The 30–60-day Intraseasonal Variability of Sea Surface Temperature in the South China Sea during May–September

This study investigates the structure and propagation of intraseasonal sea surface temperature（SST） variability in the South China Sea（SCS） on the 30-60-day timescale during boreal summer（May-September）. TRMM-based SST, GODAS oceanic reanalysis and ERA-Interim atmospheric reanalysis datasets from 1998 to 2013 are used to examine quantitatively the atmospheric thermodynamic and oceanic dynamic mechanisms responsible for its formation. Power spectra show that the 30-60-day SST variability is predominant, accounting for 60% of the variance of the 10-90-day variability over most of the SCS. Composite analyses demonstrate that the 30-60-day SST variability is characterized by the alternate occurrence of basin-wide positive and negative SST anomalies in the SCS, with positive（negative） SST anomalies accompanied by anomalous northeasterlies（southwesterlies）. The transition and expansion of SST anomalies are driven by the monsoonal trough-ridge seesaw pattern that migrates northward from the equator to the northern SCS. Quantitative diagnosis of the composite mixed-layer heat budgets shows that, within a strong 30-60-day cycle, the atmospheric thermal forcing is indeed a dominant factor, with the mixed-layer net heat flux（MNHF） contributing around 60% of the total SST tendency, while vertical entrainment contributes more than 30%. However, the entrainment-induced SST tendency is sometimes as large as the MNHF-induced component, implying that ocean processes are sometimes as important as surface fluxes in generating the30-60-day SST variability in the SCS.

Different Configurations of Interannual Variability of the Western North Pacific Subtropical High and East Asian Westerly Jet in Summer

This study investigates the circulation and precipitation anomalies associated with different configurations of the western North Pacific subtropical high(WNPSH)and the East Asian westerly jet(EAJ)in summer on interannual timescales.The in-phase configuration of the WNPSH and EAJ is characterized by the westward(eastward)extension of the WNPSH and the southward(northward)shift of the EAJ,which is consistent with the general correspondence between their variations.The out-of-phase configuration includes the residual cases.We find that the in-phase configuration manifests itself as a typical meridional teleconnection.For instance,there is an anticyclonic(cyclonic)anomaly over the tropical western North Pacific and a cyclonic(anticyclonic)anomaly over the mid-latitudes of East Asia in the lower troposphere.These circulation anomalies are more conducive to rainfall anomalies over the Yangtze River basin and south Japan than are the individual WNPSH or EAJ.By contrast,for the out-of-phase configuration,the mid-latitude cyclonic(anticyclonic)anomaly is absent,and the lower-tropospheric circulation anomalies feature an anticyclonic(cyclonic)anomaly with a large meridional extension.Correspondingly,significant rainfall anomalies move northward to North China and the northern Korean Peninsula.Further results indicate that the out-of-phase configuration is associated with the developing phase of ENSO,with strong and significant sea surface temperature(SST)anomalies in the tropical central and eastern Pacific which occur simultaneously during summer and persist into the following winter.This is sharply different from the in-phase configuration,for which the tropical SSTs are not a necessity.