JCDP

World

If you use any of the illustrations on this page, please clearly indicate the source below.
JCDP (https://jcdp.jp/)

Annual Mean Air Temperature (Land) : 1981-2010

The data was acquired from GHCN Gridded V2 data provided by the NOAA/OAR/ESRL PSL, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their Web site at / https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.ghcncams.html

The figure was created using GrADS (The Grid Analysis and Display System).　

Annual Mean Total Precipitation (Land) : 1981-2010

The GPCC Precipitation data is provided by the NOAA/OAR/ESRL PSL, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their Web site at https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.gpcc.html/

The figure was created using GrADS (The Grid Analysis and Display System).　

January Mean Precipitation (Land) in Monsoon Asia: 1981-2010

The GPCC Precipitation data is provided by the NOAA/OAR/ESRL PSL, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their Web site at https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.gpcc.html

The figure was created using GrADS (The Grid Analysis and Display System).

July Mean Precipitation (Land) in Monsoon Asia: 1981-2010

Climate atlas for El Niño and La Niña years

Various climate atlases for winter (DJF: December – February) and summer (JJA: June – August) El Niño and La Niña years (composite mean of differences from 1951-2020 normal) have been prepared and are now available. For reference, we have also included SST distribution maps (1951-2020 average) for winter and summer.

The NOAA ERSST v5 data is provided from their Web site at https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.noaa.ersst.v5.html
The figures were created using GrADS (The Grid Analysis and Display System).

El Niño and La Niña years were extracted according to the following JMA definitions.
https://www.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/cpd/data/elnino/learning/faq/elnino_table.html　

El Niño years

★Winter DJF: 1951/52，1957/58，1963/64，1965/66，1968/69，1969/70，1972/73，1976/77，1982/83，1986/87，1987/88，1991/92, 1997/98, 2002/03，2009/10，2014/15，2015/16，2018/19
★Summer JJA: 1951，1953，1957，1963，1965，1969，1972，1976，1982，1983，1987，1991，1992，1997，2002，2009，2014，2015

La Niña years

★Winter DJF: 1954/55，1955/56，1964/65，1967/68，1970/71，1971/72，1973/74，1975/76，1984/85，1988/89，1995/96，1999/2000，2005/06，2007/08，2010/11，2017/18，2020/21
★Summer JJA: 1954，1955，1964，1967，1970，1971，1973，1975，1984，1985，1988，1995，1998，2007，2010，2021954，1955，1964，1967，1970，1971，1973，1975，1984，1985，1988，1995，1998，2007，2010，2020

NH Winter (DJF) Mean Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Distribution (1951-2020)

NH Summer (JJA) Mean Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Distribution (1951-2020)

NH Winter (DJF) Sea Surface Temperature anomalies in El Niño years

NH Summer (JJA) Sea Surface Temperature anomalies in El Niño years

NH Winter (DJF) Sea Surface Temperature anomalies in La Niña years

NH Summer (JJA) Sea Surface Temperature anomalies in La Niña years

World Precipitation anomalies in El Niño and La Niña years (Reference Period: 1979-2021)

The CPC Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) is provided from their Web site at https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.cmap.html
The figures were created using GrADS (The Grid Analysis and Display System).
El Niño/La Niña years are defined by the Japan Meteorological Agency.
https://www.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/cpd/data/elnino/learning/faq/elnino_table.html

NH Summer (JJA) Precipitation anomalies in El Niño years (Reference Period: 1979-2021)

NH Winter (DJF) Precipitation anomalies in El Niño years (Reference Period: 1979-2021)

NH Summer (JJA) Precipitation anomalies in La Niña years (Reference Period: 1979-2021)

NH Winter (DJF) Precipitation anomalies in La Niña years (Reference Period: 1979-2021)

Mean Geopotential Height distribution at 500hPa level of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere in January and July (1991-2020 normal) , and their Changes from 1961-1990 normal

Figures were created using GrADS (The Grid Analysis and Display System) based on NCEP Reanalysis data provided by the NOAA/OAR/ESRL PSL, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their Web site at /https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.ncep.reanalysis.html

Geopotential Height distribution at 500hPa level in January (1991-2020)

Geopotential Height distribution at 500hPa level in July (1991-2020)

Topics

Anomaly maps in “Climate Atlas”

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Junpei Hirano

In climatology, we use values called “anomalies” to understand the average state of climatic elements (atmospheric pressure, temperature, precipitation, sunshine duration, and solar radiation, etc.). The “normal” is defined as the average value of climatic factors during the past 30 years. Since the average value changes due to climate change such as global warming, the normal is updated every ten years. For example, for the 10-year period from 2011 to 2020, the 1981-2010 average was used as the “normal,” but it was updated in 2021, and for the 10-year period from 2021 to 2030, the 1991-2020 average will be used as the “new normal.

In weather forecasting, the term “warmer (colder) than normal” is sometimes used, but in this case, “normal” refers to the “normal” value of temperature. In other words, the “normal value” of temperature is the standard for evaluating the warmth (coldness), etc. of each year. The difference between the temperature of each year and the normal is called the ” anomaly”. In the case of temperature, a positive anomaly indicates a warmer than normal year, while a negative anomaly indicates a colder than normal year. A map of temperature anomalies shows the distribution of areas with warmer-than-normal temperatures (positive anomaly areas) and areas with colder-than-normal temperatures (negative anomaly areas).

Similar to temperature, precipitation can also be plotted based on the “normal” value. However, in the case of precipitation, anomalies are generally expressed as the ratio of precipitation to the normal (ratio of normal to precipitation). For example, if you draw a precipitation anomaly map for a year with an El Niño or La Niña event, you can see areas with more or less rainfall than normal. Global precipitation anomaly maps for summer (June-August) and winter (December-February) of El Niño events are available on the Climate Atlas “World” page. However, as the basis for the anomalies, we have used the 43-year average for the period 1979-2021, for which precipitation data are available, instead of the 30-year “normal. Green-colored areas indicate areas of higher-than-normal rainfall, while brown-colored areas indicate areas of lower-than-normal rainfall. It can be seen that in El Niño years, there is more rainfall in the eastern tropical Pacific and less in the western tropical Pacific.

Furthermore, by comparing the precipitation anomaly map with the SST anomaly map, we can see the relationship between SST anomalies and precipitation anomalies. For example, in the “Winter DJF SST anomaly map for El Niño years”, the eastern tropical Pacific is colored red, indicating that SSTs are higher than normal. In an El Niño year, the sea surface temperature in this region is high, which activates cumulus convection and leads to heavy rainfall.

Global precipitation anomaly maps for summer (June – August) and winter (December – February) La Niña years show the opposite pattern (heavy rainfall in the eastern tropical Pacific and less rainfall in the western tropical Pacific). In La Niña years, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) drop below normal in the eastern tropical Pacific (see SST anomaly distribution in La Niña years), which suppresses cumulus convection and results in less rainfall.

The JCDP “Climate Atlas” will include various climate anomaly maps in the future. We recommend that you use the anomaly maps in the JCDP Climate Atlas when explaining “extreme weather” and its spatial distribution in high school geography and geology courses and in university liberal arts courses.