Search

ABSTRACT This study characterizes rainfall and temperature variability for the whole of Vietnam and for climate sub-regions over 40 years from 1971 to 2010. Vietnam's average temperature has increased at a rate of 0.26 ± 0.10 °C per decade since the 1970s, approximately twice the rate of global warming over the same period. The rate of increase is greater in winter than in summer. Except for the Central Highland, annual average temperatures in southern regions are increasing more rapidly than in the North. The increases in temperatures are statistically significant in most sub-regions; however this is not the case for rainfall. The locations of climate boundaries between sub-regions are also discussed and suggestions for repositioning of these are made. Temperature and rainfall variability are shown to be linked to El Niño-Southern Oscillation on both national and sub-regional scale. This relationship is stronger in lower latitudes and in winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the use of a high-resolution nested regional climate model (RCM) in the simulation of New Zealand's climate. The relation of RCM with GCM is presented, both are run under pre-industrial condition. Also, the comparison of RCM's seasonal mean output against the country's national climate database and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) data is mentioned. It shows that the seasonal and regional aspects of the modelled surface precipitation and temperature, which main difference are relative to the difficulty of incorporating the country's orography appropriately and to the initial and lateral limit conditions. An overview of the NCEP data on the correlation patterns of precipitation and temperature with mean sea-level pressure is offered.

ABSTRACT This article presents a detailed comparison of ten precipitation products over the central southwest Asia ( CSWA) region. The spatial characteristics and temporal variations of wintertime precipitation over CSWA region are assessed using four gauge-only [Asian Precipitation - Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water Resources ( APHRODITE), Climate Prediction Center Unified Rain gauge ( CPC-uni), Global Precipitation Climatology Center Full Data Reanalysis ( GPCC) and Climate Research Unit ( CRU)]; three satellite-derived ( 3B42-V6, 3B42-V7 and GPCP-1DD) and three reanalysis [Climate Forecast System Reanalysis ( CFSR), ERA-Interim and Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications ( MERRA)] precipitation products. The analysis is performed for two different periods: (1979-2007) for the gauge-only/reanalyses and (1998-2007) for the satellite-derived products. Using an ensemble average of four gauge-only observational data sets as our reference, we carry out comprehensive qualitative assessment of the uncertainties/biases associated with each data set. Additionally, we examine the relationship pattern between CSWA wintertime precipitation and El Niño-Southern Oscillation ( ENSO) phases. In the gauge-only category, APHRODITE and GPCC perform better than CPC-uni and CRU data sets in terms of the spatial and temporal variations of skill matrices. Overall, GPCC shows the best performance (including the precipitation sensitivity to ENSO events) and is the preferable observational data set for long-term climatological analysis over the CSWA region. Among the satellite-derived precipitation products, 3B42-V7 displays the most realistic wintertime precipitation distribution pattern when compared to 3B42-V6 and GPCP-1DD; however, efforts are needed to further improve the accuracy of satellite-derived products over the dry arid and semi-arid areas of CSWA. In the reanalysis category, MERRA's performance is relatively better than CFSR and ERA-Interim, although significant biases exist in all of the reanalyses due to overestimation of precipitation over the mountainous regions of CSWA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]