Vertical Circulation Structure, Interannual Variation Features and Variation Mechanism of Western Pacific Subtropical High

The paper investigates the vertical circulation structure of the western Pacific subtropical high (STH) and its interannual variation features in relation tO East Asian subtropical summer monsoon and external thermal forcing by using the high-resolution and good-quality observations from the 1998 South China Sea Summer Monsoon Experiment (SCSMEX), the NCEP 40-year reanalysis data and relevant SST and the STH parameters. It is found that the vertical circulation structures differ greatly in features between quasi-Stationary and transient components of the western Pacific STH. When rainstorms happen in the rainband of East Asian subtropical monsoon on the STH north side, the downdrafts are distinct around the ridge at a related meridian. The sinking at high (low) levels comes from the north (south) side of the STH, thereby revealing that the high is a tie between tropical and extratropical systems. The analyses of this paper suggest that the latent heat release associated with subtropical monsoon precipitation, the offshore SST and East Asian land-sea thermal contrast have a significant effect on the STH interannual anomaly. Our numerical experiment shows that the offshore SSTA-caused sensible heating may excite an anomalous anticyclonic circulation on the west side, which affects the intensity (area) and meridional position of the western Pacific STH.

Interannual Meridional Displacement of the East Asian Upper-tropospheric Jet Stream in Summer

On the interannual timescale, the meridional displacement of the East Asian upper-tropospheric jet stream (EAJS) is significantly associated with the rainfall anomalies in East Asia in summer. In this study, using the data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction-Department of Energy (NCEP/DOE) reanalysis-2 from 1979 to 2002, the authors investigate the interannual variations of the EAJS's meridional displacement in summer and their associations with the variations of the South Asian high (SAH) and the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH), which are dominant circulation features in the upper and lower troposhere, respectively. The result from an EOF analysis shows that the meridional displacement is the most remarkable feature of the interannual variations of the EAJS in each month of summer and in summer as a whole. A composite analysis indicates that the summer (June-July-August, JJA) EAJS index, which is intended to depict the interannual meridional displacement of the EAJS, is not appropriate because the anomalies of the zonal wind at 200 hPa (U200) in July and August only, rather than in June, significantly contribute to the summer EAJS index. Thus, the index for each month in summer is defined according to the location of the EAJS core in each month. Composite analyses based on the monthly indexes show that corresponding to the monthly equatorward displacement of the EAJS, the South Asian high (SAH) extends southeastward clearly in July and August, and the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) withdraws southward in June and August.

夏季西太副高脊面年际变化与太平洋海温关系的研究

利用谱分析、带通滤波、奇异值分解及合成分析等方法,以及欧洲中期数值天气预报中心大气环流再分析资料和美国NOAA的海温资料,研究了夏季西太平洋副热带高压(下称西太副高)脊面年际变化及其对前期太平洋海温响应的物理过程。结果表明,西太副高脊面存在准7.5年的最显著振荡周期。太平洋前冬和前春海温对夏季西太副高脊面的影响是显著的。其中El Ni～no型的异常海温分布将使夏季西太副高脊面偏南,而La Ni～na型的则使夏季西太副高脊面偏北。在对比分析与太平洋海温异常相联系的异常环流的基础上,发现异常海温强迫出的异常经向环流是有利于夏季西太副高脊面异常的一个重要原因。