Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mechanism of the summer rainfall interannual variability in transitional climate zone in East Asia: roles of teleconnection patterns and associated moisture processes

Climate Dynamics volume 61, pages 1177–1192 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Transitional climate zone (TCZ) over East Asia is located between humid and arid regions, which is a highly sensitive and disaster-prone region especially under global climate change. Due to limited water resources, the atmospheric moisture availability has a dominant control on the precipitation variability. Hence, this study is motivated to reveal the key teleconnection patterns and associated moisture processes that govern the interannual variability of the summer precipitation over TCZ. In order to better diagnose moisture budget, the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART is employed for quantifying contribution from moisture sources. Above all, the observational analysis highlights two critical modes, one is Eurasian teleconnection (EU) and the other is Circumglobal Teleconnection (CGT). As regards EU pattern, positive EU phase corresponds to ample precipitation in TCZ. In the presence of positive phase, it underlines a “+-+-“ pattern of geopotential height anomalies stretching from western Europe to Mongolia plateau. In the context, the cyclonic flow and low pressure over Mongolia plateau act to enhance moisture flux from the west and the south and to prompt upward motions. Further moisture diagnoses illuminate largest increase of moisture uptake in monsoon dominated region, followed by the westerlies dominated region. However, the eventual contribution of summer monsoon is a little bit less than that of westerlies, due to the grand loss en route. In addition, the local evaporation exerts little impact. CGT propagates along the mid-latitude westerly jet, which is positively coupled with the precipitation in TCZ. Under the positive phase, there is an ascending motion over TCZ, which bears great resemblance to the EU case. However, unlike the result of moisture attribution in EU case, the southerly monsoon has the largest contribution followed by local effect, while the westerlies have little impact due to the cancellation of wetting and drying regimes along the pathway.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16

Data availability

Japanese 55-year Reanalysis dataset (JRA-55) are derived from http://search.diasjp.net/en/dataset/JRA55. The FLEXPART model input data, NCEP–CFSR 6-hourly forecast data dataset, are available online (http://rda.ucar.edu/datasets/ds093.0/). The daily observation precipitation data, provided by the National Meteorological Information Center of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) can be retrieved on https://data.cma.cn/.

References

  • Bin C, Xiang-De X, Tianliang Z (2013) Main moisture sources affecting lower Yangtze River Basin in boreal summers during 2004–2009. Int J Climatol 33(4):1035–1046

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjerknes J (1969) Atmospheric teleconnections from the equatorial Pacific. Mon Weather Rev 97:163–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen J, Wei H, Jin LY, Chen JH, Chen SQ, Chen FH (2018) A climatological northern boundary index for the east asian summer monsoon and its interannual variability. Sci China-Earth Sci 61(1):13–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen W, Wang L, Feng J, Wen ZP, Ma TJ, Yang XQ, Wang CH (2019) Recent progress in studies of the variabilities and mechanisms of the east asian monsoon in a changing climate. Adv Atmos Sci 36(9):887–901

    Google Scholar 

  • Chou C, Neelin JD, Chen CA, Tu JY (2009) Evaluating the “Rich-Get-richer’’ mechanism in tropical precipitation change under global warming. J Clim 22(8):1982–2005

    Google Scholar 

  • Dai A (2012) Increasing drought under global warming in observations and models. Nat Clim Change 3(1):52–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Ding QH, Wang B (2005) Circumglobal teleconnection in the Northern Hemisphere summer. J Clim 18(17):3483–3505

    Google Scholar 

  • Ding Q, Wang B, Wallace JM, Branstator G (2011) Tropical–extratropical teleconnections in Boreal summer: observed interannual variability. J Clim 24(7):1878–1896

    Google Scholar 

  • Enomoto T, Hoskins BJ, Matsuda Y (2003) The formation mechanism of the Bonin high in August. Q J R Meteorol Soc 129(587):157–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Gu W, Wang L, Hu Z-Z, Hu K, Li Y (2018) Interannual variations of the first rainy season precipitation over South China. J Clim 31(2):623–640

    Google Scholar 

  • Guan XD, Ma JR, Huang JP, Huang RX, Zhang L, Ma ZG (2019) Impact of oceans on climate change in drylands. Sci China-Earth Sci 62(6):891–908

    Google Scholar 

  • Hao Y, Zhihong J, Zhengyu L, Qiang Z (2014) Analysis of climatic characteristics of water vapor transport based on the lagrangian method: a comparison between Meiyu in the Yangtze – Huaihe River region and the Huaibei rainy season. Chin J Atmos Sci 38(5):965–973

    Google Scholar 

  • Harada Y, Kamahori H, Kobayashi C, Endo H, Kobayashi S, Ota Y, Onoda H, Onogi K, Miyaoka K, Takahashi K (2016) The JRA-55 reanalysis: representation of atmospheric circulation and climate variability. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 94(3):269–302

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu K, Xie S-P, Huang G (2017) Orographically anchored El Niño effect on summer rainfall in Central China. J Clim 30(24):10037–10045

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang G (2004) An index measuring the interannual variation of the east asian summer monsoon—the EAP index. Adv Atmos Sci 21(1):41–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang YJ, Cui XP (2015) Moisture sources of an extreme precipitation event in Sichuan, China, based on the lagrangian method. Atmos Sci Lett 16(2):177–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang G, Liu Y, Huang RH (2011) The interannual variability of summer rainfall in the arid and semiarid regions of Northern China and its association with the Northern Hemisphere circumglobal teleconnection. Adv Atmos Sci 28(2):257–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang J, Guan X, Ji F (2012a) Enhanced cold-season warming in semi-arid regions. Atmos Chem Phys 12(12):5391–5398

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang R, Liu Y, Feng T (2012b) Interdecadal change of summer precipitation over Eastern China around the late-1990s and associated circulation anomalies, internal dynamical causes. Chin Sci Bull 58(12):1339–1349

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang J, Li Y, Fu C, Chen F, Fu Q, Dai A, Shinoda M, Ma Z, Guo W, Li Z, Zhang L, Liu Y, Yu H, He Y, Xie Y, Guan X, Ji M, Lin L, Wang S, Yan H, Wang G (2017) Dryland climate change: recent progress and challenges. Rev Geophys 55(3):719–778

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang JP, Ma JR, Guan XD, Li Y, He YL (2019) Progress in semi-arid climate change studies in China. Adv Atmos Sci 36(9):922–937

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang JP, Zhang GL, Zhang YT, Guan XD, Wei Y, Guo RX (2020) Global desertification vulnerability to climate change and human activities. Land Degrad Dev 31(11):1380–1391

    Google Scholar 

  • Iwao K, Takahashi M (2006) Interannual change in summertime precipitation over northeast Asia. Geophys Res Lett 33(16):L16703

    Google Scholar 

  • James P, Stohl A, Spichtinger N, Eckhardt S, Forster C (2004) Climatological aspects of the extreme european rainfall of August 2002 and a trajectory method for estimating the associated evaporative source regions. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 4(5–6):733–746

    Google Scholar 

  • Jie W, Qingyun Z, Shiyan T (2004) Physical causes of the1999 and 2000 summer severe drought in North China. Chin J Atmos Sci 28(1):125–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobayashi S, Ota Y, Harada Y, Ebita A, Moriya M, Onoda H, Onogi K, Kamahori H, Kobayashi C, Endo H, Miyaoka K, Takahashi K (2015) The JRA-55 reanalysis: general specifications and basic characteristics. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 93(1):5–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Kosaka Y, Nakamura H (2010) Mechanisms of meridional teleconnection observed between a summer monsoon system and a subtropical anticyclone. Part I: the Pacific–Japan pattern. J Clim 23(19):5085–5108

    Google Scholar 

  • Kosaka Y, Xie SP, Nakamura H (2011) Dynamics of interannual variability in summer precipitation over East Asia. J Clim 24(20):5435–5453

    Google Scholar 

  • Kubota H, Kosaka Y, Xie SP (2015) A 117-year long index of the Pacific‐Japan pattern with application to interdecadal variability. Int J Climatol 36(4):1575–1589

    Google Scholar 

  • Li T, Ling J, Hsu P-C (2020) Madden-Julian oscillation: its discovery, dynamics, and impact on East Asia. J Meteorol Res 34(1):20–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin ZD, Bueh C (2022) Interannual variability of the east asian trough in summer. Clim Dyn

  • Liu Y, Wang L, Zhou W, Chen W (2014) Three eurasian teleconnection patterns: spatial structures, temporal variability, and associated winter climate anomalies. Clim Dyn 42(11–12):2817–2839

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu W, Jia GS (2013) Fluctuation of farming-pastoral ecotone in association with changing East Asia monsoon climate. Clim Change 119(3–4):747–760

    Google Scholar 

  • Madden RA, Julian PR (1971) Detection of a 40–50 day oscillation in the Zonal wind in the Tropical Pacific. J Atmos Sci 29:702–708

    Google Scholar 

  • Ming J, Sun J, Yu S (2019) Combined impact of the Pacific–Japan pattern and Mediterranean–northern Eurasia pattern on east asian summer temperatures. Atmos Ocean Sci Lett 12(3):208–217

    Google Scholar 

  • North GR, Bell TL, Cahalan RF, Moeng FJ (1982) Sampling errors in the estimation of empirical orthogonal functions. Mon Weather Rev 110:699–706

    Google Scholar 

  • Numaguti A (1999) Origin and recycling processes of precipitating water over the Eurasian continent: experiments using an atmospheric general circulation model. J Geophys Res Atmos 104(D2):1957–1972

    Google Scholar 

  • Ou TH, Qian WH (2006) Vegetation variations along the monsoon boundary zone in East Asia. Chin J Geophys-Chinese Ed 49(3):698–705

    Google Scholar 

  • Piao JL, Chen W, Wei K, Liu Y, Graf HF, Ahn JB, Pogoreltsev A (2017) An abrupt rainfall decrease over the asian inland plateau region around 1999 and the possible underlying mechanism. Adv Atmos Sci 34(4):456–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Piao JL, Chen W, Chen SF, Gong HN, Zhang Q (2020) Summer water vapor sources in Northeast Asia and East Siberia revealed by a moisture-tracing atmospheric model. J Clim 33(9):3883–3899

    Google Scholar 

  • Piao JL, Chen W, Chen SF (2021) Water vapour transport changes associated with the interdecadal decrease in the summer rainfall over Northeast Asia around the late-1990s. Int J Climatol 41(S1):E1469–E1482

    Google Scholar 

  • Piao JL, Chen W, Wang L, Chen SF (2022) Future projections of precipitation, surface temperatures and drought events over the monsoon transitional zone in China from bias-corrected CMIP6 models. Int J Climatol 42(2):1203–1219

    Google Scholar 

  • Saha S, Moorthi S, Pan HL, Wu XR, Wang JD, Nadiga S, Tripp P, Kistler R, Woollen J, Behringer D, Liu HX, Stokes D, Grumbine R, Gayno G, Wang J, Hou YT, Chuang HY, Juang HMH, Sela J, Iredell M, Treadon R, Kleist D, Van Delst P, Keyser D, Derber J, Ek M, Meng J, Wei HL, Yang RQ, Lord S, Van den Dool H, Kumar A, Wang WQ, Long C, Chelliah M, Xue Y, Huang BY, Schemm JK, Ebisuzaki W, Lin R, Xie PP, Chen MY, Zhou ST, Higgins W, Zou CZ, Liu QH, Chen Y, Han Y, Cucurull L, Reynolds RW, Rutledge G, Goldberg M (2010) The Ncep climate forecast system reanalysis. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 91(8):1015–1057

    Google Scholar 

  • Salih AAM, Zhang Q, Tjernstrom M (2015) Lagrangian tracing of Sahelian Sudan moisture sources. J Geophys Res-Atmos 120(14):6793–6808

    Google Scholar 

  • Seager R, Naik N, Vecchi GA (2010) Thermodynamic and dynamic mechanisms for large-scale changes in the hydrological cycle in response to global warming. J Clim 23(17):4651–4668

    Google Scholar 

  • Sodemann H, Schwierz C, Wernli H (2008) Interannual variability of Greenland winter precipitation sources: lagrangian moisture diagnostic and north Atlantic Oscillation influence. J Geophys Res-Atmos 113:D03107

    Google Scholar 

  • Stohl A, James P (2004) A lagrangian analysis of the atmospheric branch of the global water cycle. Part I: method description, validation, and demonstration for the August 2002 flooding in central Europe. J Hydrometeorol 5(4):656–678

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun B, Wang HJ (2014) Moisture sources of semiarid grassland in China using the Lagrangian particle model FLEXPART. J Clim 27(6):2457–2474

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun B, Wang HJ (2015) Analysis of the major atmospheric moisture sources affecting three sub-regions of East China. Int J Climatol 35(9):2243–2257

    Google Scholar 

  • Takaya K, Nakamura H (2001) A formulation of a phase-independent wave-activity flux for stationary and migratory quasigeostrophic eddies on a zonally varying basic flow. J Atmos Sci 58(6):608–627

    Google Scholar 

  • Wakabayashi S, Kawamura R (2004) Extraction of major teleconnection patterns possibly associated with the anomalous summer climate in Japan. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 82(6):1577–1588

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallace JM, Gutzler DS (1981) Teleconnections in the geopotential height field during the Northern Hemisphere winter. Mon Weather Rev 109(4):784–812

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, He S (2015) The North China/Northeastern asia severe summer drought in 2014. J Clim 28(17):6667–6681

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, Li DL (2011) Correlation of surface sensible heat flux in the arid region of northwestern China with the northern boundary of the east asian summer monsoon and chinese summer precipitation. J Geophys Res-Atmos 116:D19

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang C, Deser C, Yu J-Y, DiNezio P, Clement A (2017a) El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO): a review. In: Coral Reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific, pp 85–106

  • Wang L, Xu PQ, Chen W, Liu Y (2017b) Interdecadal variations of the silk road pattern. J Clim 30(24):9915–9932

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang WW, Zhou W, Wang X, Fong SK, Leong KC (2013) Summer high temperature extremes in Southeast China associated with the east asian jet stream and circumglobal teleconnection. J Geophys Res-Atmos 118(15):8306–8319

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang QL, Wang L, Huang G, Piao JL, Chotamonsak C (2021) Temporal and spatial variation of the transitional climate zone in summer during 1961–2018. Int J Climatol 41(3):1633–1648

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang Q, Huang G, Wang L, Piao J, Ma T, Hu P, Chotamonsak C, Limsakul A (2022) Mechanism of the summer rainfall variation in transitional climate zone in East Asia from the perspective of moisture supply during 1979–2010 based on the Lagrangian method. Clim Dyn

  • Xu ZQ, Fan K, Wang HJ (2015) Decadal variation of summer precipitation over China and associated atmospheric circulation after the late 1990s. J Clim 28(10):4086–4106

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu Y, Zhao P, Si D, Cao L, Wu X, Zhao Y, Liu N (2019) Development and preliminary application of a gridded surface air temperature homogenized dataset for China. Theoret Appl Climatol 139(1–2):505–516

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu P, Wang L, Ming J (2022) Central asian precipitation extremes affected by an intraseasonal planetary wave pattern. J Clim 35(8):2603–2616

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang RN, Sun CH, Li WJ (2018) Relationship between the interannual variations of Arctic sea ice and summer eurasian teleconnection and associated influence on summer precipitation over China. Chin J Geophys 61:91–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao W, Chen W, Chen SF, Yao SL, Nath D (2019) Inter-annual variations of precipitation over the monsoon transitional zone in China during August-September: role of sea surface temperature anomalies over the tropical Pacific and North Atlantic. Atmos Sci Lett 20(1):e872

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao W, Chen W, Chen SF, Nath D, Wang L (2020) Interdecadal change in the impact of North Atlantic SST on August rainfall over the monsoon transitional belt in China around the late 1990s. Theoret Appl Climatol 140(1–2):503–516

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou S, Huang G, Huang P (2017) Changes in the east asian summer monsoon rainfall under global warming: moisture budget decompositions and the sources of uncertainty. Clim Dyn 51(4):1363–1373

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the editor and three anonymous reviewers for their continuous support which helped in improving the manuscript. FLEXPART_10.4 used for particle tracking and moisture analysis was provided freely (downloaded from https://www.flexpart.eu/wiki/FpRoadmap). All data sources are also duly acknowledged.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grants Nos. 41875115, 41961144016, 42175041, 42230605 and 41831175, STEP (2019QZKK0102) and Key Deployment Project of Centre for Ocean Mega-Research of Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (COMS2019Q03).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment for Temperate East Asia, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Qiulin Wang & Lin Wang

  2. Hangzhou Meteorological Bureau, Hangzhou, 310051, China

    Qiulin Wang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Gang Huang

  4. College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Gang Huang

  5. Carbon Neutrality Research Center, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Ting Wang

Authors
  1. Qiulin Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lin Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gang Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ting Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

QW: conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; investigation; methodology; resources; software; visualization; writing—original draft. LW: conceptualization; formal analysis; funding acquisition; project administration; investigation; resources; supervision; writing—review and editing. GH: conceptualization; funding acquisition; resources; supervision; investigation; methodology; writing—review and editing. TW: data curation; validation; writing—review and editing.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Lin Wang or Gang Huang.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, Q., Wang, L., Huang, G. et al. Mechanism of the summer rainfall interannual variability in transitional climate zone in East Asia: roles of teleconnection patterns and associated moisture processes. Clim Dyn 61, 1177–1192 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06618-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06618-1

Keywords

search

Navigation