Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

About: Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology is a education organization based out in Nanjing, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Precipitation & Aerosol. The organization has 14129 authors who have published 17985 publications receiving 267578 citations. The organization is also known as: Nan Xin Da.

First observation‐based estimates of cloud‐free aerosol radiative forcing across China

Abstract: [1] Heavy loading of aerosols in China is widely known, but little is known about their impact on regional radiation budgets, which is often expressed as aerosol radiative forcing (ARF). Cloud-free direct ARF has either been estimated by models across the region or determined at a handful of locations with aerosol and/or radiation measurements. In this study, ARF is determined at 25 stations distributed across China where aerosol optical thickness has been measured since 2004. In combination with the single-scattering albedo retrieved from ground and satellite measurements, ARF was determined at all the stations at the surface, inside the atmosphere, and at the top of atmosphere (TOA). Nationwide annual and diurnal mean ARF is found to be −15.7 ± 8.9 at the surface, 0.3 ± 1.6 at the TOA, and 16.0 ± 9.2 W m−2 inside the atmosphere. These values imply that aerosols have very little impact on the atmosphere-surface system but substantially warm up the atmosphere at the expense of cooling the surface. The strong atmospheric absorption is likely to alter atmospheric thermodynamic conditions and thus affects circulation considerably.

Impacts of two types of La Niña on the NAO during boreal winter

Abstract: The present work identifies two types of La Nina based on the spatial distribution of sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly. In contrast to the eastern Pacific (EP) La Nina event, a new type of La Nina (central Pacific, or CP La Nina) is featured by the SST cooling center over the CP. These two types of La Nina exhibit a fundamental difference in SST anomaly evolution: the EP La Nina shows a westward propagation feature while the CP La Nina exhibits a standing feature over the CP. The two types of La Nina can give rise to a significantly different teleconnection around the globe. As a response to the EP La Nina, the North Atlantic (NA)–Western European (WE) region experiences the atmospheric anomaly resembling a negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) pattern accompanied by a weakening Atlantic jet. It leads to a cooler and drier than normal winter over Western Europe. However, the CP La Nina has a roughly opposing impact on the NA–WE climate. A positive NAO-like climate anomaly is observed with a strengthening Atlantic jet, and there appears a warmer and wetter than normal winter over Western Europe. Modeling experiments indicate that the above contrasting atmospheric anomalies are mainly attributed to the different SST cooling patterns for the two types of La Nina. Mixing up their signals would lead to difficulty in seasonal prediction of regional climate. Since the La Nina-related SST anomaly is clearly observed during the developing autumn, the associated winter climate anomalies over Western Europe could be predicted a season in advance.