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The rareness and inhomogeneity of the data points cause difficulties in the reconstruction of past average temperature. Optimal regional averaging is a method that can overcome these difficulties and obtain the average temperature of target area by means of optimal weights using limited temperature data. In this paper, the average temperature in the Northern Hemisphere is calculated by the optimal regional averaging method using two types of data: temperature data from Climatic Research Unit from 1901 to 2000 and maximum latewood density dataset of tree from 1500 to 1949. Five, ten, fifteen data points from CRU and forty data points from MXD are used in our research. The results show that even with the relatively less data used in this reconstruction, the method allows the reconstruction of the average temperature of the Northern Hemisphere more accurately, which provides the temperature information for palaeoclimate reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study on reconstructing temperature series for ten regions of China over the last 1000 years with a time resolution of 10 a. The regions concerned are: Northeast, North, East, South China, Taiwan, Central, Southwest, Northwest China, Xinjiang and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. A variety of proxy data, such as ice core, tree-rings, stalagmites, peat, lake sediments, pollen and historical records, were validated with instrumental observations made in the last 120 years, and applied in the reconstruction of the temperature series. A temperature series for whole China is then established by aver- aging the ten regional series with a weighting proportional to the area of each region. Finally, temperature variations for the last 1000 years are examined, with special focus placed on the characteristics of the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), the Little Ice Age (LIA), and Modern Warming (MW). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using XRD measurements of illite crystallinity, b values of K-rich white micas and chemical compositions of chlorites combined with homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions in calcite, the metamorphic P- T conditions of very low-grade metapelites from different depths in the 7 km Hongcan Well 1 in the Zoigê Depression, Sichuan, China, have been obtained in this paper. Knowledge of the tectonic evolution of the studied basin allows us to derive geothermal curves for Middle and Late Triassic time (the geothermal peak) and the present day (from thermal logging of the borehole). The retrograde P- T tracks from clockwise P- T- t loops have been revealed by the plotting of individual samples on each geotherm, which can be interpreted by the lithospheric thickening due to sedimentation and folding followed by continuous uplift and erosion. A stratigraphic log indicates that the Well penetrates the steep limb of a fold which perturbed the peak geotherm and caused some P- T paths to cross. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the NCEP/NCAR and JRA-25 monthly analysis data from 1979 to 2011, this paper analyzes the interdecadal variations of winter (Dec.–Feb.) mean surface air temperature (SAT) over East Asia by means of the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis method. Two dominant modes were extracted, with the leading mode basically depicting a sign consistent SAT variation and the second mode describing a meridional dipole structure between the northern and southern parts of East Asia. These two modes can explain more than 60% of the variance. The leading mode is closely related to the intensity of Siberian high and the East Asian winter monsoon. The second mode exhibits a notable interdecadal shift in the late 1990s, with a turning point around 1996/1997. Winter SAT in the northern (southern) part of East Asia tends to be cooler (warmer) since the late 1990. Winter sea level pressure (SLP) differences between 1997–2011 and 1979–1996 show negative (positive) anomalies over southern (northern) Eurasia. At 500-hPa, an anomalous blocking high occurs over northern Eurasia, while a cyclone anomaly appears over northern East Asia. In addition, the upper-level East Asian jet stream tends to shift northward and become stronger after the late 1990. Indeed, the interdecadal shift of winter SAT over East Asia is dynamical consistent with changes of the large-scale atmospheric circulation in the late 1990s. The result indicates that previous autumn sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Northern Indian Ocean and the western North Pacific Ocean, as well as sea ice concentration (SIC) in the northern Eurasia marginal seas and the Beaufort Sea also experienced obvious changes in the late 1990s. In particular, the interdecadal shifts of both SST in the North Atlantic Ocean and SIC in the Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas are well coherent with that of the winter SAT over East Asia. The results indicate that the interdecadal shift of East Asian winter SAT may be related to changes in the North Atlantic SST and the Arctic SIC in the late 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary factor controlling C/C relative abundance in terrestrial ecosystem since the Last Glacial has been widely debated. Now more and more researchers recognize that climate, rather than atmospheric CO concentration, is the dominant factor. However, for a specific area, conflicting viewpoints regarding the more influential one between temperature and precipitation still exist. As temperature and precipitation in a specific area usually not only vary within limited ranges, but also covary with each other, it is difficult to get a clear understanding of the mechanism driving C/C relative abundance. Therefore, systematic analysis on greater spatial scales may promote our understanding of the driving force. In this paper, records of C/C relative abundance since the Last Glacial on a global scale have been reviewed, and we conclude that: except the Mediterranean climate zone, C plants predominated the high latitudes during both the Last Glacial and the Holocene; from the Last Glacial to the Holocene, C relative abundances increased in the middle latitudes, but decreased in the low latitudes. Combining with studies of modern process, we propose a simplified model to explain the variations of C/C relative abundance in global ecosystem since the Last Glacial. On the background of atmospheric CO concentration since the Last Glacial, temperature is the primary factor controlling C/C relative abundance; when temperature is high enough, precipitation then exerts more influence. In detail, in low latitudes, temperature was high enough for the growth of C plants during both the Last Glacial and the Holocene; but increased precipitation in the Holocene inhibited the growth of C plants. In middle latitudes, rising temperature in the Holocene promoted the C expansion. In high latitudes, temperature was too low to favor the growth of C plants and the biomass was predominated by C plants since the Last Glacial. Our review would benefit interpretation of newly gained records of C/C relative abundance from different areas and different periods, and has its significance in the understanding of the driving mechanisms of C/C variations on longer timescales (e.g., since the late Miocene) with reliable records of temperature and atmospheric CO concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes 2007/2008 inter-annual changes in runoff from the Zhadang Glacier located on the northern slope of Nyainqêntanglha Range, Tibet, and analyzes their causes. Precipitation increased by 17.9% in summer months of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007, drainage basin runoff decreased by 33.3%, and glacial meltwater decreased by 53.8%. Change in positive accumulated air temperature explained approximately half of the inter-annual difference in glacial meltwater using a degree-day model. This suggests that the glacier is extremely sensitive to changes in air temperature. Energy balance analysis showed that change in glacier surface albedo, considered to be caused by difference in precipitation form, resulted in the large inter-annual difference in glacial meltwater. It was shown statistically that precipitation form in the summer months of 2007 was mainly rainfall which comprised 71.5% of total precipitation, while during the same period in 2008 rainfall accounted for 30.7%, with the majority of precipitation falling as snow. Precipitation form should be considered an independent factor when analyzing glacier sensitivity to climate change or forecasting the runoff from certain glaciers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the nonlinear Lyapunov exponent and nonlinear error growth dynamics, the spatiotemporal distribution and decadal change of the monthly temperature predictability limit (MTPL) in China is quantitatively analyzed. Data used are daily temperature of 518 stations from 1960 to 2011 in China. The results are summarized as follows: (1) The spatial distribution of MTPL varies regionally. MTPL is higher in most areas of Northeast China, southwest Yunnan Province, and the eastern part of Northwest China. MTPL is lower in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Huang-huai Basin. (2) The spatial distribution of MTPL varies distinctly with seasons. MTPL is higher in boreal summer than in boreal winter. (3) MTPL has had distinct decadal changes in China, with increase since the 1970s and decrease since 2000. Especially in the northeast part of the country, MTPL has significantly increased since 1986. Decadal change of MTPL in Northwest China, Northeast China and the Huang-huai Basin may have a close relationship with the persistence of temperature anomaly. Since the beginning of the 21st century, MTPL has decreased slowly in most of the country, except for the south. The research provides a scientific foundation to understand the mechanism of monthly temperature anomalies and an important reference for improvement of monthly temperature prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigation of temporal variations in the stable δO and δD isotopes from Kathmandu's precipitation events shows that the relatively enriched δO and δD values in the winter (the dry season, dominated by the westerlies) were positively correlated with temperature, indicating a temperature effect controlling the changes of δO and δD. However, the δO and δD values were depleted in the summer (the wet season, dominated by the Indian monsoon), which were negatively correlated with precipitation amount, indicating an amount effect. In addition, the comparison of stable isotopes in precipitation from Kathmandu and Mawlong (near the Bay of Bengal) shows that the overall trends of δO and δD values at Kathmandu generally approximate those at Mawlong. However, there remain many differences between the details of the isotopic changes at Kathmandu versus those at Mawlong. Compared with those at Mawlong, the further rainout effect and the more intense lift effect of the oceanic moisture by the high mountains resulted in the more depleted δO and δD values in summer precipitation at Kathmandu. A deuterium excess and the local meteoric water lines reveal that evaporation at Kathmandu exceeds that at Mawlong. The data also show that the Indian monsoon activities at Mawlong are more intense than those at Kathmandu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil respiration (Soil R) is one of the largest CO fluxes from terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere. The largely seasonal and daily patterns of Soil R in semiarid grassland ecosystems indicate that measurement time and frequency would have significant influences on the assessment of seasonal soil carbon release. Based on a three-year continuous measurement of Soil R in a semiarid grassland, we found that the Soil R value measured at around 10:00 o'clock local time was the closest to its daily mean, while the value at 14:00 o'clock was found to be the highest daily rate. A measurement frequency higher than every 10 days was necessary for estimating the seasonal Soil R and its temperature sensitivity ( Q) reasonably. Our study would be useful as guidelines for manual Soil R measurements and model data selection in semiarid temperate grasslands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A successful simulation of the western North Pacific summer monsoon needs a regional ocean-atmosphere coupled model (ROAM). How the performance of ROAM relies on the oceanic component model remains unknown. In this study, the authors investigated the effects of different oceanic components on the simulation of western North Pacific (WNP) summer monsoon in a ROAM. Three cases of simulations were performed, viz. the summer of 1998 (El Niño decaying phase), 2004 (El Niño developing phase), and 1993 (the non-ENSO phase). Results show that the coupled simulations for different ENSO phases exhibit improvements in the simulation of location of Meiyu rainband and spatial distribution of monsoon low-level flow over WNP, whereas the systemic cold biases of sea surface air temperature are further increased. The coupled simulations with different oceanic components show similar performance, which is not ENSO phase dependent. For the case of the summer of 1998, a slightly stronger western Pacific subtropical high and colder sea surface air temperature are found in the simulation with colder sea surface temperature (SST) biases. The colder SST biases are partly contributed by the ocean dynamics processes because the sea surface net flux favors a warmer SST. This study suggests that the dependence of performance of ROAM over WNP on oceanic models is much weaker than that on atmospheric models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to evaluate the impacts of LW contribution to aerosol radiative effects over East Asia, a dust longwave radiative parameterization scheme is integrated into the online mesoscale dust forecasting model GRAPES_CUACE/dust. A case modeling study shows that about half at surface and one third at TOA of the dust negative shortwave radiative forcing are cancelled by its positive longwave forcing over the dust affected area. In the dust layer, longwave radiation emitting by dust cools the atmosphere, which counteracts about 17% of shortwave heating of atmosphere during daytime and results in cooling of atmosphere simply during nighttime. At the same time, the atmosphere beyond the dust layer is warmed because of absorbing the LW radiation emitted by dust layer. Dust longwave contribution exerts more evident impact on the air temperature in lower atmosphere and surface. The surface air temperature cooling rate resulting from the dust solar radiation is cancelled about 40% by dust longwave warming at daytime. At nighttime, dust longwave contribution warms land and sea surface. The online calculation of dust LW radiation reduces about 15% relative errors of predicted AOD based on the dust model with only SW radiative feedback. This case study result suggests that dust longwave contribution has important impacts on the earth-atmosphere energy process, especially on the surface and in the lower atmosphere and should not be neglected in the study of dust radiation effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model in simulating seasonal snowfall over Northeast China was examined. The influences of horizontal resolution and physics parameterization schemes were also investigated. The results indicate that WRF can reasonably reproduce the main features of temperature and precipitation. The simulated spatial and temporal distribution of snowfall compared well with observations. Higher resolution simulations achieved better results, and WRF was found to be more sensitive to the choice of land surface and microphysics scheme than convective cumulus parameterization scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the warm/cold phases of the El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) as a background, the impacts of monthly variation in the Arctic Oscillation (AO) on the winter climate anomalies in East Asia are studied with the NCEP/DOE Reanalysis 2 data and the Chinese station data regarding temperature and rainfall. The combined effects of ENSO and the AO indicate that the winter climate anomalies are mainly influenced by the AO in northern China and the ENSO in southern China, when an El Niño couples with a negative AO month or a La Niña couples with a positive AO month. These climate anomalies in China are consistent with the mechanisms proposed in previous studies. However, most of China presents a different pattern of climate anomalies if an El Niño couples with a positive AO month or a La Niña couples with a negative AO month, with the exception of the temperature anomalies in northern China, which are still affected dominantly by the AO. Further analysis suggests that the causes are attributed to the differences in both the stratosphere-troposphere interaction and the extratropics-tropics interaction. In the former cases, zonal symmetric circulation prevails in the winter and the extratropics-tropics interaction is weakened. Thus, the influences of the ENSO and the AO on the East Asian climate mainly present linear combination effects. On the contrary, an annular mode of atmospheric circulation is not favored in the latter cases and the extratropics-tropics interaction is strong. Hence, the combined effects of the ENSO and the AO on the winter climate in East Asia present nonlinear characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern atmospheric observation and literatural historical drought-flood records were used to extract the inter-decadal signals of dry-wet modes in eastern China and reveal the possible relationship of global and China temperature changes associated with the East Asian summer monsoon advances. A climate pattern of 'wet-north and dry-south' in eastern China and cool period in China and globe are associated with the strong summer monsoon that can advance further to the northernmost part in the East Asian monsoon region. On the contrary, a climate pattern of 'dry-north and wet-south' in eastern China and a warm period in China and globe are associated with the weaker summer monsoon that only reaches the southern part in the region. An interdecadal oscillation with the timescale about 60 years was found dominating in both the dry-wet mode index series of the East Asian summer monsoon and the global temperature series after the secular climate states and long-term trend over inter-centennial timescales have been removed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sodium fluorescence Doppler lidar system has been developed to measure environmental parameters of the middle and upper atmosphere. The lidar system mainly comprises a transmitter system, receiver system, data acquisition and control system and data analysis system. A narrowband 589 nm laser is used to excite sodium atoms in the mesopause region. Excitation of the sodium atoms results in resonance fluorescence, which is collected by the receiver. The temperatures in the mesopause region (about 75--105 km) can be derived by analyzing the Doppler-broadened width of the sodium fluorescence. Observations were made with the lidar system, and the number density of sodium atoms and atmospheric temperature profiles were extracted from the observation data. Comparisons of the lidar temperatures and TIMED/SABER temperatures show good agreement, illustrating the reliability of the sodium fluorescence Doppler lidar measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using historical records on first and last frost and snow, spring cultivation, David peach blossom, autumn crop harvest, grade of sea freeze and change in northern citrus boundary, we reconstructed temperature change during 601-920 AD. The mean temperature of the winter half-year (October to April) over Central East China during this period was about -0.22°C higher than that of the present (1961-2000 AD mean). During 601-820 AD, mean temperature was about -0.52°C higher than the present. During 821-920 AD, the mean temperature was 0.42°C lower than the present. The temperature fluctuations were characterized by a maximum amplitude of 1.05°C at the centennial scale, 1.38°C at the 50-year scale, 2.02°C at the 30-year scale, and 2.3°C at the 20-year scale. There were four peaks warmer than today (601-620 AD, mean of 1°C higher temperature; 641-660 AD, 1.44°C; 701-720 AD, 0.88°C; 781-800 AD, 0.65°C). Three cold periods were in 741-760, 821-840, and 881-900 AD, the mean temperature of which was 0.37-0.87°C lower than the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-pressure mafic granulites with a peak mineral assemblage of garnet + clinopyroxene + rutile + quartz were found in the Amdo basement, central Tibet. Two kinds of symplectites were identified that are composed of orthopyroxene + plagioclase ± spinel and hornblende + plagioclase around garnet, which were interpreted to develop during the retrogressing stages in the granulites. P-T estimates suggested that peak metamorphic conditions were about 860--920°C and 1.46--1.56 GPa, which retrogressed from post-peak phase at 820--890°C and 0.88--1.15 GPa to amphibolite facies at 550--670°C and 0.52--0.65 GPa. These three stages define a clockwise P-T path with near-isothermal decompression and cooling following the peak high-pressure metamorphism. This suggests that the Amdo granulites underwent an initial subduction to a deep crustal level of ~50 km and then were rapidly exhumed to a shallow crustal level (~20 km). The formation of Amdo granulites is considered to result from the arc-continent collision between the Amdo basement and the Qiangtang terrane in the middle Jurassic, which is a crucial step to the tectonic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the field observations on Qiyi Glacier during the warm season of 2007, using a digital elevation model (DEM, 15 m resolution), we developed a distributed surface energy- and mass-balance model with an hourly resolution. The model described the effect of topography on shortwave solar radiation, and used a new parameterization for glacier albedo. The model was applied to Qiyi Glacier in the Qilian Mountain, China, for the period 20 : 00 30 June to 12 : 00 10 October 2007, to simulate the firn-line changes, the temporal and spatial variations of mass balance, and the glacial meltwater runoff. The results indicated that the patterns of altitudinal profile of glacier mass-balance were affected mainly by the altitudinal profile of albedo, and the status of the glacier mass balance was influenced directly by the values of albedo. The parameter sensitivity test showed that the model was sensitive to the air temperature lapse rate and precipitation gradient, and also sensitive to the threshold temperature for solid/liquid precipitation. Furthermore, the climate sensitivity test showed that the mass balance was more sensitive to air temperature than precipitation, and the response of mass balance to air temperature change was nonlinear while the response to precipitation change linearly. The negative mass balance trend of the glacier can not be reversed when precipitation increases by 20% and meanwhile air temperature rises by 1°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The MPM-2, an Earth system model of intermediate complexity, is employed to study the climate system response to natural forcings during the pre-industrial era (1000-1800 AD), with a special focus on the surface air temperature (SAT) evolution. Solar radiation and volcanism are the primary natural forcings during this period. In the MPM-2, the solar radiation forcing determines the long-term trend of the climate system change, and the volcanic forcing intensifies (weakens) this trend. Ultimately, the combination of solar and volcanic forcings dominates the long-term changes of the climate system. These results are in good agreement with other model data or temperature reconstructions. Natural forcings can well explain the Little Ice Age (LIA) and the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). At the large regional scale, the SAT response to natural forcings is almost coincident with that of the Northern Hemisphere. Based on MPM-2 model results, it is concluded that the global climate gradually became cold during the pre-industrial era. However, MPM-2 model results substantially correlate with reconstructed solar and volcanic forcings. Namely, to some great extent, these results strongly rely on the forcing series data we choose. Therefore, in order to accurately simulate the secular variation of the historical climate, it is very important to reconstruct well the solar radiation change and volcanic forcing data are well reconstructed for the past 10000 years, at least for the past 2000 years, in addition to the model improvements. The sensitivity study on the abrupt solar radiation change indicates that the increased solar radiation not only strengthens the nonlinear response of SAT, but intensifies the global hydrological cycle. At the same time, the biosphere is also affected obviously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reconstructed temperature anomalies in the eastern China were compared with the output from a 1000-year model simulation in an attempt to evaluate the model's regional simulation skills and to understand the causes of climate change in China over the last millennium. The reconstructed data are the winter half-year temperature anomalies in the central region of eastern China (25°–40°N, east of 105°E) for the last 1000 years with a 30-year resolution. The model used is the global atmosphere-ocean coupled climate model, ECHO-G, which was driven by time-varying external forcings including solar radiation, volcanic eruptions, and greenhouse gas concentrations (CO2 and CH4) for the same period. The correlation coefficient between the simulated and reconstructed time series is 0.37, which is statistically significant at a confidence level of 97.5%. The Medieval Warm Period (MWP) during 1000–1300 A.D., the Little Ice Age (LIA) during 1300–1850 A.D. and the modern warming period after 1900 A.D. are all recognizable from both the simulated and reconstructed temperatures. The anomalies associated with the LIA and the modern warming simulated by the model are in good consistency with the reconstructed counterpart. In particular during the Maunder sun-spot minimum (1670–1710 A.D.), both the simulated and reconstructed temperature anomalies reach their minima without any phase difference. But in the earlier MWP, significant discrepancies exist between the simulation and the reconstruction, which might reflect the degrading quality of the reconstruction data. The range of the simulated anomalies (1.62 K) is comparable with that of reconstructed (2.0 K). Diagnosis of the model results indicates that, during the last millennium, variations in solar radiation and volcanic activity are the main controlling factors on regional temperature change, while in the recent 100 years, the change of the concentration of greenhouse gases plays most important role in explaining the rapid temperature rising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different gas adsorption isotherm experiments were carried out on the coal samples from Jincheng district, including N2, CH4, CO2, as well as the binary-component gas of CH4-N2 and CH4-CO2 of three different concentrations. In the binary-component gas adsorption isotherm experiments, the gas component with higher adsorption ability is adsorbed firstly. Thus the result in its relative concentration in the free phase shows a trend of decrease first and then increase, whereas the relative concentration of the gas component with lower adsorption ability shows a trend of increase first and then decrease. In the adsorption phrase, the relative concentration of the gas component with higher adsorption ability increases gradually, and the relative concentration of the gas component with lower adsorption ability decreases gradually. In the adsorption competition of the binary-component gas, the adsorption rate of the gas component with higher adsorption ability shows a trend of rapidity at first then slowness, but the adsorption rate of the gas component with lower adsorption ability shows a trend of slowness at first then rapidity. The component fractionation effect in the binary-component gas adsorption isotherm experiments is caused by the difference of the adsorption ability of coal of different gas components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]