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JMSJ, 2014, Vol. 92, No. 3 (June)

Articles

Oigawa et al. (2014)

Oigawa, M., E. Realini, H. Seko, and T. Tsuda, 2014: Numerical Simulation on Retrieval of Meso-γ Scale Precipitable Water Vapor Distribution with the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS). J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 92, 189–205.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.2014-301   Graphical Abstract

Highlights:

• Effects of different geometries of global positioning satellites on estimation of meso-γ scale Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) distribution were investigated by numerical simulation. We focused on QZSS in which at least one satellite exists close to the zenith, that is, at an elevation angle higher than 80° over Japan (Figure 1).
• Fine structures of PWV distribution caused by convections were smoothed out by conventional analysis method (PWV_G). By contrast, they were well captured by high-elevation slant paths, which were obtained by high elevation QZSS satellite (PWV_Q)(Figure 2).
• It was demonstrated that the standard deviation of the PWV error, which was difference from the vertically integrated value of water vapor, was reduced when PWV was estimated from only high-elevation single slant paths. It was also shown that QZSS mitigated significantly discontinuities in the PWV time series that were caused by the change of the highest satellite.

Ogata et al. (2014)

Ogata, T., H. Ueda, T. Inoue, M. Hayasaki, A. Yoshida, S. Watanabe, M. Kira, M. Ooshiro, and A. Kumai, 2014: Projected future changes in the Asian monsoon: A comparison of CMIP3 and CMIP5 model results. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 92, 207-225.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.2014-302   Graphical Abstract

Highlights:

• Evaluations of the summer/winter Asian monsoon through the late 20th century (1981–2000) were conducted on the basis of model simulations using 20 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 3 (CMIP3) and 24 Phase 5 (CMIP5) multi-model datasets. Based on these evaluations, we examined projected future (2081–2100) changes in the summer/winter Asian monsoon, including those of the tropical Hadley–Walker circulation, for mid-range emission scenarios (SRES-A1B for CMIP3 and RCP4.5 for CMIP5).
• In boreal summer, the CMIP5 MME shows a projected acceleration of climatological low-level monsoon westerlies (Figure 1a), especially in subtropical regions (10°–20°N). This is robust feature in most CMIP5 models (Figure 2a, 2b).
• In boreal winter, the CMIP5 MME shows a projected intensification of the Aleutian Low (Figure 1b), but future change of Asian winter monsoon circulation (measured by 850-hPa meridional wind around Japan) has large uncertainties in individual CMIP5 models (Figure 2c).

Güler (2014)

Güler, M., 2014: A comparison of different interpolation methods using the geographical information system for the production of reference evapotranspiration maps in Turkey. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 92, 227−240.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.2014-303   Graphical Abstract

Highlights:

• Eight different interpolation methods were comparatively analyzed to determine the spatial distribution of monthly reference evapotranspiration (ET0) values calculated using the Hargreaves method (ET0-HG).
• LR model was found to give the optimum results. The highest correlation coefficient was observed with the LR model for all months except March, April, June, and September.
• UK showed lower correlation coefficients than the LR model for all months except June and September and was found to be the second-best method.
• Elevation and slope used in LR models as secondary data were considered insignificant to identify ET0-PM. Therefore, these secondary data were not proposed to use in similar studies.
• A remarkable comparison was found between the performance of HG and FAO-PM methods in terms of monthly ET0 calculations. The minimal data requirements of HG are a major advantage for areas such as the current study region, where data is scarce.
• Although FAO-PM remains the most desirable method for computing ET0, in developing countries where accurate data is difficult to acquire, the use of HG is preferable in general. In addition, LR has yielded successful results in producing ET0-HG spatial maps.