热带西太平洋环流及其季节变化

利用由GFDL的MOM3海洋环流模式和NODC的XBT数据库生成的全球海洋同化数据,分析了热带西太平洋环流及其季节变化.同化数据所反映的环流结构和平均流速流量与已知观测结果非常吻合.同化数据算得的北赤道流、棉兰老流、黑潮源地以及140°E以西的北赤道逆流等的流量基本上都表现出春强秋弱的季节变化特征,尽管彼此之间还存在少许位相差.由于两个热带流涡季节循环之间存在位相差,北赤道逆流还有半年振荡.与其上游的棉兰老流和新几内亚沿岸流不同的是,印度尼西亚贯通流在夏季东南季风期间较强,表明其季节变化深受季风影响.

Seesaw Pattern of Rainfall Anomalies between the Tropical Western North Pacific and Central Southern China during Late Summer

It is well known that suppressed convection in the tropical western North Pacific(WNP) induces an anticyclonic anomaly,and this anticyclonic anomaly results in more rainfall along the East Asian rain band through more water vapor transport during summer, as well as early and middle summer. However, the present results indicate that during late summer(from mid-August to the beginning of September), the anomalous anticyclone leads to more rainfall over central southern China(CSC), a region quite different from preceding periods. The uniqueness of late summer is found to be related to the dramatic change in climatological monsoon flows: southerlies over southern China during early and middle summer but easterlies during late summer. Therefore, the anomalous anticyclone, which shows a southerly anomaly over southern China, enhances monsoonal southerlies and induces more rainfall along the rain band during early and middle summer. During late summer,however, the anomalous anticyclone reflects a complicated change in monsoon flows: it changes the path, rather than the intensity, of monsoon flows. Specifically, during late summers of suppressed convection in the tropical WNP, southerlies dominate from the South China Sea to southern China, and during late summers of enhanced convection, northeasterlies dominate from the East China Sea to southern China, causing more and less rainfall in CSC, respectively.

The Cold Vortex Circulation over Northeastern China and Regional Rainstorm Events

In this study,regional rainstorm events (RREs) in northeastern China associated with the activity of the Northeastern China Cold Vortex (NCCV) were investigated on a medium-range time scale.The RREs occurring in northeastern China could be categorized into three groups according to the distribution of heavy rainfall.The largest cluster is characterized by the rainstorm events that occur on the northwestern side of the Changbai Mountains along a southwest-northeast axis.These events occur most frequently during the post-meiyu period.The authors place particular emphasis on the RREs that belong to the largest cluster and are closely associated with the activity of the NCCV.These RREs were preconditioned by the transportation of substantial amounts of water vapor to which the anomalous western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) contributed.The attendant anomalous WPSH was primarily driven by the anomalous transient eddy feedback forcing the nearby East Asian jet.The development of the NCCV circulation was concurrent with the RREs and acted as their primary causative factor.A perspective based on low-frequency dynamics indicates that Rossby wave packets emanated from the blocking-type circulation over northeastern Asia led to the development of the NCCV activity.

Subsurface temperature anomalies in the North Pacific Ocean associated with the ENSO cycle

Multi-year Simple Ocean Data Assimilation （SODA） and National Centers for Environmental Prediction （NCEP） datasets were used to investigate the leading patterns of subsurface ocean temperature anomalies （SOTA） and the corresponding atmospheric circulation structure in the Pacific Ocean （20°S-60°N）. In this paper, the evolution of North Pacific SOTA associated with El Nifio-southern oscillation （ENSO）, and their relationship with the overlying zonal/meridional atmospheric circulations were elucidated. The results indicate that： （1） there are two dominant modes for the interannual variability of the North Pacific SOTA. The primary mode is the dipole pattern of the central and western North Pacific SOTA associated with the leading mode of ENSO, and the second mode is the zonal pattern related to the second mode of ENSO. These two modes consist of the temporal-spatial variation of the SOTA in the North Pacific. （2） During the developing phase of the El Nifio event, positive （negative） SOTA appears in the western （central） portion of the North Pacific Ocean. During the mature and decaying phase of the E1 Nifio event, the western positive center and the central negative center continue to be maintained and enhanced. Meanwhile, the position of the western positive center slightly changes, and the central negative center moves eastward slowly. After the El Nifio event vanishes, the positive SOTA disappears, and the central negative SOTA becomes weak and remains in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. The results for La Nifia are generally the opposite. （3） During the El Nifio/La Nifia cycle, formation and evolution of the SOTA, with opposite signs in central and western North Pacific Ocean, resulted from vertical movement of the two northern branches of the Hadley Cell with opposite direction, as well as the positive feedback of the air-sea interaction induced by dynamic processes in the mid-latitudes. The former gives rise to the initial SOTA, and the latter intensifies SOTA. Under the forcing of these two processes, SOTA evolution is formed and sustained during the El Nino/La Nina events. Also discussed herein as background for the ENSO cycle are the possible connections among the West Pacific subtropical high, the strength of the Kuroshio near the East China Sea, the Kuroshio meanders south of Japan, the Aleutian Low, and cold advection in the central North Pacific Ocean.

Interdecadal change of the linkage between the North Atlantic Oscillation and the tropical cyclone frequency over the western North Pacific

The relationship between the North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO) and the tropical cyclone frequency over the western North Pacific(WNPTCF) in summer is investigated by use of observation data. It is found that their linkage appears to have an interdecadal change from weak connection to strong connection. During the period of 1948–1977, the NAO was insignificantly correlated to the WNPTCF. However, during the period of 1980–2009, they were significantly correlated with stronger(weaker) NAO corresponding to more(fewer) tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific. The possible reason for such a different relationship between the NAO and the WNPTCF during the former and latter periods is further analyzed from the perspective of large-scale atmospheric circulations. When the NAO was stronger than normal in the latter period, an anomalous cyclonic circulation prevailed in the lower troposphere of the western North Pacific and the monsoon trough was intensified, concurrent with the eastward-shifting western Pacific subtropical high as well as anomalous low-level convergence and high-level divergence over the western North Pacific. These conditions favor the genesis and development of tropical cyclones, and thus more tropical cyclones appeared over the western North Pacific. In contrast, in the former period, the impact of the NAO on the aforementioned atmospheric circulations became insignificant, thereby weakening its linkage to the WNPTCF. Further study shows that the change of the wave activity flux associated with the NAO during the former and latter periods may account for such an interdecadal shift of the NAO–WNPTCF relationship.