Recent Enhancement in Co-Variability of the Western North Pacific Summer Monsoon and the Equatorial Zonal Wind

The western North Pacific summer monsoon(WNPSM)is an important subcomponent of the Asian summer monsoon.The equatorial zonal wind(EZW)in the lower troposphere over the western Pacific may play a critical role in the evolution of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation(ENSO).The possible linkage between the EZW over the western Pacific and the offequatorial monsoonal winds associated with the WNPSM and its decadal changes have not yet been fully understood.Here,we find a non-stationary relationship between the WNPSM and the western Pacific EZW,significantly strengthening their correlation around the late 1980s/early 1990s.This observed shift in the WNPSM–EZW relationship could be explained by the changes in the related sea surface temperature(SST)configurations across the tropical oceans.The enhanced influence from the springtime tropical North Atlantic,summertime tropical central Pacific,and maritime continent SST anomalies may be working together in contributing to the recent intensified WNPSM–EZW co-variability.The observed recent strengthening of the WNPSM–EZW relationship may profoundly impact the climate system,including prompting more effective feedback from the WNPSM on subsequent ENSO evolution and bolstering a stronger biennial tendency of the WNPSM–ENSO coupled system.The results obtained herein imply that the WNPSM,EZW,ENSO,and the tropical North Atlantic SST may be closely linked within a unified climate system with a quasi-biennial rhythm occurring during recent decades,accompanied by a reinforcement of the WNPSM–ENSO interplay quite possibly triggered by enhanced tropical Pacific–Atlantic cross-basin interactions.These results highlight the importance of the tropical Atlantic cross-basin influences in shaping the spatial structure of WNPSM-related wind anomalies and the WNPSM–ENSO interaction.

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.

Impact of the central Pacific zonal wind divergence and convergence on the central Pacific El Nio event

The central Pacific（CP） zonal wind divergence and convergence indices are defined, and the forming mechanism of CP El Nio（La Nia） events is discussed preliminarily. The results show that the divergence and convergence of the zonal wind anomaly（ZWA） are the key process in the forming of CP El Nio（La Nia） events. A correlation analysis between the central Pacific zonal wind divergence and convergence indices and central Pacific El Nio indices indicates that there is a remarkable lag correlation between them. The central Pacific zonal wind divergence and convergence indices can be used to predict the CP events. Based on these results, a linear regression equation is obtained to predict the CP El Nio（La Nia） events 5 months ahead.

The Circum-Pacific Teleconnection Pattern in Meridional Wind in the High Troposphere

The Circum-Pacific Teleconnection Pattern (CPTP) is revealed in the meridional wind in the high troposphere via an emprirical orthogonal function (EOF) and correlation analysis on NCEP/NCAR re-analysis data. The CPTP is found to be composed of the North Pacific-North American teleconnection pattern (PNA), the South Pacific-South American teleconnection pattern (PSA), and the teleconnection patterns over the tropical western Pacific and the tropical eastern Pacific (or, Central America, or, tropical Atlantic). There is substantial interannual variability of the CPTP and a typical CPTP can be detected in some years. It is speculated that the zonal wind anomalies over the equatorial region in the western and eastern sides of the Pacific may play a role in linking the two hemispheres. The anomalous convection activities in the Tropics are plausible triggering factors for the zonal wind anomalies that are responsible for the composition of the CPTP.

The Impact of Boreal Autumn SST Anomalies over the South Pacific on Boreal Winter Precipitation over East Asia

The possible mechanism behind the variability in the dipole pattern of boreal winter precipitation over East Asia is analyzed in this study. The results show that the SST anomalies（SSTAs） over the South Pacific Ocean（SPO） in boreal autumn are closely related to the variability in the dipole pattern of boreal winter precipitation over East Asia. The physical link between the boreal autumn SPO SSTAs and the boreal winter East Asian precipitation dipole pattern is shown to mainly be the seasonal persistence of the SPO SSTAs themselves. The seasonal persistence of the SPO SSTAs can memorize and transport the signal of the boreal autumn SSTAs to the following winter, and then stimulates a meridional teleconnection pattern from the SH to the NH, resulting in a meridional dipole pattern of atmospheric circulation over East Asia in boreal winter. As a major influencing factor, this dipole pattern of the atmospheric circulation can finally lead to the anomalous precipitation dipole pattern over East Asia in boreal winter. These observed physical processes are further confirmed in this study through numerical simulation. The evidence from this study, showing the impact of the SPO SSTAs in boreal autumn,not only deepens our understanding of the variability in East Asian boreal winter precipitation, but also provides a potentially useful predictor for precipitation in the region.

Application of the nonlinear time series prediction method of genetic algorithm for forecasting surface wind of point station in the South China Sea with scatterometer observations

The present work reports the development of nonlinear time series prediction method of genetic algorithm（GA） with singular spectrum analysis（SSA） for forecasting the surface wind of a point station in the South China Sea（SCS） with scatterometer observations.Before the nonlinear technique GA is used for forecasting the time series of surface wind,the SSA is applied to reduce the noise.The surface wind speed and surface wind components from scatterometer observations at three locations in the SCS have been used to develop and test the technique.The predictions have been compared with persistence forecasts in terms of root mean square error.The predicted surface wind with GA and SSA made up to four days（longer for some point station） in advance have been found to be significantly superior to those made by persistence model.This method can serve as a cost-effective alternate prediction technique for forecasting surface wind of a point station in the SCS basin.

Assessment of the Impacts of Tropical Cyclones Idai to the Western Coastal Area and Hinterlands of the South Western Indian Ocean

Tropical Cyclones (TCs) are among the atmospheric events which may trigger/enhance the occurrence of disasters to the society in most world basins including the Southwestern Indian Ocean (SWIO). This study analyzed the dynamics and the impacts of the Tropical Cyclone (TC) Idai (4th-21st March, 2019) which devastated most of the SWIO countries. The study used the Reanalysis 1 products of daily zonal (u) and meridional (v) winds, Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs), amount of Precipitable Water (PRW), and relative humidity (Rh). The dynamics and movements of Idai were analyzed using the wind circulation at 850, 700, 500 and 200 mb, where the TC dynamic variables like vertical wind shear, vorticity, and the mean zonal wind were calculated using u and v components. Using the open Grid Analysis and Display System (GrADS) software the data was processed into three-time epochs of pre, during and post;and then analyzed to feature the state of the atmosphere before (pre), during and post TC Idai using all datasets. The amount of precipitable water was used to map the rainfall on pre, during, and post Idai as well as during its landfall. The results revealed that dynamics of TC Idai was intensifying the weather (over Mozambique) and clearing the weather equatorward or southward of 12°S, with low vertical wind shear over the landfall areas (-3 to 3 m/s) and higher shear values (10 - 40 m/s) northward and southward of the Mozambican channel. Higher moisture content (80 - 90%) and higher PRW (40 - 60 mm/day) mapped during Idai over the lowland areas of Mozambique propagating westward. Higher low-level vorticity values were also mapped over the landfall areas. More results revealed that countries laying equatorward of 12°S, e.g., the northern coastal areas of Kenya (Turkana and Baringo) and Tanzania, Idai disrupted the 2019 March to May (MAM) seasonal rainfall by inducing long dry spell which accelerated the famine over the northeastern Kenya (Turkana). Moreover, results revealed that the land falling of Idai triggered intensive flooding which affected a wide spectrum of socio-economic livelihoods including significant loss of lives, injuries, loss of material wealth, infrastructure;indeed, people were forced to leave their houses for quite a longtime;water-borne diseases like malaria, cholera among others were experienced. Furthermore, results and reports revealed that a large amount of funds were raised to combat the impacts of Idai. For instance, USAID/OFDA used about $14,146,651 for human aid and treatment of flood-prone diseases like Cholera in Mozambique ($13,296,651), Zimbabwe ($100,000), and Malawi ($280,000), respectively. Also a death toll of about 602 in Mozambique and 344 in Zimbabwe, and more than 2500 cases of injured people were reported. Conclusively the study has shown that TCs including Idai and other are among the deadliest natural phenomenon which great affects the human and his environments, thus extensive studies on TCs frequency, strength, tracks as well as their coast benefit analysis should be conducted to reduce the societal impacts of these TCs.

Precipitation Patterns in Cape Verde Islands:Santiago Island Case Study

The Cape Verde archipelago is located between 14。N - 18。N and 22。W - 28。W in the Atlantic Ocean. Previous studies associated Cape Verde’s rainfall regime with ITCZ and African squall lines. This hypothesis is revisited here using rainfall time series?of the 4 Santiago Island station network of Cape Verde National Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics. Rainfall monthly totals are standardized to produce indices in the 1981-2009 period. Time section plots of zonal and meridional wind components anomalies are made using reanalysis data from ESRL/PSD/NOAA website. Daily outgoing long wave radiation and sea level pressure time section plots are also made as proxies for weather systems propagation. Results show that Santiago presents a seasonal rainfall regime characterized by dry (November-June) and wet (July-October) seasons, with short transition period. In general, rainfall totals increase with altitude. Weather systems within a wet year rainy season were associated with positive anomalies of zonal and meridional wind components of relative short duration, while negative anomalies dominated in dry years. These results suggest that winds coming from southwestern quadrant over warm Atlantic Ocean, associated with frontal systems traveling eastward, are the rain-producing events in wet years, not ITCZ or African squall lines. Winds coming from the northeastern quadrant produce dry years. Apparently, decadal-long wet periods are related to PDO cold phase. In the current PDO cold phase, there is only one year (2002) slightly dry. Considering that each PDO phases lasts 25 to 30 years and the current PDO cold phase started in 1999, it is possible that wet years predominate in the next 10 to 15 years.