Abstract
This study analyzed the spatial differences of the precipitation variations in the mid-latitude Asia and their possible physical mechanisms during 1960–2009. The annual precipitation showed an opposite variations between the westerlies-dominated arid Central Asia (ACA) and monsoon-dominated North China (NC) during the study period. Given the different contributions of seasonal precipitation to annual total precipitation in ACA and NC, the atmospheric circulation anomalies during the major precipitation seasons (winter in ACA/summer in NC) were analyzed. In winter, negative North Atlantic Oscillation may cause negative height anomalies over the north side and positive anomalies over the south side of the ACA. Together, the enhanced pressure gradient and anomalous westerly wind brings more water vapor to ACA, and leaves less precipitation in NC. In summer, the low-pressure anomalies in Northeast China, along with a weaker summer monsoon and negative height anomalies in Eastern Europe together contribute to reduced (excessive) summer precipitation in NC (ACA). The interactions between ENSO and NAO may result in the opposite precipitation variations between ACA and NC. A significant 2–3-year cycle is identified in ACA, which is linked to the variations of westerly circulation in the middle troposphere.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Chen F H, Chen J H, Huang W. A discussion on the westerly-dominated climate model in mid-latitude Asia during the modern interglacial period (in Chinese). Earth Sci Front, 2009, 16: 023–032
Rogers J C, Van L H. The seesaw in winter temperatures between Greenland and northern Europe. Part II: Some oceanic and atmospheric effects in middle and high latitudes. Mon Weather Rev, 1979, 107: 509–519
Aizen E M, Aizen V B, Melack J M, et al. Precipitation and atmospheric circulation patterns at mid-latitudes of Asia. Int J Climatol, 2001, 21: 535–556
Chen F H, Yu Z C, Yang M L, et al. Holocene moisture evolution in arid central Asia and its out-of-phase relationship with Asian monsoon history. Quat Sci Rev, 2008, 27: 351–364
Chen F H, Chen J H, Holmes J, et al. Moisture changes over the last millennium in arid central Asia: A review, synthesis and comparison with monsoon region. Quat Sci Rev, 2010, 29: 1055–1068
Zhao Y, Yu Z C, Chen F H, et al. Vegetation response to Holocene climate change in monsoon-influenced region of China. Earth-Sci Rev, 2009, 97: 242–256
Feng S, Hu Q, Wu Q, et al. A gridded reconstruction of warm season precipitation for Asia spanning the past half millennium. J Clim, 2013, 26: 2192–2204
Chen F H, Huang W, Jin L Y, et al. Spatiotemporal precipitation variations in the arid Central Asia in the context of global warming. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 2011, 54: 1812–1821
Feng S, Nadarajah S, Hu Q. Modeling annual extreme precipitation in China using generalized extreme value distribution. J Meteorol Soc Jpn, 2007, 85: 599–613
Su M F, Wang H J. Relationship and its instability of ENSO-Chinese variations in droughts and wet spells. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 2007, 50: 145–152
Jiang D B, Su M F, Wei R Q, et al. Variation and projection of drought and wet conditions in Xinjiang (in Chinese). Chin J Atmos Sci, 2009, 33: 90–98
Shi Y F, Shen Y P, Kang E, et al. Recent and future climate change in Northwest China. Clim Change, 2007, 80: 379–393
Jin L Y, Fu J L, Chen F H. Spatial differences of precipitation over northwest China during the last 44 years and its response to global warming (in Chinese). Sci Geogr Sin, 2005, 25: 567–572
Ma Z G, Fu C B. Some evidence of drying trend over northern China from 1951 to 2004. Chin Sci Bull, 2006, 51: 2913–2925
Li J B, Gou X H, Cook E R, et al. Tree-ring based drought reconstruction for the central Tien Shan area in northwest China. Geophys Res Lett, 2006, 33: L07715
Li J B, Chen F H, Cook E R, et al. Drought reconstruction for north central China from tree rings: The value of the Palmer drought severity index. Int J Climatol, 2007, 27: 903–909
Li J P, Zeng Q C. A new monsoon index and the geographical distribution of the global monsoons. Adv Atmos Sci, 2003, 20: 299–302
Wang B, Ding Q H. Changes in global monsoon precipitation over the past 56 years. Geophys Res Lett, 2006, 33: L06711
Ding Y H, Wang Z Y, Sun Y. 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, 2008, 28: 1139–1161
Huang R H, Wu Y F. The influence of ENSO on the summer climate change in China and its mechanism. Adv Atmos Sci, 1989, 6: 21–32
Huang R H, Xu Y H, Zhou L T. The interdecadal variation of summer precipitations in China and the drought trend in North China (in Chinese). Plateau Meteorol, 1999, 18: 465–476
Feng S, Hu Q. Variations in the teleconnection of ENSO and summer rainfall in Northern China: A role of the Indian summer monsoon. J Clim, 2004, 17: 4871–4881
Lu R Y. Interannual variation of North China rainfall in rainy season and SSTs in the equatorial eastern Pacific. Chin Sci Bull, 2005, 50: 2069–2073
Huang J P, Higuchi K, Shabbar A. The relationship between the North Atlantic Oscillation and El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Geophys Res Lett, 1998, 25: 2707–2710
Huang J P, Ji M, Higuchi K, et al. Temporal structure of North Atlantic Oscillation and its impacts on the regional climate variability. Adv Atmos Sci, 2006, 23: 23–32
Huang J P, Guan X D, Ji F. Enhanced cold-season warming in semi-arid regions. Atmos Chem Phys, 2012, 12: 5391–5398
Kalnay E, Kanamitsu M, Kistler R, et al. The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull Am Meteorol Soc, 1996, 77: 437–472
Li W L, Wang K L, Fu S M, et al. The interrelationship between regional westerly index and the water vapor budget in Northwest China (in Chinese). J Glaciol Geocryol, 2008, 30: 28–34
Lorenz E N. Empirical orthogonal function and statistical weather prediction. Report No. 1, Statist Forecasting Project, Dept Meteorol, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1956
Thomson D J. Spectrum estimation and harmonic analysis. Proc IEEE, 1982, 70: 1055–1096
Qian W H, Qin A. Precipitation division and climate shift in China from 1960 to 2000. Theor Appl Climatol, 2008, 93: 1–17
Wang S W. El Niño events from 1470 to 1988 (in Chinese). Meteorol Mon, 1989, 15: 15–20
Tang X C, Yuan Z Y. The influence of the drought disaster caused by El Niño events in Guangdong Province in recent 60 years (in Chinese). Geogr Res, 2010, 29: 1932–1939
Syed F S, Giorgi F, Pal J S, et al. Effect of remote forcings on the winter precipitation of central southwest Asia part 1: Observations. Theor Appl Climatol, 2006, 86: 147–160
Peng S L, Mysak L A. A teleconnection study of interannual seasurface temperature fluctuation in the Northern Atlantic and precipitation and runoff over western Siberia. J Clim, 1993, 6: 876–885
Hurrell J W. Decadal trends in the North Atlantic Oscillation regional temperatures and precipitation. Science, 1995, 269: 676–679
Jin L Y, Chen F H, Morrill C, et al. Causes of early Holocene desertification in arid central Asia. Clim Dyn, 2012, 38: 1577–1591
Mathew B, Heidi C, Bradfield L. Drought in central and southwest Asia: La Niña, the warm pool, and Indian Ocean precipitation. J Clim, 2002, 15: 697–700
Meehl G A. The annual cycle and interannual variability in the tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. Mon Weather Rev, 1987, 115: 27–50
Ropelewski C F, Halpert M S, Wang X L. Observed tropospheric biennial variability and its relationship to the Southern Oscillation. J Clim, 1992, 5: 594–614
Li C Y, Pan J, Que Z P. Variation of the East Asian monsoon and the tropospheric biennial oscillation. Chin Sci Bull, 2011, 56: 70
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Rights and permissions
This article is published under an open access license. Please check the 'Copyright Information' section either on this page or in the PDF for details of this license and what re-use is permitted. If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and re-use information, please contact the Rights and Permissions team.
About this article
Cite this article
Huang, W., Chen, F., Feng, S. et al. Interannual precipitation variations in the mid-latitude Asia and their association with large-scale atmospheric circulation. Chin. Sci. Bull. 58, 3962–3968 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-5970-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-5970-4