Role of Ocean Dynamics in the Seasonal Hadley Cell:A Response to Idealized Arctic Amplification

How atmospheric and oceanic circulations respond to Arctic warming at different timescales are revealed with idealized numerical simulations.Induced by local forcing and feedback,Arctic warming appears and leads to sea-ice melting.Deep-water formation is inhibited,which weakens the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation(AMOC).The flow and temperature in the upper layer does not respond to the AMOC decrease immediately,especially at mid-low latitudes.Thus,nearly uniform surface warming in mid-low latitudes enhances(decreases)the strength(width)of the Hadley cell(HC).With the smaller northward heat carried by the weaker AMOC,the Norwegian Sea cools significantly.With strong warming in Northern Hemisphere high latitudes,the long-term response triggers the“temperature-wind-gyre-temperature”cycle,leading to colder midlatitudes,resulting in strong subsidence and Ferrel cell enhancement,which drives the HC southward.With weaker warming in the tropics and stronger warming at high latitudes,there is a stronger HC with decreased width.A much warmer Southern Hemisphere appears due to a weaker AMOC that also pushes the HC southward.Our idealized model results suggest that the HC strengthens under both warming conditions,as tropical warming determines the strength of the HC convection.Second,extreme Arctic warming led by artificially reduced surface albedo decreases the meridional temperature gradient between high and low latitudes,which contracts the HC.Third,a warmer mid-high latitude in the Northern(Southern)Hemisphere due to surface albedo feedback(weakened AMOC)in our experiments pushes the HC northward(southward).In most seasons,the HC exhibits the same trend as that described above.

Atmospheric Circulation Cells Associated with Anomalous East Asian Winter Monsoon

Atmospheric circulation cells associated with anomalous East Asian Winter Monsoon （EAWM） were studied using the 1948/49 to 2002/03 NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and NCAR CAM3 AGCM simulations with monthly global sea surface temperatures from 1950 to 2000. Several atmospheric cells in the Pacific [i.e., the zonal Walker cell （ZWC） in the tropic, the Hadley cell in the western Pacific （WPHC）, the midlatitude zonal cell （MZC） over the central North Pacific, and the Hadley cell in the eastern Pacific （EPHC）] are associated with anomalous EAWM. When the EAWM is strong, ZWC, WPHC, and MZC are enhanced, as opposed to EPHC. The anomalous enhanced ZWC is characterized by air parcels rising in the western tropical Pacific, flowing eastward in the upper troposphere, and descending in the tropical central Pacific before returning to the tropical western Pacific. The enhanced MZC has characteristics opposite those of the enhanced ZWC in the central North Pacific. The anomalous WPHC shows air parcels rising in the western Pacific, as in the case of ZWC, followed by flowing northward in the upper troposphere and descending in the west North Pacific, as in the case of the enhanced MZC before returning to the western tropical Pacific. The anomalous EPHC is opposite in properties to the anomalous WPHC. Opposite characteristics are found during the weak EAWM period. The model simulations and the observations show similar characteristics and indicate the important role of sea surface temperature. A possible mechanism is proposed to link interannual variation of EAWM with the central-eastern tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly （SSTA）.

The Analysis on the Features of the Atmospheric Circulation in Preceding Winters for the Summer Drought and Flooding in the Yangtze And Huaihe River Valley

Based on the annual variation of the rainfall departure percentage in summer in the lower-middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River valley, 7 cases for the abnormal drought and flooding summers (the drought years: 1981. 1984, 1985; the flooding yearst 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987) are selected. First we analyse the general circulation characteristics of the summer drought and flooding, and then the evolution processes of the general circulation patterns from preceding winters to summers are studied. It is found that during the two kinds of preceding winters for the drought and flooding summer, not only the general circulation patterns in the high-mid latitudes, the local Hadley cells in East Asia but also the activities of the cold surge in the lower latitude are different obviously. Spring, especially April, is the turning period of the general circulation in preceding winter for the drought or nooding summer evolution towards opposite direction. Hereafter, the drought or flooding circulation pattern is established and developed.

Evolving Perspectives on Abrupt Seasonal Changes of the General Circulation

Professor Duzheng YE（Tu-cheng YEH） was decades ahead of his time in proposing a model experiment to investigate whether abrupt seasonal changes of the general circulation can arise through circulation feedbacks alone, unrelated to underlying inhomogeneities at the lower boundary. Here, we introduce Professor YEH＇s ideas during the 1950 s and 1960 s on the general circulation and summarize the results and suggestions of Yeh et al.（1959） on abrupt seasonal changes. We then review recent advances in understanding abrupt seasonal changes arising from model experiments like those proposed by Yeh et al.（1959）. The model experiments show that circulation feedbacks can indeed give rise to abrupt seasonal transitions.In these transitions, large-scale eddies that originate in midlatitudes and interact with the zonal mean flow and meridional overturning circulations in the tropics play central roles.

Interdecadal Variations of Precipitation and Temperature in China Around the Abrupt Change of Atmospheric Circulation in 1976

The interdecadal characteristics of rainfall and temperature in China before and after the abrupt change of the general circulation in 1976 are analyzed using the global 2.5°×2.5° monthly mean reanalysis data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction of US and the precipitation and temperature data at the 743 stations of China from the National Climate Center of China. The results show that after 1976, springtime precipitation and temperature were anomalously enhanced and reduced respectively in South China, while the reverse was true in the western Yangtze River basin. In summer, precipitation was anomalously less in South China, more in the Yangtze River basin, less again in North China and more again in Northeast China, showing a distribution pattern alternating with negative and positive anomalies （＂ , ＋, -, ＋＂）. Meanwhile, temperature shows a distribution of warming in South China, cooling in the Yangtze and Huaihe River basins, and warming again in northern China. In autumn, precipitation tended to decrease and temperature tended to increase in in South China and warming was most parts of the country. In winter, the trend across all parts of China. precipitation increased moderately The interdecadal decline of mean temperature in spring and summer in China was mainly due to the daily maximum temperature variation, while the interdecadal increase was mainly the result of the minimum temperature change. The overall warming in autumn （winter） was mostly influenced by the minimum （maximum） temperature variation. These changes were closely related to the north-south shifts of the ascending and descending branches of the Hadley cell, the strengthening and north-south progression of the westerly jet stream, and the atmospheric stratification and water vapor transport conditions.