Relationship between Bering Sea Ice Cover and East Asian Winter Monsoon Year-to-Year Variations

In this study, the relationship between year-to-year variations in the Bering Sea ice cover （BSIC） and the East Asian winter monsoon （EAWM） for the period 1969-2001 was documented. The time series of total ice cover in the eastern Bering Sea correlated with the EAWM index at -0.49, indicating that they are two tightly related components. Our results show that the BSIC was closely associated with the simultaneous local and large-scale atmosphere over the Asian-northern Pacific region. Heavy BSIC corresponded to weaker EAWM circulations and light BSIC corresponded to stronger EAWM circulations. Thus, the BSIC should be considered as one of the possible factors affecting the EAWM variation.

The Interdecadal Variation Characteristics of Arctic Sea Ice Cover-ENSO-East Asian Monsoon and Their Interrelationshipat Quasi-Four Years Time Scale

Interdecadal and quasi-four years variation characterstics of Arctic sea for cover, ENSO and East Asian monsoon index(EAMI) are analyzed based on Singular Spectrum Analys. (SSA), lead-lag correlation and EOF for the past four decades. Results show that the Arctic sea for cover decreased in the early 1970s, several years earlier than that of global SSTA increase in the mid 1970s, which indicates that recent warming over the Northern Hemisphere firstly begins in the Arctic region in the 1970s. Great change of the East Asian monsoon intensity from stronger to weaker in summer (from weaker to stronger in winter) took place in the mid 1970s response to the abrupt modulation of SSTA particularly in the tropical eastern Pacific.Focus on the quasi-four years oscillation,close relationship is found among the sea ice cover, ENSO and EAMI based on lead-lag correlation. In which, the correlation coefficient reaches its maximum when the index of NINO3 SSTA variation takes 6 and 9 months lead of the western Pacific subtropical high and sea for cover index in Section-Ⅲ. Their interaction can be explained in the framework of asymmetric Walker circulation anomaly and Western Pacific Northern Pole (WPN) teleconnection pattern in the context of quasi-four years oscillation.

A New Prediction Model for Grain Yield in Northeast China Based on Spring North Atlantic Oscillation and Late-Winter Bering Sea Ice Cover

Accurate estimations of grain output in the agriculturally important region of Northeast China are of great strategic significance for guaranteeing food security.New prediction models for maize and rice yields are built in this paper based on the spring North Atlantic Oscillation index and the Bering Sea ice cover index.The year-to-year increment is first forecasted and then the original yield value is obtained by adding the historical yield of the previous year.The multivariate linear prediction model of maize shows good predictive ability,with a low normalized root-mean-square error（NRMSE）of 13.9%,and the simulated yield accounts for 81%of the total variance of the observation.To improve the performance of the multivariate linear model,a combined forecasting model of rice is built by considering the weight of the predictors.The NRMSE of the model is 12.9%and the predicted rice yield explains 71%of the total variance.The corresponding cross-validation test and independent samples test further demonstrate the efficiency of the models.It is inferred that the statistical models established here by applying year-to-year increment approach could make rational prediction for the maize and rice yield in Northeast China before harvest.The present study may shed new light on yield prediction in advance by use of antecedent large-scale climate signals adequately.

THE EFFECTS OF THE ARCTIC SEA ICE ON THE VARIATIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC GENERAL CIRCULATION AND CLIMATE

The SST anomaly of the central-eastern equatorial Pacific and the arctic sea ice anomalies of the four districts lo- cated respectively in 160°E—110°W,110°W—20°W,70°E—160°E and 20°W—70°E are taken as five separate factors. And the relationship between each factor and the atmospheric general circulation and the climate is investigated by observational analysis and numerical experiments.It is shown that the effects of the arctic sea ice anomalies on the varia- tions of atmospheric circulation and climate are comparable to or even in some cases greater than that of EI Nino events.So one should pay much attention to the study of polar sea ice anomalies in climate research.