Differences in spring precipitation over southern China associated with multiyear La Ni?a events

Composite analyses were performed in this study to reveal the difference in spring precipitation over southern China during multiyear La Ni?a events during 1901 to 2015. It was found that there is significantly below-normal precipitation during the first boreal spring, but above-normal precipitation during the second year. The difference in spring precipitation over southern China is correlative to the variation in western North Pacific anomalous cyclone(WNPC), which can in turn be attributed to the different sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA) over the Tropical Pacific. The remote forcing of negative SSTA in the equatorial central and eastern Pacific and the local air-sea interaction in the western North Pacific are the usual causes of WNPC formation and maintenance.SSTA in the first spring is stronger than those in the second spring. As a result, the intensity of WNPC in the first year is stronger, which is more likely to reduce the moisture in southern China by changing the moisture transport, leading to prolonged precipitation deficits over southern China. However, the tropical SSTA signals in the second year are too weak to induce the formation and maintenance of WNPC and the below-normal precipitation over southern China. Thus, the variation in tropical SSTA signals between two consecutive springs during multiyear La Ni?a events leads to obvious differences in the spatial pattern of precipitation anomaly in southern China by causing the different WNPC response.

Different ENSO Impacts on Eastern China Precipitation Patterns in Early and Late Winter Associated with Seasonally-Varying Kuroshio Anticyclonic Anomalies

Winter precipitation over eastern China displays remarkable interannual variability,which has been suggested to be closely related to El Niño-Southern Oscillation(ENSO).This study finds that ENSO impacts on eastern China precipitation patterns exhibit obvious differences in early(November-December)and late(January-February)winter.In early winter,precipitation anomalies associated with ENSO are characterized by a monopole spatial distribution over eastern China.In contrast,the precipitation anomaly pattern in late winter remarkably changes,manifesting as a dipole spatial distribution.The noteworthy change in precipitation responses from early to late winter can be largely attributed to the seasonally varying Kuroshio anticyclonic anomalies.During the early winter of El Niño years,anticyclonic circulation anomalies appear both over the Philippine Sea and Kuroshio region,enhancing water vapor transport to the entirety of eastern China,thus contributing to more precipitation there.During the late winter of El Niño years,the anticyclone over the Philippine Sea is further strengthened,while the one over the Kuroshio dissipates,which could result in differing water vapor transport between northern and southern parts of eastern China and thus a dipole precipitation distribution.Roughly the opposite anomalies of circulation and precipitation are displayed during La Niña winters.Further analysis suggests that the seasonally-varying Kuroshio anticyclonic anomalies are possibly related to the enhancement of ENSO-related tropical central-eastern Pacific convection from early to late winter.These results have important implications for the seasonal-tointerannual predictability of winter precipitation over eastern China.

Diversity on the Interannual Variations of Spring Monthly Precipitation in Southern China and the Associated Tropical Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies

There is a continuous and relatively stable rainy period every spring in southern China(SC).This spring precipitation process is a unique weather and climate phenomenon in East Asia.Previously,the variation characteristics and associated mechanisms of this precipitation process have been mostly discussed from the perspective of seasonal mean.Based on the observed and reanalysis datasets from 1982 to 2021,this study investigates the diversity of the interannual variations of monthly precipitation in spring in SC,and focuses on the potential influence of the tropical sea surface temperature(SST)anomalies.The results show that the interannual variations of monthly precipitation in spring in SC have significant differences,and the correlations between each two months are very weak.All the interannual variations of precipitation in three months are related to a similar western North Pacific anomalous anticyclone(WNPAC),and the southwesterlies at the western flank of WNPAC bring abundant water vapor for the precipitation in SC.However,the WNPAC is influenced by tropical SST anomalies in different regions each month.The interannual variation of precipitation in March in SC is mainly influenced by the signal of El Nino-Southern Oscillation,and the associated SST anomalies in the equatorial central-eastern Pacific regulate the WNPAC through the Pacific-East Asia(PEA)teleconnection.In contrast,the WNPAC associated with the interannual variation of precipitation in April can be affected by the SST anomalies in the northwestern equatorial Pacific through a thermally induced Rossby wave response.The interannual variation of precipitation in May is regulated by the SST anomalies around the western Maritime Continent,which stimulates the development of low-level anomalous anticyclones over the South China Sea and east of the Philippine Sea by driving anomalous meridional vertical circulation.

Precipitation Microphysical Characteristics of Typhoon Ewiniar(2018) before and after Its Final Landfall over Southern China

In this paper, the evolution of the microphysical characteristics in different regions(eyewall, inner core, and outer rainbands) and different quadrants [downshear left(DL), downshear right(DR), upshear left(UL), and upshear right(UR)]during the final landfall of Typhoon Ewiniar(2018) is analyzed using two-dimensional video disdrometer and S-band polarimetric radar data collected in Guangdong, China. Due to the different types of underlying surfaces, the periods before landfall(mainly dominated by underlying sea surface) and after landfall(mainly dominated by underlying land surface) are also analyzed. Both before landfall and after landfall, the downshear quadrants had the dominate typhoon precipitation. The outer rainbands had more graupel than the inner core, resulting in a larger radar reflectivity, differential reflectivity, specific differential phase shift, and mass-weighted mean diameter below the melting layer. Compared with other regions, the eyewall region had the smallest mean logarithmic normalized intercept parameter before landfall and the smallest mean mass-weighted mean diameter and the largest mean logarithmic normalized intercept parameter after landfall. The hydrometeor size sorting was obvious in the eyewall and inner core(especially in the eyewall) after landfall. A high concentration of large raindrops fell in the DL quadrant, and more small raindrops fell in the UR quadrant. Although the icephase process and warm rain process were both important in the formation of tropical cyclone precipitation, the warm rain process(ice-phase process) contributed more liquid water before landfall(after landfall). This investigation provides a reference for improving the microphysical parameterization scheme in numerical models.

Weakening of Winter North Atlantic Oscillation Signal in Spring Precipitation over Southern China

In this study,the relationship between the North Atlantic Oscillation （NAO） in winter （DecemberFebruary） and the precipitation over southem China （SCP） in the following spring （March-May） was investigated.Results showed an interdecadal change,from strong to weak connection,in their connection.Before the early 1980s,they were highly correlated,with a strong （weak） winter NAO followed by an increased （decreased） spring SCP.However,after the early 1980s,their relationship was weakened significantly.This unstable relationship may be linked to the climatological change of East Asian jet.Before the early 1980s,the wave train along the Asian jet propagated the NAO signal eastward to East Asia and affected local upper-tropospheric atmospheric circulation.A strong NAO in winter led to an anomalous anticyclonic circulation at the south side of 30°N in East Asia in spring,resulting in an increase of SCP.In contrast,after the early 1980s,the wave train pattern along the Asian jet extended eastward due to strengthening of the climatological East Asian jet.Correspondingly,the NAO-related East Asian atmospheric circulations in the upper troposphere shifted eastward,thereby weakening the linkage between the spring SCP and the winter NAO.

Evolution of Intraseasonal Oscillation over the Tropica lWestern Pacific/South China Sea and Its Effect to the Summer Precipitation in Southern China

In this paper, the evolution of intraseasonal oscillation over the South China Sea and tropical western Pacific area and its effect to the summer rainfall in the southern China are studied based on the ECMWF data and TBB data) analyses. A very low-frequency waves exist in the tropics and play an important role in dominating intraseasonal oscillation and lead to special seasonal variation of intraseasonal oscillation over the South China Sea/tropical western Pacific area. The intraseasonal oscillation (convection) over the South China Sea and tropical western Pacific area is closely related to the summer rainfall (convection) in the southern China. Their relationship seems to be a seesaw feature, and this relationship resulting from the different pattern of convection in those two regions is caused by the differnt type of local meridional circulation.

Interannual and Interdecadal Variability of Winter Precipitation over China in Relation to Global Sea Level Pressure Anomalies

Based on the method of rotated principal component (RPC) analysis and wavelet transforms, the winter precipitation from 36 stations over China for the period 1881-1993 is examined. The results show that the three leading space-time modes correspond, in sequence, to winter rainfall anomalies over the reaches of the Yangtze River, the bend of the Yellow River, and the northeastern region of China. The three modes exhibit interannual oscillations with quasi-biennial and 8-year periods as well as interdecadal oscillations with 16- and 32-year periods. The interannual oscillation (【 10 years) occurs in phase over the different areas, and its maximum amplitude migrates northward considerably with prominent interdecadal variations. However, the interdecadal oscillations (10-32 years) are out of phase over the different regions, and the amplitude variations have the characteristics of stationary waves. The rainfall anomalies appear to be closely related to the anti-phase changes of mean sea-level pressure (SLP) over the Asian mainland and the North Pacific. When the SLP rises over the North Pacific and decreases over the Asian mainland, the precipitation over East China increases noticeably. The linkage between the rainfall over China and the SLP anomalies apparently results from the strength of the East Asian winter monsoon and its associated temperature and moisture advection.

Stable isotopes of summer monsoonal precipitation in southern China and the moisture sources evidence from δ^18O signature

Summer monsoons （South Asian monsoon, South China Sea monsoon and Subtropical monsoon） are prominent features of summertime climate over southern China. Dif- ferent monsoons carry different inflow moisture into China and control the temporal and spatial distributions of precipitation. Analyses of meteorological data, particularly wind, tempera- ture and pressure anomalies are traditional methods of characterizing moisture sources and transport patterns. Here, we try to utilize the evidence from stable isotopes signatures to trace summer monsoons over southern China. Based on seven CHNIP （Chinese Network of Iso- topes in Precipitation） observatory stations located in southern China, monthly composite precipitation samples have been collected and analyzed for the composition of δ^18O during July, 2005. The results indicated that the spatial distributions of δ^18O in precipitation could properly portray the moisture sources together with their transport pathways. Moreover, the amount effect, altitude effect, temperature effect and the correlation between δ^18O vs. relative humidity were discussed.

Contribution of intraseasonal oscillation to long-duration summer precipitation events over southern China

Precipitation events spanning multiple days may have consequences different from those limited to a single day.In the present paper,the authors analyze circulation anomalies and precursory signals associated with long-duration（over 14 days） summer precipitation events over southern China.The results show that the over-14-day precipitation events are induced by an anomalous lowertropospheric（850-hPa） cyclone over the South China Sea（SCS） and southern China.The anomalous westerly winds to the south of the anomalous cyclone can be traced to north of New Guinea 30 days before.To the north of anomalous westerly winds,anomalous easterly winds appear later.The anomalous westerly and easterly winds form a cyclonic anomaly,moving northward and slightly westward during the following days and eventually controlling the SCS and southern China.The northward movement of anomalous westerly and easterly winds can also be found in the 30-60-day filtered wind field.This implies that the northward propagating 30-60-day intraseasonal oscillation from the equatorial western Pacific has an important contribution to over-14-day precipitation events over southern China.

A New Statistical Downscaling Scheme for Predicting Winter Precipitation in China

An effective statistical downscaling scheme was developed on the basis of singular value decomposition to predict boreal winter(December-January-February)precipitation over China.The variable geopotential height at 500 hPa(GH5)over East Asia,which was obtained from National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s Coupled Forecast System(NCEP CFS),was used as one predictor for the scheme.The preceding sea ice concentration(SIC)signal obtained from observed data over high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere was chosen as an additional predictor.This downscaling scheme showed significantly improvement in predictability over the original CFS general circulation model(GCM)output in cross validation.The multi-year average spatial anomaly correlation coefficient increased from–0.03 to 0.31,and the downscaling temporal root-mean-square-error(RMSE)decreased significantly over that of the original CFS GCM for most China stations.Furthermore,large precipitation anomaly centers were reproduced with greater accuracy in the downscaling scheme than those in the original CFS GCM,and the anomaly correlation coefficient between the observation and downscaling results reached～0.6 in the winter of 2008.

ENSO combination mode and its influence on seasonal precipitation over southern China simulated by ECHAM5/MPI-OM

Recent studies show that a combination mode (C-mode) represents the seasonally modulated dynamics of ENSO, which plays an important role in maintaining the western North Pacific anomalous anticyclone. This C-mode could obviously influence the East Asian climate, especially since the contribution of ENSO to southern China's precipitation has weakened since the late 1990s. This paper evaluates whether the C-mode and its influences on precipitation over southern China can be realistically described by the climate model ECHAM5/MPI-OM. The authors find that the model is able to reproduce the spatial and temporal variability of the C-mode and the asymmetric responses of air-sea variations in the tropical Pacific. The model also reveals the observed significant effects of the C-mode on the wintertime and springtime rainfall over southern China during El Nino events. The findings have implications for ECHAM5/MPI-OM being a valuable tool for simulating and predicting the C-mode-related seasonal precipitation over southern China.

Association between Arctic autumn sea ice concentration and early winter precipitation in China

Associations between autumn Arctic sea ice concentration（SIC） and early winter precipitation in China are studied using singular value decomposition analysis. The results show that a reduced SIC almost everywhere in the Arctic Ocean, except the northern Greenland Sea and Canadian Basin, are accompanied by dry conditions over central China, extending northeast from the Tibetan Plateau toward the Japan Sea, the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, and wet conditions over South China and North China. Atmospheric circulation anomalies associated with SIC variability show two wave-train structures, which are persistent from autumn to winter, leading to the identified relationship between autumn Arctic SIC and early winter precipitation in China. Given that the decline in autumn SIC in the Arctic Ocean is expected to continue as the climate warms, this relationship provides a possible long-term outlook for early winter precipitation in China.

CLIMATOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SPRING PRECIPITATION OVER SOUTHERN CHINA AND ITS INTRASEASONAL OSCILLATION

Based on observations and reanalysis data,the characteristics of the evolution of climatological spring precipitation over Southern China(SPSC) and the associated climatological intraseasonal oscillation(CISO) and atmospheric circulation are studied.Results show that SPSC increases in an oscillatory way.Although the evolution of SPSC is similar in different regions,there are also differences.In different regions of Southern China,the onset dates of the rain season are from the 12 th to 24 th pentad and the peak dates are after the 20 th pentad.CISO is an important component of SPSC,which is not only statistically significant,but also accompanies a dynamically coherent structure.The peak wet/dry phase of each CISO cycle corresponds to a significant rainfall increasing/decreasing period and modulates the evolution of SPSC.The rainfall growth in the second half of March and mid-April is the result of the modulation.The wet/dry phase of CISO is accompanied by low-level convergent(upper-level divergent) and cyclonic(anti-cyclonic) circulation,which favors ascending motion to develop over Southern China.

IMPACT OF ENSO ON THE PRECIPITATION OVER CHINA IN WINTER HALF-YEARS

In this paper, the impact of ENSO on the precipitation over China in the winter half-year is investigated diagnostically. The results show that positive precipitation anomalies with statistical significance appear over southern China in El Nio episodes, which are caused by the enhanced warm and humid southwesterlies along the East Asian coast in the lower troposphere. The enhanced southwesterlies transport more water vapor to southern China, and the convergence of water vapor over southern China increases the precipitable water and specific humidity. In La Nia episodes,although atmospheric elements change reversely, they are not statistically significant as those in El Nio periods. The possible physical mechanism of the different impact of ENSO cycle on the precipitation over southern China is investigated by analyzing the intraseasonal oscillations(ISOs) in El Nio and La Nia winter half-years, respectively. By comparing the characteristics of ISOs in El Nio and La Nia, a physical mechanism is proposed to explain the different responses of the precipitation over China to ENSO in the winter half-year. In El Nio episodes, over western North Pacific(WNP) and South China Sea(SCS) the ISOs are inactive and exert little effect on water vapor transport and convergence, inducing positive precipitation anomalies with statistical significance over southern China in El Nio episodes. In La Nia episodes, however, the ISOs are active, which weaken the interannual variation signals of ENSO over WNP and southern China and lead to the insignificance of the interannual signals related to ENSO. Therefore, the different responses of precipitation over China to ENSO in the winter half-year are possibly caused by the difference of intraseasonal oscillations over WNP and SCS between El Nio and La Nia.

ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRECIPITATION ANOMALIES IN THE FIRST RAINING SEASON (APRIL-JUNE) IN SOUTHERN CHINA AND SST OVER OFFSHORE WATERS IN CHINA

Precipitation anomalies in the first raining season of southern China were analyzed,with the suggestion that there are obvious interannual variation of peak values.In the raining season,the general tendency of precipitation is not obvious and the anomalous oscillation is multi-scale.Corresponding to years of more or less precipitation in the raining season,there are sharply opposite distribution across the nation in the simultaneous periods.In addition,by studying the distribution of correlation between anomalous precipitation in southern China in the first raining season and SSTA over offshore waters of China in the preceding period (June ～August of the previous year),a sensitive zone of waters has been found that has steady effect on the precipitation of southern China in the season.Discussions are also made of the sensitive period,its simultaneous SSTA and subsequent anomalous circulation field in relation to precipitation anomalies and simultaneous circulation field in the first raining season of southern China.In the last part of the work,relationship between the SSTA in the sensitive zone and global SSTA is analyzed.A possible mechanism by which SSTA in offshore Chinese waters affects the precipitation anomalies in the first raining season of southern China is put forward.

Origins of intraseasonal rainfall variations over the southern South China Sea in boreal winter

This study investigates the origins of intraseasonal rainfall variations over the southern South China Sea（SCS） region in boreal winter.It is found that intraseasonal rainfall variations over the southern SCS have different origins on the 10-20-day and 30-60-day time scales.On the 10-20-day time scale,large rainfall anomalies over the southern SCS are preceded by strong northerly wind anomalies associated with the East Asian winter monsoon（EAWM）,by about two days.On the 30-60-day time scale,the strong EAWM-related northerly wind anomalies almost appear simultaneously with large rainfall anomalies over the southern SCS.In addition,obvious large rainfall anomalies occur over the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean about one week before the peak southern SCS rainfall anomalies.It indicates that the convection and related circulation anomalies with origins over the tropical Indian Ocean may play an important role in inducing intraseasonal rainfall variations over the southern SCS on the 30-60-day time scale,but not on the 10-20-day time scale.

INVESTIGATIONS ON MOISTURE TRANSPORTS, BUDGETS AND SOURCES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DECADAL VARIABILITY OF PRECIPITATION IN SOUTHERN CHINA

In the context of global warming,apparent decdal-interdecdal variabilities can be detected in summer precipitation in southern China.Especially around the 1990 s,precipitation in South China experienced a phase transition from a deficiency regime to an abundance regime in the early 1990 s,while the Yangtze River Valley witnessed a phase shift of summer precipitation from abundance to deficiency in the late 1990 s.Pertinent analyses reveal a close relationship between such decadal precipitation shifts and moisture budgets,which is mainly modulated by the meridional component.This relationship can be attributed to large-scale moisture transport anomalies.Further,the HYSPLIT model is utilized to quantitatively evaluate relative moisture contributions from diverse sources during different regimes.It can be found that during the period with abundant precipitation in South China,the moisture contribution from the source of Indochina Peninsula-South China Sea increased significantly,while during the deficient precipitation regime in the Yangtze River Valley,moisture from local source,western Pacific and Indochina Peninsula-South China Sea contributed less to precipitation.It means some new features of relative moisture contributions from diverse sources to precipitation anomaly in southern China took shape after 1990 s.

Evaluating the grassland net primary productivity of southern China from 2000 to 2011 using a new climate productivity model

Grassland is the important component of the terrestrial ecosystems. Estimating net primary productivity （NPP） of grassland ecosystem has been a central focus in global climate change researches. To simulate the grassland NPP in southern China, we built a new climate productivity model, and validated the model with the measured data from different years in the past. The results showed that there was a logarithmic correlation between the grassland NPP and the mean annual temperature, and there was a linear positive correlation between the grassland NPP and the annual precipitation in southern China. Al these results reached a very signiifcant level （P〈0.01）. There was a good correlation between the simulated and the measured NPP, withR2 of 0.8027, reaching the very signiifcant level. Meanwhile, both root mean square errors （RMSE） and relative root-mean-square errors （RRMSE） stayed at a relatively low level, showing that the simulation results of the model were reliable. The NPP values in the study area had a decreasing trend from east to west and from south to north, and the mean NPP was 471.62 g C m？2 from 2000 to 2011. Additionaly, there was a rising trend year by year for the mean annual NPP of southern grassland and the tilt rate of the mean annual NPP was 3.49 g C m？2 yr？1 in recent 12 years. The above results provided a new method for grassland NPP estimation in southern China.

Low- and Mid-High Latitude Components of the East Asian Winter Monsoon and Their Reflecting Variations in Winter Climate over Eastern China

The present study defines a low-latitude component (regionally averaged winter 1000-hPa V-winds over 10 25°N, 105 135°E) and a mid-high-latitude component (regionally averaged winter 1000-hPa V-winds over 30 50°N, 110 125°E) of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM), which are denoted as EAWM-L and EAWM-M, respectively. The study examines the variation characteristics, reflecting variations in winter climate over eastern China, and associated atmospheric circulations corresponding to the two components. The main results are as follows: 1) the EAWM-L and EAWM-M have consistent variation in some years but opposite variations in other years; 2) the EAWM-M index mainly reflects the extensive temperature variability over eastern China, while the EAWM-L index better reflects the variation in winter precipitation over most parts of eastern China; and 3) corresponding to the variation in the EAWM-M index, anomalous winds over the mid-high latitudes of East Asia modulate the southward invasion of cold air from the high latitudes and accordingly affect temperatures over eastern China. In combination with the variation in the EAWM-L index, anomalous low-latitudinal winds regulate the water vapor transport from tropical oceans to eastern China, resulting in anomalous winter precipitation. These pronounced differences between the EAWM-L and the EAWM-M suggest that it is necessary to explore the monsoons' individual features and effects in the EAWM study.

Relationship over southern China between the summer rainfall induced by tropical cyclones and that by monsoon

This study investigates the relationship between tropical cyclone-induced precipitation（P_（TC）） and summer monsoon-induced precipitation（P_（SM）） in southern China（SC） during June-August.The spatial patterns of the first interannual mode are uniform in sign over SC,with positive anomalies for P_（TC） and negative anomalies for P_（SM）.The background of an increase in cyclonic vorticity,an increase in RH,and a decrease in vertical wind shear over the South China Sea（SCS）-western north Pacific（WNP） provides favorable conditions for more TC genesis.The positive equatorial central Pacific SST anomaly and negative North Indian Ocean SST anomaly contribute to the anomalous cyclone over the SCS-WNP,which causes decreasing P_（SM） in SC together with an anomalous anticyclone over eastern China-Japan.By contrast,whilst the spatial patterns of the first interdecadal mode are also uniform in sign over SC,there are positive anomalies for both P_（TC） and P_（SM）.The first interdecadal principal component features significant positive correlation with the number of TCs forming in the SCS.There is a significant increase in P_（TC） and P_（SM） after early 1990 s.A positive tropical Indian Ocean（TIO） SST anomaly persists from the preceding winter to summer.During the preceding winter and spring after the early 1990 s,a positive western Pacific SST anomaly can result in TIO SST warming through vertical circulation.Then,the positive TIO SST anomaly triggers an anomalous WNP anticyclone and contributes to the interdecadal increase in SC P_（SM） in the succeeding summer.The persistent heating source over SC from May to summer related to an earlier onset of the SCS monsoon may strengthen the East Asian subtropical summer monsoon.