Riyu Lu

Predictability of the western North Pacific summer climate demonstrated by the coupled models of ENSEMBLES

The Asian monsoon system, including the western North Pacific (WNP), East Asian, and Indian monsoons, dominates the climate of the Asia-Indian Ocean-Pacific region, and plays a significant role in the global hydrological and energy cycles. The prediction of monsoons and associated climate features is a major challenge in seasonal time scale climate forecast. In this study, a comprehensive assessment of the interannual predictability of the WNP summer climate has been performed using the 1-month lead retrospective forecasts (hindcasts) of five state-of-the-art coupled models from ENSEMBLES for the period of 1960–2005. Spatial distribution of the temporal correlation coefficients shows that the interannual variation of precipitation is well predicted around the Maritime Continent and east of the Philippines. The high skills for the lower-tropospheric circulation and sea surface temperature (SST) spread over almost the whole WNP. These results indicate that the models in general successfully predict the interannual variation of the WNP summer climate. Two typical indices, the WNP summer precipitation index and the WNP lower-tropospheric circulation index (WNPMI), have been used to quantify the forecast skill. The correlation coefficient between five models’ multi-model ensemble (MME) mean prediction and observations for the WNP summer precipitation index reaches 0.66 during 1979–2005 while it is 0.68 for the WNPMI during 1960–2005. The WNPMI-regressed anomalies of lower-tropospheric winds, SSTs and precipitation are similar between observations and MME. Further analysis suggests that prediction reliability of the WNP summer climate mainly arises from the atmosphere–ocean interaction over the tropical Indian and the tropical Pacific Ocean, implying that continuing improvement in the representation of the air–sea interaction over these regions in CGCMs is a key for long-lead seasonal forecast over the WNP and East Asia. On the other hand, the prediction of the WNP summer climate anomalies exhibits a remarkable spread resulted from uncertainty in initial conditions. The summer anomalies related to the prediction spread, including the lower-tropospheric circulation, SST and precipitation anomalies, show a Pacific-Japan or East Asia-Pacific pattern in the meridional direction over the WNP. Our further investigations suggest that the WNPMI prediction spread arises mainly from the internal dynamics in air–sea interaction over the WNP and Indian Ocean, since the local relationships among the anomalous SST, circulation, and precipitation associated with the spread are similar to those associated with the interannual variation of the WNPMI in both observations and MME. However, the magnitudes of these anomalies related to the spread are weaker, ranging from one third to a half of those anomalies associated with the interannual variation of the WNPMI in MME over the tropical Indian Ocean and subtropical WNP. These results further support that the improvement in the representation of the air–sea interaction over the tropical Indian Ocean and subtropical WNP in CGCMs is a key for reducing the prediction spread and for improving the long-lead seasonal forecast over the WNP and East Asia.

Linear relationship between the interdecadal and interannual variabilities of North China rainfall in rainy season

Interdecadal and interannual timescales are dominant in the North China rainfall in rainy season (July and August). On the interdecadal timescale, the North China rainfall exhibited an abrupt decrease at the end of 1970s. In this study, we examined the effect of this abrupt rainfall decrease on the association between rainfall and circulation on the interannual timescale, and found that the interdecadal variation does not change the physical mechanism responsible for the interannual variation of North China rainfall. There is a linear relationship between the interdecadal and interannual variabilities of North China rainfall in rainy season.

The Meridional Displacement of the Summer Asian Jet, Silk Road Pattern, and Tropical SST Anomalies

AbstractThe Silk Road pattern (SRP), which depicts the teleconnection pattern along the Asian jet, has been extensively investigated and commonly described as the leading mode of upper-tropospheric meridional wind anomalies in summer. In this study, the SRP is identified as having a significant relationship with the meridional displacement of the Asian jet (JMD), which manifests as the leading mode of upper-tropospheric zonal wind anomalies. This significant relationship is confirmed by the correlation coefficient between the indices for JMD and SRP, which is 0.39 and reaches statistical significance at the 0.01 level. When the Asian jet is in a northward (southward) displacement, the phase of SRP tends to be shown as anticyclonic (cyclonic) anomalies over western Asia and East Asia and cyclonic (anticyclonic) anomalies over Europe and central Asia. The authors propose an internal atmospheric mechanism for this relationship. In addition, it is found that the JMD is significantly affected by the tropical s...

Skillful seasonal prediction of Yangtze river valley summer rainfall

China suffers from frequent summer floods and droughts, but seasonal forecast skill of corresponding summer rainfall remains a key challenge. In this study, we demonstrate useful levels of prediction skill over the Yangtze river valley for summer rainfall and river flows using a new high resolution forecast system. Further analysis of the sources of predictability suggests that the predictability of Yangtze river valley summer rainfall corresponds to skillful prediction of rainfall in the deep tropics and around the Maritime Continent. The associated dynamical signals favor increased poleward water vapor transport from South China and hence Yangtze river valley summer rainfall and river flow. The predictability and useful level of skill demonstrated by this study imply huge potential for flooding and drought related disaster mitigation and economic benefits for the region based on early warning of extreme climate events.

Asymmetric Relationship between Indian Ocean SST and the Western North Pacific Summer Monsoon

AbstractThe summer precipitation anomalies over the tropical western North Pacific (WNP), which greatly affect East Asian climate, are closely related to Indian Ocean (IO) SST anomalies, and this WNP–IO relationship is widely assumed to be linear. This study indicates that the IO SST–WNP precipitation relationship is generally linear only when the IO SST anomalies are positive and not when the IO SST anomalies are negative, that is, a strongly cooler IO, in comparison with a moderately cooler IO, does not correspond to stronger precipitation enhancement over the WNP. Further analysis suggests that the phases of ENSO play a crucial role in modifying the impacts of IO SSTs on WNP anomalies. The reverse IO SST–WNP precipitation relationship, which exists without apparent ENSO development/decay, is intensified by El Nino decay through the enhancement of IO SST anomalies, but weakened by El Nino development and La Nina decay through the concurrence of SST anomalies in the tropical central and eastern Pacific. ...

Why was the strengthening of rainfall in summer over the Yangtze River valley in 2016 less pronounced than that in 1998 under similar preceding El Niño events?—Role of midlatitude circulation in August

It is widely recognized that rainfall over the Yangtze River valley (YRV) strengthens considerably during the decaying summer of El Niño, as demonstrated by the catastrophic flooding suffered in the summer of 1998. Nevertheless, the rainfall over the YRV in the summer of 2016 was much weaker than that in 1998, despite the intensity of the 2016 El Niño having been as strong as that in 1998. A thorough comparison of the YRV summer rainfall anomaly between 2016 and 1998 suggests that the difference was caused by the sub-seasonal variation in the YRV rainfall anomaly between these two years, principally in August. The precipitation anomaly was negative in August 2016—different to the positive anomaly of 1998.Further analysis suggests that the weaker YRV rainfall in August 2016 could be attributable to the distinct circulation anomalies over the midlatitudes. The intensified “Silk Road Pattern” and upper-tropospheric geopotential height over the Urals region, both at their strongest since 1980, resulted in an anticyclonic circulation anomaly over midlatitude East Asia with anomalous easterly flow over the middle-to-lower reaches of the YRV in the lower troposphere. This easterly flow reduced the climatological wind, weakened the water vapor transport, and induced the weaker YRV rainfall in August 2016, as compared to that in 1998. Given the unique sub-seasonal variation of the YRV rainfall in summer 2016, more attention should be paid to midlatitude circulation—besides the signal in the tropics—to further our understanding of the predictability and variation of YRV summer rainfall.摘 要一般认为, 在厄尔尼诺衰退年, 长江流域夏季降水会明显增强, 比如1998年灾难性的大洪水. 然而, 同样是超级厄尔尼诺衰退年, 2016年夏季降水则较1998年明显偏弱. 本文研究发现它们的差异主要来自长江流域降水的次季节(主要是8月份)变化. 2016年8月份长江流域降水有明显负异常, 与1998年相反. 本文进一步的研究发现中纬度显著的环流异常导致了2016年8月偏弱的长江流域降水. 在2016年8月, “丝绸之路遥相关”和乌拉尔山地区的位势高度异常显著, 为近40年来最强, 它们会导致中纬度东亚地区出现显著的反气旋式环流异常, 引起长江中下游地区异常的东风异常, 进而会减弱副高外围气候态风场和水汽输送, 导致长江流域降水偏少. 基于2016年独特的次季节变化特征, 本工作表明研究长江流域夏季降水可预测性和变化特征时, 不能仅仅考虑热带的信号, 更需要关注中纬度环流的特征.

Break of the Western North Pacific Summer Monsoon in Early August

AbstractAlthough the monsoon break is a well-known phenomenon for the South Asian summer monsoon, it has not been well documented for the other monsoons, for instance, the western North Pacific (WNP) summer monsoon. This study identified a distinct monsoon break over the WNP by analyzing the subseasonal evolution of atmospheric convection and precipitation. This WNP monsoon break occurs climatologically in early August (3–8 August), but shows a strong variation, in either intensity or timing, from year to year. For about 30% of years, the rainfall amount reduces by more than 10 mm day−1 over the northeast WNP (10°–20°N, 140°–160°E) in early August, and is even less than that before the monsoon onset. However, for the other 30% of years, the subseasonal evolution of rainfall tends to be out of phase with the climatology, and rainfall reduction appears in mid-August. Furthermore, the 10–25-day oscillations, which originate at the equatorial western Pacific and propagate northwestward, are found to play a cr...

Extratropical Factors Affecting the Variability in Summer Precipitation over the Yangtze River Basin, China

AbstractThe Yangtze River basin (YRB), a typical East Asian monsoon region, experiences a large year-to-year variability in summer precipitation and is subject to both floods and droughts. There is a well-known seesaw relationship in precipitation between the tropical western North Pacific and the YRB, but more than half of the variance in precipitation in the YRB cannot be explained by this seesaw pattern. The authors therefore investigated other physical factors that might affect precipitation in the YRB. The results indicate that the northeasterly anomaly in the lower troposphere to the north of the YRB plays an important role in the variability in precipitation. This northeasterly anomaly is paired with the southwesterly anomaly to the south of the YRB. They both play an important role in water vapor accumulation over the YRB and intensify the meridional gradient of the equivalent potential temperature θe over the YRB by bringing dry and cool air from the north and wet air from the south. This intensi...

Change in Tropical Cyclone Activity during the Break of the Western North Pacific Summer Monsoon in Early August

AbstractThe modulation of tropical cyclone (TC) activity by the western North Pacific (WNP) monsoon break is investigated by analyzing the subseasonal evolution of TCs and corresponding circulations, based on 65 years of data from 1950 to 2014. The monsoon break has been identified as occurring over the WNP in early August. The present results show that TC occurrence decreases (increases) remarkably to the east of the Mariana Islands (southeast of Japan) during the monsoon break, which is closely related to local anomalous midtropospheric downward (upward) motion and lower-tropospheric anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation, in comparison with the previous and subsequent convective periods in late July and mid-August. These changes of TC activity and the corresponding circulation during the monsoon break are more significant in typical monsoon break years when the monsoon break phenomenon is predominant. The reverse changes of TC activity to the east of the Mariana Islands and to the southeast of Japan durin...