A Modeling Study of Diurnal Rainfall Variations during the 21-Day Period of TOGA COARE

The surface rainfall processes and diurnal variations associated with tropical oceanic convection are examined by analyzing a surface rainfall equation and thermal budget based on hourly zonal-mean data from a series of two-dimensional cloud-resolving simulations. The model is integrated for 21 days with imposed large-scale vertical velocity, zonal wind, and horizontal advection obtained from the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment （TOGA COARE） in the control experiment. Diurnal analysis shows that the infrared radiative cooling after sunset, as well as the advective cooling associated with imposed large-scale ascending motion, destabilize the atmosphere and release convective available potential energy to energize nocturnal convective development. Substantial local atmospheric drying is associated with the nocturnal rainfall peak in early morning, which is a result of the large condensation and deposition rates in the vapor budget. Sensitivity experiments show that diurnal variations of radiation and large-scale forcing can produce a nocturnal rainfall peak through infrared and advective cooling, respectively.

Wavelet analysis of rainfall variation in the Hebei Plain

Based on the monthly and annual rainfall data of 1955―2000,the multi-time scales characteristics of seasonal and annual rainfall in the past 45 years in the Hebei Plain have been analyzed using Mexican Hat wavelet analysis in this article.The periodic oscillation of rainfall variation and the points of abrupt change at different time scales along the time series are dis-covered.According to the main periods,the trend of rainfall variation in the future has also been estimated.The results indicate that there are obvious periodic oscillations of 8―12 years and 4―6 years for the seasonal and annual rainfalls variation.The variation trend of the summer rainfall is in agreement with that of the annual rainfall and both of them have the main periods of 1 year and 12 years.It is estimated,based on the main period of 1 year,that the amount of rainfall will be relatively small around 2003 and abundant around 2004―2007 in the Hebei Plain.

EFFECTS OF SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND ITS DIURNAL VARIATION ON DIURNAL VARIATION OF RAINFALL:A PARTITIONING ANALYSIS BASED ON SURFACE RAINFALL BUDGET

The effects of sea surface temperature(SST) and its diurnal variation on diurnal variation of rainfall are examined in this study by analyzing a series of equilibrium cloud-resolving model experiments which are imposed with zero large-scale vertical velocity.The grid rainfall simulation data are categorized into eight rainfall types based on rainfall processes including water vapor convergence/divergence,local atmospheric drying/moistening,and hydrometeor loss/convergence or gain/divergence.The rainfall contributions of the rainfall types with water vapor convergence are insensitive to the increase in SST from 27°C to 29°C during the nighttime,whereas they are decreased during the daytime.The rainfall contributions of the rainfall types with water vapor convergence are decreased as the SST increases from 29°C to 31°C but the decreases are larger during the nighttime than during the daytime.The rainfall contributions of the rainfall types with water vapor convergence are decreased by the inclusion of diurnal variation of SST with diurnal difference of 1°C during the nighttime,but the decreases are significantly slowed down as the diurnal difference of SST increases from 1°C to 2°C.The rainfall contributions of the rainfall types with water vapor convergence are insensitive to the inclusion of diurnal variation of SST during the daytime.

Diurnal Cycles of Precipitation over Subtropical China in IPCC AR5 AMIP Simulations

Atmospheric Intercomparison Project simulations of the summertime diurnal cycle of precipitation and low-level winds over subtropical China by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report models were evaluated. By analyzing the diurnal variation of convective and stratiform components, results confirmed that major biases in rainfall diurnal cycles over subtropical China are due to convection parameterization and further pointed to the diurnal variation of convective rainfall being closely related to the closure of the convective scheme. All models captured the early-morning peak of total rainfall over the East China Sea, but most models had problems in simulating diurnal rainfall variations over land areas of subtropical China. When total rainfall was divided into stratiform and convective rainfall, all models successfully simulated the diurnal variation of stratiform rainfall with a maximum in the early morning. The models, overestimating noon-time （nocturnal） total rainfall over land, generally simulated too much convective rainfall, which peaked close to noon （midnight）, sharing some similarities in the closures of their deep convection schemes. The better performance of the Meteorological Research Institute atmospherer. ocean coupled global climate model version 3 （MRI-CGCM3） is attributed to the well captured ratio of the two kinds of rainfall, but not diurnal variations of the two components. Therefore, a proper ratio of convective and stratiform rainfall to total rainfall is also important to improve simulated diurnal rainfall variation.

Long-Term Changes of the Ultraviolet Radiation in China and its Relationship with Total Ozone and Precipitation

The new version （version 8） TOMS （Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer） ozone and noontime erythemal ultraviolet （UV） irradiance products are used to analyze their long-term changes in this paper. It is shown that the summer UV irradiance has increased significantly from Central China to the northern and western parts of China, especially in Central China near Chongqing, Shaanxi, and Hubei provinces; whereas the UV irradiance has decreased significantly in the southern part of China, especially in South China. In July, when UV irradiance is at its maximum and hence when the most serious potential damage may happen, the results indicate an increase in the UV irradiance in Central China and the Yangtze River- Huaihe River valley and a decrease in South China and the eastern part of North China. At the same time, the total ozone amount is lower over China in summer with the most serious depletion occurring in Northeast China and Northwest China. It is found that the thinning of the ozone layer is not the main reason for the UV irradiance trend in the eastern and southern parts of China, but that the rainfall and the related cloud variations may dominate the long-term changes of the UV irradiance there. In addition, the future UV irradiance trend in China is also estimated.

Potential of rooftop rainwater harvesting to meet outdoor water demand in arid regions

The feasibility of rooftop rainwater harvesting （RRWH） as an alternative source of water to meet the outdoor water demand in nine states of the U.S. was evaluated using a system dynamics model developed in Systems Thinking, Experimental Learning Laboratory with Animation. The state of Arizona was selected to evaluate the effects of the selected model parameters on the efficacy of RRWH since among the nine states the arid region of Arizona showed the least potential of meeting the outdoor water demand with rain harvested water. The analyses were conducted on a monthly basis across a 10-year projected period from 2015 to 2024. The results showed that RRWH as a potential source of water was highly sensitive to certain model parameters such as the outdoor water demand, the use of desert landscaping, and the percentage of existing houses with RRWH. A significant difference （as high as 37.5%） in rainwater potential was observed between the projected wet and dry climate conditions in Arizona. The analysis of the dynamics of the storage tanks suggested that a 1.0-2.0 m3 rainwater barrel, on an average, can store approximately 80% of the monthly rainwater generated from the rooftops in Arizona, even across the high seasonal variation. This interactive model can be used as a quick estimator of the amount of water that could be generated, stored, and utilized through RRWH systems in the U.S. under different climate conditions. The findings of such comprehensive analyses may help regional policymakers, especially in arid regions, to develop a sustainable water management infrastructure.

Progress in Studies of the Precipitation Diurnal Variation over Contiguous China

This paper summarizes the recent progress in studies of the diurnal variation of precipitation over con- tiguous China. The main results are as follows. （1） The rainfall diurnal variation over contiguous China presents distinct regional features. In summer, precipitation peaks in the late afternoon over the south- ern inland China and northeastern China, while it peaks around midnight over southwestern China. In the upper and middle reaches of Yangtze River valley, precipitation occurs mostly in the early morning. Summer precipitation over the central eastern China （most regions of the Tibetan Plateau） has two diurnal peaks, i.e., one in the early morning （midnight） and the other in the late afternoon. （2） The rainfall diurnal variation experiences obvious seasonal and sub-seasonal evolutions. In cold seasons, the regional contrast of rainfall diurnal peaks decreases, with an early morning maximum over most of the southern China. Over the central eastern China, diurnal monsoon rainfall shows sub-seasonal variations with the movement of summer monsoon systems. The rainfall peak mainly occurs in the early morning （late afternoon） during the active （break） monsoon period. （3） Cloud properties and occurrence time of rainfall diurnal peaks are different for long- and short-duration rainfall events. Long-duration rainfall events are dominated by strat- iform precipitation, with the maximum surface rain rate and the highest profile occurring in the late night to early morning, while short-duration rainfall events are more related to convective precipitation, with the maximum surface rain rate and the highest profile occurring between the late afternoon and early night. （4） The rainfall diurnal variation is influenced by multi-scale mountain-valley and land-sea breezes as well as large-scale atmospheric circulation, and involves complicated formation and evolution of cloud and rainfall systems. The diurnal cycle of winds in the lower troposphere also contributes to the regional differences in the rainfall diurnal variation. （5） Evaluation of the model performance shows that the present numerical models are weak in simulating the rainfall diurnal variation over contiguous China. The simulations are not significantly improved by increasing the model horizontal resolution alone. The key is to reduce the uncertainty in physical parameterizations related to the rainfall processes.