The Regional Integrated Environmental Model System (RIEMS 2.0) with NCEP Reanalysis II is utilized to simulate the severe freezing rain and snow storm event over southern China in January 2008, which caused severe d...The Regional Integrated Environmental Model System (RIEMS 2.0) with NCEP Reanalysis II is utilized to simulate the severe freezing rain and snow storm event over southern China in January 2008, which caused severe damage in the region. The relationships between the freezing rain process and the large-scale cir- culation, in terms of the westerly and low-level jets, water vapor transportation, and northerly wind area/intensity indices, were analyzed to tmderstand the mechanisms of the freezing rain occurrence. The results indicate the fol- lowing: (1) RIEMS 2.0 reproduced the pattern of precipi- tation in January 2008 well, especially for the temporal evolution of daily precipitation averaged over the Yangtze River valley and southern China; (2) RIEMS 2.0 repro- duced the persistent trough in the South Branch of the westerlies, of which the southwesterly currents trans- ported abundant moisture into southern China; (3) RIEMS 2.0 reasonably reproduced the pattern of frequencies of light and moderate rain, although it overestimated the frequency of rain in southern China. This study shows that RIEMS 2.0 can be feasibly applied to study extreme weather and climate events in East Asia.展开更多
Based on the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and National Center for Atmospheric Research(NCEP/NCAR) daily reanalysis data and the upper-level objective analysis data provided by the Meteorological Infor...Based on the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and National Center for Atmospheric Research(NCEP/NCAR) daily reanalysis data and the upper-level objective analysis data provided by the Meteorological Information Comprehensive Analysis and Process System(MICAPS),the feature of the spatio-temporal variation of the East Asian jet stream(EAJS) in persistent snowstorm and freezing rain processes over southern China in January 2008 have been investigated.Each of the storm events was closely linked with the extraordinarily abnormal variations of East Asian subtropical jet(EASJ) and East Asian polar front jet(EAPJ) at that time.The stronger EASJ with abnormally northward position of the jet axis corresponded to the more intense storm event with broader ranges and longer duration time.The heavy freezing-rain-and-snow event occurred over the region where a strong southerly wind of EASJ prevailed.Meanwhile,the westerly and northerly winds of the EAPJ were significantly intensified,which were also closely related to the beginning,enhancement,and ending of the heavy snowfall.The meridional component of the EAPJ was dominated by the northerly wind during the snowstorm.Thus,the intensification of the snowstorm was attributed to both the strengthening of the meridional wind of EAPJ and the southerly wind of EASJ.Further analysis indicated that wind speed and the zonal wind of the two jets exhibited precursory signals about half a month prior to this extreme event,and the precursory signals were found in the meridional components of the two jets about 20 days preceding the event.The sudden weakening of the meridional component of EASJ and the zonal component of EAPJ signified the ending of this persistent snowstorm.展开更多
Based on MICAPS(Meteorological Information Combine Analysis and Process System) and observational data in Anshan Observatory,the freezing rain event occurred rarely in Anshan on February 24 in 2010 was analyzed.The re...Based on MICAPS(Meteorological Information Combine Analysis and Process System) and observational data in Anshan Observatory,the freezing rain event occurred rarely in Anshan on February 24 in 2010 was analyzed.The results showed that there existed the inversion layer from the ground to 850 hpa level even to 700 hPa level when the local surface temperature was below 0 ℃.The temperature stratification structure of coldness-warmth-coldness was prevailing from the upper level to the ground with the existence of the ice melting layer of a certain thickness.Thus the freezing event occurred in Anshan.展开更多
The response and recovery mechanisms of forests to damage from freezing rain and snow events are a key topic in forest research and management. However, the relationship between the degree of damage and tree age, i.e....The response and recovery mechanisms of forests to damage from freezing rain and snow events are a key topic in forest research and management. However, the relationship between the degree of damage and tree age, i.e., whether seedlings, young trees, or adult trees are most vulnerable, remains unclear and is rarely reported. We investigated the effect of tree age on the degrees of vegetation damage and subsequent recovery in three subtropical forest types-coniferous, mixed, and broad-leaved —in the Tianjing Mountains, South China, after a series of rare icy rain and freezing snow events in 2008. The results showed that damage and recovery rates were both dependent on tree age, with the proportion of damaged vegetation increasing with age(estimated by diameter at breast height, DBH) in all three forest types and gradually plateauing. Significant variation occurred among forest types. Young trees in the coniferous forest were more vulnerable than those in the broad-leaved forest. The type of damage also varied with tree age in different ways in the three forest types. The proportion of young seedlings that were uprooted(the most severe type of damage) was highest in the coniferous forest. In the mixed forest, young trees were significantly more likely to be uprooted than seedlings and adult trees, while in the broad-leaved forest, the proportion of uprooted adult trees was significantly higher than that of seedlings and young trees. There were also differences among forest types in how tree age affected damage recovery. In the coniferous forest, the recovery rate of trees with broken trunks or crowns(DBH > 2.5 cm) increased with tree age. However, in the mixed and broad-leaved forests, no obvious correlation between the recovery rate of trees with broken trunks or crowns and tree age was observed. Trees with severe root damage did not recover; they were uprooted and died. In these forests, vegetation damage and recovery showed tree age dependencies, which varied with tree shape, forest type, and damage type. Understanding this dependency will guide restoration after freezing rain and snow disturbances.展开更多
NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data were used to characterize stratospheric temperature and water-vapor anomalies before and after the freezing rain and snow disaster of South China in 2008,and the influence of stratospheric ci...NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data were used to characterize stratospheric temperature and water-vapor anomalies before and after the freezing rain and snow disaster of South China in 2008,and the influence of stratospheric circulation anomalies on the troposphere.Stratospheric temperature and water-vapor anomalies provided good leading indicators of this weather event.The period from December 1st 2007 to February 28th 2008 was divided into 18 pentads.During the 6th pentad,temperature decreased significantly at 10 hPa in the near-polar stratospheric region,and the decreasing trend strengthened and extended downward and southward to middle and lower latitudes.During the 14th-18th pentads,the temperature decrease reached its maximum and extended to 30°N.This coincided with the widespread freezing rain and snow event.By the end of January 2008,the temperature decrease ended in the near-polar stratospheric region,but continued in the mid-latitude area of the troposphere as the freezing rain and snow weather persisted.Similar to the temperature variations,positive anomalies of relative humidity in the stratospheric near-polar region also strengthened and extended downward and southward,coinciding with the freezing rain and snow event.Along with the significant relationship between the freezing rain and snow disaster and stratospheric circulation anomalies,the stratospheric polar vortex changed its shape in late December,intensifying and spreading downward from the top of the stratosphere and southward to the Asian continent,resulting in a deepening of the East Asian Trough and a strengthening of meridional circulation.Before the occurrence of the freezing rain and snow event,temperature and vapor increases in the stratosphere transferred downward to the troposphere,along with a stratospheric flow in the near-polar region southward to lower latitudes.展开更多
In this paper,main characteristics of the long-lasting freezing rain and snowstorm event in southern China at the beginning of 2008,features of the related atmospheric circulation and the causes thereof are analyzed.D...In this paper,main characteristics of the long-lasting freezing rain and snowstorm event in southern China at the beginning of 2008,features of the related atmospheric circulation and the causes thereof are analyzed.During the event,patterns of the atmospheric circulation stayed stable;the polar vortex located in the northern part of the Eastern Hemisphere was strong with little movement;the cold front from the polar region and the active warm air mass from the tropical ocean confronted each other for a long time;the blocking high to the west of Baikal remained strong and steady;the trough over central and western Asia maintained its position for quite long with a group of little troughs splitting from it frequently;the dominant wind at 700 hPa was southwesterly while shears and vortexes at 850 hPa developed continually,providing the necessary low-level convergence for subsequent precipitation.Meanwhile,in the mid troposphere,eddies were generated over the Tibetan Plateau and positive vorticity disturbances in the Sichuan Basin propagated eastward to the coastal regions of eastern China.The western Pacific subtropical high was intensive with westward and northward migrations.The subtropical frontal zone was puissant and the north-south temperature gradient was large.Quasi-stationary fronts over South China and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau remained stable.Warm air masses over the tropical ocean were active,so was the trough in the southern branch of the westerlies over the Bay of Bengal.There were four episodes associated with this event.The first one was featured with the interaction of strong cold and warm air,while the other three with the quasi-stationary fronts over South China and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau as well as vigorous penetration of cold air from the north.The existence of the inversion layer and the thick melting layer were one of the main reasons for the long-lasting freezing rains.The main reason for the snowstorms was that the positive vorticity over the Sichuan Basin propagated eastward to the coastal regions of eastern China.Abundant water vapor and intense updraft also favored the heavy snows.展开更多
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2010CB950900 and 2009CB421100)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 91025003)
文摘The Regional Integrated Environmental Model System (RIEMS 2.0) with NCEP Reanalysis II is utilized to simulate the severe freezing rain and snow storm event over southern China in January 2008, which caused severe damage in the region. The relationships between the freezing rain process and the large-scale cir- culation, in terms of the westerly and low-level jets, water vapor transportation, and northerly wind area/intensity indices, were analyzed to tmderstand the mechanisms of the freezing rain occurrence. The results indicate the fol- lowing: (1) RIEMS 2.0 reproduced the pattern of precipi- tation in January 2008 well, especially for the temporal evolution of daily precipitation averaged over the Yangtze River valley and southern China; (2) RIEMS 2.0 repro- duced the persistent trough in the South Branch of the westerlies, of which the southwesterly currents trans- ported abundant moisture into southern China; (3) RIEMS 2.0 reasonably reproduced the pattern of frequencies of light and moderate rain, although it overestimated the frequency of rain in southern China. This study shows that RIEMS 2.0 can be feasibly applied to study extreme weather and climate events in East Asia.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(41130963)Industry research special funds for public welfare Meteorology projects(GYHY201006019)
文摘Based on the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and National Center for Atmospheric Research(NCEP/NCAR) daily reanalysis data and the upper-level objective analysis data provided by the Meteorological Information Comprehensive Analysis and Process System(MICAPS),the feature of the spatio-temporal variation of the East Asian jet stream(EAJS) in persistent snowstorm and freezing rain processes over southern China in January 2008 have been investigated.Each of the storm events was closely linked with the extraordinarily abnormal variations of East Asian subtropical jet(EASJ) and East Asian polar front jet(EAPJ) at that time.The stronger EASJ with abnormally northward position of the jet axis corresponded to the more intense storm event with broader ranges and longer duration time.The heavy freezing-rain-and-snow event occurred over the region where a strong southerly wind of EASJ prevailed.Meanwhile,the westerly and northerly winds of the EAPJ were significantly intensified,which were also closely related to the beginning,enhancement,and ending of the heavy snowfall.The meridional component of the EAPJ was dominated by the northerly wind during the snowstorm.Thus,the intensification of the snowstorm was attributed to both the strengthening of the meridional wind of EAPJ and the southerly wind of EASJ.Further analysis indicated that wind speed and the zonal wind of the two jets exhibited precursory signals about half a month prior to this extreme event,and the precursory signals were found in the meridional components of the two jets about 20 days preceding the event.The sudden weakening of the meridional component of EASJ and the zonal component of EAPJ signified the ending of this persistent snowstorm.
文摘Based on MICAPS(Meteorological Information Combine Analysis and Process System) and observational data in Anshan Observatory,the freezing rain event occurred rarely in Anshan on February 24 in 2010 was analyzed.The results showed that there existed the inversion layer from the ground to 850 hpa level even to 700 hPa level when the local surface temperature was below 0 ℃.The temperature stratification structure of coldness-warmth-coldness was prevailing from the upper level to the ground with the existence of the ice melting layer of a certain thickness.Thus the freezing event occurred in Anshan.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31300401,31030015,31100402)the Forestry Science and Technology Innovative Foundation of Guangdong Province(2008KJCX012,2009KJCX015)+1 种基金the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation(S2012040007896)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
文摘The response and recovery mechanisms of forests to damage from freezing rain and snow events are a key topic in forest research and management. However, the relationship between the degree of damage and tree age, i.e., whether seedlings, young trees, or adult trees are most vulnerable, remains unclear and is rarely reported. We investigated the effect of tree age on the degrees of vegetation damage and subsequent recovery in three subtropical forest types-coniferous, mixed, and broad-leaved —in the Tianjing Mountains, South China, after a series of rare icy rain and freezing snow events in 2008. The results showed that damage and recovery rates were both dependent on tree age, with the proportion of damaged vegetation increasing with age(estimated by diameter at breast height, DBH) in all three forest types and gradually plateauing. Significant variation occurred among forest types. Young trees in the coniferous forest were more vulnerable than those in the broad-leaved forest. The type of damage also varied with tree age in different ways in the three forest types. The proportion of young seedlings that were uprooted(the most severe type of damage) was highest in the coniferous forest. In the mixed forest, young trees were significantly more likely to be uprooted than seedlings and adult trees, while in the broad-leaved forest, the proportion of uprooted adult trees was significantly higher than that of seedlings and young trees. There were also differences among forest types in how tree age affected damage recovery. In the coniferous forest, the recovery rate of trees with broken trunks or crowns(DBH > 2.5 cm) increased with tree age. However, in the mixed and broad-leaved forests, no obvious correlation between the recovery rate of trees with broken trunks or crowns and tree age was observed. Trees with severe root damage did not recover; they were uprooted and died. In these forests, vegetation damage and recovery showed tree age dependencies, which varied with tree shape, forest type, and damage type. Understanding this dependency will guide restoration after freezing rain and snow disturbances.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41005021,40830955)Scientific Research Foundation of CUIT(Grant No.CSRF20102)Special Fund for Public Welfare Industry(meteorology)(Grant No.GYHY(QX)2007-6-37)
文摘NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data were used to characterize stratospheric temperature and water-vapor anomalies before and after the freezing rain and snow disaster of South China in 2008,and the influence of stratospheric circulation anomalies on the troposphere.Stratospheric temperature and water-vapor anomalies provided good leading indicators of this weather event.The period from December 1st 2007 to February 28th 2008 was divided into 18 pentads.During the 6th pentad,temperature decreased significantly at 10 hPa in the near-polar stratospheric region,and the decreasing trend strengthened and extended downward and southward to middle and lower latitudes.During the 14th-18th pentads,the temperature decrease reached its maximum and extended to 30°N.This coincided with the widespread freezing rain and snow event.By the end of January 2008,the temperature decrease ended in the near-polar stratospheric region,but continued in the mid-latitude area of the troposphere as the freezing rain and snow weather persisted.Similar to the temperature variations,positive anomalies of relative humidity in the stratospheric near-polar region also strengthened and extended downward and southward,coinciding with the freezing rain and snow event.Along with the significant relationship between the freezing rain and snow disaster and stratospheric circulation anomalies,the stratospheric polar vortex changed its shape in late December,intensifying and spreading downward from the top of the stratosphere and southward to the Asian continent,resulting in a deepening of the East Asian Trough and a strengthening of meridional circulation.Before the occurrence of the freezing rain and snow event,temperature and vapor increases in the stratosphere transferred downward to the troposphere,along with a stratospheric flow in the near-polar region southward to lower latitudes.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No.40605019
文摘In this paper,main characteristics of the long-lasting freezing rain and snowstorm event in southern China at the beginning of 2008,features of the related atmospheric circulation and the causes thereof are analyzed.During the event,patterns of the atmospheric circulation stayed stable;the polar vortex located in the northern part of the Eastern Hemisphere was strong with little movement;the cold front from the polar region and the active warm air mass from the tropical ocean confronted each other for a long time;the blocking high to the west of Baikal remained strong and steady;the trough over central and western Asia maintained its position for quite long with a group of little troughs splitting from it frequently;the dominant wind at 700 hPa was southwesterly while shears and vortexes at 850 hPa developed continually,providing the necessary low-level convergence for subsequent precipitation.Meanwhile,in the mid troposphere,eddies were generated over the Tibetan Plateau and positive vorticity disturbances in the Sichuan Basin propagated eastward to the coastal regions of eastern China.The western Pacific subtropical high was intensive with westward and northward migrations.The subtropical frontal zone was puissant and the north-south temperature gradient was large.Quasi-stationary fronts over South China and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau remained stable.Warm air masses over the tropical ocean were active,so was the trough in the southern branch of the westerlies over the Bay of Bengal.There were four episodes associated with this event.The first one was featured with the interaction of strong cold and warm air,while the other three with the quasi-stationary fronts over South China and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau as well as vigorous penetration of cold air from the north.The existence of the inversion layer and the thick melting layer were one of the main reasons for the long-lasting freezing rains.The main reason for the snowstorms was that the positive vorticity over the Sichuan Basin propagated eastward to the coastal regions of eastern China.Abundant water vapor and intense updraft also favored the heavy snows.