Performance of CRA-40 reanalysis in representing the Antarctic winter stratospheric circulation: a comparison with ERA-5 and MERRA-2

This paper evaluates a representation of winter stratospheric circulation in the Antarctic that is based on CRA-40, a 40-year global reanalysis dataset released by the China Meteorological Administration, and compares it with representations based on two other state-of-the-art reanalysis datasets: t...

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Main Authors: ZiXu Wang, JingGao Hu, Jing-Jia Luo, Jian Rao, ZongZe Li, LiuChi Yan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Science Press 2025-03-01
Series:Earth and Planetary Physics
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Online Access:http://www.eppcgs.org/article/doi/10.26464/epp2025010?pageType=en
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author ZiXu Wang
JingGao Hu
Jing-Jia Luo
Jian Rao
ZongZe Li
LiuChi Yan
author_facet ZiXu Wang
JingGao Hu
Jing-Jia Luo
Jian Rao
ZongZe Li
LiuChi Yan
author_sort ZiXu Wang
collection DOAJ
description This paper evaluates a representation of winter stratospheric circulation in the Antarctic that is based on CRA-40, a 40-year global reanalysis dataset released by the China Meteorological Administration, and compares it with representations based on two other state-of-the-art reanalysis datasets: the fifth-generation atmospheric reanalysis provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ERA-5) and the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2). In terms of climatology, we find that CRA-40 portrays a stronger and colder polar vortex in the middle and lower stratosphere than ERA-5, but a weaker and warmer one than MERRA-2. However, disagreement among the three reanalyses is confined mainly to the period before 1999, and is largely reduced after that time. On the interannual timescale, portrayals of the intensity and area of the 10-hPa polar vortex are quite consistent among the three reanalyses, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.9 between each pair of reanalyses. In addition, the central dates of most sudden stratospheric deceleration (SSD) events at 10 hPa in the three reanalyses differ by less than one day, indicating that CRA-40 is also highly consistent with the other two reanalysis datasets regarding daily evolution. Our analyses suggest that CRA-40 performs comparably to ERA-5 and MERRA-2 in characterizing winter circulation in the Antarctic middle and lower stratosphere.
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spelling doaj-art-37d3a95f0f6a4c5d8ca23c512c55e5d12025-08-20T03:06:04ZengScience PressEarth and Planetary Physics2096-39552025-03-019245245910.26464/epp2025010LE546-wangzixu-FPerformance of CRA-40 reanalysis in representing the Antarctic winter stratospheric circulation: a comparison with ERA-5 and MERRA-2ZiXu Wang0JingGao Hu1Jing-Jia Luo2Jian Rao3ZongZe Li4LiuChi Yan5Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education (KLME), Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change (ILCEC), Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters (CIC-FEMD), Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, ChinaKey Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education (KLME), Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change (ILCEC), Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters (CIC-FEMD), Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, ChinaKey Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education (KLME), Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change (ILCEC), Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters (CIC-FEMD), Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, ChinaKey Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education (KLME), Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change (ILCEC), Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters (CIC-FEMD), Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, ChinaKey Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education (KLME), Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change (ILCEC), Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters (CIC-FEMD), Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, ChinaThis paper evaluates a representation of winter stratospheric circulation in the Antarctic that is based on CRA-40, a 40-year global reanalysis dataset released by the China Meteorological Administration, and compares it with representations based on two other state-of-the-art reanalysis datasets: the fifth-generation atmospheric reanalysis provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ERA-5) and the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2). In terms of climatology, we find that CRA-40 portrays a stronger and colder polar vortex in the middle and lower stratosphere than ERA-5, but a weaker and warmer one than MERRA-2. However, disagreement among the three reanalyses is confined mainly to the period before 1999, and is largely reduced after that time. On the interannual timescale, portrayals of the intensity and area of the 10-hPa polar vortex are quite consistent among the three reanalyses, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.9 between each pair of reanalyses. In addition, the central dates of most sudden stratospheric deceleration (SSD) events at 10 hPa in the three reanalyses differ by less than one day, indicating that CRA-40 is also highly consistent with the other two reanalysis datasets regarding daily evolution. Our analyses suggest that CRA-40 performs comparably to ERA-5 and MERRA-2 in characterizing winter circulation in the Antarctic middle and lower stratosphere.http://www.eppcgs.org/article/doi/10.26464/epp2025010?pageType=encra-40era-5merra-2antarctic stratospherereanalysis intercomparison
spellingShingle ZiXu Wang
JingGao Hu
Jing-Jia Luo
Jian Rao
ZongZe Li
LiuChi Yan
Performance of CRA-40 reanalysis in representing the Antarctic winter stratospheric circulation: a comparison with ERA-5 and MERRA-2
Earth and Planetary Physics
cra-40
era-5
merra-2
antarctic stratosphere
reanalysis intercomparison
title Performance of CRA-40 reanalysis in representing the Antarctic winter stratospheric circulation: a comparison with ERA-5 and MERRA-2
title_full Performance of CRA-40 reanalysis in representing the Antarctic winter stratospheric circulation: a comparison with ERA-5 and MERRA-2
title_fullStr Performance of CRA-40 reanalysis in representing the Antarctic winter stratospheric circulation: a comparison with ERA-5 and MERRA-2
title_full_unstemmed Performance of CRA-40 reanalysis in representing the Antarctic winter stratospheric circulation: a comparison with ERA-5 and MERRA-2
title_short Performance of CRA-40 reanalysis in representing the Antarctic winter stratospheric circulation: a comparison with ERA-5 and MERRA-2
title_sort performance of cra 40 reanalysis in representing the antarctic winter stratospheric circulation a comparison with era 5 and merra 2
topic cra-40
era-5
merra-2
antarctic stratosphere
reanalysis intercomparison
url http://www.eppcgs.org/article/doi/10.26464/epp2025010?pageType=en
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