Impact of the Monsoonal Surge on Extreme Rainfall of Landfalling Tropical Cyclones

A comparative analysis and quantitative diagnosis has been conducted of extreme rainfall associated with landfalling tropical cyclones(ERLTC)and non-extreme rainfall(NERLTC)using the dynamic composite analysis method.Reanalysis data and the tropical cyclone precipitation dataset derived from the objective synoptic analysis technique were used.Results show that the vertically integrated water vapor transport(Q_(vt))during the ERLTC is significantly higher than that during the NERLTC.The Q_(vt)reaches a peak 1−2 days before the occurrence of the ERLTC and then decreases rapidly.There is a stronger convergence for both the Q_(vt)and the horizontal wind field during the ERLTC.The Q_(vt)convergence and the wind field convergence are mainly confined to the lower troposphere.The water vapor budget on the four boundaries of the tropical cyclone indicates that water vapor is input through all four boundaries before the occurrence of the ERLTC,whereas water vapor is output continuously from the northern boundary before the occurrence of the NERLTC.The water vapor inflow on both the western and southern boundaries of the ERLTC exceeds that during the NERLTC,mainly as a result of the different intensities of the southwest monsoonal surge in the surrounding environmental field.Within the background of the East Asian summer monsoon,the low-level jet accompanying the southwest monsoonal surge can increase the inflow of water vapor at both the western and southern boundaries during the ERLTC and therefore could enhance the convergence of the horizontal wind field and the water vapor flux,thereby resulting in the ERLTC.On the other hand,the southwest monsoonal surge decreases the zonal mean steering flow,which leads to a slower translation speed for the tropical cyclone associated with the ERLTC.Furthermore,a dynamic monsoon surge index(DMSI)defined here can be simply linked with the ERLTC and could be used as a new predictor for future operational forecasting of ERLTC.

Impact assessment of landfalling tropical cyclones:introduction to the special issue

1 Introduction Tropical cyclones(TCs)are one of the most destructive natural phenomena in the world.The accompanied damaging winds,heavy precipitation,and storm surges have caused great economic losses and life casualties to human beings.There are eight disaster events related to TC among the top tenwhich caused the highest amount of insurance losses in the world.

Science and prediction of monsoon heavy rainfall

With the increasing incidence of heavy rainfall events,particularly over the monsoon regions,the highly dense populations are more vulnerable[1].Research initiatives on observation,modeling,and prediction of monsoon heavy rainfall have been promoted actively by World Weather Research Programme's(WWRP)Working Group on Tropical Meteorology Research(WGTMR)of the World Meteorological Organization(WMO)since 2010.Series of monsoon-heavy-rainfall workshops were held in Beijing(2011),Petaling Jaya(2012),and New Delhi(2015)to benefit scientists worldwide and forecasters from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.An international Research and Development Project,namely,the Southern China Monsoon Rainfall Experiment(SCMREX)[2]was established in 2013 to coordinate field campaign experiments and to conduct scientific research on presummer(April-June)heavy rainfall processes in southern China.

ADVANCES IN UNDERSTANDING AND FORECASTING RAPIDLY CHANGING PHENOMENA IN TROPICAL CYCLONES

This review of new understanding and forecasting of tropical cyclones(TCs) is based on presentations at the International Top-level Forum on Rapid Change Phenomena in Tropical Cyclones in Haikou, China. The major topics are the sudden changes in tracks, rapid changes in structure and intensity, rapid changes in rainfall, and advances in forecasting and forecaster requirements. Although improved track forecast guidance has been achieved with the Australian ACCESS-TC model and in track forecasts to 120 h by the China Meteorological Administration, there is a continuing need for better understanding and improved track forecast guidance. Advances in understanding of processes related to rapid intensification(RI), secondary eyewall formation, mechanisms controlling inner-core structure and size changes, and structure and intensity changes at landfall have been achieved, but progress in prediction of rapid changes in structure and intensity has been slow. Taking into account complex interactions involved in TC-related rainfall, a prioritized list of physical processes that govern rainfall from landfalling TCs in China has been developed. While forecaster participants were generally encouraged by the progress being made, they expressed a strong desire for a transition of that new knowledge to timely and reliable forecast guidance products.

Characteristics of Near Surface Winds over Different Underlying Surfaces in China: Implications for Wind Power Development

Accurate wind and turbulence information are essential to wind energy research and utilization, among which wind shear and turbulence intensity/scale have seldom been investigated. In this paper, the observational data from the100-m high wind towers in Xilinhot in Inner Mongolia(2009–10; grassland region), Huanghua in Hebei Province(2009–10; coastal flat region), and Xingzi County in Jiangxi Province(2010–11; mountain–lake region) are used to study the variations in near surface winds and turbulence characteristics related to the development of local wind energy over different underlying surfaces. The results indicate that(1) the percentage of the observed wind shear exponents exceeding 0.3 for the grassland region is 6%, while the percentage is 13% for the coastal flat region and 10%for the mountain–lake region. In other words, if the wind speed at 10 m is 10 ms^(–1), the percentage of the wind speed at 100 m exceeding 20 ms^(–1) for the grassland region is 6%, while the percentage is 13% for the coastal flat region and 10% for the mountain–lake region.(2) In terms of the turbulent intensity in the zonal, meridional, and vertical directions(I_u, I_v, and I_w, respectively), the frequencies of I_v/I_u < 0.8 in the grassland, coastal flat, and mountain–lake regions are 23%–29%, 32%–38%, and 30%–37%, respectively. Additionally, the frequencies of I_w/I_u < 0.5 in the grassland, coastal flat, and mountain–lake regions are 45%–75%, 52%–70%, and 43%–53%, respectively. The frequencies of I_v/I_u < 0.8 and Iw/I_u < 0.5 in each region mean that I_u is large and the air flow is unstable and fluctuating,which will damage the wind turbines. Therefore, these conditions do not meet the wind turbine design requirements,which must be considered separately.(3) At 50-and 70-m heights, the value of the turbulence scale parameter Λ in the grassland region is greater than that in the coastal flat region, and the latter is greater than that in the mountain–lake region. Therefore, under the same conditions, some parameters, e.g., the extreme directional change and extreme operating gust at the hub height in the grassland region, are greater than those in the coastal flat region,which are greater than those in the mountain–lake region. These results provide a reference for harnessing local wind energy resources and for the selection and design of wind turbines.