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Atmosphere
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Extreme Climate in Arid and Semi-arid Regions
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Extreme Climate in Arid and Semi-arid Regions

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Climatology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 21 February 2025 | Viewed by 7834

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Shanshan Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Interests: climate change in arid and semi-arid regions; drought mechanism and prediction; extreme weather and climate attribution

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In climate change, arid and semi-arid climates are under more pressure than other regions due to their fragile ecosystems. Previous studies have indicated the enhanced warming in this region, with a higher frequency and severity of extreme weather and climate. As an example, drought is relatively common in semi-arid regions, but the increasing frequency and intensity of drought will collapse the original fragile ecological environment in arid and semi-arid regions. At the same time, increasing precipitation can also have negative impacts on arid and semi-arid regions. We must keep an eye open for the secondary geological hazards induced by strong rainfall events, because even small precipitation changes in semi-arid regions can trigger flash floods, landslides and debris flows. Other extreme climate events such as snowstorms as well as extreme low and high temperatures also need more attention.

The aim of this Special Issue is to go deeply into the study of climate extremes in arid and semi-arid regions. Topics of interest for the Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

1) The characteristics of extreme weather and climate in the historical record;

2) The causes and mechanisms in terms of local land–air interaction, remote sea/ice-air interaction, etc.;

3) Model performance in extreme events, including evaluating and improving model performance in arid and semi-arid regions;

4) The detection and attribution of climate change;

5) The impacts of climate extremes;

6) Future projections.

Knowledge of the above is of great scientific and societal importance to the ecological environment as well as social development in arid and semi-arid regions.

Dr. Shanshan Wang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • arid and semi-arid regions
  • characteristics
  • causes and mechanisms
  • model evaluation
  • model improvement
  • prediction of extreme weather
  • future projections
  • detection and attribution

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

19 pages, 5481 KiB  
Article
Multilevel Drought-Induced Resistance and Resilience Analysis for Vegetation in the Yellow River Basin
by Jingjing Fan, Wenwei Zhang, Fanfan Xu, Xiong Zhou, Wei Dong, Chenyu Wu, Shibo Wei, Yue Zhao and Dongnan Wang
Atmosphere 2024, 15(8), 979; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15080979 - 15 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 521
Abstract
In this study, a multilevel drought-induced resistance and resilience analysis (MDRRA) approach was developed to investigate the stability of vegetation in the Yellow River Basin (YRB). MDRRA was quantified by utilizing the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). It was applied to YRB to [...] Read more.
In this study, a multilevel drought-induced resistance and resilience analysis (MDRRA) approach was developed to investigate the stability of vegetation in the Yellow River Basin (YRB). MDRRA was quantified by utilizing the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). It was applied to YRB to assess vegetation resistance and resilience to various levels of drought by utilizing precipitation and NDVI data from 2000 to 2019. The results reveal that vegetation resistance and resilience in YRB are affected by drought severity. Monthly and annual changes in SPI over the warm–temperate humid zone of the YRB show a decreasing trend, with rates of 0.001 per decade and 0.034 per decade, respectively; however, the other climatic subregions exhibit an increasing trend, with rates ranging from 0.002 per decade to 0.82 per decade. Over 77.56% of the downstream areas show increases in the annual SPI averages. Drought severity differs across subregions in the YRB. More severe drought events occur in its upper and middle reaches, while less severe ones happen in its lower reaches. As the drought severity increases, the arid and semiarid regions of the mesothermal zone exhibit a decrease in the resistance and resilience indices. MDRRA can help improve the stability and resilience of the ecosystem in the YRB. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extreme Climate in Arid and Semi-arid Regions)
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15 pages, 3094 KiB  
Article
Neural Hierarchical Interpolation for Standardized Precipitation Index Forecasting
by Rafael Magallanes-Quintanar, Carlos Eric Galván-Tejada, Jorge Isaac Galván-Tejada, Hamurabi Gamboa-Rosales, Santiago de Jesús Méndez-Gallegos and Antonio García-Domínguez
Atmosphere 2024, 15(8), 912; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15080912 - 30 Jul 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 855
Abstract
In the context of climate change, studying changes in rainfall patterns is a crucial area of research, remarkably so in arid and semi-arid regions due to the susceptibility of human activities to extreme events such as droughts. Employing predictive models to calculate drought [...] Read more.
In the context of climate change, studying changes in rainfall patterns is a crucial area of research, remarkably so in arid and semi-arid regions due to the susceptibility of human activities to extreme events such as droughts. Employing predictive models to calculate drought indices can be a useful method for the effective characterization of drought conditions. This study applies two type of machine learning methods—long short-term memory (LSTM) and Neural Hierarchical Interpolation for Time Series Forecasting (N-HiTS)—to develop and deploy artificial neural network models with the aim of predicting the regional standardized precipitation index (SPI) in four regions of Zacatecas, Mexico. The predictor variables were a set of climatological time series data spanning from 1964 to 2020. The results suggest that the N-HiTS model outperforms the LSTM model in the prediction and forecasting of SPI time series for all regions in terms of performance metrics: the Mean Squared Error, Mean Absolute Error, Coefficient of Determination and ξ correlation coefficient range from 0.0455 to 0.5472, from 0.1696 to 0.6661, from 0.9162 to 0.9684 and from 0.9222 to 0.9368, respectively, for the regions under study. Consequently, the outcomes revealed the successful performance of the N-HiTS models in accurately predicting the SPI across the four examined regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extreme Climate in Arid and Semi-arid Regions)
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18 pages, 7123 KiB  
Article
Characteristics of Atmospheric Rivers and the Impact of Urban Roof Roughness on Precipitation during the “23.7” Extreme Rainstorm against the Background of Climate Warming
by Yiguo Xu, Junhong Fan, Jun Zhang, Liqing Tian, Hui Zhang, Tingru Cui, Yating Wang and Rui Wang
Atmosphere 2024, 15(7), 824; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15070824 - 10 Jul 2024
Viewed by 761
Abstract
In July 2023, Baoding in Hebei Province experienced unprecedented torrential rainfall, breaking historical records and causing severe flooding. However, our understanding of the multi-scale circulation systems and physical mechanisms driving this extreme precipitation event remains incomplete. This study utilizes multi-source observational data and [...] Read more.
In July 2023, Baoding in Hebei Province experienced unprecedented torrential rainfall, breaking historical records and causing severe flooding. However, our understanding of the multi-scale circulation systems and physical mechanisms driving this extreme precipitation event remains incomplete. This study utilizes multi-source observational data and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) numerical model to conduct a weather diagnosis and numerical simulation of this extreme rainfall event, focusing on the impact of atmospheric rivers (ARS) and urban rooftop roughness on the precipitation process against the background of climate warming. The study found that this extremely heavy rainstorm occurred in the circulation background formed by the factors of subtropical high ectopics, typhoon residual vortex retention, double typhoon water-vapor transmission, and stable high-level divergence. The ARS provided abundant moisture, with its vapor pathway significantly altered following the landfall of Typhoon Doksuri. The interaction between the ARS and the Taihang Mountains was crucial in triggering and intensifying the rainstorm in the foothills. Urbanization significantly affected the distribution of precipitation, with moderate urban roughness enhancing rainfall in and around the city, whereas excessive roughness suppressed it. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms behind extreme precipitation under climate change and provide a scientific basis for improving the forecasting and mitigation of such events. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extreme Climate in Arid and Semi-arid Regions)
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14 pages, 10287 KiB  
Article
Application of the Self-Organizing Map Method in February Temperature and Precipitation Pattern over China: Comparison between 2021 and 2022
by Zengping Zhang, Yu Gu, Zhikuan Wang, Siyuan Luo, Siyuan Sun, Shuting Wang and Guolin Feng
Atmosphere 2023, 14(7), 1182; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14071182 - 21 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1405
Abstract
In this study, we compared two anomalous wet February periods in 2021 and 2022 in China. The same anomalies appeared in the spatial distribution of precipitation, with anomalous precipitation centered over the southeast coast. However, temperature discrepancies appeared in most of China, with [...] Read more.
In this study, we compared two anomalous wet February periods in 2021 and 2022 in China. The same anomalies appeared in the spatial distribution of precipitation, with anomalous precipitation centered over the southeast coast. However, temperature discrepancies appeared in most of China, with anomalously high temperatures in 2021 and lower temperatures in 2022. Both instances of increased precipitation were attributed to warm and moist advection from the south, with transport in 2021 being partly enhanced by the South China Sea cyclone, whereas transport in 2022 was mainly due to the subtropical western North Pacific anticyclone. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to compare and analyze temperature and precipitation anomalies in February 2021 and 2022 using the self-organizing map method. Warm events in East Asia and cold events in Siberia and the Tibetan Plateau types were obtained by mode 1, which contained 2021. Mode 6 exhibited opposite warm types in Siberia and cold types in southern Asia, including February temperature and precipitation anomalies in 2022. Based on the results of this study, we can conclude that precipitation anomalies in February 2021 and 2022 occurred under different temperature and circulation anomalies, and both were influenced by La Niña events. Autumn sea ice loss in the Barents Sea contributed significantly to warm and rainy events in February 2021. However, the cold and rainy events of February 2022 were closely related to the strengthening of the Siberian High. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extreme Climate in Arid and Semi-arid Regions)
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16 pages, 8873 KiB  
Article
Impacts of Tibetan Plateau Spring Snowmelt on Spring and Summer Precipitation in Northwest China
by Zhilan Wang, Kai Yang, Feimin Zhang, Jinyu Zhang and Xuying Sun
Atmosphere 2023, 14(3), 466; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14030466 - 27 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1545
Abstract
Snow on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is an important signal for the prediction of East Asian climate. In this study, the relationship between the TP spring snowmelt and spring and summer precipitation in Northwest China (NWC) was investigated, along with the possible mechanisms [...] Read more.
Snow on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is an important signal for the prediction of East Asian climate. In this study, the relationship between the TP spring snowmelt and spring and summer precipitation in Northwest China (NWC) was investigated, along with the possible mechanisms linked to the impacts of snowmelt on precipitation. The results showed that the TP spring snowmelt had significant impacts on spring and summer precipitation in NWC. For example, when there was a large spring snowmelt in the central- eastern TP, the spring and summer precipitation in the Hexi Corridor and southeast NWC was excessive, especially in summer; when there was a large spring snowmelt in the northern TP, the spring and summer precipitation was deficient across the whole of NWC, while a large spring snowmelt in the western TP led to deficient spring and summer precipitation in eastern NWC but excessive precipitation in western NWC. The possible mechanisms for this included the fact that more spring snowmelt over the TP led to higher soil moisture contents, which further resulted in weakened subtropical westerly and enhanced ridge over Xinjiang. By changing the TP thermal forcing, these anomalous atmospheric circulation conditions transported water vapor into NWC, thus creating excessive summer precipitation in that region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extreme Climate in Arid and Semi-arid Regions)
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Review

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37 pages, 6316 KiB  
Review
Interaction between the Westerlies and Asian Monsoons in the Middle Latitudes of China: Review and Prospect
by Xiang-Jie Li and Bing-Qi Zhu
Atmosphere 2024, 15(3), 274; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15030274 - 25 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1661
Abstract
The westerly circulation and the monsoon circulation are the two major atmospheric circulation systems affecting the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (NH), which have significant impacts on climate and environmental changes in the middle latitudes. However, until now, people’s understanding of the [...] Read more.
The westerly circulation and the monsoon circulation are the two major atmospheric circulation systems affecting the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (NH), which have significant impacts on climate and environmental changes in the middle latitudes. However, until now, people’s understanding of the long-term paleoenvironmental changes in the westerly- and monsoon-controlled areas in China’s middle latitudes is not uniform, and the phase relationship between the two at different time scales is also controversial, especially the exception to the “dry gets drier, wet gets wetter” paradigm in global warming between the two. Based on the existing literature data published, integrated paleoenvironmental records, and comprehensive simulation results in recent years, this study systematically reviews the climate and environmental changes in the two major circulation regions in the mid-latitudes of China since the Middle Pleistocene, with a focus on exploring the phase relationship between the two systems at different time scales and its influencing mechanism. Through the reanalysis and comparative analysis of the existing data, we conclude that the interaction and relationship between the two circulation systems are relatively strong and close during the warm periods, but relatively weak during the cold periods. From the perspective of orbital, suborbital, and millennium time scales, the phase relationship between the westerly and Asian summer monsoon (ASM) circulations shows roughly in-phase, out-of-phase, and anti-phase transitions, respectively. There are significant differences between the impacts of the westerly and ASM circulations on the middle-latitude regions of northwest China, the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, and eastern China. However, under the combined influence of varied environmental factors such as BHLSR (boreal high-latitude solar radiation), SST (sea surface temperature), AMOC (north Atlantic meridional overturning circulation), NHI (Northern Hemisphere ice volume), NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation), ITCZ (intertropical convergence zone), WPSH (western Pacific subtropical high), TIOA (tropical Indian Ocean anomaly), ENSO (El Niño/Southern Oscillation), CGT/SRP (global teleconnection/Silk Road pattern), etc., there is a complex and close coupling relationship between the two, and it is necessary to comprehensively consider their “multi-factor’s joint-action” mechanism and impact, while, in general, the dynamic mechanisms driving the changes of the westerly and ASM circulations are not the same at different time scales, such as orbital, suborbital, centennial to millennium, and decadal to interannual, which also leads to the formation of different types of phase relationships between the two at different time scales. Future studies need to focus on the impact of this “multi-factor linkage mechanism” and “multi-phase relationship” in distinguishing the interaction between the westerly and ASM circulation systems in terms of orbital, suborbital, millennium, and sub-millennium time scales. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extreme Climate in Arid and Semi-arid Regions)
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