On the relationship between convection intensity of South China Sea summer monsoon and air-sea temperature difference in the tropical oceans

The annual, interannual and inter-decadal variability of convection intensity of South China Sea (SCS) summer monsoon and air-sea temperature difference in the tropical ocean is analyzed, and their relationship is discussed using two data sets of 48-a SODA (simple ocean data assimilation) and NCEP/NCAR. Analyses show that in wintertime Indian Ocean (WIO), springtime central tropical Pacific (SCTP) and summertime South China Sea-West Pacific (SSCSWP), air-sea temperature difference is significantly associated with the convection intensity of South China Sea summer monsoon. Correlation of the inter-decadal time scale (above 10 a) is higher and more stable. There is inter-decadal variability of correlation in scales less than 10 a and it is related with the air-sea temperature difference itself for corresponding waters. The inter-decadal variability of the convection intensity during the South China Sea summer monsoon is closely related to the inter-decadal variability of the general circulation of the atmosphere. Since the late period of the 1970s, in the lower troposphere, the cross-equatorial flow from the Southern Hemisphere has intensified. At the upper troposphere layer, the South Asian high and cross-equatorial flow from the Northern Hemisphere has intensified at the same time. Then the monsoon cell has also strengthened and resulted in the reinforcing of the convection of South China Sea summer monsoon.

CONVECTIVE ANOMALIES IN TROPICAL OCEAN AREAS AND LONG-LEAD FORECAST OF SUMMER RAINFALL IN SHANDONG

This study focuses on deep convection anomalies in tropical regions in winter-spring period and their possible influence on the following summer rainfall in Shandong province. On the basis of monthly precipitation wet and dry summers in Shandong are defined according to a precipitation index. Then monthly OLR data, observed by NOAA satellites, are used to diagnose the features of deep convection for both wet and dry summers. It is found that negative anomalies seem dominant prior to wet summers, while large areas of positive anomalies appear prior to dry summers in tropical oceans. The differences are remarkable especially in the western, middle and eastern tropical Pacific as well as in the tropical Indian Ocean. Correlative analysis confirms the relations between OLR and precipitation. Subtropical High, which plays an essential role in summer rainfall, is also connected with the deep conviction. Altogether eight EOF-CCA forecast models are established on the basis of the above study. The assessment of the models relies on the gauge observing precipitation in 1997 and 1998. The results show that models using spring OLR data appear to be more practicable than those using winter OLR data, and the models established with OLR in western Pacific and the Indian Ocean perform better than the others.

Absolute geostrophic currents in global tropical oceans

A set of absolute geostrophic current(AGC) data for the period January 2004 to December 2012 are calculated using the P-vector method based on monthly gridded Argo profi les in the world tropical oceans. The AGCs agree well with altimeter geostrophic currents, Ocean Surface Current Analysis-Real time currents, and moored current-meter measurements at 10-m depth, based on which the classical Sverdrup circulation theory is evaluated. Calculations have shown that errors of wind stress calculation, AGC transport, and depth ranges of vertical integration cannot explain non-Sverdrup transport, which is mainly in the subtropical western ocean basins and equatorial currents near the Equator in each ocean basin(except the North Indian Ocean, where the circulation is dominated by monsoons). The identifi ed nonSverdrup transport is thereby robust and attributed to the joint effect of baroclinicity and relief of the bottom(JEBAR) and mesoscale eddy nonlinearity.

Observation Research of the Turbulent Fluxes of Momentum, Sensible Heat and Latent Heat over the West Pacific Tropical Ocean Area

This paper describes results of the fluxes of momentum , sensible heat and latent heat for the West Pacific Tropical Ocean Area ( 127 ° E - 150 ° E , 5 ° N -3 ° S ). The data were collected by the small tethered balloon sounding system over this ocean area including 6 continuous stations (140 ° E. 0 ° ; 145 ° E, 0 ° ; 150 ° E, 0 ° ; 140° E, 5 ° N; 145 ° E, 5° N and 150 ° E, 5 ° N) from 11 October to 15 December, 1986 . These fluxes were calculated by the semiempirical flux-profile relationships of Monin-Obukhov similarity theory using these observed data. The results show that for this tropical ocean area the drag coefficient CD is equal to (1.53 ± 0.25) × 10 3 and the daily mean latent flux Hl is greater than its daily mean sensible flux HV by a factor of about 9.

Nolinear waves and their barotropic stability in the tropical ocean and atmosphere

In this paper, the nonlinear waves and their barotropic stability in the tropical ocean and atmosphere are studied with the qualitative theory of the ordinary differential equation. The relationship is derived between the stability of nonlinear waves with different frequencies and the basic currents and their horizontal shear in the tropical ocean and atmosphere.

Corrections of shipboard GPS radiosonde soundings and applications on historical records in the eastern tropical Indian Ocean and South China Sea

Shipboard radiosonde soundings are important for detecting and quantifying the multiscale variability of atmosphere-ocean interactions associated with mass exchanges.This study evaluated the accuracies of shipboard Global Positioning System(GPS)soundings in the eastern tropical Indian Ocean and South China Sea through a simultaneous balloon-borne inter-comparison of different radiosonde types.Our results indicate that the temperature and relative humidity(RH)measurements of GPS-TanKong(GPS-TK)radiosonde(used at most stations before 2012)have larger biases than those of ChangFeng-06-A(CF-06-A)radiosonde(widely used in current observation)when compared to reference data from Vaisala RS92-SGP radiosonde,with a warm bias of 5℃and dry bias of 10%during daytimes,and a cooling bias of-0.8℃and a moist bias of 6%during nighttime.These systematic biases are primarily attributed to the radiation effects and altitude deviation.An empirical correction algorithm was developed to retrieve the atmospheric temperature and RH profiles.The corrected profiles agree well with that of RS92-SGP,except for uncertainties of CF-06-A in the stratosphere.These correction algorithms were applied to the GPS-TK historical sounding records,reducing biases in the corrected temperature and RH profiles when compared to radio occultation data.The correction of GPS-TK historical records illustrated an improvement in capturing the marine atmospheric structure,with more accurate atmospheric boundary layer height,convective available potential energy,and convective inhibition in the tropical ocean.This study contributes significantly to improving the quality of GPS radiosonde soundings and promotes the sharing of observation in the eastern tropical Indian Ocean and South China Sea.

REGIONAL DIFFERENCES OF TEMPORAL-SPATIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AIR-SEA INTERACTIONS IN TROPICAL OCEANS

The singular value decomposition (SVD) of air-sea interaction in the tropical western,central, and eastern Pacific,and the tropical Atlantic and Indian Oceans has been conducted by using the NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis 1000 hPa monthly wind field and COADS monthly sea surface temperature (SST).Comparisons of the results suggest that these areas can be divided into three types from the viewpoint of air-sea interaction:tropical central-eastern Pacific belongs to monistic type,in which ENSO is the sole important process;tropical western Pacific and Indian Oceans belong to dualistic type,in which in addition to ENSO.there should be an another important process;tropical Atlantic Ocean belongs to pluralistic type,in which the process is complicated and the ENSO cycle is not evident.

Intercomparison of GPS radiosonde soundings during the eastern tropical Indian Ocean experiment

Temperature and relative humidity profiles derived from two China-made global positioning system（GPS） radiosondes（GPS-TK and CF-06-A） during the east tropical Indian Ocean（ETIO） experiment were compared with Vaisala RS92-SGP to assess the performances of China-made radiosondes over the tropical ocean.The results show that there have relative large biases in temperature observations between the GPSTK and the RS92-SGP in the low troposphere,with a warm bias of greater than 2 K in the day and a cooling bias of 0.6 K at night.The temperature differences of the CF-06-A were small in the troposphere both in daytime and nighttime,and became large peak-to-peak fluctuations in the stratosphere.The intercomparison of the relative humidity showed that the CF-06-A had large random errors due to the limitation of sensors and the lack of correction scheme,and the GPS-TK had large systematic biases in the low troposphere which might be related to the temperature impact.GPS height measurements are clearly suitable for China-made radiosonde systems operation.At night,the CF-06-A and the GPS-TK could provide virtual potential temperature and atmospheric boundary layer height measurements of suitable quality for both weather and climate research.As a result of the intercomparison experiment,major errors in the Chinamade radiosonde systems were well indentified and subsequently rectified to ensure improving accuracy for historical and future radiosondes.

Tropical Atlantic Climate Response to Different Freshwater Input in High Latitudes with an Ocean-Only General Circulation Model

Tropical Atlantic climate change is relevant to the variation of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation(AMOC) through different physical processes. Previous coupled climate model simulation suggested a dipole-like SST structure cooling over the North Atlantic and warming over the South Tropical Atlantic in response to the slowdown of the AMOC. Using an ocean-only global ocean model here, an attempt was made to separate the total influence of various AMOC change scenarios into an oceanicinduced component and an atmospheric-induced component. In contrast with previous freshwater-hosing experiments with coupled climate models, the ocean-only modeling presented here shows a surface warming in the whole tropical Atlantic region and the oceanic-induced processes may play an important role in the SST change in the equatorial south Atlantic. Our result shows that the warming is partly governed by oceanic process through the mechanism of oceanic gateway change, which operates in the regime where freshwater forcing is strong, exceeding 0.3 Sv. Strong AMOC change is required for the gateway mechanism to work in our model because only when the AMOC is sufficiently weak, the North Brazil Undercurrent can flow equatorward, carrying warm and salty north Atlantic subtropical gyre water into the equatorial zone. This threshold is likely to be model-dependent. An improved understanding of these issues may have help with abrupt climate change prediction later.

Interaction between two polar cold source and tropical ocean heat source effecting global climate change

The anomalous change of two polar sea ice and tropical ocean SST is a very important index for global climate monitoring and prediction. In this paper, wave resonance principle is used to calculate month by month running crosscouple correlation coefficient time series between sea ices in different sea areas of the two poles, as well as between themand five elements of El Nino event, to analyze their variation features. and to find out their resonance periods. The reso nance period of two waves is just the strongest interaction period.borne results are as follows: 1. The Arctic sea ice to the Pacific-side (NP11) and Atlantic-side (NP12 ) shows a mu tual strong positive-negative feedback impact with the Antarctic Ross Sea ice (SP12) in equal intensity. 2. Both NP11 andNP12 give a strong positive and negative feedback to the Antarctic Wedded Sea ice (SP13) while it is rather weak in con verse status. It means that the Arctic sea ice plays a leading and controlling role on the Wedded Sea ice. 3. SST of Nino4 area in the central equatorial Pacific has a best resonance period with SP12 in a cycle period of 132 months. It closely re lates to quasi-11-year oscillation period of both. SST of Nino 4 area also has a resonance period with SP13 in a cycle of 61months. There also exist strong interaction periods between the Antarctic sea ice and other elements of El Nino event butweaker than SST of Nino 4 area.

The Impact of the Tropical Indian Ocean on South Asian High in Boreal Summer

The tropical Indian Ocean （TIO） is warmer than normal during the summer when or after the El Nio decays. The present study investigates the impact of TIO SST on the South Asian High （SAH） in summer. When the TIO is warmer, the SAH strengthens and its center shifts southward. It is found that the variations in the SAH cannot be accounted for by the precipitation anomaly. A possible mechanism is proposed to explain the connection between the TIO and SAH： warmer SST in the TIO changes the equivalent potential temperature （EPT） in the atmospheric boundary layer （ABL）, alters the temperature profile of the moist atmosphere, warms the troposphere, which produces significant positive height anomaly over South Asia and modifies the SAH. An atmospheric general circulation model, ECHAM5, which has a reasonable prediction skill in the TIO and South Asia, was selected to test the effects of TIO SST on the SAH. The experiment with idealized heating over the TIO reproduced the response of the SAH to TIO warming. The results suggest that the TIO-induced EPT change in the ABL can account for the variations in the SAH.

On the Mechanism of the Seasonal Variability of SST in the Tropical Indian Ocean

A general form of an equation that 'explicitly' diagnoses SST change is derived. All other equations in wide use are its special case. Combining with the data from an ocean general circulation model (MOM2) with an integration of 10 years (1987-1996), the relative importances of various processes that determine seasonal variations of SST in the tropical Indian Ocean are compared mainly for January, April, July and October. The main results are as follows. (1) The net surface heat flux is the most important factor affecting SST over the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the region south of the equator in January; in April, its influence covers almost the whole region studied; whereas in July and October, this term shows significance only in the regions south of 10°S and north of the equator, respectively. (2) The horizontal advection dominates in the East African-Arabian coast and the region around the equator in January and July; in October, the region is located south of 10°S. (3) The entrainment is significant only in a narrow band centered on 10°S in April and the coastal region around the Arabian Sea and the equator in July. (4) As for SST, it decreases in January and July but increases in April and October in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, showing a (asymmetrical) semiannual variability; by contrast, the SST in the region south of the equator has an annual variability, decreasing in April and July and increasing in October and January.

Spatial and temporal variability of heat content above the thermocline in the tropical Pacific Ocean

Heat content of the upper layer above the 20℃ isotherm in the tropical Pacific Ocean isestimated by using the sea temperature data set with a resolution 2°latitude×5°longitude (1980-1993) for the water depths (every 10 m) from 0 m to 400 m, and its temporal and spatial variabilities are analyzed. (1) The temporal variability indicates that the total heat in the upper layer of the equatorial Pacific Ocean is characterized by the interannual variability. The time series of the equatorial heat anomaly 5 months lead that of the El Nino index at the best positive lag correlation between the two, and the former 13 months lag behind the latter at their best negative lag correlation. Therefore the equatorial heat content can be used as a better predictor than the El Nino index for a warm or cold event. In addition, it is also found that less heat anomaly in the equator corresponds to the stronger warm events in the period (1980- 1993) and much more heat was accumulated in the 4 years including 1992/1993 ENSO (1989-1993) than the 4 years including 1982/1983 ENSO (1980-1983); (2) The spatial variability indicates that the area with the highest lag correlation among the grids moves in an anti-clockwise circle in the northern tropical Pacific Ocean within 4 years period and in a clockwise circle in the southern tropical Pacific Ocean. This result provides scientific evidence for the quasi - cycle theory of El Nino events.

Interannual variability of mixed layer depth and heat storage of upper layer in the tropical Pacific Ocean

By using the upper layer data(downloaded from the web of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography),the interannual variability of the heat storage of upper layer(from surface to 400 m depth) and the mixed layer depth in the tropical Pacific Ocean are investigated. The abnormal signal of the warm event comes from the central and west Pacific Ocean, whereas it is regarded that the abnormal signal of the warm event comes from the east Pacific Ocean in the popular viewpoint. From the viewpoint on the evolution of the interannual variability of the mixed layer depth and the heat storage of the whole upper layer, the difference between the two types of El Nino is so small that it can be neglected. During these two El Nino/La Nina events(1972/1973 and 1997/1998), other than the case of the heat storage or for the mixed layer depth, the abnormal signal propagates from the central and west Pacific Ocean to the east usually by the path along the equator whereas the abnormal signal propagates from the east to the west by the path northern to the equator. For the interannual variability, the evolution of the mixed layer depth corresponds to that of the heat storage in the upper layer very well. This is quite different from the evolution of seasonality.

Hydrography and Circulation in the Eastern Tropical Indian Ocean during April-May 2011

The distribution of hydrography and circulation in the eastern tropical Indian Ocean(ETIO) during April-May 2011 were analyzed using cruise observations,satellite observations,and historic hydrographic data.It was observed that warm water(>28℃) occupies the upper 50-m layer in the ETIO.Low-salinity surface water was observed at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal(BOB),which further extends to the Arabian Sea and off Sumatra via the Sri Lanka coast and the eastern bay mouth.Arabian Sea high-salinity water(ASHSW) is carried eastward along the equator to around 90°E by the equatorial undercurrent(EUC).It also runs south of Sri Lanka(north to 3°N) and in the western bay mouth(west to 87°E) but is much shallower than its counterpart at the equator.It is suggested to be the residual of the ASHSW,which intrudes into the BOB during the preceding southwest monsoon.Our results also show that,in the south of Sri Lanka,just below this subsurface high-salinity water,very-low-salinity water(about 34.8) occurs at depths of 100-200 m.Further analysis suggests that this low-salinity water comes from the BOB.

A Coupled General Circulation Model for the Tropical Pacific Ocean and Global Atmosphere

On the basis of Zeng's theorehcal design, a coupled general circulation model(CGCM) is develO￣ with itscharacteristics different from other CGCMs such as the unified vertical coordinates and subtraction of the standard stratification for both atmosphere and ocean, available energy consideration,and so on.The oceanic comPOnent is a free surface tropical Pacific Ocean GCM betWeen 30W and 30'S with horizontal grid spacing of ic in latitude and 2°in longitude,and with 14 vertical layers.The atmospheric component is a global GCM with low-resolution of 4°in lahtude and 5°in longitude,and tWo layers of equal mass in the verhcal between the surfaCe and 200 hFa.The atmospheric GCM includes comprehensive physical processes.The coupled model is subjected to seasonally-varying cycle.Several coupling experiments,ranging from straight forward coupling without flux correction to one with flux correchon,and to so-called predictor-corrector monthly coupling(PCMC),are conducted tO show the esistence and final controlling of the climate drift in the coupled system.After removing the climate drift with the PCMC SCheme,the coupled model is integrated for more than twenty years.The results show reasonable simulations of the anneal mean and its seasollal cycle of the atmospheric and￣ante circulahon.The model also ProduCeS the coherent intermnual variations of the climate system, manifesting the observed EI Nifio/Southern OSCillation(ENSO).

Relationship Between Upper-Ocean Heat Content in the Tropical Indian Ocean and Summer Precipitation in China

An analysis of the Ishii ocean heat content(OHC) in the tropical Indian Ocean from the surface to 700-m depth shows that the OHC changes dramatically on the interannual timescale in the Indian Ocean.The first mode of empirical orthogonal function(EOF1) of the OHC shows that there is a strong air-sea interaction pattern in the Indian Ocean with a positive(negative) loading in the east and a negative(positive) loading in the west.This seesaw oscillation pattern influences the summer precipitation in China with a North-South reversed distribution.Composite analysis shows that during a positive(negative) OHC episode,an anomalous cyclonic(anticyclonic) circulation over the western Pacific and South China weakens(enhances) the monsoonal northward flow in the lower troposphere;meanwhile,anomalous meridional circulation connects the descending(ascending) branch over the Southeast Indian Ocean and the ascending(descending) branch in South China as well as a descending(ascending) branch over North China.Analysis of the mechanism behind these features suggests that(1) the accumulation of OHC-induced vorticity is related to the wave activity over the mid-latitudes and that(2) the meridional teleconnection induced by the Indo-Pacific air-OHC interaction appears over East Asia and the western Pacific.Both of these patterns can cause summer precipitation anomalies in China.

Physical oceanography of the Caroline M4 seamount in the tropical Western Pacific Ocean in summer 2017

Physical oceanography plays an important role in the formation of submarine sediments,and the distribution of nutriments and biocenoses in seamounts.The M4 seamount is located in the Caroline Island Ridge of the Western Pacific Ocean.The physical properties around M4 seamount are preliminarily analyzed based on the in-situ data obtained in summer 2017 in Caroline M4 seamount and open-sourced data.We found that the water in the upper 200 m is controlled by the westward North Equatorial Current(NEC),while the water between 300-1000 m is dominated by the eastward North Equatorial Undercurrent(NEUC).The current direction fluctuates significantly below 300 m at upstream stations.At the same depth of the lee sides,the current direction changes with the distance from seamount.These are likely caused by the obstacle of M4 seamount.The calculation results show that there is an anticyclonic cap above M4 seamount caused by tidal rectification.Tidal currents in M4 seamount are squeezed by the topography and amplified,and the amplified tidal currents play a dominant role in M4 seamount.First,the circulation system generated by the interaction of the amplified tidal current and M4 seamount drives the upward/downward movement of the isotherms.Secondly,the thickness of the surface turbulent layer is changed with the tidal phase.Thirdly,high turbulent diffusivities are found in the bottom of M4 seamount,and these are most likely attributed to the turbulent mixing induced by the mutual effect between semidiurnal tidal currents and steep bathymetry.This article of physical oceanography provides scientific basis for further analysis of the distribution of biological community and deposition mechanism in M4 seamount.

Relationships of Interannual Variability Between the Equatorial Pacific and Tropical Indian Ocean in 17 CMIP5 Models

Seventeen coupled general circulation models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 （CMIP5） are employed to assess the relationships of interannual variations of sea surface temperature （SST） between the tropical Pacific （TP） and tropical Indian Ocean （TIO）. The eastern/central equatorial Pacific features the strongest SST interannual variability in the models except for the model CSIRO-Mk3-6-0, and the simulated maximum and minimum are produced by models GFDL-ESM2M and GISS-E2-H respectively. However, It remains a challenge for these models to simulate the correct climate mean SST with the warm pool-cold tongue structure in the equatorial Pacific. Almost all models reproduce E1 Nifio-Southem Oscillation （ENSO）, Indian Ocean Dipole mode （IOD） and Indian Ocean Basin-wide mode （lOB） together with their seasonal phase lock features being simulated; but the relationship between the ENSO and IOD is different for different models. Consistent with the observation, an Indian Ocean basin-wide warming （cooling） takes place over the tropical Indian Ocean in the spring following an E1 Nifio （La Nifia） in almost all the models. In some models （e.g., GFDL-ESM2G and MIROC5）, positive ENSO and IOB events are stronger than the negative events as shown in the observation. However, this asymmetry is reversed in some other models （e.g., HadGEM2-CC and HadGEM2-ES）.

A dipole mode at thermocline layer in the tropical Indian Ocean

Temperature data at different layers of the past 45 years were studied and we found adiploe mode in the thermocline layer (DMT): anomalously cold sea temperature off the coast of Sumatra and warm sea temperature in the western Indian Ocean. First, we analyzed the temperature and the temperature anomaly (TA) along the equatorial Indian Ocean in different layers. This shows that stronger cold and warm TA signals appeared at subsurface than at the surface in the tropical Indian O-cean. This result shows that there may be a strong dipole mode pattern in the subsurface tropical Indian Ocean. Secondly we used Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) to analyze the TA at thermocline layer. The first EOF pattern was a dipole mode pattern. Finally we analyzed the correlations between DMT and surface tropical dipole mode (SDM), DMT and Nino 3 SSTA, etc. and these correlations are strong.