Numerical Study of Ural Blocking High＇s Effect Upon Asian Summer Monsoon Circulation and East China Flood and Drought

In terms of Kuo-Qian pesigma incorporated coordinate five-level primitive equation spheric band (70°N-30°S)model with the Ural high's effect introduced into it as initial and boundary conditions, study is made of the high's influence on Asian summer monsoon circulation and dryness / wetness of eastern China based on case contrast andcontrol experiments. Rusults show that as an excitation source, the blocking high produces a SE-NW stationarywavetrain with its upper-air atnicyclonic divergent circulation oust over a lower-level trough zone) precisely over themiddle to lower reaches of the Changjiang River, enhancing East Asian westerly jet, a situation that contributes toPerturbation growth, causing an additional secondary meridional circulation at the jet entrance, which intensifies theupdraft in the monsoon area. As such, the high's presence and its excited steady wavetrain represent the large-scalekey factors and acting mechanisms for the rainstorm over the Changjiang-Huaihe River catchment in the easternpart of the land.

The Maintenance of the Blocking over the Ural Mountains during the Second Meiyu Period in the Summer of 1998

The 1998 summer-time floods at the Yangtze River basin of China, the severest in last 50 years or so, directly resulted from the abnormal extension of Meiyu (rainy season), which was related to a weak East Asian summer monsoon and persistent anomalies of extratropical circulation. The long persistence of blocking over the Ural Mountains is a conspicuous feature. The physical processes responsible for the prolonged maintenance of this key system are investigated in terms of internal forcing (transient eddy upon basic flow) and external forcing (tropical heating forcing) via diagnosis and numerical experiments in the paper. Using the adjoint method, the location and structure of optimal perturbations favorable for the development and maintenance of Ural blocking are identified, which shows an apparent coincidence with the observed storm track at the eastern Atlantic to Europe sector. The diagnosis of E-vector and the response of baroclinic stationary wave to transient forcing both suggest further that the enhanced transient eddy activity favors the occurrence and maintenance of positive anomalies. The upper-level jet and heat sources (sinks) during that period are calculated, and the results indicate that the anomaly of upper jet and tropical heating is evident. The ensemble forecasting experiments by a GCM, IAP T42L9 show that the anomalous heating over the tropics, especially over the central-western Pacific and Atlantic, favors the formation of positive anomalies of height at the Ural region. Finally, a self-sustain mechanism of positive anomalies through two-way interaction between planetary stationary wave and transient eddy under the stimulation of anomalous tropical heating is proposed.

Simple Metrics for Representing East Asian Winter Monsoon Variability:Urals Blocking and Western Pacific Teleconnection Patterns

Instead of conventional East Asian winter monsoon indices （EAWMIs）, we simply use two large-scale teleconnection patterns to represent long-term variations in the EAWM. First, the Urals blocking pattern index （UBI） is closely related to cold air advection from the high latitudes towards western Siberia, such that it shows an implicit linkage with the Siberian high intensity and the surface air temperature （SAT） variations north of 40°N in the EAWM region. Second, the well-known western Pacific teleconnection index （WPI） is connected with the meridional displacement of the East Asian jet stream and the East Asian trough. This is strongly related to the SAT variations in the coastal area south of 40°N in the EAWM region. The temperature variation in the EAWM region is also represented by the two dominant temperature modes, which are called the northern temperature mode （NTM） and the southern temperature mode （STM）. Compared to 19 existing EAWMIs and other well-known teleconnection patterns, the UBI shows the strongest correlation with the NTM, while the WPI shows an equally strong correlation with the STM as four EAWMIs. The UBI-NTM and WPI-STM relationships are robust when the correlation analysis is repeated by （1） the 31-year running correlation and （2） the 8-year high-pass and low-pass filter. Hence, these results are useful for analyzing the large-scale teleconnections of the EAWM and for evaluating this issue in climate models. Int particular, more studies should focus on the teleconnection patterns over extratropical Eurasia.

Energetics of Boreal Wintertime Blocking Highs around the Ural Mountains

Based on the daily Japanese 55-yr reanalysis data,this study analyzes the maintenance mechanism for 53 boreal winter blocking highs around the Ural Mountains(UBHs)during 1958-2018 based on the atmospheric energy budget equations.After decomposing the circulation into background flow,low-frequency anomalies,and high-frequency eddies,it was found that the interaction between the background flow and low-frequency anomalies is conducive to the maintenance of the UBHs.Due to the southwestward gradient in the climatological mean air temperature over the Eurasian continent,it is easy for the air temperature anomalies as well as the wind velocity anomalies in the middle and lower troposphere induced by the UBHs to facilitate the positive conversion of baroclinic energy associated with the background flow into the UBHs.Likewise,the conversion of barotropic energy associated with the background flow is also evident in the upper troposphere,in which the climatological mean westerlies have evident southward gradient to the northwest of Lake Baikal and southwestward gradient over Barents Sea.Note that the conversion of baroclinic energy associated with the background flow is dominant throughout the lifecycle of UBHs,acting as the major contributor to the maintenance of the UBHs.Although transient eddies facilitate maintenance of the UBHs via positive conversion of barotropic energy in the middle and upper troposphere,they hinder the maintenance of UBHs via negative conversion of baroclinic energy in the lower troposphere.The diabatic heating anomalies tend to counteract the local air temperature anomalies in the middle and lower troposphere,which damps the available potential energy of UBHs and acts as a negative contributor to the UBHs.

Interannual Variations of the Blocking High over the Ural Mountains and Its Association with the AO/NAO in Boreal Winter

This paper analyzes interannual variations of the blocking high over the Ural Mountains in the boreal winter and their association with the Arctic Oscillation/North Atlantic Oscillation（AO/NAO）.In January,the relationship between the Ural blocking high（UR） and the AO index is statistically significant.The UR tends to occur more frequently and with greater strength during negative AO periods.Some strong URs also occur during positive AO phases（positive UR-AO events）,as in January 2008.This paper discusses the characteristics of atmospheric circulation in the cases of positive UR-AO events and contrast cases（negative UR-AO events）.The eastward extending of the Icelandic Low（IL） center and the associated NAO dipole anomaly pattern in the upstream region may play a more important role for the UR-AO events.When the center of the IL shifts eastward to 30 W,the amplitude of zonal wavenumber 2（wavenumber 3） is intensified in the positive（negative） UR-AO events,which favors positive（negative） height anomalies over the Urals.Further analyses indicate that the intensified zonal wind in high latitudes and weakened zonal wind in midlatitudes over the North Atlantic Ocean render the eastward shift of the IL and the NAO dipole anomaly pattern.The Ural blocking in January 2008 bears similar characteristics to the positive UR-AO events.

NUMERICAL STUDY ON EFFECTS OF THE QINGHAIXIZANG PLATEAU ON FORMATION OF THE URAL BLOCKING HIGH

By employing the improved T42L5 spectral model and utilizing the ECMWF data covering the period from 1 July to 7 July 1982,a numerical research on the formation of the Ural blocking system has been made.The results show that the model forecasts for the upstream U ral area turn out to be worse if the dynamic effect of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau is not considered.The correlation coefficient between the model forecasts and observed 500 hPa geopotential height anomaly decreases by 9% for the 5-day mean,and their averaged root mean square (RMS) error increases 15 m.Due to the dynamic effect of the Plateau,the trough being on the northwest of the Plateau is barricaded and turns to be a transversal trough.Consequently southwest flow occurs along the northwest of the Plateau in front of the trough,while northeast flow prevails over the west of the trough,causing the formation of the blocking high over the Ural area.When the dynamic effect of the Plateau is not taken into consideration,the trough develops and moves southeastward and the Ural blocking high changes into a migratory high.All these result in the failure of the simulation.The dynamic effect of the Plateau helps to increase the negative vorticities over the Plateau and its north periphery as well as the Ural area,and also helps to increase the positive vorticities over the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea area.On the other hand,the thermodynamic effect mainly influences the Plateau and its downstream area and plays an less important role in the formation of the blocking high over the upstream Ural area.