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Regional differences in the surface energy budget over China: an evaluation of a selection of CMIP5 models

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Abstract

The present study provides an evaluation of the regional differences over China in surface energy budget components as simulated by a selection of models from phase five of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), covering the period 1960–2005. Similarities and differences exist among the models in terms of both spatial and magnitude patterns. For climatology, the CMIP5 models show quite different spatial distributions of shortwave radiation and sensible heat flux. In terms of seasonal variation, the surface energy budgets are remarkably different between western and eastern China. The discrepancies in the seasonal variation of sensible heat flux are mainly attributable to temperature differences and wind speed, while those of shortwave radiation are caused by the seasonal variation in total cloud cover. Cloudiness is one of the most crucial parameters in estimating the surface energy budget. In addition, the study also reveals that the magnitudes of the various components show larger (more than two-fold) differences between western and eastern parts of China, especially in net longwave and upward shortwave radiation, as well as latent and sensible heat fluxes. The results for surface soil heat flux show that there is more incoming energy during spring and summer and more outgoing energy during fall and winter in both western and eastern China. Furthermore, compared to NCEP2 data, the ERA-40 reanalysis product produces results more similar to the multi-model ensemble mean for most components.

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Acknowledgments

The authors appreciate the comments of the anonymous reviewers, which led to significant improvements in the manuscript. We acknowledge the various modeling groups for producing and providing their output, the PCMDI for collecting and archiving the CMIP5 multi-model dataset, and also acknowledge the National Centers for Environmental Prediction-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) for providing the NCEP2 and ERA-40 reanalysis. This paper was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 41175055 and 41475053) and SOED1312.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Monsoon System Research, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 2718, Beijing, 100190, China

    Lian-Tong Zhou & Zhencai Du

  2. State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou, China

    Zhencai Du

  3. P.O. Box 5111, Beijing, China

    Zhencai Du

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  1. Lian-Tong Zhou
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  2. Zhencai Du
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Correspondence to Lian-Tong Zhou.

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Zhou, LT., Du, Z. Regional differences in the surface energy budget over China: an evaluation of a selection of CMIP5 models. Theor Appl Climatol 124, 241–266 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-015-1407-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-015-1407-0

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