‘Initial’ Soil Moisture Effects on the Climate in China——A Regional Climate Model Study

作     者：SHI Xueli 

作者机构：Laboratory for Climate Studies National Climate Center China Meteorological Administration Beijing 100081 P. R. China 

出 版 物：《Journal of Ocean University of China》 (中国海洋大学学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2009年第8卷第2期

页      面：111-120页

学科分类：07[理学] 070601[理学-气象学] 09[农学] 0903[农学-农业资源与环境] 0706[理学-大气科学] 090301[农学-土壤学] 

基　　金：supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China public welfare funding (No. 2002DIB20070) the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2007CB411505) 

主　　题：soil moisture regional climate numerical model experiments 

摘      要：In this study,the effects of ‘initial’ soil moisture(SM) in arid and semi-arid Northwestern China on subsequent climate were investigated with a regional climate model. Besides the control simulations(denoted as CTL),a series of sensitivity experiments were conducted,including the DRY and WET experiments,in which the simulated ‘initial’ SM over the region 30 –50°N,75 –105°E was only 5% and 50%,and up to 150% and 200% of the simulated value in the CTL,respectively. The results show that SM change can modify the subsequent climate in not only the SM-change region proper but also the far downstream regions in Eastern and even Northeastern China. The SM-change effects are generally more prominent in the WET than in the DRY experiments. After the SM is initially increased,the SM in the SM-change region is always higher than that in the CTL,the latent(sensible) heat flux there increases(decreases),and the surface air temperature decreases. Spatially,the most prominent changes in the WET experiments are surface air temperature decrease,geopotential height decrease and corresponding abnormal changes of cyclonic wind vectors at the mid-upper troposphere levels. Generally opposite effects exist in the DRY experiments but with much weaker intensity. In addition,the differences between the results obtained from the two sets of sensitivity experiments and those of the CTL are not always consistent with the variation of the initial SM. Being different from the variation of temperature,the rainfall modifications caused by initial SM change are not so distinct and in fact they show some common features in the WET and DRY experiments. This might imply that SM is only one of the factors that impact the subsequent climate,and its effect is involved in complex processes within the atmosphere,which needs further investigation.