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A numerical simulation of the impact of tropical western pacific sst anomalies on the decadal shift of the meiyu belt

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Abstract

The sea surface temperature (SST) of the tropical western Pacific Ocean (TWPO) showed a pronounced warming in the late 1990s. Using numerical experiments of a regional climate model (RegCM), we analyzed the impact of this warming on rainfall over the Yangtze-Huaihe River valley of China during the Meiyu period (June–July). The model results revealed that the observed decadal changes in Meiyu rainfall since the late 1990s can be reproduced by a control experiment forced by the observed SST. Additionally, the sensitivity experiments suggested that the warming trend in the TWPO played a substantial role in the northward shift of the Meiyu belt in the late 1990s.

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Correspondence to Dong Si  (司东).

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Supported by the National Science and Technology Support Program of China (2007BAC03A01), National Basic Research and Development (973) Program of China (2010CB950404 and 2012CB955203), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (41130960 and 40905036).

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Si, D., Ding, Y. A numerical simulation of the impact of tropical western pacific sst anomalies on the decadal shift of the meiyu belt. Acta Meteorol Sin 26, 467–475 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-012-0406-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-012-0406-7

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