Diagnostic Study of an Extreme Explosive Cyclone over the Kuroshio/Kuroshio Extension Region

Explosive cyclones(ECs)occur frequently over the Kuroshio/Kuroshio Extension region.The most rapidly intensified EC over the Kuroshio/Kuroshio Extension region during the 42 years(1979-2020)of cold seasons(October-April)was studied to reveal the variations of the key factors at different explosive-developing stages.This EC had weak low-level baroclinicity,mid-level cyclonic-vorticity advection,and strong low-level water vapor convergence at the initial explosive-developing stage.The low-level baroclinicity and mid-level cyclonic-vorticity advection increased substantially during the maximum-deepening-rate stage.The diagnostic analyses using the Zwack-Okossi equation showed that diabatic heating was the main contributor to the initial rapid intensification of this EC.The cyclonic-vorticity advection and warm-air advection enhanced rapidly in the middle and upper troposphere and contributed to the maximum rapid intensification,whereas the diabatic heating weakened slightly in the mid-low troposphere.The relative contribution of the diabatic heating decreased from the initial explosive-developing stage to the maximum-deepening-rate stage due to the enhancement of other factors(the cyclonic-vorticity advection and warm-air advection).Furthermore,the physical factors contributing to this EC varied with the explosive-developing stage.The non-key factors at the initial explosive-developing stage need attention to forecast the rapid intensification.

Historic and Future Perspectives of Storm and Cyclone

In weather sciences,the two specific terms“storm”and“cyclone”frequently appear in literature and usually refer to the violent nature of a number of weather systems characterized by central low pressure,strong winds,large precipitation amounts in the form of rain,freezing rain,or snow,as well as thunder and lightning.But what is the connection between these two specific terms?In this paper,the historic evolutions of the terms“storm”and“cyclone”are reviewed from the perspective of weather science.The earliest recorded storms in world history are also briefly introduced.Then,the origin of the term“meteorological bomb”,which is the nickname of the“explosive cyclone”is introduced.Later,the various definitions of explosive cyclones given by several researchers are discussed.Also,the climatological features of explosive cyclones,as well as the future trends of explosive cyclones under global climate change,are discussed.

The cooling and moistening effect on the formation of sea fog in the Huanghai Sea

With the sea surface observations from ICOADS for the years 1960-2002, the conditions of coohng, evaporauon anu water vapol transportation are analyzed and compared for the formation of seasonal sea fog in April-July in the Huanghai Sea. It is found that sea surface cooling is always existent during the fog seasons while sea surface evaporation only appears in April-June in the Huanghai Sea. Local evaporation alone is not sufficient to form fogs though it may lead to light ones. Water vapor transported from the low-latitudes accomplished by specific synoptic systems is the most important condition for sea fog formation. In general, the moistening effect is more important than the cooling one.

Subtropical Air-Sea Interaction and Development of Central Pacific El Nio

The standard deviation of the central Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) during the period from October to February shows that the central Pacific SSTA variation is primarily due to the occurrence of the Central Pacific El Nio (CP-El Nio) and has a connection with the subtropical air-sea interaction in the northeastern Pacific. After removing the influence of the Eastern Pacific El Nio, an S-EOF analysis is conducted and the leading mode shows a clear seasonal SSTA evolving from the subtropical northeastern Pacific to the tropical central Pacific with a quasi-biennial period. The initial subtropical SSTA is generated by the wind speed decrease and surface heat flux increase due to a north Pacific anomalous cyclone. Such subtropical SSTA can further influence the establishment of the SSTA in the tropical central Pacific via the wind-evaporation-SST (WES) feedback. After established, the central equatorial Pacific SSTA can be strengthened by the zonal advective feedback and thermocline feedback, and develop into CP-El Nio. However, as the thermocline feedback increases the SSTA cooling after the mature phase, the heat flux loss and the re-versed zonal advective feedback can cause the phase transition of CP-El Nio. Along with the wind stress variability, the recharge (discharge) process occurs in the central (eastern) equatorial Pacific and such a process causes the phase consistency between the thermocline depth and SST anomalies, which presents a contrast to the original recharge/discharge theory.

The Structure and Formation Mechanism of a Sea Fog Event over the Yellow Sea

In this paper, a heavy sea fog event occurring over the Yellow Sea on 11 April 2004 was investigated based upon observational and modeling analyses. From the observational analyses, this sea fog event is a typical advection cooling case. Sea surface temperature(SST) and specific humidity(SH) show strong gradients from south to north, in which warm water is located in the south and consequently, moisture is larger in the south than in the north due to evaporation processes. After fog formation, evaporation process provides more moisture into the air and further contributes to fog evolution. The sea fog event was reproduced by the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System(RAMS) reasonably. The roles of important physical processes such as radiation, turbulence as well as atmospheric stratification in sea fog's structure and its formation mechanisms were analyzed using the model results. The roles of long wave radiation cooling, turbulence as well as atmospheric stratification were analyzed based on the modeling results. It is found that the long wave radiative cooling at the fog top plays an important role in cooling down the fog layer through turbulence mixing. The fog top cooling can overpower warming from the surface. Sea fog develops upward with the aid of turbulence. The buoyancy term, i.e., the unstable layer, contributes to the generation of TKE in the fog region. However, the temperature inversion layer prevents fog from growing upward.

A 38-Year Climatology of Explosive Cyclones over the Northern Hemisphere

Explosive cyclones(ECs)over two basins in the Northern Hemisphere(20°-90°N)from January 1979 to December2016 are investigated using ERA-Interim and Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature(OISST)data.The classical definition of an EC is modified considering not only the rapid drop of the central sea level pressure of the cyclone,but also the strong wind speed at the height of 10 m in which maximum wind speeds greater than 17.2 m s^-1are included.According to the locations of the northern Atlantic and northern Pacific,the whole Northern Hemisphere is divided into the"A region"(20°-90°N,90°W-90°E)and"P region"(20°-90°N,90°E-90°W).Over both the A and P regions,the climatological features of ECs,such as their spatial distribution,intensity,seasonal variation,interannual variation,and moving tracks,are documented.

Application of higher-order KdV-mKdV model with higher-degree nonlinear terms to gravity waves in atmosphere

Higher-order Korteweg-de Vries （KdV）-modified KdV （mKdV） equations with a higher-degree of nonlinear terms are derived from a simple incompressible non-hydrostatic Boussinesq equation set in atmosphere and are used to investigate gravity waves in atmosphere. By taking advantage of the auxiliary nonlinear ordinary differential equation, periodic wave and solitary wave solutions of the fifth-order KdV-mKdV models with higher-degree nonlinear terms are obtained under some constraint conditions. The analysis shows that the propagation and the periodic structures of gravity waves depend on the properties of the slope of line of constant phase and atmospheric stability. The Jacobi elliptic function wave and solitary wave solutions with slowly varying amplitude are transformed into triangular waves with the abruptly varying amplitude and breaking gravity waves under the effect of atmospheric instability.

Structures and Evolutions of Explosive Cyclones over the Northwestern and Northeastern Pacific

In this study, the structures and evolutions of moderate(MO) explosive cyclones(ECs) over the Northwestern Pacific(NWP) and Northeastern Pacific(NEP) are investigated and compared using composite analysis with cyclone-relative coordinates. Final Operational Global Analysis data gathered during the cold seasons(October–April) of the 15 years from 2000 to 2015 are used. The results indicate that MO NWP ECs have strong baroclinicity and abundant latent heat release at low levels and strong upper-level forcing, which favors explosive cyclogenesis. The rapid development of MO NEP ECs results from their interaction with a northern cyclone and a large middle-level advection of cyclonic vorticity. The structural differences between MO NWP ECs and MO NEP ECs are significant. This results from their specific large-scale atmospheric and oceanic environments. MO NWP ECs usually develop rapidly in the east and southeast of the Japan Islands; the intrusion of cold dry air from the East Asian continent leads to strong baroclinicity, and the Kuroshio/Kuroshio Extension provides abundant latent heat release at low levels. The East Asian subtropical westerly jet stream supplies strong upper-level forcing. While MO NEP ECs mainly occur over the NEP, the low-level baroclinicity, upper-level jet stream, and warm ocean currents are relatively weaker. The merged cyclone associated with a strong middle-level trough transports large cyclonic vorticity to MO NEP ECs, which favors their rapid development.

Multi-scale variability of subsurface temperature in the South China Sea

Using Morlet wavelet transform and harmonic analysis the multi-scale variability of subsurface temperature in the South China Sea is studied by analyzing one-year (from April 1998 to April 1999) ATLAS mooring data. By wavelet transform, annual and semi-annual cycle as well as intrasea-sonal variations are found, with different dominance, in subsurface temperature. For annual harmonic cycle, both the downward net surface heat flux and thermocline vertical movement partially control the subsurface temperature variability. For semi-annual cycle and intraseasonal variability, the subsurface temperature variability is mainly linked to the vertical displacement of thermocline.

Numerical Study on the Bifurcation of the North Equatorial Current

A 1.5-layer reduced-gravity model forced by wind stress is used to study the bifurcations of the North Equatorial Current(NEC).The authors found that after removing the Ekman drift,the modelled circulations can serve well as a proxy of the SODA circulations on the σθ=25.0 kg m～-3 potential density surface based on available long-term reanalysis wind stress data.The modelled results show that the location of the western boundary bifurcation of the NEC depends on both zonal averaged and local zero wind stress curl latitude.The effects of the anomalous wind stress curl added in different areas are also investigated and it is found that they can change the strength of the Mindanao Eddy(ME),and then influence the interior pathway.

Finescale Spiral Rainbands Modeled in a High-Resolution Simulation of Typhoon Rananim (2004)

Finescale spiral rainbands associated with Typhoon Rananim （2004） with the band length ranging from 10 to nearly 100 km and band width varying from 5 to 15 km are simulated using the Fifth-Generation NCAR/Penn State Mesoscale Model （MM5）. The finescale rainbands have two types： one intersecting the eyewall and causing damaging wind streaks, and the other distributed azimuthally along the inner edge of the eyewall with a relatively short lifetime. The formation of the high-velocity wind streaks results from the interaction of the azimuthal flow with the banded vertical vorticity structure triggered by tilting of the horizontal vorticity. The vertical advection of azimuthal momentum also leads to acceleration of tangential flow at a relatively high Mtitude. The evolution and structures of the bands are also examined in this study. Further investigation suggests that the boundary inflection points are related tightly to the development of the finescale rainbands, consistent with previous findings using simple symmetric models. In particular; the presence of the level of inflow reversal in the boundary layer is a crucial factor controlling the formation of these bands. The near-surface wavy peaks of vertical vorticity always follow the inflection points in radial flow. The mesoscale vortices and associated convective updrafts in the eyewall are considered to strengthen the activity of finescale bands, and the updrafts can trigger the formation of the bands as they reside in the environment with inflow reversal in the boundary layer.

Retrieval of Atmospheric Horizontal Visibility by Statistical Regression from NOAA/AVHRR Satellite Data

Based on the atmospheric horizontal visibility data from forty-seven observational stations along the eastern coast of China near the Taiwan Strait and simultaneous NOAA/AVHRR multichannel satellite data during January 2001 to December 2002, the spectral characters associated with visibility were investigated. Successful retrieval of visibility from multichannel NOAA/AVHRR data was performed using the principal component regression (PCR) method. A sample of retrieved visibility distribution was discussed with a sea fog process. The correlation coefficient between the observed and retrieved visibility was about 0.82, which is far higher than the 99.[KG-*7]9% confidence level by statistical test. The rate of successful retrieval is 94.98% of the 458 cases during 2001-2002. The error distribution showed that high visibilities were usually under-estimated and low visibilities were over-estimated and the relative error between the observed and retrieved visibilities was about 21.4%.

Variability of Tropical Cyclone in High Frequent Occurrence Regions over the Western North Pacific

In this study, three high frequent occurrence regions of tropical cyclones(TCs), i.e., the northern South China Sea(the region S), the south Philippine Sea(the region P) and the region east of Taiwan Island(the region E), are defined with frequency of TC's occurrence at each grid for a 45-year period(1965–2009), where the frequency of occurrence(FO) of TCs is triple the mean value of the whole western North Pacific. Over the region S, there are decreasing trends in the FO of TCs, the number of TCs' tracks going though this region and the number of TCs' genesis in this region. Over the region P, the FO and tracks demonstrate decadal variation with periods of 10–12 year, while over the region E, a significant 4–5 years' oscillation appears in both FO and tracks. It is demonstrated that the differences of TCs' variation in these three different regions are mainly caused by the variation of the Western Pacific Subtropical High(WPSH) at different time scales. The westward shift of WPSH is responsible for the northwesterly anomaly over the region S which inhibits westward TC movement into the region S. On the decadal timescale, the WPSH stretches northwestward because of the anomalous anticyclone over the northwestern part of the region P, and steers more TCs reaching the region P in the greater FO years of the region P. The retreating of the WPSH on the interannual time scale is the main reason for the FO's oscillation over the region E.

An Observational Study of Typhoon Imbudo in 2003

Typhoon Imbudo was a super-typhoon over the northwestern Pacific in 2003. It caused tremendous damage when it made landfalls in the Philippines and China. This paper documents observational analyses of Typhoon Imbudo during its landfall in China. All available observations are used to study its motion, intensity changes, convection, structure and precipitation. Best-track data indicate that Imbudo moved west-northwestward until 1800 UTC 23 July and then turned northwestward. FNL (final) analysis data show that the motion of Imbudo is dominated by changes of the subtropical high. At Imbudo's mature stage, the minimum sea level pressure dropped to 910 hPa and the maximum sustained winds were as high as 67 m s 1, which is the intensity of a super-typhoon. The surface wind field exhibited asymmetric characteristics. Polar-orbiting satellite imagery also manifested convective asymmetry before Imbudo made landfall in China. Analyzed the vertical wind shear, it is shown that the convection has a downshear-left pattern. All kinds of precipitation data were used to identify the asymmetric characteristic of the rainfall associated with the Imbudo. The maximum rainfalls were located in the southern boundary area between Guangxi and Guangdong. However, the lack of in situ observations limited further analyses of this typhoon.

THE SOUTH CHINA SEA SUMMER MONSOON AND THE SEASONAL MODALITY AND WEST EXTENDING OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE PACIFIC SUBTROPICAL HIGH

Based on the 4-layer dbl wavelet packet and shannon entropy decomposition /reconstruction method and the NCEP/NCAR daily reanalysis data set, the correlation between the South China Sea summer monsoon and the Northern Hemisphere Pacific subtropical high seasonal modality/shift xvas studied and discussed, and a corresponding summer monsoon frequency-band energy criterion was defined and introduced for diagnosing the Pacific subtropical high’s modality/shift. A few new phenomena and correlation between the South China Sea summer monsoon and the Northern Hemisphere Pacific subtropical high were also revealed and presented.

Structure of the Potential Vorticity of an Explosive Cyclone over the Eastern Asian Region in Late November 2013

An explosive extratropical cyclone(EC)over the Eastern Asian region that caused two shipwrecks is analyzed using ERA-Interim reanalysis data from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.Analyses of the evolution of the EC reveal that the positive potential vorticity(PV)at the upper-tropospheric level displays a hook-shaped structure during the mature period of the cyclone.The PV distribution forms a vertically coherent PV structure called a PV tower.The vertical distribution of the PV can induce and strengthen cyclonic circulation from the lower-to upper-levels of troposphere,which is an important deepening mechanism of explosive cyclone.The PV tower occurs approximately ten hours prior to the development of surface occlusion in the cyclone.The evolution of surface fronts closely follows the development of the horizontal upper-tropospheric PV.This tandem development is largely attributed to the ability of the positive upper-tropospheric PV and the PV tower to induce cyclonic circulation simultaneously.The kinematic wrap-up process of cyclonic circulation also accelerates the formation of warm occlusion.A conceptual model of the distributions of positive PV and potential temperature combining the perspectives of dynamic tropopause folding,PV tower,and atmospheric stability,including westward tilting and baroclinicity,is proposed.This model can illustrate the explosive deepening mechanism of ECs.The regions of convective instability and rainfall determined by this model are consistent with those identified from the actual observation.

Characteristics of Atmospheric Rivers over the East Asia in Middle Summers from 2001 to 2016

Atmospheric Rivers(ARs) are narrow and elongated water vapor belts in troposphere with meridional transport across the mid-latitudes towards high-latitudes. Compared with ARs occurred over the northeastern Pacific, the western coast of North America and Europe, the ARs over the East Asia have received less attention. In this paper, the characteristics of ARs which affected China in the area 20?–60?N, 95?–165?E in the middle summer season from 2001 to 2016 were investigated by using European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF) ERA-Interim reanalysis data and Multi-functional Transport Satellites-1 R(MTSAT-1 R) infrared data. Totally, 134 ARs occurred during that period, and averagely 8.4 ARs occurred per year. Statistically, 101 ARs were in east-west orientation, and 33 ARs were in north-south orientation, which accounts for about 75% and 25%, respectively. Herein we report the occurrence number, duration time, intensity, length, width, ratio of length to width, and extension orientation of these ARs, which provide the basic information for those who have interest in ARs over the East Asia.

The Seasonal Variabilities in the Concentration of Atmospheric Aerosols over Qingdao, China

Mass concentrations of Total Suspended Particles (TSP) and size-segregated particles were obtained from July 2001 to June 2002 in Qingdao to characterize the seasonal variations of atmospheric aerosols and to show the impact of dust events on the air quality in Qingdao. Data on size-segregated aerosols show that 73.74% of the TSP mass concentration is contributed by particles with diameters less than 11μm. Particles with diameters less than 1.1 μm have a higher concentration during the winter. In spring, larger particles tend to have higher mass concentrations. Bimodal particle size distributions have been observed, with maxima around 4.7-7μm and 0.43 -0.65 μm in the winter season, and 7-11μm and 0.65-1.1μm in the autumn season. Measurements made during the dust events in March 2002 show high concentrations of particles in the size range 2.1 -7μm.

Controls on the Northward Movement of the ITCZ over the South China Sea in Autumn:A Heavy Rain Case Study

The autumn Intertropical Convergence Zone(ITCZ)over the South China Sea(SCS)is typically held south of 10°N by prevailing northeasterly and weakening southwesterly winds.However,the ITCZ can move north,resulting in heavy rainfall in the northern SCS(NSCS).We investigate the mechanisms that drove the northward movement of the ITCZ and led to heavy non-tropical-cyclone rainfall over the NSCS in autumn of 2010.The results show that the rapid northward movement of the ITCZ on 1 and 2 October was caused by the joint influence of the equatorial easterlies(EE),southwesterly winds,and the easterly jet(EJ)in the NSCS.A high pressure center on the east side of Australia,strengthened by the quasi-biweekly oscillation and strong Walker circulation,was responsible for the EE to intensify and reach the SCS.The EE finally turned southeast and together with enhanced southwesterly winds associated with an anticyclone,pushed the ITCZ north.Meanwhile,the continental high moved east,which reduced the area of the EJ in the NSCS and made room for the ITCZ.Further regression analysis showed that the reduced area of the EJ and increased strength of the EE contributed significantly to the northward movement of the ITCZ.The enhancement of the EE preceded the northward movement of the ITCZ by six hours and pushed the ITCZ continually north.As the ITCZ approached 12°N,it not only transported warm moist air but also strengthened the dynamic field by transporting the positive vorticity horizontally and vertically which further contributed to the heavy rainfall.

Symmetry analysis and explicit solutions of the (3+1)-dimensional baroclinic potential vorticity equation

This paper investigates an important high-dimensional model in the atmospheric and oceanic dynamics-（3＋1）- dimensional nonlinear baroclinic potential vorticity equation by the classical Lie group method. Its symmetry algebra, symmetry group and group-invariant solutions are analysed. Otherwise, some exact explicit solutions are obtained from the corresponding （2＋1）-dimensional equation, the inviscid barotropic nondivergent vorticy equation. To show the properties and characters of these solutions, some plots as well as their possible physical meanings of the atmospheric circulation are given out.