Arid Zone Research ›› 2021, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (5): 1285-1294.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2021.05.10

• Applied Climate • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Characteristics of summer extremely high temperature in Ningxia in connection with Arctic sea ice

WANG Dai1,2(),WANG Suyan1,2(),WANG Fan1,2,LI Xin1,2,YANG Jianling1,2   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory for Meteorological Disaster Monitoring and Early Warning and Risk Management of Characteristic Agriculture in Arid Regions, China Meteorological Administration, Yinchuan 750002, Ningxia, China
    2. Ningxia Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster Prevention and Reduction, Yinchuan 750002, Ningxia, China
  • Received:2020-12-07 Revised:2021-03-23 Online:2021-09-15 Published:2021-09-24
  • Contact: Suyan WANG E-mail:wangd123@126.com;nxwsy_cn@sina.com

Abstract:

The study of the relationship between the extremely high temperature in the Ningxia area and Arctic sea ice within the current climate change scenarios is a great significance to reveal the impact of Arctic sea ice on summer extreme temperatures. Based on maximum temperature data derived from meteorological stations in Ningxia, NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and Arctic sea ice data from 1961 to 2017, the extremely high temperature index was calculated, and its threshold was defined as the 90th percentile of daily maxima, centered on a 31 day window. Subsequently, the climatic characteristics of the summer extremely high temperature in Ningxia, and its relationship with Arctic sea ice were analyzed using the statistical methods of regression, correlation, resultant and so on. Results show that, in the area, the total intensity, frequency of events and the longest lasting days with extremely high temperature in summer had a significantly increasing trend since 1961, and presented obvious interdecadal changes. In particular, the period from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s was the fastest growing interval. After the late 2000s, the increasing trend slowed down, but the interannual variation rate remained high. In addition, the above mentioned extremely high temperature index in summer generally increased across Ningxia, and strengthened in the 2000s and 2010s, in particular, the increase in the northern region was greater than that in the central and southern regions. In the intenser year of extremely high temperature intensity in Ningxia, the northern region of China was control under the positive anomaly field with 500 hPa geopotential height field, and Ningxia was in the south of it. This impeded the cold air in the north from flowing through, which resulted in high temperature detected in summer in Ningxia. In the weak year, the circulation mode over Ningxia was high in the west and low in the east, which was advantageous to the high latitude cold air inflowed southward, but disadvantageous to enhanced extremely high temperature. In the early spring, when the sea ice density in the Greenland Sea, Barents Sea, and Kara Sea is high, to excited the wave train on the 500 hPa geopotential height field steadily propagated from north to south and west to east, that resulting in the Ural Mountain High Ridge weakened, and the middle and high latitude area of Eurasia dominated by zonal circulation, and then caused the strong summer extremely high temperature intensity in Ningxia. The present study aimed to deepen the understanding of the variation of summer extremely high temperature in the Ningxia region, as well as to provide atheoretical basis for their prediction.

Key words: Ningxia, summer, extremely high temperature, Arctic sea ice