Progress in Marine Meteorology Studies in China during 1999-2002

The progresses of marine meteorology studies achieved in China during the four year period from 1999 to 2002 are summarized in six directions: air-sea flux, marine meteorology in high latitudes, marine disasters, connection between ocean and weather/climate in China, remote sensing applications and new methodologies in marine meteorology. Compared to the previous ones, these studies adopted much more first-hand datasets, and more scientific issues were involved. As an exciting remark, there were so many contributions done by the young scientists. A brief statement about the research strategy of marine meteorology in China for the coming years is also given.

Marine Meteorology Research Progress of China from 2003 to 2006

The progress in marine meteorology research achieved by scientists in China during the four-year period from 2003 to 2006 is summarized under four categories： marine disaster study, typhoon over the ocean, ocean-atmosphere monitoring technology, and ocean-atmosphere forecasting technology. Compared to the previous four years, many more first-hand datasets have been obtained and more scientific issues have been addressed. In particular, many contributions have been made by young scientists. A brief statement on the research strategy of marine meteorology in China for the coming years is given at the end.

PROGRESS OF MARINE METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATION EXPERIMENT AT MAOMING OF SOUTH CHINA

The coastal area of southern China is frequently affected by marine meteorological disasters,and is also one of the key areas that influence the short-term climate change of China.Due to a lack of observational facilities and techniques,little has been done in this area in terms of operational weather monitoring and scientific research on atmospheric and marine environment.With the support of China Meteorological Administration (CMA) and Guangdong Meteorological Bureau (GMB),the Marine Meteorological Science Experiment Base (MMSEB) at Bohe,Maoming has been jointly established by Guangzhou Institute of Tropical and Marine Meteorology (GITMM) and Maoming Meteorological Bureau (MMB) of Guangdong Province after three years of hard work.It has become an integrated coastal observation base that is equipped with a complete set of sophisticated instruments.Equipment maintenance and data quality control procedures have been implemented to ensure the long-term,steady operation of the instruments and the availability of high quality data.Preliminary observations show that the data obtained by the MMSEB reveal many interesting features in the boundary layer structure and air-sea interaction in such disastrous weather as typhoons and sea fog.The MMSEB is expected to play an important role in the scientific research of disastrous weather related to marine meteorology.

Advances in Atmospheric Sciences:A featured journal from Essential Science Indicators

In May 2008, ScienceWatch.com named Advances in Atmospheric Sciences a Rising Star among Geosciences journals. According to Essential Science IndicatorsSM from Thomson Reuters, the journal＇s cur-rent citation record includes 764 papers cited a total of 1,658 times between January 1, 1998 and February 29 2008.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS DATA OF AIR-SEA TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE AND ITS VARIATION ACROSS SOUTH CHINA SEA IN THE PAST 35 YEARS

Using the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set(ICOADS) and ERA-Interim data, spatial distributions of air-sea temperature difference(ASTD) in the South China Sea(SCS) for the past 35 years are compared,and variations of spatial and temporal distributions of ASTD in this region are addressed using empirical orthogonal function decomposition and wavelet analysis methods. The results indicate that both ICOADS and ERA-Interim data can reflect actual distribution characteristics of ASTD in the SCS, but values of ASTD from the ERA-Interim data are smaller than those of the ICOADS data in the same region. In addition, the ASTD characteristics from the ERA-Interim data are not obvious inshore. A seesaw-type, north-south distribution of ASTD is dominant in the SCS; i.e., a positive peak in the south is associated with a negative peak in the north in November, and a negative peak in the south is accompanied by a positive peak in the north during April and May. Interannual ASTD variations in summer or autumn are decreasing. There is a seesaw-type distribution of ASTD between Beibu Bay and most of the SCS in summer, and the center of large values is in the Nansha Islands area in autumn. The ASTD in the SCS has a strong quasi-3a oscillation period in all seasons, and a quasi-11 a period in winter and spring. The ASTD is positively correlated with the Nio3.4 index in summer and autumn but negatively correlated in spring and winter.