Quantitative forecasting of average rainfall into the next season remains highly challenging, but in some favourable isolated cases may be possible with a series of relatively simple steps. We chose to explore predictions of austral springtime rainfall in SE Australia regions based on the surrounding ocean surface temperatures during the winter. In the first stage, we search for correlations between the target rainfall and both the standard ocean climate indicators as well as the time series of surface temperature data expanded in terms of Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs). In the case of the Indian Ocean, during the winter the dominant EOF shows stronger correlation with the future rainfall than the commonly used Indian Ocean Dipole. Information sources with the strongest correlation to the historical rainfall data are then used as inputs into deep learning artificial neural networks. The resulting hindcasts appear accurate for September and October and less reliable for November. We also attempt to forecast the rainfall in several regions for the coming austral spring.
Rainy years and dry years in SE Australia are known to be correlated with sea surface temperatures in the specific areas of the Indian Ocean. While over the past 100 years the correlation had been both positive and negative, it significantly increased in strength since the beginning of the 21st century. Over this period, Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures during the winter months, together with the El Niño variations, contain sufficient information to accurately hindcasts springtime rainfall in SE Australia. Using deep learning neural networks trained on the early 21st century data we perfo…
Sub-seasonal Modulation and Predictability of Indian monsoon hourly Rainfall Extremes
Gauhati University(古哈提大学);Indian Institute of Technology Madras(马德拉斯印度理工学院);Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology(印度热带气象研究所);Cotton University(科顿大学)
For modeling extreme rainfall, the widely used Brown-Resnick max-stable model extends the concept of the variogram to suit bloc maxima, allowing the explicit modeling of the extremal dependence shown by the spatial data. This extremal dependence stems from the geometrical characteristics of the observed rainfall, which is associated with different meteorological processes and is usually considered to be constant when designing the model for a study. However, depending on the region, this dependence can change throughout the year, as the prevailing meteorological conditions that drive the rainf…
The Yangtze River has been subject to heavy flooding throughout history, and in recent times severe floods such as those in 1998 have resulted in heavy loss of life and livelihoods. Dams along the river help to manage flood waters, and are important sources of electricity for the region. Being able to forecast high-impact events at long lead times therefore has enormous potential benefit. Recent improvements in seasonal forecasting mean that dynamical climate models can start to be used directly for operational services. The teleconnection from El Niño to Yangtze River basin rainfall meant tha…
The sub-seasonal and synoptic-scale variability of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall are controlled primarily by monsoon intra-seasonal oscillations (MISO) and low pressure systems (LPS), respectively. The positive and negative phases of MISO lead to alternate epochs of above-normal (active) and below-normal (break) spells of rainfall. LPSs are embedded within the different phases of MISO and are known to produce heavy precipitation events over central India. Whether the interaction with the MISO phases modulates the precipitation response of LPSs, and thereby the characteristics of extreme r…
Skillful seasonal prediction of lightning is crucial over several global hotspot regions, as it causes severe damages to infrastructures and losses of human life. While major emphasis has been given for predicting rainfall, prediction of lightning in one season advance remained uncommon, owing to the nature of the problem, which is short-lived local phenomenon. Here we show that on the seasonal time scale, lightning over the major global hot-spot regions is strongly tied with slowly varying global predictors (e.g., El Nino and Southern Oscillation). Moreover, the sub-seasonal variance of light…
Skilful prediction of the seasonal Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall (ISMR) at least one season in advance has great socio-economic value. It represents a lifeline for about a sixth of the world's population. The ISMR prediction remained a challenging problem with the sub-critical skills of the dynamical models attributable to limited understanding of the interaction among clouds, convection, and circulation. The variability of cloud hydrometeors (cloud ice and cloud water) in different time scales (3-7 days, 10-20 days and 30-60 days bands) are examined from re-analysis data during Indian …
During 2015, the southwest monsoon (SWM) rainfall over the country remained deficient with seasonal rainfall of about 86% of the long period average (Table 1.1). Last year, the seasonal rainfall deficiency over the country as a whole was 12% (www.imd.gov.in). Thus, this is a fourth episode of two consecutive years, with deficient monsoon, similar to 1904-05, 1965-66 and 1986-87 (www.imd.gov.in).
Summer monsoon rainfall over India depends on synoptic-scale phenomena like lows and depressions. India's summer monsoon season 2020 saw above-average rainfall. North Indian Ocean had 12 LPAs in summer 2020 in JJAS season. This monsoon season has the highest all-India rainfall since 1976 in August 2020. 50% of seasonal LPAs emerged in August 2020, but none intensified into a monsoon depression (MDs). This study explores the potential factors behind LPAs not intensifying/concentrating as MDs. Warming over the Northern Parts of the Arabian Sea (NPAS) boosted convection in August 2020, resulting …
Since intermittent and highly variable power supply is undesirable, quantifying power yield fluctuations of wave energy converters (WECs) aids with assessment of potential deployment sites. This paper presents analysis of 3-hourly, monthly, seasonal, and inter-annual variability of power output of the M4 WEC. We compare expected performance from deployment at two wave energy hotspots: off Albany on the south-western coast of Australia and off the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) at Orkney, UK. We use multi-decadal wave hindcast data to predict the power that would have been generated by M4…
The Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) has a decisive influence on India's agricultural output and economy. Extreme deviations from the normal seasonal amount of rainfall can cause severe droughts or floods, affecting Indian food production and security. Despite the development of sophisticated statistical and dynamical climate models, a long-term and reliable prediction of the ISMR has remained a challenging problem. Towards achieving this goal, here we construct a series of dynamical and physical climate networks based on the global near surface air temperature field. We uncover that some…
Exascale Hybrid Numerical-AI Ensembles for Operational Flood-Season Forecasting in East Asia: 15-km Decadal Hindcasts and 1-km High-Resolution Capability
Tsinghua University(清华大学);Sun Yat-Sen University(中山大学);Jiangsu Provincial Meteorol. Bureau(江苏省气象局);Beijing Normal University(北京师范大学);Qinghai University(青海大学);National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi(无锡国家超级计算中心);National Supercomputing Center in Shenzhen(深圳国家超级计算中心);CMA Earth System Modeling and Prediction Center(中国气象局地球系统模式与预报中心);Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory(上海人工智能实验室)