Seasonal Transition Features of Large-Scale Moisture Transport in the Asian-Australian Monsoon Region

Using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data for the period of 1957-2001, the climatological seasonal transition features of large-scale vertically integrated moisture transport （VIMT） in the Asian-Australian monsoon region are investigated in this paper. The basic features of the seasonal transition of VIMT from winter to summer are the establishment of the summertime ＂great moisture river＂ pattern （named the GMR pattern） and its eastward expansion, associated with a series of climatological events which occurred in some ＂key periods＂, which include the occurrence of the notable southerly VIMT over the Indochina Peninsula in mid March, the activity of the low VIMT vortex around Sri Lanka in late April, and the onset of the South China Sea summer monsoon in mid May, among others. However, during the transition from summer to winter, the characteristics are mainly exhibited by the establishment of the easterly VIMT belt located in the tropical area, accompanied by some events occurring in ＂key periods＂. Further analyses disclose a great difference between the Indian and East Asian monsoon regions when viewed from the meridional migration of the westerly VIMT during the seasonal change process, according to which the Asian monsoon region can be easily divided into two parts along the western side of the Indochina Peninsula and it may also denote different formation mechanisms between the two regions.

Seasonal Transition of Summer Rainy Season over Indochina and Adjacent Monsoon Region

The mean onset and withdrawal of summer rainy season over the Indochina Peninsula were investigated using 5-day averaged rainfall data (1975-87). The mean seasonal transition process during onset and retreat phases in Indochina, India and the South China Sea is also examined using 5-day mean OLR (1975-87) and 850 hPa wind (1980-88) data. It was found that the onset of summer rainy season begins earlier in the inland region of Indochina (Thailand) in late April to early May than in the coastal region along the Bay of Bengal. This early onset of rainy season is due to pre-monsoon rain under the mid-latitude westerly wind regime. The full summer monsoon circulation begins to establish in mid-May, causing active convective activity both over the west coast of Indochina and the central South China Sea. In case of withdrawal, the earliest retreat of summer rainy season is found in the central northern part of Indochina in late September. The wind field, on the other hand, already changes to easterlies in the northern South China Sea in early September. This easterly wind system covers the eastern part of Indochina where post-monsoon rain is still active. In late October, the wind field turns to winter time situation, but post monsoon rain still continues in the southern part of the Indochina Peninsula until late November.

SEASONAL TRANSITION OF EAST ASIAN SUBTROPICAL MONSOON AND ITS POSSIBLE MECHANISM

The NCEP/NCAR reanalysis datasets and Climate Prediction Center(CPC) Merged Analysis of Precipitation(CMAP) rain data are used to investigate the large scale seasonal transition of East Asian subtropical monsoon(EASM) and its possible mechanism.The key region of EASM is defined according to the seasonal transition feature of meridional wind.By combining the 'thermal wind' formula and the 'thermal adaptation' equation,a new 'thermal-wind-precipitation' relation is deduced.The area mean wind directions and thermal advections in different seasons are analyzed and it is shown that in summer(winter) monsoon period,the averaged wind direction in the EASM region varies clockwise(anticlockwise) with altitude,and the EASM region is dominated by warm(cold) advection.The seasonal transition of the wind direction at different levels and the corresponding meridional circulation consistently indicates that the subtropical summer monsoon is established between the end of March and the beginning of April.Finally,a conceptual schematic explanation for the mechanism of seasonal transition of EASM is proposed.

NUMERICAL STUDY ON INFLUENCE OF QINGHAI-XIZANG(TIBETAN)PLATEAU ON SEASONAL TRANSITION OF GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION

It is a worthwhile attempt to address the role of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau in the seasonal transition of general circulation from a global prospective. In this paper, the CCM1 (R15L7) - LNWP spectral model is used to study the influences of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau on the seasonal transfer of the general circulation, with the objective analysis form the State Meteorological Center for March 17, 1996 as the initial field. A mid-level heating source in regions on the same latitudes is shown to cause a warming center of 224 K to form on the level of 200 hPa that warms up the atmosphere by more than 7 K and a drop of temperature by about 6 K on most of the 200-hPa layer over the Antarctic continent, with the largest negative center being -8.28 K. It is favorable to the deepening and widening of the polar vortexes in the course of transition from summer to winter. The topographic effect of the plateau plays a vital role in forming and maintaining the mean troughs and ridges of the atmospheric circulation in Northern Hemisphere such that it strengthens (weakens) the south-north positive gradient of temperature on the northern (southern) side of the latitude zone in which the plateau sits and increases the north-south gradient of temperature near 30(N. The seasonal transition is thus favored so that the bulk travel of global westerly at the middle latitudes and the formation of Asian monsoon in early summer are made possible. In the equatorial and low-latitude areas where the geopotential is increased, the effect of the plateau terrain is also evident in that it is favorable for the northern withdrawal of the tropical high ridge in Southern Hemisphere and the northern shift of the subtropical high in Northern Hemisphere. In addition, the effect also helps increase the polar easterly over the Southern Hemisphere and weaken the low zone at 500 hPa. It acts as an increasing factor for the polar vortex around the Ross Sea and contributes to the genesis of the Somali Jet on the equator.

On the Seasonal Transition and the Interannual Variability in Global Kinetic Energy at 500 hPa, Accompanied withAnomalies of Energy during the 1982 / 83 ENSO

Utilizing the material of monthly means of the three primary kinetic energy modes over the whote globe at 500 hPa during the nine years of 1980-1988, both the rapid seasonal changes and the interannual variability in tie general circulation in terms of the energy modes have been investigated, with special attention paid to the unusual year 1983, Two main results are obtained. One, there are remarkable seasonal rapid changes over the Northern Hemisphere, occurring ganerally in April and October. The other, among the nine years of 1980-1988, 1983 is the only one with unusual energy modes and remarkably abnormal seasonal changes.

The Role of Land-sea Distribution and Orography in the Asian Monsoon. Part II： Orography

The role of various mountains in the Asian monsoon system is investigated by AGCM simulations with different mountains. The comparison of the simulation with Asian mountains （MAsia run） with the simulation without mountains （NM run） reveals that the presence of the Asian mountains results in a stronger South Asian summer monsoon （SASM）, characterized by enhanced lower-tropospheric westerly winds, uppertropospheric easterly winds, and stronger water vapor convergence. In East Asia, the southerly winds and water vapor convergence are significantly strengthened in association with the intensified zonal pressure gradient between the East Asian continent and the Pacific Ocean. Both the dynamical and thermodynamic forcing of the Tibetan Plateau play important role in strengthening the Asian summer monsoon. In winter, the presence of Asian mountains significantly strengthens the continental high, which leads to a stronger Asian winter monsoon. The presence of African-Arabian mountains helps to intensify the exchange of mass between the Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere by strengthening the cross equatorial flows in the lower and upper troposphere over East Africa. Asian mountains also play a crucial role in the seasonal evolution of Asian monsoons. In comparison with the NM run, the earlier onset and later withdrawal of lower-tropospheric westerly winds can be found over South Asia in the MAsia run, indicating a longer SASM period. The African-Arabian mountains also moderately contribute to the seasonal variation of the South Asian monsoon. In East Asia, the clear southto-north march of the southerly winds and subtropical rainfall starts to occur in early summer when the effects of Asian mountains are considered.

On the Differences and Climate Impacts of Early and Late Stratospheric Polar Vortex Breakup

The stratospheric polar vortex breakup （SPVB） is an important phenomenon closely related to the seasonal transition of stratospheric circulation. In this paper, 62-year NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data were employed to investigate the distinction between early and late SPVB. The results showed that the anomalous circulation signals extending from the stratosphere to the troposphere were reversed before and after early SPVB, while the stratospheric signals were consistent before and after the onset of late SPVB. Arctic Oscillation （AO） evolution during the life cycle of SPVB also demonstrated that the negative AO signal can propagate downward after early SPVB. Such downward AO signals could be identified in both geopotential height and temperature anomalies. After the AO signal reached the lower troposphere, it influenced the Aleutian Low and Siberian High in the troposphere, leading to a weak winter monsoon and large-scale warming at mid latitudes in Asia. Compared to early SPVB, downward propagation was not evident in late SPVB. The high-latitude tropospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere was affected by early SPVB, causing it to enter a summer circulation pattern earlier than in late SPVB years.

An Analysis of the Spring-to-Summer Transition in the West Central Plains for Application to Long Range Forecasting

The spring-to-summer transition is of special importance in long range forecasting, as the general circulation transitions to a less energetic regime. This affects the Midwestern United States in a profound way, since agriculture is very sensitive to the variability of weather and climate. Beginning at the local scale, surface temperature observations are used from a representative station in the West Central Missouri Plains region in order to identify the shift from late spring to early summer. Using upper-air re-analyses as a supplement, the 500-mb height observations are examined to find a spring-to-summer transition date by tracking the location of a representative contour. Each of these is used to identify spring-to-summer transition date and then statistical analysis is performed on this long-term data set. Finally, teleconnections, specifically the influence of El Ni?o Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and blocking are examined in order to quantify interannual variability. It was found that examining these criteria, developed in an earlier study that covered a much shorter time period, produced similar statistics to this 68-year study of spring-to-summer transitions. It was also found that the onset of La Ni?a was associated with hotter summers in the region, a result first found in the earlier study, but this association was much stronger here.

The Role of Land–sea Distribution and Orography in the Asian Monsoon. Part I: Land–sea Distribution

A number of AGCM simulations were performed by including various land–sea distributions （LSDs）, such as meridional LSDs, zonal LSDs, tropical large-scale LSDs, and subcontinental-scale LSDs, to identify their effects on the Asian monsoon. In seven meridional LSD experiments with the continent/ocean located to the north/south of a certain latitude, the LSDs remain identical except the southern coastline is varied from 40 ° to 4 ° N in intervals of 5.6° . In the experiments with the coastline located to the north of 21° N, no monsoon can be found in the subtropical zone. In contrast, a summer monsoon is simulated when the continent extends to the south of 21 ° N. Meanwhile, the earlier onset and stronger intensity of the tropical summer monsoon are simulated with the southward extension of the tropical continent. The effects of zonal LSDs were investigated by including the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean into the model based on the meridional LSD run with the coastline located at 21 °N. The results indicate that the presence of a mid-latitude zonal LSD induces a strong zonal pressure gradient between the continent and ocean, which in turn results in the formation of an East Asian subtropical monsoon. The comparison of simulations with and without the Indian Peninsula and Indo-China Peninsula reveals that the presence of two peninsulas remarkably strengthens the southwesterly winds over South Asia due to the tropical asymmetric heating between the tropical land and sea. The tropical zonal LSD plays a crucial role in the formation of cumulus convection.

NUMERICAL STUDY ON THE DYNAMIC AND THERMODYNAMIC EFFECTS OF THE QINGHAI-XIZANG PLATEAU ON THE SEASONAL TRANSITION IN THE EARLY SUMMER IN EAST ASIA

By employing a five-layer seasonal numerical weather prediction model and utilizing the National Meteorological Center (NMC) objective analysis data on May 10,1991 as the initial field,three numerical experiments——diabatic with orography,adiabatic with orography and adiabatic without orography——have been carried out to investigate the dy- namic and thermodynamic effects of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau (hereafter the Plateau) on the seasonal transition in the early summer in East Asia.The results show that the typical seasonal transition features such as the northward shift of the subtropical westerly jet stream,the adjustment of the long-wave in middle and high latitudes and the changes of the circulation in the lower troposphere can be well simulated,if the dynamic and thermodynamic effects of the Plateau are both considered in the model as in the experiment adiabatic with orography.In other two experiments,it is failed to simulate out the seasonal transition features. The results also show that the thermodynamic effect of the Plateau acts on the atmosphere as a gradually enhanced heating source in the early summer,which makes the air temperature in 500 hPa over the Plateau increase by nearly 10℃ in a month and accelerates the northward shift of the subtropical westerly jet stream about seven latitudes more north- ward in twenty days and helps the shifted jet maintain at the northern periphery of the Plateau.It is also helpful to the formation and maintenance of the Lake Balchas trough and the northward and westward extension of the Pacific subtropical high.On the other hand,the dynamic effect of the Plateau weakens the northward shift of the subtropical westerly jet stream and barricades the westward extension of the Pacific subtropical high.If only the dynamic effect of the Plateau is considered in the model without consideration of the thermodynamic effect of the Plateau,not only the shifted jet withdraws southward but also the simulated Lake Balchas trough is 10 longitudes more eastward than that in the diabatic experiment,and the simulated Pacific subtropical high is more eastward and northward.However,the dy- namic effect of the Plateau strengthens the vertical movements in the west and east of the Plateau and makes the low-level jet maintain in the southeast of the Plateau.The path of the cold air and the tunnel of the water vapor in the lower troposphere during the seasonal transition period in the early summer in East Asia are determined by the coupling of the dynamic and thermodynamic effects of the Plateau.

STUDY ON THE VARIATION IN THE CONFIGURATION OF SUBTROPICAL ANTICYCLONE AND ITS MECHANISM DURING SEASONAL TRANSITION-PART Ⅰ:CLIMATOLOGICAL FEATURES OF SUBTROPICAL HIGH STRUCTURE

Climatological characteristics of subtropical anticyclone structure during seasonal transition are investigated based on NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data.The ridge-surface of subtropical anticyclone is defined by the boundary surface between westerly to the north and easterly to the south (WEB in brief).In Afro-Asian monsoon area,the subtropical high in troposphere whose ridgelines are consecutive in wintertime takes on relatively symmetrical and zonal structure,the WEB tilts southward with increasing height.In summer,the subtropical high ridgelines are discontinuous at low levels and continuous at upper levels,the WEB tilts northward from the bottom up.Under the constraint of thermal wind relation,the WEB usually tilts toward warmer zone.May is the period when subtropical high modality most significantly varies.The structure and properties of subtropical high during seasonal transition are different from area to area.A new concept 'seasonal transition axis' is proposed based on formation and variation of the vertical ridge axis of subtropical anticyclone.The subtropical high of summer pattern firstly occurs over eastern Bay of Bengal in the beginning of May.then stabilizes over eastern Bay of Bengal,Indo-China,and western South China Sea in the 3rd pentad of May,it exists over the South China Sea in the 4th- 5th pentad of May and establishes over central India in the 1st-2nd pentad of June.The three consequential stages when summer modal subtropical high occurs correspond to that of Asian summer monsoon onset,respectively.To a great extent,the summer monsoon onset over the Bay of Bengal depends on the reversal of meridional temperature gradient in vicinity of the WEB in upper troposphere.The meridional temperature gradient at middle-upper levels in troposphere can be used as a good indicator for measuring the seasonal transition and Asian monsoon onset.

STUDY ON THE VARIATION IN THE CONFIGURATION OF SUBTROPICAL ANTICYCLONE AND ITS MECHANISM DURING SEASONAL TRANSITION-PART Ⅱ:SEASONAL TRANSITION INDICES OVER THE ASIAN MONSOON REGION

Based on the studies in Part Ⅰ (see Mao et al.2003),this paper further examines the relationship between the Asian summer monsoon onset and variation in meridional position of the warm temperature ridge with a zonal orientation in mid-upper troposphere.During the Asian monsoon bursting consequentially over the Bay of Bengal,South China Sea,and South Asia,in addition to the reversal of winds in the lower and upper troposphere and deep convection before and after the onset,the atmospheric meridional temperature gradient (MTG) in the vicinity of the ridge-surface of subtropical high (WEB defined in Part Ⅰ) exhibits a significant reversal.Since the establishment of temperature structure with higher over north than over south of the WEB in the mid-upper troposphere (200-500 hPa) characterizes the collective essential that the Asian summer monsoon bursts over different areas,the MTG in mid-upper troposphere,based on the thermodynamics associated with the seasonal transition,should be a reasonable index to measure the Asian monsoon onset.The definition for onset date is proposed,and the time series of onset date for different sections are determined.As compared with the onset dates determined by other indices such as 850-hPa zonal wind and OLR.correlation analyses indicate that the 850-hPa zonal wind is only regional index,but the MTG index is applicable universally to the Asian monsoon regime.

STUDY ON THE VARIATION IN THE CONFIGURATION OF SUBTROPICAL ANTICYCLONE AND ITS MECHANISM DURING SEASONAL TRANSITION-PART Ⅲ:THERMODYNAMIC DIAGNOSES

The mechanisms for the variation in the configuration of subtropical anticyclone during seasonal transition are explored from energy budget using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data.Based on the seasonal variations of temperature and heating fields,it is found that the significant diabatic heating associated with spring precipitation over southern China has impacts on subsequent Asian seasonal transition.The reversal of meridional temperature gradient in the vicinity of the WEB (westerly-easterly boundary) in the middle and upper troposphere also depends on the latitudinal position where temperature ridge locates.The northward shift of the warm temperature ridge results from the fact that the local temperature increase to the north of the WEB is more than that in its vicinity.The diagnostic results through thermodynamic equation show that physical mechanism responsible for seasonal transition is different from area to area over the Asian monsoon region.The dominant factors responsible for northward shift of the Bay of Bengal warm ridge are the meridional temperature in initial stages of the onset and the descending motion after the onset. The factors for causing the northward jump of the South China Sea warm ridge involve the zonal temperature advection,meridional temperature advection,and diabatic heating associated with the southern China spring rainfall.The subsidence is the factor leading to the northward migration of the South Asia warm ridge.

The East Asian Subtropical Summer Monsoon：Recent Progress

The East Asian subtropical summer monsoon（EASSM） is one component of the East Asian summer monsoon system,and its evolution determines the weather and climate over East China.In the present paper,we firstly demonstrate the formation and advancement of the EASSM rainbelt and its associated circulation and precipitation patterns through reviewing recent studies and our own analysis based on JRA-55（Japanese 55-yr Reanalysis） data and CMAP（CPC Merged Analysis of Precipitation）,GPCP（Global Precipitation Climatology Project）,and TRMM（Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission） precipitation data.The results show that the rainy season of the EASSM starts over the region to the south of the Yangtze River in early April,with the establishment of strong southerly wind in situ.The EASSM rainfall,which is composed of dominant convective and minor stratiform precipitation,is always accompanied by a frontal system and separated from the tropical summer monsoon system.It moves northward following the onset of the South China Sea summer monsoon.Moreover,the role of the land-sea thermal contrast in the formation and maintenance of the EASSM is illustrated,including in particular the effect of the seasonal transition of the zonal land-sea thermal contrast and the influences from the Tibetan Plateau and midlatitudes.In addition,we reveal a possible reason for the subtropical climate difference between East Asia and East America.Finally,the multi-scale variability of the EASSM and its influential factors are summarized to uncover possible reasons for the intraseasonal,interannual,and interdecadal variability of the EASSM and their importance in climate prediction.