Abstract
An intercomparison of summertime (JJA) subtropical geopotential heights from the ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis is specifically conducted over East Eurasia and the western North Pacific. The NCEP/NCAR is obviously lower than the ERA-40 in the mid-to-lower troposphere in most regions of East Eurasia before the mid-1970s, but becomes higher than the ERA-40 after the mid-1970s and thus demonstrates stronger increased trends during the period of 1958–2001. Both reanalyses are lower than the observations in most regions of China. The NCEP/NCAR especially shows tremendously systematic lower values before the mid-1960s and displays abrupt changes before the 1970s. Several indices of the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH), calculated from both reanalyzed summer geopotential heights, also reveal that the variation trend of the NCEP/NCAR is stronger than that of the ERA-40 in the mid-to-lower troposphere from 1958 to 2001. Through singular value decomposition (SVD) analysis, the summer geopotential heights at 500 hPa from the ERA-40 are better than the NCEP/NCAR counterparts at interacting with the precipitation over the East Asian monsoon region. The results indicate that the NCEP/NCAR in the mid-and-lower troposphere may overestimate interdecadal changes and should be used cautiously to study the relationship between the WNPSH and precipitation ove ther East Asia Monsoon region before the mid-1970s.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bengtsson, L., S. Hagemann, and K. I. Hodges, 2004a: Can climate trends be calculated from reanalysis data? J. Geophys. Res., 109, D11111, doi: 10.1029/2004JD004536.
Bengtsson, L., K. I. Hodges, and S. Hagemann, 2004b: Sensitivity of the ERA40 reanalysis to the observing system: determination of the global atmospheric circulation from reduced observations. Tellus, 56A, 456–471.
Chen, L. T., and R. Wu, 1998: The joint effects of SST anomalies over different Pacific regions on summer rainbelt patterns in eastern China. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 22(5), 718–726. (in Chinese)
Ding, Y. H., 1994: Monsoon over China. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 419pp.
Fang, Z., and L. Zhang, 2006: NCAR/NCEP data quarity and abrupt changes of East Asia Low in summer of 1970’s. Plateau Meteorology, 25(2), 179–189. (in Chinese)
Hwang, S. S., and T. H. Yue, 1962: On the structure of the sub-tropical highs and some associated aspects of the general circulation of atmosphere. Acta Meteorologica Sinica, 31(4), 339–359. (in Chinese)
Huang, G., 2006: The assessment and difference of the interdecadal variations of climate change in Northern Part of China with the NCEP/NCAR and ERA-40 reanalysis data. Climatic and Environmental Research, 11(3), 310–320. (in Chinese)
Inoue, T., and J. Matsumoto, 2004: A comparison of summer sea level pressure over east Eurasia between NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and ERA-40 for the period 1960–1999. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 82, 951–958.
Li, J. L., Z. J. Li, and L. R. Ji, 1998: Persistent anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere during summer time and characteristics of their development. Scientia Atmospherica Sinica, 22, 57–68. (in Chinese)
Liu, Y., and G. Wu, 2000: Reviews on the study of the subtropical anticyclone and new insights on some fundamental problems. Acta Meteorologica Sinica, 58, 500–512. (in Chinese)
Lu, R., 2002: Indexes for summertime western NorthPacific subtropical high. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 19, 1004–1028.
Mu, Q., S. Wang, J. Zhu, and D. Gong, 2001: Variations of the western Pacific subtropical high in summer during the last hundred years. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 25(6), 787–797. (in Chinese)
Kalnay, E., and Coauthors, 1996: The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 437–471.
Kistler, R., and Coauthors, 2001: The NCEP-NCAR 50-year reanalysis: Monthly means CD-ROM and documentation. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 82, 247–267
Simmons, A. J., and J. K. Gibson, 2000: The ERA-40 project plan. ERA-40 Proj. Rept. Ser., Vol. 1, 63pp.
Sun, S., and M. Ying, 1999: Subtropical high anomalies over the western Pacific and its relations to the Asian monsoon and SST anomaly. Adv. Atmo. Sci., 16, 559–568.
Tao, S., F. Zhu, and T. Wu, 1963: Synoptic research on activities of subtropical high over Chinese continent and its contiguous ocean in summer. Some Studies on Subtropical Synoptic Systems over China in Summer, S. Y. Tao, Ed., Science Press, Beijing, 106–123. (in Chinese)
Tao, S., and L. Chen, 1987: A review of recent research on the East Asian summer monsoon in China. Review in Monsoon Meteorology, Oxford Univ. Press, 60–92.
Uppala, S. M., and Coauthors, 2005: The ERA-40 reanalysis. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 131, 2961–3012, doi: 10.1256/qj.04.176.
Wu, G., J. Chou, Y. Liu, and J. He, 2002: Dynamics of the Formation and Variation of Subtropical Anticyclones. Science Press, Beijing, 314pp. (in Chinese)
Wu, G., and Coauthors, 2003: Review and prospect of the study on the subtropical anticyclone. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 27(4), 503–517. (in Chinese)
Wu, R., J. L. Kinter, and B. P. Kirtman, 2005: Discrepancy of interdecadal changes in the Asian region among the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis and objective analyses, and observations. J. Climate, 18(15), 3048–3067.
Xie, Z., J. Cui, H. Liu, S. Zhao, J. Sun, H. Chen, and Q. Zeng, 1999: A study on the severe heat weather in Beijing and North China. Part I: Statistics and synoptic case study. Climatic and Environmental Research, 4, 323–333. (in Chinese)
Yang, S., K.-M. Lau, and K.-M. Kim, 2002: Variations of the East Asian jet stream and Asian-Pacific-American winter climate anomalies. J. Climate, 15, 306–325.
Ying, M., and S. Sun, 2000: A study on the response of subtropical high over the western Pacific on the SST anomaly. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 24, 193–206. (in Chinese)
Zhai, P. M., and Coauthors, 1999: Changes of climate extremes in China. Climatic Change, 42(1), 203–218.
Zhao, Z., 1999: The Droughts and Floods in summer in China and Background Fields. Z. G. Zhao, Ed., China Meteorological Press, 45–52. (in Chinese)
Zhuang, S. Y., and L. R. Ji, 1997: On persistent anomalous flows over the subtropical western Pacific in summer. Chinese Sciences Bulletin, 42, 2196–2199. (in Chinese)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhao, T., Fu, C. Intercomparison of the summertime subtropical high from the ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis over East Eurasia and the western North Pacific. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 26, 119–131 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-009-0119-8
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-009-0119-8