A combination of the optimal subset regression (OSR) approach,the coupled general circulation model of the National Climate Center (NCC-CGCM) and precipitation observations from 160 stations over China is used to construct a statistical downscaling forecast model for precipitation in summer.Retroactive forecasts are performed to assess the skill of statistical downscaling during the period from 2003 to 2009.The results show a poor simulation for summer precipitation by the NCCCGCM for China,and the average spatial anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC) is 0.01 in the forecast period.The forecast skill can be improved by OSR statistical downscaling,and the OSR forecast performs better than the NCC-CGCM in most years except 2003.The spatial ACC is more than 0.2 in the years 2008 and 2009,which proves to be relatively skillful.Moreover,the statistical downscaling forecast performs relatively well for the main rain belt of the summer precipitation in some years,including 2005,2006,2008,and 2009.However,the forecast skill of statistical downscaling is restricted to some extent by the relatively low skill of the NCCCGCM.
Analysis of the climatic characteristics of the tropical cyclones that affect China yields several interesting features. The frequency of these tropical cyclones tended to decrease from 1951 to 2005, with the lowest frequency in the past ten years. The decrease in the frequency of super typhoons is particularly significant. The main season of tropical cyclone activities is from May to November, with an active period from July to September. There are three obvious sources of these tropical cyclones and they vary with seasons and decades. Their movement has also changed with seasons. On average, these tropical cyclones affect China for 5.6 months annually and the period of influence decreases in the past decades. An analysis of daily data indicates that the days of typhoon influence are shorter in winter and spring and longer in summer. The frequency of tropical cyclones is the largest over southeastern China, decreasing northwestward. Taiwan is the region that is affected by tropical cyclones most frequently. The average annual precipitation associated with tropical cyclones has also decreased gradually northwestward from southeastern China.
