In this study,the interdecadal changes in the zonal symmetry of both Arctic Oscillation(AO) and Antarctic Oscillation(AAO) were analyzed.To describe the zonal asymmetry,a local index of AO and AAO was defined using the normalized sea level pressure(SLP) differences between 40° and 65°(latitudes) in both hemispheres.The zonal covariability of local AO and AAO can well represent the zonal symmetry of AO and AAO.Results show that the zonal asymmetry of both AO and AAO significantly changed in the late 1970s.AO was less asymmetric in the zonal direction in the boreal winter season during the latter period,while in the boreal summer it became more asymmetric after 1979.The zonal symmetry of AAO in both austral summer and winter has also significantly decreased since the late 1970s.These changes may imply interdecadal transition in the atmospheric circulation at middle and high latitudes,which is of vital importance to understanding climate variability and predictability across the globe,including the African-Asian-Australian monsoon regions.
The purpose of this study was to design and test a statistical-dynamical scheme for the extraseasonal(one season in advance) prediction of summer rainfall at 160 observation stations across China.The scheme combined both valuable information from the preceding observations and dynamical information from synchronous numerical predictions of atmospheric circulation factors produced by an atmospheric general circulation model.First,the key preceding climatic signals and synchronous atmospheric circulation factors that were not only closely related to summer rainfall but also numerically predictable were identified as the potential predictors.Second,the extraseasonal prediction models of summer rainfall were constructed using a multivariate linear regression analysis for 15 subregions and then 160 stations across China.Cross-validation analyses performed for the period 1983-2008 revealed that the performance of the prediction models was not only high in terms of interannual variation,trend,and sign but also was stable during the whole period.Furthermore,the performance of the scheme was confirmed by the accuracy of the real-time prediction of summer rainfall during 2009 and 2010.
In this paper we report an analysis of sampling error uncertainties in mean maximum and minimum temperatures(Tmax and Tmin) carried out on monthly, seasonal and annual scales, including an examination of homogenized and original data collected at 731 meteorological stations across China for the period 1951–2004. Uncertainties of the gridded data and national average, linear trends and their uncertainties, as well as the homogenization effect on uncertainties are assessed. It is shown that the sampling error variances of homogenized Tmax and Tmin, which are larger in winter than in summer, have a marked northwest–southeast gradient distribution, while the sampling error variances of the original data are found to be larger and irregular. Tmax and Tmin increase in all months of the year in the study period 1951–2004, with the largest warming and uncertainties being 0.400℃(10 yr)-1±0.269℃(10 yr)-1and 0.578℃(10 yr)-1±0.211℃(10 yr)-1in February, and the least being 0.022℃(10 yr)-1±0.085℃(10 yr)-1and 0.104℃(10 yr)-1±0.070℃(10 yr)-1in August. Homogenization can remove large uncertainties in the original records resulting from various non-natural changes in China.
The winter temperature changes in East China during the past 100 years are investigated by using the Twentieth Century Version 2(20th-v2)Reanalysis.Four typical warm(P1,1911–30;P4,1991–2010)and cold(P2,1938–57;P3,1961–80)periods are identified for the East China winter temperature index.Comparison of160-station observational data,NCAR sea level pressure(SLP)data,and NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis shows that the20th-v2 Reanalysis can successfully depict the major features of the warming from P3 to P4,which is part of the global warming phenomenon.The cooling from P1 to P2is a regional phenomenon under global warming.However,both changes are consistent with the phase change of the Arctic Oscillation(AO),while the second change is also accompanied by the phase change of Antarctic Oscillation(AAO)from negative to positive.Original sources of the interdecadal shifts of the AO and winter temperature in East China require further research.
The temporal variations during 1948-2010 and vertical structures of the summer Somali and Australia cross-equatorial flows(CEFs) and the implications for the Asian summer monsoon were explored in this study.The strongest southerly and northerly CEFs exist at 925 hPa and 150 hPa level,respectively.The low-level Somali(LLS) CEFs were significantly connected with the rainfall in most regions of India(especially the monsoon regions),except in a small area in southwest India.In comparison to the climatology,the lowlevel Australia(LLA) CEFs exhibited stronger variations at interannual time scale and are more closely connected to the East Asian summer monsoon circulation than to the LLS CEFs.The East Asian summer monsoon circulation anomalies related to stronger LLA CEFs were associated with less water vapor content and less rainfall in the region between the middle Yellow River and Yangtze River and with more water vapor and more rainfall in southern China.The sea-surface temperature anomalies east of Australia related to summer LLA CEFs emerge in spring and persist into summer,with implications for the seasonal prediction of summer rainfall in East Asia.The connection between the LLA CEFs and East Asian summer monsoon rainfall may be partly due to its linkage with El Nino-Southern Oscillation.In addition,both the LLA and LLS CEFs exhibited interdecadal shifts in the late 1970s and the late 1990s,consistent with the phase shifts of Pacific Decadal Oscillation(PDO).
