

Using NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data and observational data from meteorological stations in China, the evolution of the East Asian cold season （EACS） and its long-term changes after 2000 were studied. A monsoon tendency index （MTI）, defined as the temporal di？erence of the East Asian monsoon index, indi- cates that the winter monsoon setup has been postponed in autumn, while the setup has quickened in early winter. In mid winter, the EACS breakdown process has accelerated, while it has lingered in late winter. The authors suggest that the postponement of monsoon setup in autumn may be caused by strong global warming at the lower levels, which further limits the setup time period and leads to the quickening of the setup process in early winter. Meanwhile, a north-south seesaw of temperature tendency change in China can be observed in December and February, which may be related to large-scale circulation changes in the stratosphere, characterized by a polar warming in mid winter and polar cooling in early spring. This linkage is possibly caused by the dynamical coupling between stratosphere and troposphere, via the variation of planetary wave activities. In spring, the speed of the EACS breakdown has decreased, which favors the revival of the EACS in East Asia.

Seasonal Variation of the Meridional Wind in the Temperate Jet Stream and Its Relationship to the Asian Monsoon

The features of the temperate jet stream including its location, intensity, structure, seasonal evolution and the relationship with the Asian monsoon are examined by using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. It is indicated that the temperate jet stream is prominent and active at 300 hPa in winter over the region from 45°-60°N and west of 120°E. The temperate jet stream is represented by a ridge area of high wind speed and dense stream lines in the monthly or seasonal mean wind field, but it .corresponds to an area frequented by a large number of jet cores in the daily wind field and exhibits a distinct boundary that separates itself with the subtropical jet. A comparison of the meridional wind component of the temperate jet stream with that of the subtropical jet shows that the northerly wind in the temperate jet stream is stronger than the southerly component of the subtropical jet, which plays an important role in the temperate jet stream formation and seasonal evolution, and thus the intensity change of the meridional wind component can be used to represent the temperate jet stream＇s seasonal variation. Analysis of the temperature gradient in the upper troposphere indicates that the temperate jet stream is accompanied by a maximum zonal temperature gradient and a large meridional temperature gradient, leading to a unique jet stream structure and particular seasonal evolution features, which are different from the subtropical jet. The zonal temperature gradient related to the land-sea thermal contrast along the East China coastal lines is responsible for the seasonal evolution of the temperate jet. In addition, there exists a coordinated synchronous change between the movement of the temperate jet and that of the subtropical jet. The seasonal evolution of the meridional wind intensity is closely related to the seasonal shift of the atmospheric circulation in East Asia, the onset of the Asian summer monsoon and the start of Meiyu in the Yangtze and Huaihe River Valleys, and it correlates well with summer and winter rainfall variations in East China. The temperate jet intensity change is earlier than that of the Asian summer monsoon onset and Meiyu, and thus it may be used as a precursor for the prediction of the Asian summer monsoon onset and the beginning of Meiyu.