Dynamical Framework of IAP Nine-Level Atmospheric General Circulation Model

The dynamical framework of the nine-level version of the IAP AGCM is presented in this paper. The emphasis of the model's description is put on the following two aspects:(1) A model's standard atmosphere, which is a satisfactory approximation to the observed troposphere and lower stratosphere standard atmosphere, is introduced into the equations of the model to permit a more accurate calculation of the vertical transport terms, especially near the tropopause; (2) The vertical levels of the model are carefully selected to guarantee a smooth dependence of layer thickness upon pressure in order to reduce the truncation error involved in the unequal interval vertical finite-differencing. For testing the model, two kinds of linear baroclinic Rossby-Haurwitz waves, one of which has a dynamically stable vertical structure and the other has a relatively unstable one, are constructed to provide initial conditions for numerical experiments. The two waves have been integrated for more than 300 days and 100 days respectively by using the model and both of them are propagating westward with almost identical phase-speed during the time period of the integrations. No obvious change of the wave patterns is found at the levels in the model's troposphere. The amplitudes of both two waves at the uppermost level, however, exhibit rather significant oscillation with time, of which the periods are exactly 20 days and 25 days espectively.The explanation of this interesting phenomena is still under investigation.

A Study on Sulfate Optical Properties and Direct Radiative Forcing Using LASG-IAP General Circulation Model

The direct radiative forcing （DRF） of sulfate aerosols depends highly on the atmospheric sulfate loading and the meteorology, both of which undergo strong regional and seasonal variations. Because the optical properties of sulfate aerosols are also sensitive to atmospheric relative humidity, in this study we first examine the scheme for optical properties that considers hydroscopic growth. Next, we investigate the seasonal and regional distributions of sulfate DRF using the sulfate loading simulated from NCAR CAM-Chem together with the meteorology modeled from a spectral atmospheric general circulation model （AGCM） developed by LASG-IAP. The global annual-mean sulfate loading of 3.44 mg m-2 is calculated to yield the DRF of -1.03 and -0.57 W m-2 for clear-sky and all-sky conditions, respectively. However, much larger values occur on regional bases. For example, the maximum all-sky sulfate DRF over Europe, East Asia, and North America can be up to -4.0 W m-2. The strongest all-sky sulfate DRF occurs in the Northern Hemispheric July, with a hemispheric average of -1.26 W m-2. The study results also indicate that the regional DRF are strongly affected by cloud and relative humidity, which vary considerably among the regions during different seasons. This certainly raises the issue that the biases in model-sinmlated regional meteorology can introduce biases into the sulfate DRF. Hence, the model processes associated with atmospheric humidity and cloud physics should be modified in great depth to improve the simulations of the LASG-IAP AGCM and to reduce the uncertainty of sulfate direct effects on global and regional climate in these simulations.

The African Climate as Predicted by the IAP Grid-Point Nine-Layer Atmospheric General Circulation Model (IAP-9L-AGCM)

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NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF THE PACIFIC MERIDIONAL MODE IMPACTS ON TROPICAL CYCLONES ACTIVITY OVER THE WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC

Based on analyses of the relationship between Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM) and number of tropical cyclones (TCs) activity over the western North Pacific, the impacts of the PMM on Tc activity over the western North Pacific are studied using numerical simulations with an Atmospheric General Circulation Model (CAM3) of National Center for Atmospheric Research (of USA). The result shows that the PMM has impacts on the large-scale generating environment of TCs, thus affecting their number and strength. The numerical simulations using the NCAR CAM3 indicate that with the inclusion of the forcing from sea surface temperature (SST) of the PMM, there appears a decreased magnitude of the vertical zonal wind shear, large proportion of relative humidity, anomalous westerly wind at low levels and anomalous easterly wind at high levels, in association with anomalous cyclonic circulation at low levels and anomalous anti-cyclonic circulation at high levels over the tropical western Pacific. Thus, the PMM provides favorable environment for the typhoon genesis. In the sensitivity experiment, TCs have larger strength, lower SST at the center, stronger tangential wind at 850 hPa and intensified warm cores at high levels. In this paper, the simulation results are similar to that in the data analyses, which reveals the important impact of the PMM on TC activity over the western North Pacific.

Diagnostic Study on Seasonality and Interannual Variability of Wind Field

Based on NCEP/ NCAR reanalysis data during 1980-1994, seasonally and interannual variability of the horizontal wind field are studied. It is shown that: (1) In the lower troposphere, there exist regions with maximum of seasonally in the tropics, the subtropics and high latitudes, which is called the tropical, subtropical and temperate-frigid monsoon region respectively. In the upper troposphere, the subtropical monsoon combines with the tropical monsoon as a nonseparably planetary monsoon system. In the stratosphere, there is a belt with very large seasonality in each hemisphere caused by the inversely seasonal circulation and by the establishment and collapse of the night jet. (2) Seasonal variation of the large-scale monsoon may generally be attributed to that of the zonal wind, however, seasonal variation of the meridional wind is of great importance in East Asian monsoon region. (3) In monsoon region, interannual variability of the atmospheric general circulation is closely related to seasonal variation of monsoon, while in the tropical Pacific, it may considerably be influenced by the external factors such as sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies associated with El Nino or La Nina event. Moreover, interannual variability undergoes a pronounced annual cycle.

Prediction of the Asian-Australian Monsoon Interannual Variations with the Grid-Point Atmospheric Model of IAP LASG(GAMIL)

Seasonal prediction of Asian-Australian monsoon （A-AM） precipitation is one of the most important and challenging tasks in climate prediction. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of Grid Atmospheric Model of IAP LASG （GAMIL） on retrospective prediction of the A-AM interannual variation （IAV）, and determine to what extent GAMIL can capture the two major observed modes of A-AM rainfall IAV for the period 1979-2003. The first mode is associated with the turnabout of warming （cooling） in the Nifio 3.4 region, whereas the second mode leads the warming/cooling by about one year, signaling precursory conditions for ENSO. We show that the GAMIL one-month lead prediction of the seasonal precipitation anomalies is primarily able to capture major features of the two observed leading modes of the IAV, with the first mode better predicted than the second. It also depicts the relationship between the first mode and ENSO rather well. On the other hand, the GAMIL has deficiencies in capturing the relationship between the second mode and ENSO. We conclude： （1） successful reproduction of the E1 Nifio-excited monsoon-ocean interaction and E1 Nifio forcing may be critical for the seasonal prediction of the A-AM rainfall IAV with the GAMIL; （2） more efforts are needed to improve the simulation not only in the Nifio 3.4 region but also in the joining area of Asia and the Indian-Pacific Ocean; （3） the selection of a one-tier system may improve the ultimate prediction of the A-AM rainfall IAV. These results offer some references for improvement of the GAMIL and associated seasonal prediction skill.

Evaluation of Spring Persistent Rainfall over East Asia in CMIP3/CMIP5 AGCM Simulations

The progress made fi＇om Phase 3 to Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project （CMIP3 to CMIP5） in simulating spring persistent rainfall （SPR） over East Asia was examined from the outputs of nine atmospheric general circulation models （AGCMs）. The majority of the models overestimated the precipitation over the SPR domain, with the mean latitude of the SPR belt shifting to the north. The overestimation was about 1mm d-1 in the CMIP3 ensemble, and the northward displacement was about 3°, while in the CMIP5 ensemble the overestimation was suppressed to 0.7 mm d-i and the northward shift decreased to 2.5°. The SPR features a northeast-southwest extended rain belt with a slope of 0.4°N/°E. The CMIP5 ensemble yielded a smaller slope （0.2°N/°E）, whereas the CMIP3 ensemble featured an unre- alistic zonally-distributed slope. The CMIP5 models also showed better skill in simulating the interannual variability of SPR. Previous studies have suggested that the zonal land-sea thermal contrast and sensible heat flux over the southeastern Tibetan Plateau are important for the existence of SPR. These two ther- mal factors were captured well in the CMIP5 ensemble, but underestimated in the CMIP3 ensemble. The variability of zonal land-sea thermal contrast is positively correlated with the rainfall amount over the main SPR center, but it was found that an overestimated thermal contrast between East Asia and South China Sea is a common problem in most of the CMIP3 and CMIP5 models. Simulation of the meridional thermal contrast is therefore important for the future improvement of current AGCMs.

The Springtime North Asia Cyclone Activity Index and the Southern Annular Mode

The relationship between the North Asia cyclone （NAC） activity and the Southern Annular Mode （SAM） is documented in this research. The definition of the NAC index （NACI） is based on the atmospheric relative vorticity in North Asia. The analysis yields a significant positive correlation between previous winter Southern Annular Mode index （SAMI） and spring NACI in the interannual variability, with a correlation coefficient of 0.51 during 1948-2000. Analysis of the NAC-related and SAM-related atmospheric general circulation variability demonstrates such a relationship. The study further reveals that when the winter SAM becomes strong, the springtime atmospheric convection in tropical western Pacific will intensify and the local Hadley circulation will be strengthened. As a result, the abnormal subsiding motion over South China makes the temperature gradient intensified in the low level and strengthens the jet in the high level, both of which are beneficial to the development of NAC activity.

Effects of Nested Area Size upon Regional Climate Model Simulations

This paper presents a numerical study on the 1998 summer rainfall over the Yangtze River valley in central and eastern China, addressing effect of a nested area size on simulations in terms of the technique of nesting a regional climate model (RCM) upon a general circulation model (GCM). Evidence suggests that the size exerts greater impacts upon regional climate of the country, revealing that a larger nested size is superior to a small one for simulation in mitigating errors of GCM-provided lateral boundary forcing. Also, simulations show that the RCM should incorporate regions of climate systems of great importance into study and a low-resolution GCM yields more pronounced errors as a rule when used in the research of the Tibetan Plateau, and, in contrast, our PσRCM can do a good job in describing the plateau’s role in a more realistic and accurate way. It is for this reason that the tableland should be included in the nested area when the RCM is employed to investigate the regional climate. Our PσRCM nesting upon a GCM reaches more realistic results compared to a single GCM used.

Modelling the January and July Climate of 9000 Years before Present

The January and July climate of 9000 years before present was simulated through a set of perpetual experimentsby means of the newly designed 9 Level Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM) in the institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP). The results were analysed and compared with previous results simulated by the IAP 2Level AGCM. There exists good agreement between them. It is found that the temperature is higher in July and lower inJanuary in 9000 yBP than that at present. The temperature difference is more obvious in the Northern Hemispherethan in the Southern Hemisphere and greater in July than in January. These results prove the potential abilities of theg-L AGCM in the climate simulation and climate prediction.

Severe winter weather as a response to the lowest Arctic sea-ice anomalies

Possible impact of reduced Arctic sea-ice on winter severe weather in China is investigated regarding the snowstorm over southern China in January 2008. The sea-ice conditions in the summer （July-September） and fall （September-November） of 2007 show that the sea-ice is the lowest that year. During the summer and fall of 2007, sea ice displayed a significant decrease in the East Siberian, the northern Chukchi Sea, the western Beaufort Sea, the Barents Sea, and the Kara Sea. A ECHAM5.4 atmospheric general circula- tion model is forced with realistic sea-ice conditions and strong thermal responses with warmer surface air temperature and higher-than-normal heat flux associated with the sea-ice anomalies are found. The model shows remote atmospheric responses over East Asia in January 2008, which result in severe snowstorm over southern China. Strong water-vapor transported from the Bay of Bengal and from the Pacific Ocean related to Arctic sea-ice anomalies in the fall （instead of summer） of 2007 is considered as one of the main causes of the snowstorm formation.

Possible connection between anomalous activity of Scandinavian Atmospheric Teleconnection Pattern and winter snowfall in the Yangtze-Huaihe River Basin of China

The temporal and spatial characteristics of winter snowfall in the Yangtze–Huaihe River Basin (YHRB) of China and its possible connection with Scandinavian Atmospheric Teleconnection Pattern (SCAND) anomalies are explored based on daily meteorological data contained in the Daily Surface Climate Dataset for China (V3.0) during the period 1960–2012. Results show that winter snowfall in the YHRB exhibits consistent anomalies over the whole region for the interannual variation during 1960–2012. Further analysis suggests that winter snowfall anomalies in the YHRB are closely linked to the anomalous wintertime SCAND activity. When there is more winter snowfall in the YHRB, SCAND is usually in a positive phase, accompanied by a strengthened Urals blocking high and East Asian trough, which is conducive to strengthened cold-air activity, intensified vertical motions, and more water vapor transport in the YHRB. In contrast, less winter snowfall in the YHRB usually happens in the negative phase of SCAND. Our results provide useful information to better understand the relevant mechanism responsible for anomalous winter snowfall in this area.

Polar Vortex Response to Pacific Ocean Warming and Its Additive Nonlinearity with the Indian Ocean

A previous modeling study about Pacific Ocean warming derived polar vortex response signals, by subtracting those in the Indian Ocean warming experiments from those in the Indo-Pacific. This approach questions the resemblance of such an indirectly derived response to one directly forced by Pacific Ocean warming. This is relevant to the additive nonlinearity of atmospheric responses to separated Indian and Pacific Ocean forcing. In the present study, an additional set of ensemble experiments are performed by prescribing isolated SST forcing in the tropical Pacific Ocean to address this issue. The results suggest a qualitative resemblance between responses in the derived and additional experiments. Thus, previous findings about the impact of Indian and Pacific Ocean wanning are robust. This study has important implications for future climate change projections, considering the non-unanimous warming rates in tropical oceans in the 21st century. Nevertheless, a comparison of present direct-forced experiments with previous indirect-forced experiments suggests a significant additive nonlinearity between the Indian and Pacific Ocean warmings. Further diagnosis suggests that the nonlinearity may originate from the thermodynamic processes over the tropics.

Quantifying the Response Strength of the Southern Stratospheric Polar Vortex to Indian Ocean Warming in Austral Summer

A previous multiple-AGCM study suggested that Indian Ocean Warming （IOW） tends to warm and weaken the southern polar vortex.Such an impact is robust because of a qualitative consistency among the five AGCMs used.However,a significant difference exists in the modeled strengths,particularly in the stratosphere,with those in three of the AGCMs （CCM3,CAM3,and GFS） being four to five times as strong as those in the two other models （GFDL AM2,ECHAM5）.As to which case reflects reality is an important issue not only for quantifying the role of tropical ocean warming in the recent modest recovery of the ozone hole over the Antarctic,but also for projecting its future trend.This issue is addressed in the present study through comparing the models＇ climatological mean states and intrinsic variability,particularly those influencing tropospheric signals to propagate upward and reach the stratosphere.The results suggest that differences in intrinsic variability of model atmospheres provide implications for the difference.Based on a comparison with observations,it is speculated that the impact in the real world may be closer to the modest one simulated by GFDL AM2 and ECHAM5,rather than the strong one simulated by the three other models （CCM3,CAM3 and GFS）.In particular,IOW during the past 50 years may have dynamically induced a 1.0℃ warming in the polar lower stratosphere （～100 hPa）,which canceled a fraction of radiative cooling due to ozone depletion.

Dependence of the AGCM Climatology on the Method of Prescribing Surface Boundary Conditions and Its Climatological Implication

By using IAP 9L AGCM, two sets of long-term climatological integration have been performed with the two different interpolation procedures for generating the daily surface boundary conditions. One interpolation procedure is the so-called “traditional” scheme, for which the daily surface boundary conditions are obtained by linearly interpolating between the observed monthly mean values, however the observed monthly means cannot be preserved after interpolation. The other one is the “new” scheme, for which the daily surface boundary conditions are obtained by linearly interpolating between the “artificial” monthly mean values which are based on, but are different from the observed ones, after interpolating with this new scheme, not only the observed monthly mean values are preserved, the time series of the new generated daily values is also more consistent with the observation. Comparison of the model results shows that the differences of the globally or zonally averaged fields between these two integrations are quite small, and this is due to the compensating effect between the different regions. However, the differences of the two patterns (the global or regional geographical distributions), are quite significant, for example, the magnitude of the difference in the JJA mean rainfall between these two integrations can exceed 2 mm/ day over Asian monsoon regions, and the difference in DJF mean surface air temperature can also exceed 2?C over this region. The fact that the model climatology depends quite strongly on the method of prescribing the daily surface boundary conditions suggests that in order to validate the climate model or to predict the short-term climate anomalies, either the “new? interpolation scheme or the high frequency surface boundary conditions (e.g., daily or weekly data instead of the monthly data) should be introduced. Meanwhile, as for the coupled model, the daily coupling scheme between the different component climate models ( e.g., atmospheric and oceanic general circulation models) is preferred in order to partly eliminate the “climate drift” problem which may appear during the course of direct coupling.

Recognition of two dominant modes of EASM and its thermal driving factors based on 25 monsoon indexes

Based on three reanalysis datasets—ERA-Interim,NCAR–NCEP and JRA-55—the classification of25 commonly used indexes of the East Asian summer monsoon(EASM)was investigated.The physical nature of two categories of monsoon index,together with their circulation pattern,climate anomalies,and driving factors,were investigated.Results suggest that the selected 25 monsoon indexes can be classified into two typical categories(CategoryⅠandⅡ),which are dominated by interannual and decadal variabilities of the EASM,respectively.The anomalous circulation patterns and summer rainfall patterns related to the two categories of index also exhibit evident differences.CategoryⅠis closely linked to the low-latitude circulation system and the anomalous circulation pattern is a typical East Asia–Pacific teleconnection pattern.The summer rainfall anomaly exhibits a typical tripole pattern.However,CategoryⅡmainly reflects the impacts of the middle–high latitude circulation system on the summer monsoon and is closely linked to a typical Eurasian teleconnection pattern,which corresponds to a dipole of summer rainfall anomalies.Further analysis suggests that the underlying thermal driving factors of the two categories of monsoon are distinct.The main driving factors of CategoryⅠare the tropical sea surface temperature anomalies(SSTAs),especially ENSO-related SSTAs in the preceding winter and summer SSTAs in the tropical Indian Ocean.The winter signal of Category II summer monsoon anomalous activity mainly originates from the polar region and the middle and high latitudes of the Eurasian continent.CategoryⅡmonsoon activity is also associated with summer SSTAs in the equatorial central Pacific.

Simulations of the Tropical Intraseasonal Oscillation by the Atmospheric General Circulation Model of the Beijing Climate Center

The performance of BCC （Beijing Climate Center） AGCM 2.0.1 （Atmospheric General Circulation Model version 2.0.1） in simulating the tropical intraseasonal oscillation （TIO） is examined in this paper.The simulations are validated against observation and compared with the NCAR CAM3 （Community Atmosphere Model version 3） results.The BCC AGCM2.0.1 is developed based on the original BCC AGCM （version 1） and NCAR CAM3.New reference atmosphere and reference pressure are introduced into the model.Therefore,the original prognostic variables of temperature and surface pressure become their departures from the reference atmosphere.A new Zhang-McFarlane convective parameterization scheme is incorporated into the model with a few modifications.Other modifications include those in the boundary layer process and snow cover calculation.All simulations are run for 52 yr from 1949 to 2001 under the lower boundary conditions of observed monthly SST.The TIOs from the model are analyzed.The comparison shows that the NCAR CAM3 has a poor ability in simulating the TIO.The simulated strength of the TIO is very weak.The energy of the eastward moving waves is similar to that of the westward moving waves in CAM3.While in observation the former is much larger than the latter.The seasonal variation and spatial distribution of the TIO produced by CAM3 are also much different from the observation.The ability of the BCC AGCM2.0.1 in simulating the TIO is significantly better.The simulated TIO is evident.The strength of the TIO produced by the BCC AGCM2.0.1 is close to the observation.The energy of eastward moving.waves is much stronger than that of the westward moving waves,which is consistent with the observation.There is no significant difference in the seasonal variation and spatial distribution of the TIO between the BCC model simulation and the observation.In general,the BCC model performs better than CAM3 in simulating the TIO.

A REVIEW OF THE ATMOSPHERIC GENERAL CIRCULATION AND MONSOON IN EAST ASIA

Important progresses of the study of the general circulation and monsoons in East Asia,which have been made since the pioneering work“Monsoons in Southeast Asia and rainfall amount in China”by Prof.Zhu Kezhen,are extensively reviewed in memory of this founder of modern meteorology in China.The first part has addressed the bimodality of the general circulation and the abrupt seasonal change.The second part has dealt with the role of the continent-ocean contrast and topography in the dynamic and thermal processes of mon- soon development,including winter and summer monsoons,and associated heat sources and sinks.The third part has discussed the monsoonal precipitation,with a special emphasis on the mesoscale disturbance,low-level jet and interannual variability of Meiyu(plum rains).

Analysis of rainfall variability over Tanzania in late austral summer

Based on site-observation data,NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data,and Climatic Research Unit gridded data,the rainfall variability over Tanzania during late austral summer(January–March,JFM)was analyzed for the period 1961–2011.Further,the associated atmospheric circulation and SST anomalies(SSTAs)were explored to understand the mechanisms of dry-and wet-year cases based on an interannual time scale.The correlation,Morlet wavelet power spectrum,and composite analysis methods were employed.The results showed that the JFM standardized rainfall anomaly time series exhibited significant time scales of variability at interannual(2–8 years)and quasidecadal(8–12 years).During dry years,anomalous anticyclonic northeasterly flow originating from western tropical Indian and southeast trades from the Indian Ocean to the southeast were associated with subsiding dry air,which resulted in suppression of rainfall as observed.In the typical wet-year cases,meanwhile,anomalous westerlies from the tropical and southeast Atlantic were strengthened over the Congo basin,delivering more precipitation to the region.Significant correlation was exhibited over the western tropical and southeast Indian Ocean,as well as the southeast and tropical Atlantic Ocean.These SSTA patterns favored atmospheric general circulation anomalies that were closely related to JFM rainfall over Tanzania.

Impact of the variation of westerly jets over East Asia on precipitation of eastern China in July

The impact of the northward jump and westward movement of the East Asian westerly jet core fi：om the westem Pacific Ocean to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau on precipitation distribution of eastem China is studied. It is concluded that on the one hand, the northward jump of the jet causes the precipitation belt to move northward from the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley and withdraw during the Mei-yu season; on the other hand, the westward movement of the jet core has no correspondence with withdrawal of the Mei-yu season. However, the earlier or later occurrence of the westward movement of the jet has an influence on the process of the rain belt moving northward than the northward jump of the jet： the rain belt moves northward from the middle-lower Yangtze River valley to the Huaihe River and then to an area between the Yellow River and Huaihe River during years when the time of the westward movement of the jet core is later than that of the northward jump of the jet and from the middle-lower Yangtze River valley to an area between the Yellow River and Huaihe River in other years. Further analysis shows that： （1） The northward jump of the jet and the westward movement of the East Asian westerly jet core causes significant variation of the general atmospheric circulation in middle latitudes and water vapor transport from the western Pacific, but not from the Bay of Bengal. （2） Impact of the northward jump and the westward movement of the East Asian westerly jet core on circulation are different, therefore, water vapor transport from the western Pacific and its impact on the rain belt are different. The earlier or later occurrence of the westward movement of the jet core than the northward jump of the jet causes the process of circulation and water vapor transport to be different which produces a different process of the rain belt moving northward.