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Influence and mechanism of solar radiation intensity on the interdecadal variability of strong Meiyu events during historical periods

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Abstract

Most recent studies on Meiyu over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (MLRYR) have focused on its interannual variability or the mechanism of certain abnormal events. The influence and physical mechanism of solar radiation intensity on the interdecadal frequency of strong Meiyu events over the MLRYR during historical periods were investigated using reconstructed precipitation data, reconstructed solar radiation data, and model simulation data. First, according to the solar radiation intensity, the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1470–1850) were divided into three periods of strong solar radiation and three periods of weak solar radiation. It was found that during the periods of strong solar radiation, the frequency of strong Meiyu events was significantly higher than that during the periods of weak solar radiation in the reconstructed precipitation data and model simulations. Mechanism analyses show that during the periods of strong solar radiation, the Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH) is stronger, and the blocking highs over the middle-high-latitudes are also stronger, which is conducive to the continuous convergence of the southward cold air and the northward warm and humid air flow at the MLRYR. Therefore, a circulation spatial pattern conducive to the occurrence of strong Meiyu events is then induced. The probability distributions of precipitation also show that, during periods of strong solar radiation, changes in circulation patterns cause the probability distribution of precipitation to shift significantly to the right, increasing the probability of strong Meiyu events occurring on the right side of the probability distribution.

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Acknowledgements

The CESM-LME data were generated by the CESM Paleoclimate Working Group at NCAR and CESM1 (CAM5) Last Millennium Ensemble Community Project, and supercomputing resources are provided by NSF/CISL/Yellowstone. Thanks to the two review experts for their constructive revisions, which are very important for the improvement of the content of the article. This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Category B) (Grant No. XDB40000000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 42130604, 41971021, 41971108, 42075049 & 42111530182), Open Funds of State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant Nos. SKLLQG1820 & SKLLQG1930).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education/State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base of Geographical Environment Evolution of Jiangsu Province/Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application/School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Liulin Wang, Liang Ning, Kefan Chen, Mi Yan, Jian Liu, Yanmin Qin, Jiao Xue & Chuxin Li

  2. Open Studio for the Simulation of Ocean-Climate-Isotope, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao, 266237, China

    Liang Ning

  3. Climate System Research Center, Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 01003, USA

    Liang Ning

  4. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, 710061, China

    Liang Ning

  5. Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Zhengyu Liu

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  1. Liulin Wang
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Correspondence to Liang Ning.

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Wang, L., Ning, L., Chen, K. et al. Influence and mechanism of solar radiation intensity on the interdecadal variability of strong Meiyu events during historical periods. Sci. China Earth Sci. 66, 408–416 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-021-9952-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-021-9952-0

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