Abstract
Eastern China has experienced rapid urbanization during the past four decades, and it is necessary to understand the impacts of the urbanization on the regional climate. Previous simulations with either regional climate models (RCMs) or general circulation models have produced inconsistent and statistically non-significant urbanization effects on precipitation during the East Asian summer monsoon. In the studies with RCMs, reanalysis data were used as the lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) for both urban and non-urban experiments. Since the same LBCs may limit the urbanization effect, in this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model nested within the Global Forecast System (GFS), both of which were coupled with an urban canopy model, were used to explore the urbanization effect over eastern China. The WRF’s LBCs in the runs with/without urbanization were provided by the corresponding GFS runs with/without urbanization. The results showed a significant decrease in precipitation over North China, mainly due to a marked decrease in evaporation and the divergence induced by the reduced latent heating in the mid and upper atmosphere, from the experiment with urbanization. Meanwhile, to the north and south of the large-scale urbanization areas, especially to the south of the Yangtze River, precipitation increased significantly due to large-scale urbanization-induced circulation change. With the same LBCs for the WRF runs with/without urbanization, the urbanization effects were limited only to urban and nearby areas; no significant change was found to the south of the Yangtze River, since the same LBCs hampered the effects of urbanization on large-scale circulation. In addition, this study demonstrated that the urban fraction may be a key factor that affects the intensity of the urbanization effect within the urban areas.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bornstein, R., and Q. L. Lin, 2000: Urban heat islands and summertime convective thunderstorms in Atlanta: Three case studies. Atmos. Environ., 34, 507–516, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(99)00374-X.
Cao, Q., D. Y. Yu, M. Georgescu, et al., 2016: Impacts of urbanization on summer climate in China: An assessment with coupled land-atmospheric modeling. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 121, 10,505–10,521, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025210.
Cao, Q., Y. P. Liu, M. Georgescu, et al., 2020: Impacts of landscape changes on local and regional climate: A systematic review. Landsc. Ecol., 35, 1269–1290, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01015-7.
Chen, J., A. Liao, L. Chen, et al., 2014: Global Artificial land surface dataset at 30 m resolution (2010). Digital Journal of Global Change Data Repository. Available online at http://www.geodoi.ac.cn/edoi.aspx?Id=163. Accessed on 20 December 2021.
Chen, J., A. P. Liao, L. J. Chen, et al., 2017: Content and composition of global artificial land surface dataset at 30 m resolution (2010). J. Global Change Data Discovery, 1, 136–148, doi: https://doi.org/10.3974/geodp.2017.02.02. (in Chinese)
Cheng, F., C. Wang, J. L. Wang, et al., 2011: Trend analysis of building height and total floor space in Beijing, China using ICESat/GLAS data. Int. J. Remote Sens., 32, 8823–8835, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2010.547531.
Cheng, C. K. M., and J. C. L. Chan, 2012: Impacts of land use changes and synoptic forcing on the seasonal climate over the Pearl River Delta of China. Atmos. Environ., 60, 25–36, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.06.019.
Cheng, J., S. L. Liang, Y. J. Yao, et al., 2014: A comparative study of three land surface broadband emissivity datasets from satellite data. Remote Sens., 6, 111–134, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6010111.
Collins, W. D., P. J. Rasch, B. A. Boville, et al., 2004: Description of the NCAR Community Atmosphere Model (CAM 3.0). NCAR Tech. Note NCAR/TN-464+STR, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA, 214 pp.
Cui, Q. Y., Y. Pan, and X. Yang, 2015: Beijing plain area of remote sensing images based on Landsat 8 impermeable layer coverage estimates. J. Capital Normal Univ. (Nat. Sci. Ed.), 36, 89–92, doi: https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1004-9398.2015.02.019. (in Chinese)
Dee, D. P., S. M. Uppala, A. J. Simmons, et al., 2011: The ERA-Interim reanalysis: Configuration and performance of the data assimilation system. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 137, 553–597, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.828.
Ding, C. R., 2013: Building height restrictions, land development and economic costs. Land Use Policy, 30, 485–495, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2012.04.016.
Du, Y., Y. C. Zhang, and Z. Q. Xie, 2009: Location variation of the East Asia subtropical westerly jet and its effect on the summer precipitation anomaly over eastern China. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 33, 581–592, doi: https://doi.org/10.3878/j.issn.1006-9895.2009.03.15. (in Chinese)
Feng, J. M., Y. L. Wang, and Z. G. Ma, 2015: Long-term simulation of large-scale urbanization effect on the East Asian monsoon. Climatic Change, 129, 511–523, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-0885-2.
Fu, X. S., X. Q. Yang, and X. G. Sun, 2019: Spatial and diurnal variations of summer hourly rainfall over three super city clusters in eastern China and their possible link to the urbanization. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 124, 5445–5462, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030474.
Georgescu, M., A. Mahalov, and M. Moustaoui, 2012: Seasonal hydroclimatic impacts of sun corridor expansion. Environ. Res. Lett., 7, 034026, doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/3/034026.
Han, J.-Y., J.-J. Baik, and H. Lee, 2014: Urban impacts on precipitation. Asia-Pac. J. Atmos. Sci., 50, 17–30, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13143-014-0016-7.
Han, L. F., Y. P. Xu, L. Yang, et al., 2015: Temporal and spatial change of stream structure in Yangtze River Delta and its driving forces during 1960s–2010s. Acta Geogr. Sin., 70, 819–827, doi: https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb201505012. (in Chinese)
Hong, S.-Y., and J.-O. J. Lim, 2006: The WRF single-moment 6-class microphysics scheme (WSM6). J. Korean Meteor. Soc., 42, 129–151.
Hong, S.-Y., Y. Noh, and J. Dudhia, 2006: A new vertical diffusion package with an explicit treatment of entrainment processes. Mon. Wea. Rev., 134, 2318–2341, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR3199.1.
Hu, Y. H., G. S. Jia, C. Pohl, et al., 2015: Improved monitoring of urbanization processes in China for regional climate impact assessment. Environ. Earth Sci., 73, 8387–8404, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-4000-4.
Jackson, T. L., J. J. Feddema, K. W. Oleson, et al., 2010: Parameterization of urban characteristics for global climate modeling. Ann. Assoc. Am. Geogr., 100, 848–865, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00045608.2010.497328.
Jia, G. S., R. H. Xu, Y. H. Hu, et al., 2015: Multi-scale remote sensing estimates of urban fractions and road widths for regional models. Climatic Change, 129, 543–554, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1114-3.
Jiang, Z. H., and Y. Li, 2014: Impact of urbanization in different regions of eastern China on precipitation and its uncertainty. J. Trop. Meteor., 30, 601–611, doi: https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1004-4965.2014.04.001. (in Chinese)
Jin, M. L., R. E. Dickinson, and D. Zhang, 2005: The footprint of urban areas on global climate as characterized by MODIS. J. Climate, 18, 1551–1565, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI3334.1.
Kain, J. S., 2004: The Kain-Fritsch convective parameterization: An update. J. Appl. Meteor., 43, 170–181, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(2004)043<0170:TKCPAU>2.0.CO;2.
Kaufmann, R. K., K. C. Seto, A. Schneider, et al., 2007: Climate response to rapid urban growth: Evidence of a human-induced precipitation deficit. J. Climate, 20, 2299–2306, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI4109.1.
Li, W. K., W. D. Guo, Y. K. Xue, et al., 2016: Sensitivity of a regional climate model to land surface parameterization schemes for East Asian summer monsoon simulation. Climate Dyn., 47, 2293–2308, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2964-8.
Li, W. P., Y. K. Xue, and I. Poccard, 2007: Numerical investigation of the impact of vegetation indices on the variability of West African summer monsoon. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 85A, 363–383, doi: https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.85A.363.
Li, Z. Q., L. L. Song, H. Ma, et al., 2017: Observed surface wind speed declining induced by urbanization in East China. Climate Dyn., 50, 735–749, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3637-6.
Li, Z., Z. W. Yan, K. Tu, et al., 2015: Changes of precipitation and extremes and the possible effect of urbanization in the Beijing metropolitan region during 1960–2012 based on homogenized observations. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 32, 1173–1185, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-015-4257-x.
Liao, W. L., D. G. Wang, X. P. Liu, et al., 2017: Estimated influence of urbanization on surface warming in eastern China using time-varying land use data. Int. J. Climatol., 37, 3197–3208, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4908.
Liu, J. K., Z. Q. Gao, L. L. Wang, et al., 2018: The impact of urbanization on wind speed and surface aerodynamic characteristics in Beijing during 1991–2011. Meteor. Atmos. Phys., 130, 311–324, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-017-0519-8.
Liu, Q., L. Z. Wang, Y. Qu, et al., 2013: Preliminary evaluation of the long-term GLASS albedo product. Int. J. Digit. Earth, 6, 69–95, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/17538947.2013.804601.
Liu, Z. X., 2013: Assessing the urbanization effects by applying an urban canopy model and coupling it with weather research and forecasting model. Ph.D. dissertation, Peking University, Beijing, 204 pp. (in Chinese)
Lo, J. C. F., A. K. H. Lau, F. Chen, et al., 2007: Urban modification in a mesoscale model and the effects on the local circulation in the Pearl River delta region. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 46, 457–476, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/JAM2477.1.
Ma, H. Y., Z. H. Jiang, J. Song, et al., 2016: Effects of urban land-use change in East China on the East Asian summer monsoon based on the CAM5.1 model. Climate Dyn., 46, 2977–2989, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2745-4.
Meng, C. L., and Y. J. Dai, 2013: Development and verification of a bulk urbanized land surface model. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 37, 1297–1308, doi: https://doi.org/10.3878/j.issn.1006-9895.2013.12185. (in Chinese)
Miao, S. G., F. Chen, M. A. LeMone, et al., 2008: An observational and modeling study of characteristics of urban heat island and boundary layer structures in Beijing. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 48, 484–501, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JAMC1909.1.
Miao, S. G., J. X. Dou, F. Chen, et al., 2012: Analysis of observations on the urban surface energy balance in Beijing. Sci. China Earth Sci., 55, 1881–1890, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-012-4411-6.
Niyogi, D., M. Lei, C. Kishtawal, et al., 2017: Urbanization impacts on the summer heavy rainfall climatology over the Eastern United States. Earth Interact., 21, 1–17, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/EID-15-0045.1.
Niyogi, D., K. K. Osuri, N. K. R. Busireddy, et al., 2020: Timing of rainfall occurrence altered by urban sprawl. Urban Climate, 33, 100643, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2020.100643.
Oke, T. R., 1979: Review of Urban Climatology 1973–1976. WMO Technical Note No. 169, WMO No. 539. World Meteorological Organization, Geneva. Available online at https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=6310#.YYNBIeR7kuV.
Oleson, K. W., G. B. Bonan, J. Feddema, et al., 2008: An urban parameterization for a global climate model. Part I: Formulation and Evaluation for Two Cities. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 47, 1038–1060, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/2007JAMC1597.1.
Peng, S. S., S. L. Piao, P. Ciais, et al., 2012: Surface urban heat island across 419 global big cities. Environ. Sci. Technol., 46, 696–703, doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/es2030438.
Rozoff, C. M., W. R. Cotton, and J. O. Adegoke, 2003: Simulation of St. Louis, Missouri, land use impacts on thunderstorms. J. Appl. Meteor., 42, 716–738, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(2003)042<0716:SOSLML>2.0.CO;2.
Saha, S., S. Moorthi, H.-L. Pan, et al., 2010: The NCEP climate forecast system reanalysis. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 91, 1015–1057, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/2010BAMS3001.1.
Sato, T., and Y. K. Xue, 2013: Validating a regional climate model’s downscaling ability for East Asian summer monsoonal interannual variability. Climate Dyn., 41, 2411–2426, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-012-1616-5.
Seto, K. C., A. Reenberg, C. G. Boone, et al., 2012: Urban land teleconnections and sustainability. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109, 7687–7692, doi: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1117622109.
Shepherd, J. M., 2005: A review of current investigations of urban-induced rainfall and recommendations for the future. Earth Interact., 9, 1–27, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/EI156.1.
Skamarock, W. C., J. B. Klemp, J. Dudhia, et al., 2008: A description of the advanced research WRF version 3. NCAR Tech. Note NCAR/TN-475+STR, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA, 113 pp.
Song, X. M., J. Y. Zhang, A. Aghakouchak, et al., 2014: Rapid urbanization and changes in spatiotemporal characteristics of precipitation in Beijing metropolitan area. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119, 11250–11271, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JD022084.
Sun, S. F., and Y. K. Xue, 2001: Implementing a new snow scheme in Simplified Simple Biosphere Model (SSiB). Adv. Atmos. Sci., 18, 335–354, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02919314.
Wang, J., J. M. Feng, Z. W. Yan, et al., 2012: Nested high-resolution modeling of the impact of urbanization on regional climate in three vast urban agglomerations in China. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 117, D21103, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JD018226.
Wang, J., J. M. Feng, and Z. W. Yan, 2015: Potential sensitivity of warm season precipitation to urbanization extents: Modeling study in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration in China. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 120, 9408–9425, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023572.
Wang, W.-C., Z. M. Zeng, and T. R. Karl, 1990: Urban heat islands in China. Geophys. Res. Lett., 17, 2377–2380, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/GL017i013p02377.
Wang, X. M., J. B. Liao, J. Zhang, et al., 2013: A numeric study of regional climate change induced by urban expansion in the Pearl River Delta, China. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 53, 346–362, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-13-054.1.
Wang, Y. W., and W. M. Jiang, 2009: Numerical study on development of a multilayer urban canopy model. Acta Meteor. Sinica, 67, 1013–1024, doi: https://doi.org/10.11676/qxxb2009.098. (in Chinese)
Wu, J., J. L. Zha, and D. M. Zhao, 2016: Estimating the impact of the changes in land use and cover on the surface wind speed over the East China Plain during the period 1980–2011. Climate Dyn., 46, 847–863, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2616-z.
Wu, K., and X. Q. Yang, 2013: Urbanization and heterogeneous surface warming in eastern China. Chinese Sci. Bull., 58, 1363–1373, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-012-5627-8.
Xue, Y., K. N. Liou, and A. Kasahara, 1990: Investigation of the biogeophysical feedback on the African climate using a two-dimensional model. J. Climate, 3, 337–352, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1990)003<0337:IOBFOT>2.0.CO;2.
Xue, Y., P. J. Sellers, J. L. Kinter, et al., 1991: A simplified biosphere model for global climate studies. J. Climate, 4, 345–364, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1991)004<0345:ASBMFG>2.0.CO;2.
Xue, Y. K., 1996: The impact of desertification in the Mongolian and the Inner Mongolian Grassland on the regional climate. J. Climate, 9, 2173–2189, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1996)009<2173:TIODIT>2.0.CO;2.
Xue, Y. K., 1997: Biosphere feedback on regional climate in tropical North Africa. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 123, 1483–1515, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49712354203.
Xue, Y. K., H.-M. H. Juang, W. P. Li, et al., 2004: Role of land surface processes in monsoon development: East Asia and West Africa. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 109, D03105, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD003556.
Xue, Y. K., F. De Sales, R. Vasic, et al., 2010: Global and seasonal assessment of interactions between climate and vegetation biophysical processes: A GCM study with different land-vegetation representations. J. Climate, 23, 1411–1433, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JCLI3054.1.
Xue, Y. K., Z. Janjic, J. Dudhia, et al., 2014: A review on regional dynamical downscaling in intraseasonal to seasonal simulation/prediction and major factors that affect downscaling ability. Atmos. Res., 147–148, 68–85, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2014.05.001.
Xue, Y. K., I. Diallo, W. K. Li, et al., 2018: Spring land surface and subsurface temperature anomalies and subsequent downstream late spring-summer droughts/floods in North America and East Asia. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 123, 5001–5019, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JD028246.
Yan, Z. W., J. Wang, J. J. Xia, et al., 2016: Review of recent studies of the climatic effects of urbanization in China. Adv. Climate Change Res., 7, 154–168, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accre.2016.09.003.
Yang, P., G. Y. Ren, and W. D. Liu, 2013: Spatial and temporal characteristics of Beijing urban heat island intensity. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 52, 1803–1816, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/jamc-d-12-0125.1.
Zha, J. L., J. Wu, and D. M. Zhao, 2017: Effects of land use and cover change on the near-surface wind speed over China in the last 30 years. Prog. Phys. Geog., 41, 46–47, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133316663097.
Zhang, C. L., F. Chen, S. G. Miao, et al., 2009: Impacts of urban expansion and future green planting on summer precipitation in the Beijing metropolitan area. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 114, D02116, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD010328.
Zhang, N., Z. Q. Gao, X. M. Wang, et al., 2010: Modeling the impact of urbanization on the local and regional climate in Yangtze River Delta, China. Theor. Appl. Climatol., 102, 331–342, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-010-0263-1.
Zhang, Y., J. A. Smith, L. F. Luo, et al., 2014: Urbanization and rainfall variability in the Beijing metropolitan region. J. Hydrometeorl., 15, 2219–2235, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-13-0180.1.
Zhao, D. M., and J. Wu, 2017: The influence of urban surface expansion in China on regional climate. J. Climate, 30, 1061–1080, doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0604.1.
Zhou, D. C., S. Q. Zhao, L. X. Zhang, et al., 2015: The footprint of urban heat island effect in China. Sci. Rep., 5, 11160, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep11160.
Acknowledgements
The data used are listed in the references. The authors thank Dr. Ismaila Dialo and Miss Huilin Huang of UCLA for helping the first author to work on the WRF model, and Dr. Kang Yang of Nanjing University for helping the first author to work on the remote sensing dataset. This material is based upon work supported by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), which is a major facility sponsored by the NSF under Cooperative Agreement No. 1852977. Computing and data storage resources, including the Cheyenne supercomputer (doi: 10.5065/D6RX99HX), were provided by the Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) at NCAR. The authors also acknowledge the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of Texas at Austin for providing high performance computer resources.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1507801), National Science Foundation of U.S. (AGS-1419526), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (8204061), Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Collaborative Innovation Community Construction Project (19245419D), and State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology (2017-KF-05).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Quan, J., Xue, Y., Duan, Q. et al. Numerical Investigation and Uncertainty Analysis of Eastern China’s Large-Scale Urbanization Effect on Regional Climate. J Meteorol Res 35, 1023–1040 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-021-1033-y
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-021-1033-y