The Climate of China

ISBN-13: 9783642733352 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 361 str.

Manfred Domr S.; Gongbing Peng

Opis

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949there has been a rapid advance in climatology in China. The number of climatological stations has increased from less than 100 to more than of Chinese climatologists covers various 2,000, and the research work fields. The climate of China is no longer just a description of the average weather for an area or locality, but covers many fields such as the monsoon climate, the fluctuation of climate, the spatial and temporal variations of the climatic elements and physical and dynam ic climate. Four books on the climate of China, written in Chinese, have been published so far. There is, however, no excellent book written in English on the climate of China, although Volume 8 of the World Survey oj Climatology, dealing with the climates of northern and eastern Asia, edited by H. Arakawa in 1969, contains a chapter on the climate of China and Korea written by LE. M. Watts. The data sources for China are based mainly on observations from 1940-1952 and the climatological charts of China published by the Central Weather Bureau of China in 1953 and 1955. This monograph on The Climate ojChina by Prof. Dr. M. Dom ros and Prof. Peng Gongbing is the first comprehensive and advanced book in English on the climate of China.

Spis treści

1 Introduction.- 1.1 Aims and Concept of the Study.- 1.2 Climate Data.- 1.3 Review of Climate Studies on China.- 2 Controlling Factors of the Climate.- 2.1 Latitude, Longitude and Location.- 2.2 Topography and Landforms.- 2.3 Distribution of Land and Sea and Nature of the Underlying Ground.- 2.4 Seasons.- 3 Circulation.- 3.1 Seasonal Pressure Distribution at Sea Level.- 3.2 Seasonally Prevailing Winds and Air Masses.- 3.3 Winter and Summer Monsoon.- 3.3.1 Characteristics of the Monsoon in General.- 3.3.2 Onset and Duration of the Winter Monsoon.- 3.3.3 Periods of Active and Weak Winter Monsoon.- 3.3.4 Damage Due to Strong Cold Outbreaks of Winter Monsoon.- 3.3.5 Onset and Duration of the Summer Monsoon.- 3.3.6 Some Characteristics of the Summer Monsoon.- 3.4 Frontology.- 3.4.1 Mean Front Position in January and July.- 3.4.2 The Stationary Fronts in February and March as well as in the Pre-Typhoon Season in South China.- 3.4.3 Some Characteristics of the Mei-Yu Front.- 3.5 The Transient Disturbances.- 3.5.1 The Upper Westerly Troughs in the Westerlies.- 3.5.2 Extratropical Cyclones and Anticyclones.- 3.5.3 Typhoons.- 4 Temperature.- 4.1 Mean Annual Air Temperature Distribution.- 4.2 Mean Seasonal Temperature Distribution.- 4.3 Annual Range and Annual Variation of Temperature.- 4.4 Onset and End of Certain Limited Temperatures and Their Duration.- 4.4.1 Mean Daily Air Temperature ? 0°C.- 4.4.2 Mean Daily Air Temperature ? 10 °C.- 4.4.3 Maximum Daily Air Temperature ? 35 °C.- 4.4.4 Other Extreme Limited Temperatures.- 4.5 Vertical Distribution of Temperature.- 4.6 Comparison of Temperature at the Same Latitude.- 4.7 Diurnal Range of Temperature.- 4.8 Interannual Variability of Temperature.- 4.8.1 Variability of Annual Mean Temperature.- 4.8.2 Variability of Monthly Mean Temperatures.- 4.9 Historical-Climatic Change of Temperature During the last 5,000, 500 and 100 Years.- 5 Precipitation.- 5.1 Mean Annual Precipitation Distribution.- 5.2 Mean Seasonal Precipitation Distribution.- 5.3 Annual Variation of Precipitation.- 5.3.1 Specific Precipitation Types and Their Distribution.- 5.3.2 Variation of Wet and Dry Months over Space and Time.- 5.3.3 Summer Precipitation.- 5.4 Interannual Precipitation Variability.- 5.4.1 Variability of Annual Precipitation.- 5.4.2 Variability of Monthly Precipitation.- 5.4.3 Variability of Annual and Monthly Precipitation at Beijing.- 5.5 Precipitation Frequency Expressed in Rainy Days.- 5.6 Precipitation Intensity.- 5.7 Rainstorms and Certain Events of Heavy Rainfall.- 5.8 Diurnal Variation of Precipitation.- 5.9 Influence of Topography and Elevation on Precipitation.- 5.9.1 Influence of the Exposition of Slopes on Precipitation.- 5.9.2 Effect of Elevation on Prefipitation.- 5.10 Historical Change of Precipitation.- 5.11 Snow.- 5.11.1 Mean Length of Snow Cover Period.- 5.11.2 Number of Snowfall Days.- 5.11.3 Maximum Depth of Snow.- 5.11.4 Altitude of the Snow Line.- 6 Cloudiness and Sunshine.- 6.1 Mean Annual Cloudiness and January and July Amount.- 6.2 Sunshine.- 6.2.1 Annual Sunshine Duration.- 6.2.2 Sunshine Duration in January and July and Annual Variation.- 6.3 Global Radiation.- 6.4 Fog.- 7 Surface Wind.- 7.1 Mean and Extreme Wind Velocities.- 7.2 Local Wind Systems.- 7.2.1 Mountain and Valley Breezes.- 7.2.2 Land and Sea Breezes, Lake Breeze.- 7.2.3 Plateau Monsoon.- 7.2.4 Local Dry and Hot Winds.- 8 Climate Classification and Division of China.- 8.1 General Objectives and Fundamentals of Climate Regionalization.- 8.2 China Within Global Climate Classifications.- 8.3 National Climate Classifications of China.- 8.4 Climate Division of China According to Huang Bing-wei (1986).- 9 Climate Zones of China.- 9.1 Cold Temperate Zone (I).- 9.2 Middle Temperate Zone (II).- 9.3 Warm Temperate Zone (III).- 9.4 Northern Subtropical Zone (IV).- 9.5 Middle Subtropical Zone (V).- 9.6 Southern Subtropical Zone (VI).- 9.7 Peripheral Tropical Zone (VII).- 9.8 Middle Tropical Zone (VIII).- 9.9 Southern Tropical Zone (IX).- 9.10 Alpine Plateau Zone (H0).- 9.11 Subalpine Plateau tone (HI).- 9.12 Temperate Plateau Zone (HII).- Appendix: Climate Tables.- References.