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Possible combined influences of absorbing aerosols and anomalous atmospheric circulation on summertime diurnal temperature range variation over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River

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Abstract

Based on the temperature data from the China Meteorological Administration, NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data, and the TOMS Aerosol Index (AI), we analyze the variations in the summertime diurnal temperature range (DTR) and temperature maxima in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (MLRYR) in China. The possible relationships between the direct warming effect of the absorbing aerosol and temperature variations are further investigated, although with some uncertainties. It is found that the summertime DTR exhibits a decreasing trend over the most recent 50 years, along with a slight increasing tendency since the 1980s. The trend of the maximum temperature is in agreement with those of the DTR and the absorbing aerosols. To investigate the causes of the large anomalies in the temperature maxima, composite analyses of the circulation anomalies are performed. When anomalous AI and anomalous maximum temperature over the MLRYR have the same sign, an anomalous circulation with a quasi-barotropic structure occurs there. This anomalous circulation is modulated by the Rossby wave energy propagations from the regions northwest of the MLRYR and influences the northwestern Pacific subtropical high over the MLRYR. In combination with aerosols, the anomalous circulation may increase the maximum temperature in this region. Conversely, when the anomalous AI and anomalous maximum temperature in the MLRYR have opposite signs, the anomalous circulation is not equivalently barotropic, which possibly offsets the warming effect of aerosols on the maximum temperature changes in this region. These results are helpful for a better understanding of the DTR changes and the occurrences of temperature extremes in the MLRYR region during boreal summer.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. The NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data were downloaded from http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded. The TOMS AI was from http://toms.gsfc.nasa.gov. All figures in this work were plotted by using the Grid Analysis and Display System (GrADS).

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  1. Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education, Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change, Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Jiaxi Cai  (蔡佳熙), Zhaoyong Guan  (关兆勇) & Fenhua Ma  (马奋华)

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  1. Jiaxi Cai  (蔡佳熙)
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  2. Zhaoyong Guan  (关兆勇)
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Correspondence to Zhaoyong Guan  (关兆勇).

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Supported by the National (Key) Basic Research and Development (973) Program of China (2011CB403406), National Natural Science Foundation of China (91544230 and 41105056), and Priority Academic Program Development (PAPD) of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. The first author is partly supported by the State Scholarship Fund (201308320043). Ma Fenhua is partly supported by the Research Innovation Program for College Graduates of Jiangsu Province (CXLX13−475).

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Cai, J., Guan, Z. & Ma, F. Possible combined influences of absorbing aerosols and anomalous atmospheric circulation on summertime diurnal temperature range variation over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. J Meteorol Res 30, 927–943 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-016-6006-1

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