Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Recent changes in the summer precipitation pattern in East China and the background circulation

  • Published:
Climate Dynamics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study documents the decadal changes of the summer precipitation in East China, with increased rainfall in the Huang-Huai River region (HR) and decreased in the Yangtze River region (YR) during 2000–2008 in comparison to 1979–1999. The main features of the atmospheric circulation related to the increased precipitation in the HR are the strengthened ascending motion and slightly increased air humidity, which is partly due to the weakened moisture transport out of the HR to the western tropical Pacific (associated with the weakened westerly over East Asia and the warming center over the Lake Baikal). The rainfall decrease in the YR is related to the weakened ascending motion and reduced water vapor content, which is mainly related to the weakened southwesterly moisture flux into the YR (associated with the eastward recession of the Western Pacific Subtropical High). The global sea surface temperature (SST) also shows significant changes during 2000–2008 relative to 1979–1999. The shift of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) to a negative phase probably induces the warming over the Lake Baikal and the weakened westerly jet through the air-sea interaction in the Pacific, and thus changes the summer precipitation pattern in East China. Numerical experiments using an atmospheric general circulation model, with prescribed all-Pacific SST anomalies of 2000–2008 relative to 1979–1999, also lend support to the PDO’s contribution to the warming over the Lake Baikal and the weakened westerlies over East China.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander M (2005) Extratropical atmosphere–ocean variability in CCSM3. J Clim 19:2496–2525

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bi XQ (1993) IAP 9L AGCM and climate simulation, PhD dissertation (in Chinese), Institute of Atmospheric Physics. Chinese Academy of Sciences

  • Bratcher AJ, Giese BS (2002) Tropical Pacific decadal variability and global warming. Geophys Res Lett 29. doi:10.1029/2002GL015191

  • Chang C-P, Zhang YS, Li T (2000) Interannual and interdecadal variations of the East Asian summer monsoon and tropical Pacific SSTs. Part I: roles of the subtropical ridge. J Clim 13:4326–4340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cummins PF, Lagerloef GSE, Mitchum G (2005) A regional index of northeast Pacific variability based on satellite altimeter data. Geophys Res Lett 32. doi:10.1029/2005GL023642

  • Deser C, Philips AS, Hurrell JW (2004) Pacific interdecadal climate variability: linkages between the tropics and the North Pacific during boreal winter since 1900. J Clim 17:3109–3124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding YH, Wang ZY, Sun Y (2008) Inter-decadal variation of the summer precipitation in East China and its association with decreasing Asian summer monsoon. Part I: observed evidences. Int J Climatol 28. doi:10.1002/joc.1615

  • Ding YH, Sun Y, Wang ZY, Zhu YX, Song Y-F (2009) Inter-decadal variation of the summer precipitation in China and its association with decreasing Asian summer monsoon. Part II: possible causes. Int J Climatol 28. doi:10.1002/joc.1759

  • Dong BW, Sutton RT, Scaife AA (2006) Multidecadal modulation of El Nino–Southern oscillation (ENSO) variance by Atlantic Ocean sea surface temperatures. Geophys Res Lett 33. doi:10.1029/2006GL025766

  • Easterling DR, Wehner MF (2009) Is the climate warming or cooling? Geophys Res Lett 36. doi:10.1029/2009GL037810

  • Fan K (2007) Zonal asymmetry of the Antarctic oscillation. Geophys Res Lett 34:L02706. doi:10.1029/2006GL028045

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan K, Wang HJ (2004) Antarctic oscillation and the dust weather frequency in North China. Geophys Res Lett 31:L10201. doi:10.1029/2004GL019465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan K, Wang HJ, Choi YJ (2007) A physically-based statistical forecast model for the middle-lower reaches of Yangtze River Valley summer rainfall. Chin Sci Bull 52:2900–2905

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu JJ, Li SL, Luo DH (2009) Impact of global SST on decadal shift of East Asian summer climate. Adv Atmos Sci 26:192–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gong DY, Ho CH (2002) Shift in the summer rainfall over the Yangtze River valley in the late 1970s. Geophy Res Lett 29. doi:10.1029/2001GL0145

  • Han JP, Wang HJ (2007) Features of interdecadal changes of the East Asian summer monsoon and similarity and discrepancy in ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. Chin J Geophys (in Chinese) 56:1666–1676

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu ZZ (1997) Interdecadal variability of summer climate over East Asia and its association with 500 hPa height and global sea surface temperature. J Geophys Res 102:19403–19412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang RH, Sun FY (1994) The impact of thermal state in the western Pacific warm pool and the convective activity above the warm pool on the East Asian climate anomalies (in Chinese). Chin J Atmos Sci 18:141–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Kwon YO, Deser C (2006) North Pacific decadal variability in the community climate system model version 2. J Clim 20:2416–2433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwon MH, Jhun JG, Ha KJ (2007) Decadal change in East Asian summer monsoon circulation in the mid-1990s. Geophys Res Lett 34. doi:10.1029/2007GL031977

  • Li T, Zhang Y, Chang C-P, Wang B (2001) On the relationship between Indian Ocean sea surface temperature and Asian summer monsoon. Geophys Res Lett 28:2843–2846

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li SL, Lu J, Huang G, Hu KM (2008) Tropical Indian Ocean basin warming and East Asian summer monsoon: a multiple AGCM study. J Clim 21:6080–6088

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma ZG (2007) The interdecadal trend and shift of dry/wet over the central part of North China and their relationship to the Pacific decadal oscillation. Chin Sci Bull 52:2130–2139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mantua NJ, Hare SR (2002) The Pacific decadal oscillation. J Oceanogr 58:35–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peng S, Whitaker S (1999) Mechanisms determining the atmospheric response to mid-latitude SST anomalies. J Clim 12:1393–1408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson WT, Schwing FB (2003) A new climate regime in northeast Pacific ecosystems. Geophys Res Lett 30. doi:10.1029/2003GL017528

  • Schneider N, Cornuelle BD (2005) The forcing of the Pacific decadal oscillation. J Clim 18:4355–4373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun JQ, Yuan W (2009) Contribution of the sea surface temperature over the Mediterranean-Black Sea to the decadal shift of the summer North Atlantic Oscillation. Adv Atmos Sci 26. doi:10.1007/s00376-009-8210-8

  • Sun JQ, Wang HJ, Yuan W (2009a) Role of the tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature in the decadal change of the summer North Atlantic Oscillation. J Geophys Res 114. doi:10.1029/2009JD012395

  • Sun JQ, Wang HJ, Yuan W (2009b) A possible mechanism for the co-variability of the boreal spring Antarctic oscillation and the Yangtze River valley summer rainfall. Int J Climatol 29:1276–1284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swanson KL, Tsonis AA (2009) Has the climate recently shifted? Geophys Res Lett 36. doi:10.1029/2008GL037022

  • Tsonis AA, Swanson K, Kravtsov S (2007) A new dynamical mechanism for major climate shifts. Geophys Res Lett 34. doi:10.1029/2007GL030288

  • Vallis G (2006) Thermal wind balance. In: Vallis G (ed) Atmospheric and oceanic fluid dynamics. Cambridge University Press, London, pp 89–91

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wang HJ (2001) The weakening of the Asian monsoon circulation after the end of 1970s. Adv Atmos Sci 18:376–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, An S (2002) A mechanism for decadal changes of ENSO behavior: roles of background wind changes. Clim Dyn 18:475–486

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang HJ, Bi XQ (1996) The East Asian monsoon simulated with IAP AGCMs-A composite study. Adv Atmos Sci 13:260–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang HJ, Fan K (2005) Central-north China precipitation as reconstructed from the Qing dynasty: signal of the Antarctic atmospheric oscillation. Geophys Res Lett 32. doi:10.1029/2005GL024562

  • Wang YM, Li SL, Luo DH (2009) Seasonal response of Asian monsoonal climate to the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation. J Geophys Res 114. doi:10.1029/2008JD010929

  • Wu RG, Wang B (2002) A contrast of the East Asian summer monsoon–ENSO relationship between 1962–77 and 1978–93. J Clim 15:3266–3279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xue F, Wang HJ, He JH (2004) Interannual variability of mascarene high and australian high and their influences on East Asian summer monsoon. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 82:1173–1186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang F-L, Lau K-M (2004) Trend and variability of China precipitation in spring and summer: linkage to sea surface temperatures. Int J Climatol 24:1625–1644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Wallace JM, Battisti DS (1997) ENSO-like interdecadal variability: 1900–93. J Clim 10:1004–1020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao ZG (1999) Summertime floods and droughts in China and the associated circulations (in Chinese). Meteorological Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhong YF, Liu ZY, Jacob R (2007) Origin of Pacific multidecadal variability in community climate system model version 3 (CCSM3): a combined statistical and dynamical assessment. J Clim 21:114–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou BT, Cui X (2008) Modeling the relationship between spring Hadley circulation and the summer precipitation in the Yangtze River valley. Clim Environ Res (in Chinese) 13:182–188

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou BT, Wang HJ (2006) Relationship between the boreal spring Hadley circulation and the summer precipitation in the Yangtze River valley. J Geophys Res 111:D16109. doi:10.1029/2005JD007006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou TJ, Yu RC (2005) Atmospheric water vapor transport associated with typical anomalous summer rainfall patterns in China. J Geophys Res 110. doi:10.1029/2004JD005413

  • Zhou TJ, Yu RC, Zhang J, Drange H, Cassou C, Deser C, Hodson DLR, Sanchez-Gomez E, Li J, Keenlyside N, Xin X-G, Okumura Y (2009) Why the Western Pacific subtropical high has extended westward since the late 1970s. J Clim 22:2199–2215

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge Prof. Shuanglin Li, Dr. Jianqi Sun, and Dr. Jianjian Fu for helpful discussions with them. Comments and helpful suggestions from the editor and two anonymous reviewers helped us to improve the presentation of our results. This research was jointly supported by the National Key Project for Basic Research under Grant No. 2009CB421406, National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 40875048, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences under Grants No. KZCX2-YW-Q1-02 and KZCX2-YW-Q11-00.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nansen-Zhu International Research Centre, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Yali Zhu, Huijun Wang & Jiehua Ma

  2. Climate Change Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Yali Zhu & Huijun Wang

  3. School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Wen Zhou

  4. Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Jiehua Ma

Authors
  1. Yali Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Huijun Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wen Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jiehua Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yali Zhu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zhu, Y., Wang, H., Zhou, W. et al. Recent changes in the summer precipitation pattern in East China and the background circulation. Clim Dyn 36, 1463–1473 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-010-0852-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-010-0852-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation