Increasing free-air 0℃ isotherm height in Southwest China from 1960 to 2010

doi:10.1007/s11442-014-1123-1

Abstract

Abstract:

Based on the radiosonde data observed at 14 stations in Southwest China from 1960 to 2010, as well as the corresponding surface air temperature, the long-term change of free-air 0℃ isotherm height in Southwest China and the relationships between surface air temperature and 0℃ isotherm height are discussed. The results indicated that the spatial distribution of 0℃ isotherm height is generally related with latitude, but the huge massif or plateau may complicate the latitude pattern. The two main regimes influencing the spatial patterns of 0℃ isotherm height in Southwest China are latitude and huge massif. The annual 0℃ isotherm height has increased by 35 m per decade in the recent decades, which is statistically significant at the 0.001 level. Generally, the increasing trend can be examined for each seasonal series, especially in winter (53 m per decade). The diversity of trend magnitudes for annual and seasonal series can also be detected at a spatial view, but generally 0℃ isotherm height correlated well with surface air temperature.

Key words: Southwest China, 0℃ isotherm height, global warming, radiosonde data

Mingjun ZHANG, Lei DONG, Shengjie WANG, Aifang ZHAO, Fang QIANG, Meiping SUN, Qiong WANG. Increasing free-air 0℃ isotherm height in Southwest China from 1960 to 2010[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2014, 24(5): 833-844.

Figures/Tables 9

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Decade	0℃ isotherm height anomalies (m)
	Spring			Summer			Autumn			Winter			Annual
	0:00	12:00	Ave.	0:00	12:00	Ave.	0:00	12:00	Ave.	0:00	12:00	Ave.	0:00	12:00	Ave.
1960-1969	-30	-31	-31	-48	-93	-70	-55	-70	-62	-108	-85	-94	-56	-66	-64
1970-1979	-13	-10	-11	-53	-51	-52	-70	-67	-68	-64	-40	-53	-48	-40	-43
1980-1989	-35	-30	-31	25	20	22	16	12	14	-3	4	1	-3	-2	-1
1990-1999	41	37	39	50	54	52	46	44	45	34	1	7	47	36	42
2000-2010	34	31	33	24	64	44	57	74	65	124	110	117	54	65	60

	Spring		Summer		Autumn		Winter		Annual
	Trend (m/a)	Sig.	Trend (m/a)	Sig.	Trend (m/a)	Sig.	Trend (m/a)	Sig.	Trend (m/a)	Sig.
0:00	2.1	<0.01	2.7	<0.001	3.3	<0.01	6.3	<0.01	3.3	<0.01
12:00	2.0	<0.01	4.2	<0.001	4.0	<0.001	4.7	<0.01	3.5	<0.001
Ave.	2.1	<0.01	3.5	<0.01	3.7	<0.001	5.3	<0.01	3.5	<0.001

	Trend magnitude (m/a)
	Spring			Summer			Autumn			Winter			Annual
	0:00	12:00	Ave	0:00	12:00	Ave	0:00	12:00	Ave	0:00	12:00	Ave	0:00	12:00	Ave
Garzê	-1.4	-2.9^**	-2.2^*	-0.6	-0.8	-0.5	-1.5	-2.5	-2.3	-1.9	-2.1	-1.6	-1.8	-2.2^**	-1.8^*
Dachuan	0.5	-1.5	-0.4	-0.3	0.0	-0.2	1.5	0.9	1.1	-1.8	8.4^**	3.6	-0.6	1.4	0.2
Shapingba	-0.2	0.7	0.2	0.3	1.4	0.9	1.51	2.7^*	2.1	10.4^**	8.2^**	9.5^**	2.0	2.6*	2.0^*
Yibin	-3.8^*	-0.4	-2.2	-5.0^***	5.7^***	0.5	-1.0	2.2^*	0.6	14.6^***	-3.0	6.2	0.4	0.4	0.3
Xichang	0.7	2.0^**	1.4	2.5^**	8.40^***	5.6^***	1.6	4.0^***	3.0^*	2.5	2.2	2.4	1.7	4.3^***	3.2^***
Weining	-0.1	0.3	0.3	0.6	1.2	1.0	1.6	1.7	1.6	7.1^*	6.0^*	6.4^*	1.8	2.2^*	2.0
Guiyang	-0.5	0.9	0.2	-0.5	2.8^***	1.1	1.0	2.6*	1.8	5.3^*	4.7^*	5.4^*	0.9	2.9^**	1.9^*
Guilin	-0.6	-2.5^**	-1.7	0.3	-2.3^***	-1.0	1.3	0.5	0.7	4.6^*	2.8	3.8	1.0	-0.7	0.7
Tengchong	3.4^**	7.3^***	5.4^***	2.0^**	13.0^***	7.5^***	3.5^**	11.2^***	7.3^***	6.4^***	5.0^***	5.8^***	3.9^***	9.1^***	6.6^***
Kunming	9.9^***	-0.9	4.7^***	12.3^***	0.2	6.3^***	9.1^***	0.6	4.8^***	6.4^***	1.9	4.0^*	9.6^***	0.2	5.0^***
Baise	2.8^***	6.7^***	4.8^***	4.4^***	9.7^***	7.1^***	4.3^***	8.9^***	6.6^***	4.5^*	7.6^***	6.0^**	3.9^***	8.3^***	6.0^***
Wuzhou	1.19	1.3	1.4	-0.2	1.6^*	0.7	2.5^*	3.3^***	2.8^**	4.9^*	4.7^*	4.7^*	1.7^*	2.6^***	2.1^**
Simao	12.9^***	6.0^***	9.3^***	13.9^***	3.2^***	8.6^***	15.2^***	5.5^***	10.4^***	16.0^***	9.5^***	12.8^***	14.1^***	5.8^***	9.7^***
Nanning	3.72^***	10.48^***	7.11^***	5.34^***	13.66^***	9.46^***	4.75^***	12.56^***	8.89^***	6.32^**	12.27^***	9.32^***	4.71^***	12.06^***	8.84^***

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