Application of ATOVS Radiance-Bias Correction to Typhoon Track Prediction with Ensemble Kalman Filter Data Assimilation

In this paper, firstly, the bias between observed radiances from the Advanced TIROS-N Operational Vertical Sounder （ATOVS） and those simulated from a model first-guess are corrected. After bias correction, the observed minus calculated （O-B） radiances of most channels were reduced closer to zero, with peak values in each channel shifted towards zero, and the distribution of O-B closer to a Gaussian distribution than without bias correction. Secondly, ATOVS radiance data with and without bias correction are assimilated directly with an Ensemble Kalman Filter （EnKF） data assimilation system, which are then adopted as the initial fields in the forecast model T106L19 to simulate Typhoon Prapiroon （2006） during the period 2-4 August 2006. The prediction results show that the assimilation of ATOVS radiance data with bias correction has a significant and positive impact upon the prediction of the typhoon＇s track and intensity, although the results are not perfect.

Simulation on the spatio-temporal distribution and emission flux of dust aerosol over East Asia in 2000-2009

A regional climate model （RegCM3）, coupled with an online dust module, is used to simulate the spatio-temporal distribution and emission flux of dust aerosol （smaller than 20 Wn in diameter） over East Asia in the period from 2000 to 2009. The model perfor- mance is firstly evaluated against available observations. Simulation results show that the model can capture the characteristics of spa- tio-temporal distribution of dust aerosol very well over East Asia. There always exist two extremes of dust aerosol optical depth （AOD） and column burden （CB）, one is in the Taklimakan Desert of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, and the other is in the Ba- dain Jaran Desert of Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, China. The maximum value of CB appears in spring, secondary maxi- mum in winter and minimum in autumn. To the east of 110°E, dust is transported eastward from a maximum center at a height of 700 hPa over the East Asian continent. Dust emission sources are mainly located in the Taklimakan Desert, Badain Jaran Desert, North Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and Southwest Mongolia. There is also an obvious seasonal variation of dust emission flux （EF）. Annual mean dust EF is 1,015.34 mg/（m2.d）, of which 62.4% and 2.3% are re-deposited onto the East Asian continent through a dry and wet deposition process, respectively, and the remaining 35.3% is injected into the atmosphere or subject to long-range transport.

Effect of Sea Spray on the Numerical Simulation of Super Typhoon ‘Ewiniar’

To study the potential effect of sea spray on the evolution of typhoons,two kinds of sea spray flux parameterization schemes developed by Andreas (2005) and Andreas and Wang (2006) and Fairall et al. (1994) respectively are incorporated into the regional atmospheric Mesoscale Model version 3.6 (MM5V3) of Pennsylvania State University/National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU/NCAR) and the coupled atmosphere-sea spray modeling system is applied to simulate a Western Pacific super ty-phoon Ewiniar in 2006. The simulation results demonstrate that sea spray can lead to a significant increase in heat fluxes at the air-sea interface and the simulated typhoon’s intensity. Compared with the results without sea spray,the minimum sea level pressure reduces about 8hPa after taking account of sea spray by Fairall et al.’s parameterization (1994) and about 5hPa by Andreas’ (2005) and Andreas and Wang’s (2006) parameterization at the end of the model integration,while the maximum 10m wind speed increases about 17% and 15% on average,respectively,through the entire simulation time period. Taking sea spray into account also causes significant changes in Tropical Cyclone (TC) structure due to an enhancement of water vapor and heat transferred from the sea sur-face to the air; therefore,the center structure of the typhoon becomes more clearly defined and the wind speed around the typhoon eye is stronger in numerical experiments. The simulations show that different sea spray flux parameterizations make different modi-fications to the TC structure.

Study on the Evolution of a Northeast China Cold Vortex during the Spring of 2010

Based on the final analysis data with horizontal resolution of 1°× 1°(four times a day) from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP), a typical Northeast China cold vortex(NCCV) during the spring of 2010 was examined with the quasi-Lagrange- form eddy flux circulation(EFC) budget equation. Results indicated that the mechanisms that account for the development, maintenance, and attenuation of the cyclone varied with levels and stages. Displacement of the cyclone and transports by background environmental circulations dominated the variation of the cyclone in the middle and upper levels, whereas displacement and divergence associated with the cyclone dominated the evolution of the NCCV in the middle and lower levels. Moreover, interactions between the NCCV and other subsynoptic weather systems were important for the development of the cyclone, and the pattern of background environmental circulations was also important for the evolution of the NCCV, since the cyclone enhanced(weakened) as it moved from areas of low(high) vorticity to high(low) ones.

Impact of Atmospheric and Oceanic Conditions on the Frequency and Genesis Location of Tropical Cyclones over the Western North Pacific in 2004 and 2010

This study examines the impact of atmospheric and oceanic conditions during May–August of 2004 and 2010 on the frequency and genesis location of tropical cyclones over the western North Pacific. Using the WRF model, four numerical experiments were carried out based on different atmospheric conditions and SST forcing. The numerical experiments indicated that changes in atmospheric and oceanic conditions greatly affect tropical cyclone activity, and the roles of atmospheric conditions are slightly greater than oceanic conditions. Specifically, the total number of tropical cyclones was found to be mostly affected by atmospheric conditions, while the distribution of tropical cyclone genesis locations was mainly related to oceanic conditions, especially the distribution of SST. In 2010, a warmer SST occurred west of 140°E, with a colder SST east of 140°E. On the one hand, the easterly flow was enhanced through the effect of the increase in the zonal SST gradient.The strengthened easterly flow led to an anomalous boundary layer divergence over the region to the east of 140°E, which suppressed the formation of tropical cyclones over this region. On the other hand, the colder SST over the region to the east of 140°E led to a colder low-level air temperature, which resulted in decreased CAPE and static instability energy. The decrease in thermodynamic energy restricted the generation of tropical cyclones over the same region.

NUMERICAL EXPERIMENT ON IMPACT OF ANOMALOUS SST WARMING IN KUROSHIO EXTENSION IN PREVIOUS WINTER ON EAST ASIAN SUMMER MONSOON

The impact of anomalous sea surface temperature (SST) warming in the Kuroshio Extension in the previous winter on the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) was investigated by performing simulation tests using NCAR CAM3.The results show that anomalous SST warming in the Kuroshio Extension in winter causes the enhancement and northward movement of the EASM.The monsoon indexes for East Asian summer monsoon and land-sea thermal difference,which characterize the intensity of the EASM,show an obvious increase during the onset period of the EASM.Moreover,the land-sea thermal difference is more sensitive to warmer SST.Low-level southwesterly monsoon is clearly strengthened meanwhile westerly flows north (south) of the subtropical westerly jet axis are strengthened (weakened) in northern China,South China Sea,and the Western Pacific Ocean to the east of the Philippines.While there is an obvious decrease in precipitation over the Japanese archipelago and adjacent oceans and over the area from the south of the Yangtze River in eastern China to the Qinling Mountains in southern China,precipitation increases notably in northern China,the South China Sea,the East China Sea,the Yellow Sea,and the Western Pacific to the east of the Philippines.North China is the key area where the response of the EASM to the SST anomalous warming in the Kuroshio Extension is prominent.The surface air temperature shows a warming trend.The warming in the entire troposphere between 30oN and 50oN increases the land-sea thermal contrast,which plays an important role in the enhancement of the EASM.Atmospheric circulation and precipitation anomalies in China and its adjacent regions have a close relationship with the enhancement of the Western Pacific subtropical high and its northward extension.

ANALYSIS OF TROPICAL CYCLONE PRECIPITATION FOR DIFFERENT INTENSITY CLASS IN NORTHWEST PACIFIC WITH TRMM DATA

Combined with TRMM products and Tropical Cyclone(TC) best track data in Northwest Pacific from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2009,a total of 118 TCs,including 336 instantaneous TC precipitation observations are established as the TRMM TC database,and the database is stratified into four intensity classes according to the standard of TC intensity adopted by China Meteorological Administration(CMA):Severe Tropical Storm(STS),Typhoon(TY),Severe Typhoon(STY) and Super Typhoon(SuperT Y).For each TC snapshot,the mean rainfall distribution is computed using 10-km annuli from the TC center to a 300-km radius,then the axisymmetric component of TC rainfall is represented by the radial distribution of the azimuthal mean rain rate;the mean rain rates,rain types occurrence and contribution proportion are computed for each TC intensity class;and the mean quadrantal distribution of rain rates along TCs motion is analyzed.The result shows that:(1) TCs mean rain rates increase with their intensity classes,and their radial distributions show single-peak characteristic gradually,and furthermore,the characteristics of rain rates occurrence and contribution proportion change from dual-peak to single-peak distribution,with the peak rain rate at about 5.0mm/h;(2) Stratiform rain dominate the rain type in the analysis zone,while convective rain mainly occurred in the eye-wall region;(3) The values of mean rain rate in each quadrant along TCs motion are close to each other,relatively,the value in the right-rear quadrant is the smallest one.

TWO BIAS CORRECTION SCHEMES FOR ATOVS RADIANCE DATA

To better assimilate Advanced TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder(ATOVS) radiance data and provide more accurate initial fields for a numerical model,two bias correction schemes are employed to correct the ATOVS radiance data.The difference in the two schemes lies in the predictors use in air-mass bias correction.The predictors used in SCHEME 1 are all obtained from model first-guess,while those in SCHEME 2 are from model first-guess and radiance observations.The results from the two schemes show that after bias correction,the observation residual became smaller and closer to a Gaussian distribution.For both land and ocean data sets,the results obtained from SCHEME 1 are similar to those from SCHEME 2,which indicates that the predictors could be used in bias correction of ATOVS data.

Energy Budgets on the Interactions between the Mean and Eddy Flows during a Persistent Heavy Rainfall Event over the Yangtze River Valley in Summer 2010

In this study,a persistent heavy rainfall event（PHRE） that lasted for around 9 days（from 0000 UTC 17 to0000 UTC 26 June 2010） and caused accumulated precipitation above 600 mm over the Yangtze River valley,was reasonably reproduced by the advanced research WRF model.Based on the simulation,a set of energy budget equations that divided the real meteorological field into the mean and eddy flows were calculated so as to understand the interactions between the precipitation-related eddy flows and their background circulations（BCs）.The results indicated that the precipitation-related eddy flows interacted with their BCs intensely during the PHRE.At different layers,the energy cycles showed distinct characteristics.In the upper troposphere,downscaled energy cascade processes appeared,which favored the maintenance of upper-level eddy flows;whereas,a baroclinic energy conversion,which reduced the upper-level jet,also occurred.In the middle troposphere,significant upscaled energy cascade processes,which reflect the eddy flows＇ reactionary effects on their BCs,appeared.These effects cannot be ignored with respect to the BCs＇ evolution,and the reactionary effects were stronger in the dynamical field than in the thermodynamical field.In the lower troposphere,a long-lived quasi-stationary lower-level shear line was the direct trigger for the PHRE.The corresponding eddy flows were sustained mainly through the baroclinic energy conversion associated with convection activities.Alongside this,the downscaled energy cascade processes of kinetic energy,which reflect the direct influences of BCs on the precipitation-related eddy flows,were also favorable.A downscaled energy cascade of exergy also appeared in the lower troposphere,which favored the precipitation-related eddy flow indirectly via the baroclinic energy conversion.

The Multiscale Factors Favorable for a Persistent Heavy Rain Event over Hainan Island in October 2010

A case study is presented of the multiscale characteristics that produced the record-breaking persistent heavy rainfall event（PHRE） over Hainan Island,northern South China Sea（SCS）,in autumn 2010.The study documents several key weather systems,from planetary scale to mesoscale,that contributed to the extreme rainfall during this event.The main findings of this study are as follows.First,the convectively active phase of the MJO was favorable for the establishment of a cyclonic circulation and the northward expansion of the Intertropical Convergence Zone（ITCZ）.The active disturbances in the northward ITCZ helped direct abundant moisture from adjacent oceans towards Hainan Island continuously throughout the event,where it interacted with cold air from the midlatitudes and caused heavy rain.Second,the 8-daylong PHRE can be divided into three processes according to different synoptic systems：peripheral cloud clusters of a tropical depression-type disturbance over the central SCS in process 1;interactions between the abnormally far north ITCZ and the invading cold air in process 2;and the newly formed tropical depression near Hainan Island in process 3.In the relatively stable synoptic background of each process,meso-α and meso-β-scale cloud clusters repeatedly traveled along the same path to Hainan Island.Finally,based on these analyses,a conceptual model is proposed for this type of PHRE in autumn over the northern SCS,which demonstrates the influences of multiscale systems.