SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATION OF SEASONAL EXTREME WET DAYS IN CHINA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH SST ANOMALIES

WANG Wei-ping; YANG Xiu-qun; XIE Yi-jun; ZOU Yong-chang; FANG Jia-bei; XIE Qian

Abstract:

With daily precipitation records at 586 stations in China for 1960-2004, this study investigates the spatio-temporal variation of the number of extreme wet days (NEWD) for each season in China and its relationship with SST anomalies and associated atmospheric circulation anomaly patterns, in which a threshold of extreme precipitation for a season and a station is defined as the value of the 90th percentile when the precipitation records for wet days during the season are ranked in an increasing order. Results show that there are significant increases of the NEWD along the Yangtze River valley during winter and summer, in North China during winter, in South China during spring, in Northeast China during winter and spring, and in Northwest China throughout the seasons, while there is a remarkable decrease in North China during summer. Besides the linear trend, the NEWD also exhibits considerable interannual and interdecadal variabilities. After eliminating the linear trend, the NEWD anomalies show distinct seasonal patterns. The NEWD anomalies are characterized by a “dipole” mode with opposite phases between northern and southern China in spring and autumn, a “tri-pole” mode with opposite phases between Yangtze River valley and southern and northern China in summer, and a “monopole” mode with the same phase over most of China in winter. The relationship of the NEWD anomalies in China with the SST anomalies in Indian and Pacific Oceans is found to be mainly dependent on the ENSO, and associated atmospheric circulation anomaly patterns for the ENSO’s impact on the NEWD in China are identified.

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WANG Wei-ping, YANG Xiu-qun, XIE Yi-jun, et al. SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATION OF SEASONAL EXTREME WET DAYS IN CHINA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH SST ANOMALIES [J]. Journal of Tropical Meteorology, 2012, 18(4): 485-493.

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SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATION OF SEASONAL EXTREME WET DAYS IN CHINA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH SST ANOMALIES

Institute for Climate and Global Change Research, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 China

Institute for Climate and Global Change Research, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 China Hunan Meteorological Bureau, Changsha 410007 China

Institute of Meteorology, PLA University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 211101 China

Received Date: 2011-03-22

Rev Recd Date: 2012-08-21

Abstract: With daily precipitation records at 586 stations in China for 1960-2004, this study investigates the spatio-temporal variation of the number of extreme wet days (NEWD) for each season in China and its relationship with SST anomalies and associated atmospheric circulation anomaly patterns, in which a threshold of extreme precipitation for a season and a station is defined as the value of the 90th percentile when the precipitation records for wet days during the season are ranked in an increasing order. Results show that there are significant increases of the NEWD along the Yangtze River valley during winter and summer, in North China during winter, in South China during spring, in Northeast China during winter and spring, and in Northwest China throughout the seasons, while there is a remarkable decrease in North China during summer. Besides the linear trend, the NEWD also exhibits considerable interannual and interdecadal variabilities. After eliminating the linear trend, the NEWD anomalies show distinct seasonal patterns. The NEWD anomalies are characterized by a “dipole” mode with opposite phases between northern and southern China in spring and autumn, a “tri-pole” mode with opposite phases between Yangtze River valley and southern and northern China in summer, and a “monopole” mode with the same phase over most of China in winter. The relationship of the NEWD anomalies in China with the SST anomalies in Indian and Pacific Oceans is found to be mainly dependent on the ENSO, and associated atmospheric circulation anomaly patterns for the ENSO’s impact on the NEWD in China are identified.

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SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATION OF SEASONAL EXTREME WET DAYS IN CHINA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH SST ANOMALIES

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