首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
相似文献
 共查询到20条相似文献,搜索用时 46 毫秒
1.
Summary ?The role of the two main European low-frequency oscillations – the East Atlantic/West Russian (EA/WR) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), in controlling the precipitation in the Eastern Mediterranean region is investigated based on the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and the Israeli precipitation data for 1958–1998. The data on the EA/WR and NAO indices, received from the NCEP Climate Prediction Center, are also adapted. Composite mean sea level and precipitation anomaly patterns are constructed and analyzed. In addition to the widely investigated positive NAO trend, another, also positive EA/WR trend characterized atmospheric developments during the period. During NAO positive months, the EA/WR-associated positive SLP anomaly areas were shifted from the east Atlantic to southwest Europe. The areas were shifted to the north during the NAO-negative months and were located over central and northern Europe. This demonstrates that the use of fixed pressure NAO patterns may be not the optimum way to understand climate variability. Analysis of the NAO, EA/WR patterns, as well as that of their decadal trends, demonstrated a relationship between the main European oscillations and the EM precipitation. The results allow explanation of the observed reduction of the north Israeli precipitation by the EA/WR positive trend during the period. Received April 5, 2001; Revised February 14, 2002  相似文献   

2.
Summary In dry farming areas, where rainfall is the only source of water for crops, changes in both quantity and distribution of rainfall during the year could affect the economy of an area. Inter-annual variability makes it difficult to assess rainfall variability, especially in areas with Mediterranean climate. In this paper, interannual rainfall variations in the Alt Penedès region were evaluated using 24-h rainfall records at Vilafranca del Penedès (1889–1999) and at Sant Sadurni d’Anoia (1960–1999). The distribution patterns during the year and their changes over the time were also analysed. Rainfall data were normalised and the values corresponding to the percentiles 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 0.9 were calculated to analyse whether they were very dry, dry, normal, wet and very wet periods. Annual rainfall and the rainfall recorded during the main rainfall periods during the year and its trend were analysed. Annual rainfall did not show a clear tendency, although during the last decade reduced interannual variability occurred. The percentage of dry years did not increase but the percentage of wet and very wet years decreased. During the last decade, an increase of dry spring seasons andwet autumn seasons was observed, even in normal or wetyears. These changes could affect the timing of whencrops receive water and could therefore affect their yields. Received May 31, 2000/Revised February 26, 2001  相似文献   

3.
Summary ?Thirty years (1958–1987) of daily rainfall data for Kenya and north eastern Tanzania are analysed with the aim to characterize the interannual variability of the onset and cessation of the East African “long rains” (boreal spring). The leading principal component (PC1) depicts consistent rainfall variations over much of the region. Cumulative PC1 scores for each year serve to identify onset and cessation dates. The robustness of the dates derived from this method is demonstrated through the use of an independent sample of stations. Their spatial representativity is assessed by daily rainfall composites. Average onset occurs on March 25th, and cessation on May 21st. The interannual variability of the onset (standard deviation of 14.5 days) is larger than that of the withdrawal (10.3 days), but the onset is also spatially much more consistent. Mean dates and dates in selected anomalous years agree well with previous studies. The relationship between onset time-series and large-scale atmospheric and oceanic fields is analysed. On a monthly time-scale, interannual variations in “long rains” onset are associated with sea-surface temperature (SST) and sea-level pressure (SLP) patterns that have a different sign for the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. A warm South Atlantic and a cool Indian Ocean are associated with low and high SLP anomalies, respectively. These patterns are conducive to enhanced equatorial easterlies and surface divergence over East Africa. This maintains the meridional branch (north–south orientated) of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) further west, and the net result is a delayed onset of the “long rains”. Some of the South Atlantic features are already present during January–February, suggesting some potential for monitoring interannual variations in the wet season onset, based on SST and SLP patterns. Additional signals are found over Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in terms of the interaction between the Northern Hemisphere extratropics and equatorial eastern Africa. A surge in the mid-tropospheric northerlies at this time induces instability that may lead to an early onset event. Received July 3, 2002; revised November 28, 2002; accepted December 7, 2002 Published online March 17, 2003  相似文献   

4.
This study represents the first large-scale systematic dendroclimatic sampling focused on developing chronologies from different species in the eastern Mediterranean region. Six reconstructions were developed from chronologies ranging in length from 115 years to 600 years. The first reconstruction (1885–2000) was derived from principal components (PCs) of 36 combined chronologies. The remaining five, 1800–2000, 1700–2000, 1600–2000, 1500–2000 and 1400–2000 were developed from PCs of 32, 18, 14, 9, and 7 chronologies, respectively. Calibration and verification statistics for the period 1931–2000 show good levels of skill for all reconstructions. The longest period of consecutive dry years, defined as those with less than 90% of the mean of the observed May–August precipitation, was 5 years (1591–1595) and occurred only once during the last 600 years. The longest reconstructed wet period was 5 years (1601–1605 and 1751–1755). No long term trends were found in May–August precipitation during the last few centuries. Regression maps are used to identify the influence of large-scale atmospheric circulation on regional precipitation. In general, tree-ring indices are influenced by May–August precipitation, which is driven by anomalous below (above) normal pressure at all atmospheric levels and by convection (subsidence) and small pressure gradients at sea level. These atmospheric conditions also control the anomaly surface air temperature distribution which indicates below (above) normal values in the southern regions and warmer (cooler) conditions north of around 40°N. A compositing technique is used to extract information on large-scale climate signals from extreme wet and dry summers for the second half of the twentieth century and an independent reconstruction over the last 237 years. Similar main modes of atmospheric patterns and surface air temperature distribution related to extreme dry and wet summers were identified both for the most recent 50 years and the last 237 years. Except for the last few decades, running correlation analyses between the major European-scale circulation patterns and eastern Mediteranean spring/summer precipitation over the last 237 years are non-stationary and insignificant, suggesting that local and/or sub-regional geographic factors and processes are important influences on tree-ring variability over the last few centuries.  相似文献   

5.
The relationship of prolonged dry spells in Eastern Mediterranean with large-scale surface and upper circulation is investigated on seasonal basis with the aid of the Singular-Value Decomposition Analysis (SVDA) for the period 1958–2000. The study was based on daily precipitation data of 56 stations, evenly distributed over Eastern Mediterranean region. Extreme dry spells are defined using the CDD index (maximum number of consecutive dry days). It was found that teleconnection patterns centered over Northern Atlantic and northern Europe seem to affect the duration of the longest dry spells over the Eastern Mediterranean, while surface synoptic scale systems in Northern Africa play a substantial role. The SVDA results compare well with the corresponding results of Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA), mainly for the surface circulation during winter and summer.  相似文献   

6.
太平洋年代际振荡与中国气候变率的联系   总被引:77,自引:6,他引:77  
朱益民  杨修群 《气象学报》2003,61(6):641-654
利用 195 1~ 1998年的太平洋年代际振荡 (PDO)指数、全球海洋和大气分析资料及中国降水和气温站点观测资料 ,分析了太平洋年代际振荡在海洋中的特征及其与东亚大气环流和中国气候变率的联系。结果表明 ,PDO与东亚大气环流及中国气候年代际变化关系密切。对应于PDO暖位相期 (即中纬度北太平洋异常冷、热带中东太平洋异常暖 ) ,冬季 ,阿留申低压增强 ,蒙古高压也增强 (但东西伯利亚高压减弱 ) ,中国东北、华北、江淮以及长江流域大部分地区降水偏少 ,东北、华北和西北地区气温异常显著偏高 ,而西南和华南地区气温偏低 ;夏季 ,海平面气压在北太平洋的负异常较弱 ,而在东亚大陆的正异常较强 ,东亚夏季风偏弱 ,西太平洋副热带高压偏南 ,热带太平洋信风减弱 ,赤道西风增强 ,此时华北地区降水异常偏少而长江中下游、华南南部、东北和西北地区降水异常偏多 ,东北、华北及华南地区气温异常偏高 ,而西北、西南和长江中下游地区气温异常偏低。对应于PDO冷位相期 ,上述形势相反。结果还表明 ,处于不同阶段的ENSO事件对中国夏季气候异常的影响明显受到PDO的调制。在PDO冷位相期 ,当ENSO事件处于发展阶段 ,华南地区夏季降水偏少 ,东北地区夏季多低温 ,在其衰减阶段 ,华北地区和长江流域降水偏多 ,淮河地区降水偏少 ;  相似文献   

7.
Summary Daily circulation patterns responsible for heavy snowfalls in the Polish – German lowlands were analysed. Composite maps of sea level pressure (SLP) and 500 hPa geopotential height means and anomalies were constructed for the days with an increase in snow cover depth by ≥5 cm. Contour maps show negative anomalies of SLP and 500 hPa level over central Europe, indicating a low pressure system. Strong positive anomalies of SLP appear over Scandinavia and the northern Atlantic with the centre of positive anomalies located over Iceland. Weaker negative anomalies are observed in the Azores region. This confirms the strong negative correlation between snow cover appearance and the North Atlantic Oscillation index in Europe. The days with heavy snowfalls were clustered using the Ward’s method. Three types of circulation patterns were distinguished, each of them characterised by a low pressure system over central Europe. Type 3 represents the northern position of the low with its centre over the Baltic Sea, Type 2 shows the southern position of the low with its centre over the Adriatic and the Ionic Sea and Type 1 represents the low location between the two previous patterns with a wide meridional trough over the Atlantic. Author’s address: Ewa Bednorz, Institute of Physical Geography and Environmental Planning, Adam Mickiewicz University, ul. Dzięgielowa 27, 61-680 Poznań, Poland.  相似文献   

8.
Summary  Anomalously wet and dry months in the Mediterranean basin were identified during the period 1860–1990 from observations at five stations located along the west-east axis of the Mediterranean basin (Barcelona, Florence, Malta, Athens and Jerusalem), supplemented by data from Madrid and Lisbon. Wet and dry months were characterized by hydric indices (HI) based on values of the standardized precipitation anomalies. Different patterns of anomalously wet and dry months were qualitatively identified on the basis of the spatial distributions of the hydric indices. The standardized sea level pressure values at 56 grid points in the domain 35° N–65° N, 30° W–40° E, for each of the anomalously wet and dry months, were subjected to T-mode Principal Component Analysis. The mean hydric indices associated with each principal component in each season are arranged in four distinct different spatial distributions for wet months and in three for dry months as following: (a) Mediterranean wide distribution of positive/negative anomalies; (b1) Strong positive anomalies to the west, but weaker to eastern Mediterranean; (b2) Strong negative anomalies to the west, but weaker or normal to the east; (c1) Strong positive anomalies to the west and to the east and weaker ones to the central Mediterranean; (c2) Negative anomalies to the west and east, but weaker, or normal, or positive to the central Mediterranean; (d) Relatively strong positive anomalies to the east and weaker ones to the western Mediterranean. Finally, monthly mean charts of standardized anomaly and mean sea level pressure are presented for each principalcomponent in each season. These charts are used to interpret the spatial distribution of the positive and negative precipitation anomalies in terms of mean circulation over the domain. Received December 10, 1998 Revised June 14, 1999  相似文献   

9.
利用河北省及周边73个台站1961—2010年春季、秋季降水资料及NCEP/NCAR再分析资料,应用SVD等多种统计方法探讨了河北春秋季降水异常变化及其与对流层中低层环流的可能联系.研究结果表明:河北省春秋季降水异常存在全省一致和南—北相反两种模态.春季,当500 hPa平均高度场上东西伯利亚海出现负异常,我国东北地区到日本海为正异常时,河北春季大部分地区降水偏多(石家庄表现最明显);反之,河北春季大部分地区降水偏少.秋季,当欧洲的西北部500 hPa平均高度场为负异常时,河北大部秋季降水偏少(中部表现最明显);反之,河北秋季降水偏多.春秋季干旱的出现与贝加尔湖阻高(或高脊)及东亚大槽偏强有关.850 hPa偏南风减弱是导致春秋季干旱的重要原因.  相似文献   

10.
We present seasonal precipitation reconstructions for European land areas (30°W to 40°E/30–71°N; given on a 0.5°×0.5° resolved grid) covering the period 1500–1900 together with gridded reanalysis from 1901 to 2000 (Mitchell and Jones 2005). Principal component regression techniques were applied to develop this dataset. A large variety of long instrumental precipitation series, precipitation indices based on documentary evidence and natural proxies (tree-ring chronologies, ice cores, corals and a speleothem) that are sensitive to precipitation signals were used as predictors. Transfer functions were derived over the 1901–1983 calibration period and applied to 1500–1900 in order to reconstruct the large-scale precipitation fields over Europe. The performance (quality estimation based on unresolved variance within the calibration period) of the reconstructions varies over centuries, seasons and space. Highest reconstructive skill was found for winter over central Europe and the Iberian Peninsula. Precipitation variability over the last half millennium reveals both large interannual and decadal fluctuations. Applying running correlations, we found major non-stationarities in the relation between large-scale circulation and regional precipitation. For several periods during the last 500 years, we identified key atmospheric modes for southern Spain/northern Morocco and central Europe as representations of two precipitation regimes. Using scaled composite analysis, we show that precipitation extremes over central Europe and southern Spain are linked to distinct pressure patterns. Due to its high spatial and temporal resolution, this dataset allows detailed studies of regional precipitation variability for all seasons, impact studies on different time and space scales, comparisons with high-resolution climate models as well as analysis of connections with regional temperature reconstructions. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at and is accessible for authorized users.  相似文献   

11.
Circulation patterns favourable for rapid snowmelt in the Polish-German lowlands are described in the study. Composite maps of the SLP and 500 hPa geopotential heights means and composite anomaly maps, constructed for the days with the decrease in snow cover depth of ≥5 cm/day, show deeper than usual low-pressure systems over the northern Atlantic and slightly higher than usual pressure over the Mediterranean. Such pressure patterns corresponds to the positive NAO phase with large pressure gradients, which intensify west and south-west air flows over Central Europe. Warm and humid air masses from the west and south-west contribute to substantial daily temperature increases and, frequently, to higher-than-usual precipitation, which speeds up ablation.  相似文献   

12.
A standard principal component analysis has been performed over the Mediterranean and over the larger European region on monthly precipitation anomalies for the winters between 1979 and 1995. The main centres of action of the associated EOFs are very similar for the two regions and the two sets of PCs are highly correlated with each other. Focusing on the Mediterranean region, the same analysis has been performed using 500?hPa geopotential height monthly anomalies taken from the operational NCEP analysis. Comparing the two sets of PCs associated with upper-air and surface data, a strong correlation has been found suggesting the presence of a two-way link between regional precipitation patterns and large-scale circulation anomalies. For both fields, the largest fraction of variance is explained by the North Atlantic Oscillation, while smaller but still substantial fractions are explained by other known patterns of large-scale variability such as the Eastern Atlantic pattern and the Euro-Atlantic blocking. No detectable connection has been found between Mediterranean precipitation patterns and El Niño SST anomalies during winter. With respect to temporal variability, significant trends have been found over most European areas during the winters considered. The associated pattern is characterised by a substantial increase of precipitation over western Scandinavia and a general decrease over southern Europe. This result is confirmed by analysing data from stations located in northern Italy.  相似文献   

13.
In this study the potential future changes in various aspects of daily precipitation events over Europe as a consequence of the anticipated future increase in the atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations are investigated. This is done by comparing two 3-member ensembles of simulations with the HIRHAM regional climate model for the period 1961–1990 and 2071–2100, respectively. Daily precipitation events are characterized by their frequency and intensity, and heavy precipitation events are described via 30-year return levels of daily precipitation. Further, extended periods with and without rainfall (wet and dry spells) are studied, considering their frequency and length as well as the average and extreme amounts of precipitation accumulated during wet spells, the latter again described via 30-year return levels. The simulations show marked changes in the characteristics of daily precipitation in Europe due to the anticipated greenhouse warming. In winter, for instance, the frequency of wet days is enhanced over most of the European continent except for the region on the Norwegian west coast and the Mediterranean region. The changes in the intensity and the 30-year return level of daily precipitation are characterized by a similar pattern except for central Europe with a tendency of decreased 30-year return levels and increased precipitation intensity. In summer, on the other hand, the frequency of wet days is decreased over most of Europe except for northern Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea region. In contrast, the precipitation intensity and the 30-year return level of daily precipitation are increased over entire Scandinavia, central and eastern Europe. The changes in the 30-year return level of daily precipitation are generally stronger than the corresponding changes in the precipitation intensity but can have opposite signs in some regions. Also the distribution of wet days is changed in the future. During summer, for instance, both the frequency and the length of dry spells are substantially increased over most of the European continent except for the Iberian Peninsula. The frequency and the length of wet spells, on the other hand, are generally reduced during summer and increased during winter, again, with the exception of the Iberian Peninsula. The future changes in the frequency of wet days in winter are related to a change in the large-scale flow over the North Atlantic and a corresponding shift of the North Atlantic storm track. The reduction in the frequency of wet days in summer is related to a northward extension of the dry subtropical region in the future, with a reduction of the convective activity because of the large-scale sinking motion in the downward branch of the Hadley cell. Because the atmosphere contains more moisture in the warmer future climate, the amount of precipitation associated with individual low-pressure systems or with individual convective events is increased, leading to a general increase in the intensity of individual precipitation events. Only in regions, where all the moisture evaporates from the ground already in spring, the intensity of precipitation events is reduced in summer.  相似文献   

14.
Intra- to multi-decadal (IMD) variation in terrestrial precipitation during 1901–98 was evaluated here by sampling annual precipitation rankings over 6–30 year moving time windows and converting those rankings to Mann-Whitney U statistics. Those U statistics were then used to identify the most significant concentrations of wet and dry years relative to a null hypothesis that assumes stationary climate variability. This time series analysis approach served as the basis of a climate survey method used to identify IMD precipitation regimes over continental areas, and was also used to evaluate IMD variation in time series of annual precipitation spatially averaged over those areas. These methods showed a highly significant incidence of wet years over North America during 1972–98, with 8 of the 10 wettest years of 1901–98 occurring during that 27-year period. A comparably significant incidence of late century wetness was also found over a northern Europe grid region, with 7 of the 10 wettest years occurring during 1978–98. Although significant wet and dry regimes were also found over other land areas in the last decades of the 20th century, the late century North American and northern European wet periods stood out as the most statistically significant found here during 1901–98. It is suggested that these recent wet periods are actually terrestrial evidence of a single multi-decadal precipitation mode extending across the North Atlantic, and the most observable evidence of an even broader pattern of recent North Atlantic climate change.  相似文献   

15.
Summary In this study the authors have developed a statistical method and have reconstructed Northern Hemisphere 500 hPa heights back to the late 19th century using one temperature and three sea level pressure (SLP) data sets. First, the relationship between ERA40 500 hPa heights and surface temperature and SLP was screened using stepwise multiple regression based on the calibration period of 1958–2002 (1998/2000 according to the availability of SLP data). All selected predictors (temperature and SLP) were significant and their variance contribution was greater than 1%. On average, there were 8.1 variables retained in the final regression equations. Second, the regression equations were applied to compute the 500 hPa height through to the late 19th century for the whole Northern Hemisphere. As the SLP and temperature coverage improved over time, the number of predictors decreased by about 1 in the most recent periods, and the root mean squared error decreased by about 0.8 m. A leave-one-out cross-validation method was used to test the skill and stability of the regression models. The reduction of error during the cross-validation period of 1958–1997 varied from 0.33 to 0.56, depending on the SLP data. Reconstructions were also checked using NCEP/NCAR 500 hPa heights from January 1949 to December 1957, and compared with the historical reconstruction over Europe. Reconstructions show high consistency with these independent data sets. Generally, the reconstruction provides a valuable opportunity to analyze, as well as to validate climate simulations of the variability in free atmosphere circulations over the past one hundred years.  相似文献   

16.
利用季节循环的全球观测海表温度及海冰驱动NCARCam3全球大气环流模式的100a模拟结果,通过定义东亚夏季风指数,分析了模拟的大气内部变化中东亚夏季风的变化特征。结果表明:模拟的东亚夏季风自然变率主要表现为3—7a较显著的年际周期,并具有较明显的年代际变化特征。在弱夏季风年代,亚洲大陆海平面气压增强,日本附近及东亚沿海地区海平面气压降低;500hPa位势高度上,欧洲地区为负高度距平,里海附近地区为正高度距平,日本及其以东太平洋为负高度距平,易形成类似欧亚(EU)型的遥相关波列。在强夏季风年代,其环流异常分布基本与弱夏季风年代相反。模拟的东亚夏季风变化与夏季大气内部500hPa高度场上EU型遥相关波列的关系密切。  相似文献   

17.
We investigate the large-scale forcing and teleconnections between atmospheric circulation (sea level pressure, SLP), sea surface temperatures (SSTs), precipitation and heat wave events over western Europe using a new dataset of 54 daily maximum temperature time series. Forty four of these time series have been homogenised at the daily timescale to ensure that the presence of inhomogeneities has been minimised. The daily data have been used to create a seasonal index of the number of heat waves. Using canonical correlation analysis (CCA), heat waves over western Europe are shown to be related to anomalous high pressure over Scandinavia and central western Europe. Other forcing factors such as Atlantic SSTs and European precipitation, the later as a proxy for soil moisture, a known factor in strengthening land–atmosphere feedback processes, are also important. The strength of the relationship between summer SLP anomalies and heat waves is improved (from 35%) to account for around 46% of its variability when summer Atlantic and Mediterranean SSTs and summer European precipitation anomalies are included as predictors. This indicates that these predictors are not completely collinear rather that they each have some contribution to accounting for summer heat wave variability. However, the simplicity and scale of the statistical analysis masks this complex interaction between variables. There is some useful predictive skill of summer heat waves using multiple lagged predictors. A CCA using preceding winter North Atlantic SSTs and preceding January to May Mediterranean total precipitation results in significant hindcast (1972–2003) Spearman rank correlation skill scores up to 0.55 with an average skill score over the domain equal to 0.28 ± 0.28. In agreement with previous studies focused on mean summer temperature, there appears to be some predictability of heat wave events on the decadal scale from the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), although the long-term global mean temperature is also well related to western European heat waves. Combining these results with the observed positive trends in summer continental European SLP, North Atlantic SSTs and indications of a decline in European summer precipitation then possibly these long-term changes are also related to increased heat wave occurrence and it is important that the physical processes controlling these changes be more fully understood.  相似文献   

18.
Local to regional climate anomalies are to a large extent determined by the state of the atmospheric circulation. The knowledge of large-scale sea level pressure (SLP) variations in former times is therefore crucial when addressing past climate changes across Europe and the Mediterranean. However, currently available SLP reconstructions lack data from the ocean, particularly in the pre-1850 period. Here we present a new statistically-derived 5° × 5° resolved gridded seasonal SLP dataset covering the eastern North Atlantic, Europe and the Mediterranean area (40°W–50°E; 20°N–70°N) back to 1750 using terrestrial instrumental pressure series and marine wind information from ship logbooks. For the period 1750–1850, the new SLP reconstruction provides a more accurate representation of the strength of the winter westerlies as well as the location and variability of the Azores High than currently available multiproxy pressure field reconstructions. These findings strongly support the potential of ship logbooks as an important source to determine past circulation variations especially for the pre-1850 period. This new dataset can be further used for dynamical studies relating large-scale atmospheric circulation to temperature and precipitation variability over the Mediterranean and Eurasia, for the comparison with outputs from GCMs as well as for detection and attribution studies.  相似文献   

19.
东北亚冷夏的年代际变化   总被引:12,自引:1,他引:11  
陈莉  朱锦红 《大气科学》2004,28(2):241-253
通过对1881~2000年东北亚夏季气温的分析,发现东北亚夏季气温有明显的年代际变化,时间尺度为80年左右和30年左右;120年来东北亚共发生27次冷夏(平均气温距平≤-0.5°C),其中6次为严重冷夏(平均气温距平≤-1.0°C).通过对海平面气压场、对流层中层500 hPa高度场及海温场的分析,研究了东北亚冷夏的环流机制以及与SST异常的关系,指出东北亚夏季气温的年代际变化与大尺度环流特征及海温的变化关系密切.  相似文献   

20.
Summary  There is evidence that the area burned by wildland fire has increased in certain regions of Canada in recent decades. One cause for this increase is changes in the mid-tropospheric circulation at 500 hPa over northern North America. This study examines the physical links between anomalous mid-tropospheric circulation over various regions of Canada and wildland fire severity. Analysis of monthly and seasonal burned areas for the period 1953 to 1995 reveals a bimodal distribution with distinct low and extreme high burned area years. The high/low burned area years coincide with positive/negative 500 hPa height anomalies over north-western, western, west-central and east-central Canada. Total area burned and the 500 hPa height anomaly data are analyzed for statistical relationships using the Spearman rank correlation non-parametric measure. Results for the May to August fire season indicate statistically significant correlations between regional total area burned and clusters of anomalous 500 hPa geopotential height values immediately over, and immediately upstream of the affected region. For the north-western and west-central regions, significantly correlated clusters are found in the central Pacific as well, providing evidence of the influence of a teleconnection structure on the summer climate of western and north-western North America. Two sample comparison tests show statistically significant differences in both the means and variances of the fire data populations during negative and positive phases of mid-tropospheric flow, and the means of the height anomaly populations during extremely high and extremely low area burned seasons. Increases in regional total area burned are related to increases in mean 500 hPa heights, taken from the significantly correlated clusters of height values, between two successive periods 1953–74 and 1975–95. For Canada as a whole, the five lowest area burned seasons all occurred during the early period, while the five highest seasons occurred during the later period. The difference in the geopotential height fields between the two periods identifies an increase in 500 hPa heights over most of Canada with an amplification of the western Canada ridge and an eastward shifted Canadian Polar Trough (CPT). Received October 19, 1998  相似文献   

设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号