Tag Archives: xubin zeng

Decoding the Skies: The Impact of Water Vapor on Afternoon Rainfall

The role of incoming water vapor in rainfall has been a complex area of study, but new research shows water vapor is a vital piece of the puzzle.

The role that atmospheric water vapor plays in weather is complex and not clearly understood. However, University of Arizona researchers have started to tease out the relationship between morning soil moisture and afternoon rainfall under different atmospheric conditions in a new study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. (more…)

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UA Climate Scientists Put Predictions to the Test

A new study has found that climate-prediction models are good at predicting long-term climate patterns on a global scale but lose their edge when applied to time frames shorter than three decades and on sub-continental scales.

Climate-prediction models show skills in forecasting climate trends over time spans of greater than 30 years and at the geographical scale of continents, but they deteriorate when applied to shorter time frames and smaller geographical regions, a new study has found.

Published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, the study is one of the first to systematically address a longstanding, fundamental question asked not only by climate scientists and weather forecasters, but the public as well: How good are Earth system models at predicting the surface air temperature trend at different geographical and time scales? (more…)

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