Interdecadal Variability of the Afro-Asian Summer Monsoon System

The Afro-Asian summer monsoon is a zonally planetary-scale system, with a large-scale rainbelt covering Africa, South Asia and East Asia on interdecadal timescales both in the past century（1901-2014） and during the last three decades（1979-2014）. A recent abrupt change of precipitation occurred in the late 1990 s. Since then, the entire rainbelt of the Afro-Asia monsoon system has advanced northwards in a coordinated way. Consistent increases in precipitation over the Huanghe-Huaihe River valley and the Sahel are associated with the teleconnection pattern excited by the warm phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation（AMO）. A teleconnection wave train, with alternating cyclones/anticyclones, is detected in the upper troposphere. Along the teleconnection path, the configuration of circulation anomalies in North Africa is characterized by coupling of the upper-level anticyclone（divergence） with low-level thermal low pressure（convergence）, facilitating the initiation and development of ascending motions in the Sahel. Similarly, in East Asia, a coupled circulation pattern also excites ascending motion in the Huanghe-Huaihe River valley. The synchronous increase in precipitation over the Sahel and Huanghe-Huaihe River valley can be attributed to the co-occurrences and in-phase changes of ascending motion. On the other hand, the warm phase of the AMO results in significant warming in the upper troposphere in North Africa and the northern part of East Asia. Such warming contributes to intensification of the tropical easterly jet through increasing the meridional pressure gradient both at the entrance region（East Asia） and the exit region（Africa）. Accordingly, precipitation over the Sahel and Huanghe-Huaihe River valley intensifies, owing to ageostrophic secondary cells. The results of this study provide evidence for a consistent and holistic interdecadal change in the Afro-Asian summer monsoon.

Intensity Evolution of Zonal Shear Line over the Tibetan Plateau in Summer:A Perspective of Divergent and Rotational Kinetic Energies

Based on the ERA5 reanalysis datasets during 1980-2019,a total of eleven zonal shear lines(ZSLs)that caused heavy precipitation and lasted more than 60 hours over the Tibetan Plateau in summer are selected for composite analysis.By decomposing the kinetic energy(K)near the ZSL into divergent and rotational kinetic energies(K_(D)and K_(R))and the kinetic energy of interaction between the divergent wind and the rotational wind(K_(R)D),the influence of the rotational and divergent winds on the evolution of the ZSL intensity is investigated from the perspective of K_(D)and K_(R).The main results are as follows.The ZSL is a comprehensive reflection of rotation and convergence.The intensity evolution of ZSL is essentially synchronized with those of K,K_(R),and K_(RD)but lags behind K_(D)by about three hours.The enhancement of K is mainly contributed by K_(R),which is governed by the conversion from K_(D)to K_(R).Furthermore,the increase in the conversion from K_(D)to K_(R)is controlled by the geostrophic effect term Af,which is determined by the joint enhancement of the zonal rotational and meridional divergent wind components(u_(R)and v_(D)).Therefore,the joint enhancement of u_(R)and v_(D)controls the increase of the ZSL intensity,leading to increased precipitation.