Analysis to significant climate change in aerosol influence domain of Beijing and its peripheral areas by EOF mode

Abstract

Using the total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) aerosol optical depth (AOD) data and the sunshine duration, fog days, low cloud cover (LCC), etc. meteorological data in 1979-2000 in North China, as well as empirical orthogonal function (EOF) mode statistical analyses method, the winter aerosol distributive character of Beijing and peripheral city agglomeration and its influence effect on regional climate are investigated in this paper, especially the relation between aerosol influence effect and distinct change regions of eigenvectors of EOF mode. It is found from analyzing the regional distribution of the long-term averaged winter TOMS AOD that there is a large-scale relatively stable high value zone of aerosol concentration in the valley of the Beijing and peripheral U-shape megarelief. A high correlation area of AOD between Beijing and its southern peripheral exists in winter, and in this significant region of aerosol interaction, there is "in-phase" character of the interannual variations of winter AOD, fog days, and LCCs. It indicates that the variations of aerosol in Beijing and its peripheral areas have impacts on interannual changes of fog days and LCCs in this area. The EOF analyses of the meteorological data further reveal the climate change regions and long-term trends of winter sunshine duration-reducing, and LCC- and fog days-increasing in North China. The areas of significant changes of the first EOF eigenvectors (FEE) of sunshine duration, fog days, LCCs almost superpose on corresponding marked regions of interdecadal differences between the 1990s and 1980s, and all accord with the S-N zonal high value pattern and high correlation region of winter AOD in Beijing and its peripheral areas. Interannual variations of their associated time coefficients (ATC) are in phase with that of regional mean AOD, and both of them have a secular rising trend. Results by EOF mode analyses depict the regional climatic change principal character of winter sunshine duration-reducing, and LCC- and fog days-increasing in peripheral areas to the south of Beijing, and reveal the regional influence effect of aerosol, i.e. the high value zone of long-term averaged winter AOD, significant change regions of FEE of sunshine duration, fog days, and LCC all lie in peripheral city agglomeration to the south of Beijing. These distributive features above suggest that there exists a regional strengthening trend of aerosol climatic effect within influence domain in peripheral city agglomeration to the south of Beijing.