Pacific Sea Surface Temperature Effect Summer Rainfall in Huanghuai, Jianghuai Region in China

Summer Precipitation in Eastern China was closely related to the global sea surface temperature field. In this paper, the impact of the main sea surface temperature anomaly on flood season precipitation in China’s Huanghuai and Jianghuai regions is examined as an external forcing factor for short-term climate prediction. Through analysis of global sea surface temperature anomalies and regional anomalies in Huanghuai and Jianghuai, a significant effect related to the main area, the North Pacific region, and the Nino3 corresponding index calculation is found. Various key areas are examined for their relevance, and finally, the mechanism of summer precipitation in two key zones, China’s Huanghuai and Jianghuai regions, is briefly discussed. The main implication is the prediction of season precipitation based on the external forcing signal of sea surface temperature anomaly in China’s Huanghuai and Jianghuai regions.

Diurnal Variation Characteristics of Summer Rainfall in Shenyang

By the hourly rainfall record in Shenyang over 48 years from 1961 to 2008,the basic climate characteristics of diurnal variation in summer rainfall were studied in Shenyang.The results showed that diurnal variation in summer rainfall displayed coincident rules in precipitation and rainfall frequency in Shenyang.The diurnal variation had two peak value intervals.One peak value was in afternoon to dusk.The other peak value happened in early morning.From afternoon to the first half of the night,the rainfall peak value was mainly caused by the rainfall event whose duration was less than 6 hours.From latter half of the night to early morning,the rainfall peak value was mainly caused by the rainfall event whose duration was more than 6 hours.

Relationship between Indian and East Asian Summer Rainfall Variations

The Indian and East Asian summer monsoons are two components of the whole Asian summer monsoon system. Previous studies have indicated in-phase and out-of-phase variations between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall. The present study reviews the current understanding of the connection between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall. The review covers the relationship of northern China, southern Japan, and South Korean summer rainfall with Indian summer rainfall; the atmospheric circulation anomalies connecting Indian and East Asian summer rainfall variations; the long-term change in the connection between Indian and northern China rainfall and the plausible reasons for the change; and the influence of ENSO on the relationship between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall and its change. While much progress has been made about the relationship between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall variations, there are several remaining issues that need investigation. These include the processes involved in the connection between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall, the non-stationarity of the connection and the plausible reasons, the influences of ENSO on the relationship, the performance of climate models in simulating the relationship between Indian and East Asian summer rainfall, and the relationship between Indian and East Asian rainfall intraseasonal fluctuations.

Climatic Features Related to Eastern China Summer Rainfalls in the NCAR CCM3

The climatic features associated with the eastern China summer rainfalls (ECSR) are examined in the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate Model Version 3 (CCM3) of the United States of America, and run with time-evolving sea surface temperature (SST) from September 1978 to August 1993. The CCM3 is shown to capture the salient seasonal features of ECSR. As many other climate models, however, there are some unrealistic projections of ECSR in the CCM3. The most unacceptable one is the erroneously intensified precipitation center on the east periphery of the Tibetan Plateau and its northeastward extension. The artificial strong rainfall center is fairly assessed by comparing with the products of the station rainfall data, Xie and Arkin (1996) rainfall data and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis (Gibson et al., 1997). The physical processes involved in the formation of the rainfall center are discussed. The preliminary conclusion reveals that it is the overestimated sensible heating over and around the Tibetan Plateau in the CCM3 that causes the heavy rainfall. The unreal strong surface sensible heating over the southeast and northeast of Tibetan Plateau favors the forming of a powerful subtropical anticyclone over the eastern China. The fake enclosed subtropical anticyclone center makes the moist southwest wind fasten on the east periphery of the Tibetan Plateau and extend to its northeast. In the southeast coast of China, locating on the southeast side of the subtropical anticyclone, the southwest monsoon is decreased and even replaced by northeast wind in some cases. In the CCM3, therefore, the precipitation is exaggerated on the east periphery of the Tibetan Plateau and its northeast extension and is underestimated in the southeast coast of China. Key words Eastern China summer rainfall - Model validation - Subtropical anticyclone - Diabatic heating This study was sponsored by Chinese Academy of Sciences under grant “ Hundred Talents” for “ Validation of Coupled Climate models” and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.49823002), and IAP innovation fund (No. 8-1204).

On the Association between Spring Arctic Sea Ice Concentration and Chinese Summer Rainfall:A Further Study

In our previous study, a statistical linkage between the spring Arctic sea ice concentration （SIC） and the succeeding Chinese summer rainfall during the period 1968-2005 was identified. This linkage is demonstrated by the leading singular value decomposition （SVD） that accounts for 19% of the co-variance. Both spring SIC and Chinese summer rainfall exhibit a coherent interannual variability and two apparent interdecadal variations that occurred in the late 1970s and the early 1990s. The combined impacts of both spring Arctic SIC and Eurasian snow cover on the summer Eurasian wave train may explain their statistical linkage. In this study, we show that evolution of atmospheric circulation anomalies from spring to summer, to a great extent, may explain the spatial distribution of spring and summer Arctic SIC anomalies, and is dynamically consistent with Chinese summer rainfall anomalies in recent decades. The association between spring Arctic SIC and Chinese summer rainfall on interannual time scales is more important relative to interdecadal time scales. The summer Arctic dipole anomaly may serve as the bridge linking the spring Arctic SIC and Chinese summer rainfall, and their coherent interdecadal variations may reflect the feedback of spring SIC variability on the atmosphere. The summer Arctic dipole anomaly shows a closer relationship with the Chinese summer rainfall relative to the Arctic Oscillation.

Eurasian Snow Cover Variability and Its Association with Summer Rainfall in China

This study investigates the statistical linkage between summer rainfall in China and the preceding spring Eurasian snow water equivalent （SWE）, using the datasets of summer rainfall observations from 513 stations, satellite-observed snow water equivalent, and atmospheric circulation variables in the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis during the period from 1979 to 2004. The first two coupled modes are identified by using the singular value decomposition （SVD） method. The leading SVD mode of the spring SWE variability shows a coherent negative anomaly in most of Eurasia with the opposite anomaly in some small areas of the Tibetan Plateau and East Asia. The mode displays strong interannual variability, superposed on an interdecadal variation that occurred in the late 1980s, with persistent negative phases in 1979-1987 and frequent positive phases afterwards. When the leading mode is in its positive phase, it corresponds to less SWE in spring throughout most of Eurasia. Meanwhile, excessive SWE in some small areas of the Tibetan Plateau and East Asia, summer rainfall in South and Southeast China tends to be increased, whereas it would be decreased in the up-reaches of the Yellow River. In recent two decades, the decreased spring SWE in Eurasia may be one of reasons for severe droughts in North and Northeast China and much more significant rainfall events in South and Southeast China. The second SVD mode of the spring SWE variability shows opposite spatial variations in western and eastern Eurasia, while most of the Tibetan Plateau and East Asia are in phase. This mode significantly correlates with the succeeding summer rainfall in North and Northeast China, that is, less spring SWE in western Eurasia and excessive SWE in eastern Eurasia and the Tibetan Plateau tend to be associated with decreased summer rainfall in North and Northeast China.

The Impact of Atmospheric Heat Sources over the Eastern Tibetan Plateau and the Tropical Western Pacific on the Summer Rainfall over the Yangtze-River Basin

The variability of the summer rainfall over China is analyzed using the EOF procedure with a new parameter （namely, mode station variance percentage） based on 1951-2000 summer rainfall data from 160 stations in China. Compared with mode variance friction, the mode station variance percentage not only reveals more localized characteristics of the variability of the summer rainfall, but also helps to distinguish the regions with a high degree of dominant EOF modes representing the analyzed observational variable. The atmospheric circulation diagnostic studies with the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis daily data from 1966 to 2000 show that in summer, abundant （scarce） rainfall in the belt-area from the upper-middle reaches of the Yangtze River northeastward to the Huaihe River basin is linked to strong （weak） heat sources over the eastern Tibetan Plateau, while the abundant （scarce） rainfall in the area to the south of the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River is closely linked to the weak （strong） heat sources over the tropical western Pacific.

Spatiotemporal Variations of Summer Rainfall over Eastern China during 1880-1999(1)

By applying rotated complex empirical orthogonal function (RCEOF) analysis on 1880-1999 summer rainfall at 28 selected stations over the east part of China, the spatio-temporal variations of China summer rainfall are investigated. Six divisions are identified, showing strong temporal variability, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Huaihe River, Southeast China, North China, Southwest China, and Northeast China. The locations of all divisions except Southwest China are in a good agreement with those of the rainband which moves northward from Southeast China to Northeast China from June-August. The phase relationship revealed by the RCEOF analysis suggests that rainfall anomalies in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Southeast China, and Northeast China are all characterized by a stationary wave, while a traveling wave is more pronounced in the Huaihe River division, North China, and Southwest China. The fourth RCEOF mode indicates that rainfall anomalies can propagate from south of Northeast China across lower reaches of the Huanghe River and the Huaihe River to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. A 20-25-year oscillation is found at the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Huaihe River valley, North China, and Northeast China. The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Northeast China also show an approximately-60-year oscillation. Northeast China and the Huaihe River division are dominated by a 36-year and a 70-80-year oscillation, respectively. An 11-year oscillation is also evident in North China, with a periodicity similar to sunspot activity. The interdecadal variability in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Huaihe River valley, and North China shows a significant positive correlation with the solar activity.

Influence of Internal Decadal Variability on the Summer Rainfall in Eastern China as Simulated by CCSM4

The combined impact of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation （PDO） and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation （AMO） on the summer rainfall in eastern China was investigated using CCSM4. The strongest signals occur with the combination of a positive PDO and a negative AMO （＋PDO- AMO）, as well as a negative PDO and a positive AMO （-PDO ＋ AMO）. For the ＋PDO- AMO set, significant positive rainfall anomalies occur over the lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley （YR）, when the East Asian summer monsoon becomes weaker, while the East Asian westerly jet stream becomes stronger, and ascending motion over the YR becomes enhanced due to the jet-related secondary circulation. Contrary anomalies occur over East Asia for the -PDO ＋ AMO set. The influence of these two combinations of PDO and AMO on the summer rainfall in eastern China can also be observed in the two interdecadal rainfall changes in eastern China in the late 1970s and late 1990s.

Decadal Variation of Summer Rainfall in the Yangtze- Huaihe River Valley and Its Relationship to Atmospheric Circulation Anomalies over East Asia and Western North Pacific

Decadal variations of summer rainfall during 1951 through 1990 are analyzed by using summer rainfall data of 160 stations in China. Four major patterns of decadal variations are identified. The decadal variations of summer rainfall showed northward shift in the eastern China from South China through the Yangtze-Huaihe River to North China. Summer rainfall in the Yangtze-Huaihe River valley underwent two obvious decadal transitions during the 40 years: one from rainy period to drought period in the end of the 1950′s, the other from drought period to rainy period in the late 1970′s. Correspondingly, the atmospheric circulation over East Asia through the western North Pacific showed two similar obvious transitions. The East Asian/Pacific (EAP) pattern switched from high index to low index in the end of the 1950′s and from low index to high index in the late 1970′s, respectively. Hence, summer rainfall in the Yangtze-Huaihe River valley is closely associated with the EAP pattern not only in the interannual variation but also in the decadal variation.

Simulated Relationship between Wintertime ENSO and East Asian Summer Rainfall: From CMIP3 to CMIP6

El Niño-Southern Oscillation(ENSO)events have a strong influence on East Asian summer rainfall(EASR).This paper investigates the simulated ENSO-EASR relationship in CMIP6 models and compares the results with those in CMIP3 and CMIP5 models.In general,the CMIP6 models show almost no appreciable progress in representing the ENSO-EASR relationship compared with the CMIP5 models.The correlation coefficients in the CMIP6 models are relatively smaller and exhibit a slightly greater intermodel diversity than those in the CMIP5 models.Three physical processes related to the delayed effect of ENSO on EASR are further analyzed.Results show that,firstly,the relationships between ENSO and the tropical Indian Ocean(TIO)sea surface temperature(SST)in the CMIP6 models are more realistic,stronger,and have less intermodel diversity than those in the CMIP3 and CMIP5 models.Secondly,the teleconnections between the TIO SST and Philippine Sea convection(PSC)in the CMIP6 models are almost the same as those in the CMIP5 models,and stronger than those in the CMIP3 models.Finally,the CMIP3,CMIP5,and CMIP6 models exhibit essentially identical capabilities in representing the PSC-EASR relationship.Almost all the three generations of models underestimate the ENSO-EASR,TIO SST-PSC,and PSC-EASR relationships.Moreover,almost all the CMIP6 models that successfully capture the significant TIO SST-PSC relationship realistically simulate the ENSO-EASR relationship and vice versa,which is,however,not the case in the CMIP5 models.

A Seasonal Prediction Model for the Summer Rainfall in Northeast China Using the Year-To-Year Increment Approach

Using the year-to-year increment approach,this study investigated the relationship of selected climatic elements with the increment time series of the summer rainfall between successive years in Northeast China,including the soil moisture content,sea surface temperature,500 hPa geopotential height,and sea level pressure in the preceding spring for the period 1981-2008.Two spring predictors were used to construct the seasonal prediction model:the area mean soil moisture content in Northwest Eurasia and the 500 hPa geopotential height over Northeast China.Both the cross-validation and comparison with previous studies showed that the above two predictors have good predicting ability for the summer rainfall in Northeast China.

Improving Multi-model Ensemble Probabilistic Prediction of Yangtze River Valley Summer Rainfall

Seasonal prediction of summer rainfall over the Yangtze River valley（YRV） is valuable for agricultural and industrial production and freshwater resource management in China, but remains a major challenge. Earlier multi-model ensemble（MME） prediction schemes for summer rainfall over China focus on single-value prediction, which cannot provide the necessary uncertainty information, while commonly-used ensemble schemes for probability density function（PDF） prediction are not adapted to YRV summer rainfall prediction. In the present study, an MME PDF prediction scheme is proposed based on the ENSEMBLES hindcasts. It is similar to the earlier Bayesian ensemble prediction scheme, but with optimization of ensemble members and a revision of the variance modeling of the likelihood function. The optimized ensemble members are regressed YRV summer rainfall with factors selected from model outputs of synchronous 500-h Pa geopotential height as predictors. The revised variance modeling of the likelihood function is a simple linear regression with ensemble spread as the predictor. The cross-validation skill of 1960–2002 YRV summer rainfall prediction shows that the new scheme produces a skillful PDF prediction, and is much better-calibrated, sharper, and more accurate than the earlier Bayesian ensemble and raw ensemble.

80a-Oscillation of Summer Rainfall over the East Part of China and East-Asian Summer Monsoon

Relationship between summer rainfall over the east part of China and East-Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) was studied based on the summer rainfall grade data set from 1470 to 1999 and the rain gauge data set from 1951 to 1999 over the east part of China, and sea level pressure (SLP) data for the period of 1871-2000. A distinct 80a-oscillation of summer rainfall was found over North China (NC), southern part of Northeast China, over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (YR) and South China (SC). The 80a oscillation of summer rainfall over NC was varied in phase with that over SC, and was out of phase to that along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Summer rainfall over NC correlated negatively with the SLP averaged for the area from 105 degreesE to 120 degreesE, and from 30 degreesN to 35 degreesN, but positively to that for the area from 120 degreesE to 130 degreesE, and from 20 degreesN to 25 degreesN. Therefore, an index of EASM was defined by the difference of averaged SLP over the two regions. The summer rainfall over NC was greater than normal when the EASM was strong, and while drought occurred along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The drought was found over NC, and flood along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River when the EASM was close to normal. Finally, the interdecadal variability of EASM was studied by using of long term summer rainfall grade data set over NC for the past 530 years.

Statistically Downscaled Summer Rainfall over the Middle-Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River

The summer rainfall over the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley (YRSR) has been estimated with a multi-linear regression model using principal atmospheric modes derived from a 500 hPa geopotential height and a 700 hPa zonal vapor flux over the domain of East Asia and the West Pacific.The model was developed using data from 1958 92 and validated with an independent prediction from 1993 2008.The independent prediction was efficient in predicting the YRSR with a correlation coefficient of 0.72 and a relative root mean square error of 18%.The downscaling model was applied to two general circulation models (GCMs) of Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System Model (FGOALS) and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory coupled climate model version 2.1 (GFDL-CM2.1) to project rainfall for present and future climate under B1 and A1B emission scenarios.The downscaled results pro-vided a closer representation of the observation compared to the raw models in the present climate.In addition,compared to the inconsistent prediction directly from dif-ferent GCMs,the downscaled results provided a consistent projection for this half-century,which indicated a clear increase in the YRSR.Under the B1 emission scenario,the rainfall could increase by an average of 11.9% until 2011 25 and 17.2% until 2036 50 from the current state;under the A1B emission scenario,rainfall could increase by an average of 15.5% until 2011 25 and 25.3% until 2036 50 from the current state.Moreover,the increased rate was faster in the following decade (2011 25) than the latter of this half-century (2036 50) under both emissions.

Relationship between the Modes of Winter Tropical Pacific SST Anomalies and the Intraseasonal Variations of the Following Summer Rainfall Anomalies in China

In present study,EOF analysis and extended singular value decomposition (ESVD) analysis are performed to explore the relationship between the winter tropical sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) in the Pacific and the following summer rainfall anomalies in China.The two leading modes of winter tropical SSTAs in the Pacific are the SSTAs pattern characterized by "positive anomalies in the East and negative anomalies in the West" like the typical eastern Pacific El Nio and negative anomalies in the West and the central Pacific warming pattern characterized by "positive anomalies in the central region but negative anomalies in the East and West".The intraseasonal variations of the rainfall anomalies during the following summer in China that are associated with the eastern Pacific warming mode are characterized by positive anomalies south of the Yangtze River and negative anomalies in the Yangtze-Huai River Valley in June,and negative anomalies in South China and positive anomalies in the Yangtze River Valley and North China in July and August.In contrast,after the central Pacific warming mode,the corresponding intraseasonal variations of China’s summer rainfall are characterized by a nearly consistent pattern during the three summer months,which is positive in the South China coast and North China and negative in the Yangtze River Valley except for the positive anomalies in the Yangtze-Huai River Valley in July.These results may provide a reference for the seasonal prediction of the summer drought and flood distributions in China.

A Statistical-Dynamical Scheme for the Extraseasonal Prediction of Summer Rainfall for 160 Observation Stations across China

The purpose of this study was to design and test a statistical-dynamical scheme for the extraseasonal（one season in advance） prediction of summer rainfall at 160 observation stations across China.The scheme combined both valuable information from the preceding observations and dynamical information from synchronous numerical predictions of atmospheric circulation factors produced by an atmospheric general circulation model.First,the key preceding climatic signals and synchronous atmospheric circulation factors that were not only closely related to summer rainfall but also numerically predictable were identified as the potential predictors.Second,the extraseasonal prediction models of summer rainfall were constructed using a multivariate linear regression analysis for 15 subregions and then 160 stations across China.Cross-validation analyses performed for the period 1983-2008 revealed that the performance of the prediction models was not only high in terms of interannual variation,trend,and sign but also was stable during the whole period.Furthermore,the performance of the scheme was confirmed by the accuracy of the real-time prediction of summer rainfall during 2009 and 2010.

Influence of Interannual Variability of Antarctic Sea-Ice on Summer Rainfall in Eastern China

Based on the Antarctic sea-ice coverage reanalysis data from the Hadlcy Center and other observational data during the 30-year period from 1969 to 1998, it is shown that Antarctic sea-ice coverage exhibits considerable interannual variability with a complex relation to El Ni?o and the South Oscillation (ENSO). Besides this, the ice maintains the seasonal persistence of the atmospheric circulation in high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. Thus it can be used as a predictor in short-term climate prediction. Both correlation and time series analyses demonstrate that summer rainfall in eastern China is closely related to Antarctic sea-ice coverage. When it is extended during boreal spring through summer, there is more rainfall in the lower reaches of the Yellow River of North China, and in contrast, less rainfall is found in the Zhujiang River basin of South China and Northeast China. A further analysis indicates that this rainfall pattern is related to the intensity of the East Asian summer monsoon caused by interannual variability of Antarctic sea-ice coverage.

Revisiting the Second EOF Mode of Interannual Variation in Summer Rainfall over East China

The second EOF（EOF2） mode of interannual variation in summer rainfall over East China is characterized by inverse rainfall changes between South China（SC） and the Yellow River-Huaihe River valleys（YH）.However,understanding of the EOF2 mode is still limited.In this study,the authors identify that the EOF2 mode physically depicts the latitudinal variation of the climatological summer-mean rainy belt along the Yangtze River valley（YRRB）,based on a 160-station rainfall dataset in China for the period 1951-2011.The latitudinal variation of the YRRB is mostly attributed to two different rainfall patterns：one reflects the seesaw（SS） rainfall changes between the YH and SC（SS pattern）,and the other features rainfall anomalies concentrated in SC only（SC pattern）.Corresponding to a southward shift of the YRRB,the SS pattern,with above-normal rainfall in SC and below-normal rainfall in the YH,is related to a cyclonic anomaly centered over the SC-East China Sea region,with a northerly anomaly blowing from the YH to SC;while the SC pattern,with above-normal rainfall in SC,is related to an anticyclonic anomaly over the western North Pacific（WNP）,corresponding to an enhanced southwest monsoon over SC.The cyclonic anomaly,related to the SS pattern,is induced by a near-barotropic eastward propagating wave train along the Asian upper-tropospheric westerly jet,originating from the mid-high latitudes of the North Atlantic.The anticyclonic anomaly,for the SC pattern,is related to suppressed rainfall in the WNP.

Notes of Numerical Simulation of Summer Rainfall in China with a Regional Climate Model REMO

Regional climate models are major tools for regional climate simulation and their output are mostly used for climate impact studies. Notes are reported from a series of numerical simulations of summer rainfall in China with a regional climate model. Domain sizes and running modes are major foci. The results reveal that the model in forecast mode driven by ＂perfect＂ boundaries could reasonably represent the inter-annual differences： heavy rainfall along the Yangtze River in 1998 and dry conditions in 1997. Model simulation in climate mode differs to a greater extent from observation than that in forecast mode. This may be due to the fact that in climate mode it departs further from the driving fields and relies more on internal model dynamical processes. A smaller domain in climate mode outperforms a larger one. Further development of model parameterizations including dynamic vegetation are encouraged in future studies.