In this study,the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University-National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU-NCAR) Mesoscale Model (MM5) is used to simulate Typhoon Mindulle (2004) at high resolution (3-km grid size).The data from measurements show that in the upper atmosphere the existence of an upper jet is important to the transition cyclone.When Mindulle moved to the area of the upper jet entrance,where high-altitude divergence existed, the pumping of the high-altitude divergence would enhance the vertical motion and low-level cyclone convergence. The enhanced vertical motion was confirmed by the simulation results and indicated that the existence of upper divergence enhanced the vertical motion which was favorable for the maintenance of Typhoon Mindulle.The process of extratropical transition (ET) and re-intensification always accompanies the process of cold air invasion. This process enhances the baroclinicity of the atmosphere and the formation of front at high altitudes, which converts baroclinic potential energy into kinetic energy and strengthens the cyclone vortex.The distributions of equivalent potential temperature (θe) and temperature anomalies show that the warm-core of the typhoon at the tropopause aids the re-intensification of the system. As the typhoon reenters the ocean, latent heat flux (LHF) increases in the north and west and the strong reflectivity and vertical motion occur in the east and southeast,and the west.With the re-intensification of the typhoon the wind field evolves from an oval to a circle at the lower atmosphere, the area coverage by high winds increases, and the distribution of the tangential wind shows an asymmetric pattern.
In this study,the teleconnection between Indian Ocean sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) and the frequency of high temperature extremes (HTEs) across the southern Yangtze River valley (YRV) was investigated.The results indicate that the frequency of HTEs across the southern YRV in August is remotely influenced by the Indian Ocean basin mode (IOBM) SSTAs.Corresponding to June-July-August (JJA) IOBM warming condition,the number of HTEs was above normal,and corresponding to IOBM cooling conditions,the number of HTEs was below normal across the southern YRV in August.The results of this study indicate that the tropical IOBM warming triggered low-level anomalous anticyclonic circulation in the subtropical northwestern Pacific Ocean and southern China by emanating a warm Kelvin wave in August.In the southern YRV,the reduced rainfall and downward vertical motion associated with the anomalous low-level anticyclonic circulation led to the increase of HTE frequency in August.
This study proposes a new explanation for the formation of precipitation anomaly patterns in the boreal summer during the El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) developing and decaying phases.During the boreal summer June-July-August (JJA) (0) of the El Nio (La Nia) developing phase,the upper level (300-100 hPa) positive potential temperature anomalies resemble a Matsuno-Gill-type response to central Pacific heating (cooling),and the lower level (1000-850 hPa) potential temperature anomalies are consistent with local SST anomalies.During the boreal summer JJA(1) of the El Nio (La Nia) decaying phase,the upper level potential temperature warms over the entire tropical zone and resembles a Matsuno-Gill-type response to Indian Ocean heating (cooling),and the lower level potential temperature anomalies follow local SST anomalies.The vertical heterogeneity of potential temperature anomalies influences the atmospheric stability,which in turn influences the precipitation anomaly pattern.The results of numerical experiments confirm our observations.
A 1.5-layer reduced-gravity model forced by wind stress is used to study the bifurcations of the North Equatorial Current(NEC).The authors found that after removing the Ekman drift,the modelled circulations can serve well as a proxy of the SODA circulations on the σθ=25.0 kg m～-3 potential density surface based on available long-term reanalysis wind stress data.The modelled results show that the location of the western boundary bifurcation of the NEC depends on both zonal averaged and local zero wind stress curl latitude.The effects of the anomalous wind stress curl added in different areas are also investigated and it is found that they can change the strength of the Mindanao Eddy(ME),and then influence the interior pathway.
LIU YulongWANG QiSONG JunZHU XiandeGONG XiaoqingWU Fang
Instead of using complicated general circulation models (GCMs), a simple semi-analytical model based on ray theory has been used to study energy evolution and ray path of Rossby waves in slowly varying mean flows. Our model yields similar results to those calculated from barotropic models, and also provides a chance to study Rossby waves in the slowly varying flows with both vertical and meridional shears. The model results show that upward Rossby waves can only grow in westerlies, and decay when further ascend. The baroclinic Rossky waves are restrained by the β effect in lower latitude. In the westerly jet with meridional and vertical shears, the barotropic Rossby waves originated from south of the westerly jet, and these can grow while propagating upper-northward. The baroclinic Rossby waves originated from north of the westerly jet and can grow while propagating upward and southward. Such a semi-analytical model provides a simple forecasting tool to allow study of the local weather anomalies to the heating/topography forcing associated with the global warming.
In this study,the impacts of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) on the western Pacific warm pool (WPWP) were investigated.Our results show that the WPWP is linked with the PDO and the AMO at multiple time scales.On the seasonal time scales,the WPWP and the PDO/AMO reinforce each other,while at decadal time scales the forcing roles of the PDO and the AMO dominate.Notably,a positive PDO tends to enlarge the WPWP at both seasonal and decadal time scales,while a positive AMO tends to reduce the WPWP at decadal time scales.Furthermore,the decadal variability of the WPWP can be well predicted based on the PDO and AMO.
Theoretical and empirical studies have suggested that an underestimate of the ENSO asymmetry may be accompanied by a climatologically smaller and warmer western Pacific warm pool. In light of this suggestion, simulations of the tropical Pacific climate by 19 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 3 (CMIP3) climate models that do not use flux adjustment were evaluated. Our evaluation revealed systematic biases in both the mean state and ENSO statistics. The mean state in most of the models had a smaller and warmer warm pool. This common bias in the mean state was accompanied by a common bias in the simulated ENSO statistics: a significantly weak asymmetry between the two phases of ENSO. Moreover, despite the generally weak ENSO asymmetry simulated by all models, a positive correlation between the magnitude of the bias in the simulated warm-pool size and the magnitude of the bias in the simulated ENSO asymmetry was found. These findings support the suggested link between ENSO asymmetry and the tropical mean state-the climatological size and temperature of the warm pool in particular. Together with previous studies, these findings light up a path to improve the simulation of the tropical Pacific mean state by climate models: enhancing the asymmetry of ENSO in the climate models.
