A Brief of Cold Spell Warning Actions of the National Meteorological Center of China Meteorological Administration

The“Outline for High-Quality Development of Meteorology(2022-2035)”was published by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China in April 2022(1).This publication highlights the essential role of meteorological disaster warnings,particularly cold spell warnings,in preventing and mitigating disasters.The outline also sets forth stricter expectations for enhancing the overall capacity of society in terms of meteorological disaster preparedness and response.

Scientific Advances and Weather Services of the China Meteorological Administration’s National Forecasting Systems during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Since the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was the first Winter Olympics in history held in continental winter monsoon climate conditions across complex terrain areas,there is a deficiency of relevant research,operational techniques,and experience.This made providing meteorological services for this event particularly challenging.The China Meteorological Administration(CMA)Earth System Modeling and Prediction Centre,achieved breakthroughs in research on short-and medium-term deterministic and ensemble numerical predictions.Several key technologies crucial for precise winter weather services during the Winter Olympics were developed.A comprehensive framework,known as the Operational System for High-Precision Weather Forecasting for the Winter Olympics,was established.Some of these advancements represent the highest level of capabilities currently available in China.The meteorological service provided to the Beijing 2022 Games also exceeded previous Winter Olympic Games in both variety and quality.This included achievements such as the“100-meter level,minute level”downscaled spatiotemporal resolution and forecasts spanning 1 to 15 days.Around 30 new technologies and over 60 kinds of products that align with the requirements of the Winter Olympics Organizing Committee were developed,and many of these techniques have since been integrated into the CMA’s operational national forecasting systems.These accomplishments were facilitated by a dedicated weather forecasting and research initiative,in conjunction with the preexisting real-time operational forecasting systems of the CMA.This program represents one of the five subprograms of the WMO’s high-impact weather forecasting demonstration project(SMART2022),and continues to play an important role in their Regional Association(RA)II Research Development Project(Hangzhou RDP).Therefore,the research accomplishments and meteorological service experiences from this program will be carried forward into forthcoming highimpact weather forecasting activities.This article provides an overview and assessment of this program and the operational national forecasting systems.

THE MEDIUM-RANGE NUMERICAL WEATHER PREDICTION OPERATION SYSTEM IN THE CHINA NATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL CENTER

It is not only meteorological problems for the medium-range numerical weather prediction (NWP) research to be in operation,but also engineering and technological problems.Here we gener- ally described the results of research,engineering construction,operation information and testing,in the course of set-up of medium-range NWP operation system in the China National Meteorological Center.

Fusion SST from Infrared and Microwave Measurement of FY-3D Meteorological Satellite

Sea surface temperature(SST)is one of the important parameters of global ocean and climate research,which can be retrieved by satellite infrared and passive microwave remote sensing instruments.While satellite infrared SST offers high spatial resolution,it is limited by cloud cover.On the other hand,passive microwave SST provides all-weather observation but suffers from poor spatial resolution and susceptibility to environmental factors such as rainfall,coastal effects,and high wind speeds.To achieve high-precision,comprehensive,and high-resolution SST data,it is essential to fuse infrared and microwave SST measurements.In this study,data from the Fengyun-3D(FY-3D)medium resolution spectral imager II(MERSI-II)SST and microwave imager(MWRI)SST were fused.Firstly,the accuracy of both MERSIII SST and MWRI SST was verified,and the latter was bilinearly interpolated to match the 5km resolution grid of MERSI SST.After pretreatment and quality control of MERSI SST and MWRI SST,a Piece-Wise Regression method was employed to correct biases in MWRI SST.Subsequently,SST data were selected based on spatial resolution and accuracy within a 3-day window of the analysis date.Finally,an optimal interpolation method was applied to fuse the FY-3D MERSI-II SST and MWRI SST.The results demonstrated a significant improvement in spatial coverage compared to MERSI-II SST and MWRI SST.Furthermore,the fusion SST retained true spatial distribution details and exhibited an accuracy of–0.12±0.74℃compared to OSTIA SST.This study has improved the accuracy of FY satellite fusion SST products in China.

Progress and Achievements of Fengyun Meteorological Satellite Program since 2022

Fengyun meteorological satellites have undergone a series of significant developments over the past 50 years.Two generations,four types,and 21 Fengyun satellites have been developed and launched,with 9 currently operational in orbit.The data obtained from Fengyun satellites is employed in a multitude of applications,including weather forecasting,meteorological disaster prevention and reduction,climate change,global environmental monitoring,and space weather.These data products and services are made available to the global community,resulting in tangible social and economic benefits.In 2023,two Fengyun meteorological satellites were successfully launched.This report presents an overview of the two recently launched Fengyun satellites and currently in orbit Fengyun satellites,including an evaluation of their remote sensing instruments since 2022.Additionally,it addresses the subject of Fengyun satellite data archiving,data services,application services,international cooperation,and supporting activities.Furthermore,the development prospects have been outlined.

Design and Implementation of National Meteorological Service Platform

In order to change the distributed status of the meteorological service platform,based on the integration of the self-built service platforms including meteorology,climate,observation and service,National Meteorological Information Center( NMIC) constructs National Meteorological Service Platform( NMSP). NMSP is a unified national meteorological service platform to provide browsing,searching and displaying of observation,weather forecasting,warning information,historical climate data and network information. NMSP uses the MVC design pattern.For adapting the characteristics of meteorological application,above J2 EE application framework( Struts + Spring + Hibernate),NMSP encapsulates data exchange module which improves flexibility and efficiency of the system development. On March 2015,NMSP( version 2. 0)has been on operational running,which covers six core sections,nearly 100 sub-modules,2000 kinds of service products. It plays an effective supporting role on various types of meteorological service.

Construction and Application of a Regional Kilometer-Scale Carbon Source and Sink Assimilation Inversion System(CCMVS-R)

CO_(2)is one of the most important greenhouse gases(GHGs)in the earth’s atmosphere.Since the industrial era,anthropogenic activities have emitted excessive quantities of GHGs into the atmosphere,resulting in climate warming since the 1950s and leading to an increased frequency of extreme weather and climate events.In 2020,China committed to striving for carbon neutrality by 2060.This commitment and China’s consequent actions will result in significant changes in global and regional anthropogenic carbon emissions and therefore require timely,comprehensive,and objective monitoring and verification support(MVS)systems.The MVS approach relies on the top-down assimilation and inversion of atmospheric CO_(2)concentrations,as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)Inventory Guidelines in 2019.However,the regional high-resolution assimilation and inversion method is still in its initial stage of development.Here,we have constructed an inverse system for carbon sources and sinks at the kilometer level by coupling proper orthogonal decomposition(POD)with four-dimensional variational(4DVar)data assimilation based on the weather research and forecasting-greenhouse gas(WRF-GHG)model.Our China Carbon Monito ring and Verification Support at the Regional level(CCMVS-R)system can continuously assimilate information on atmospheric CO_(2)and other related information and realize the inversion of regional and local anthropogenic carbon emissions and natural terrestrial ecosystem carbon exchange.Atmospheric CO_(2)data were collected from six ground-based monito ring sites in Shanxi Province,China to verify the inversion effect of regio nal anthropogenic carbon emissions by setting ideal and real experiments using a two-layer nesting method(at 27 and 9 km).The uncertainty of the simulated atmospheric CO_(2)decreased significantly,with a root-mean-square error of CO_(2)concentration values between the ideal value and the simulated after assimilation was close to 0.The total anthropogenic carbon emissions in Shanxi Province in 2019 from the assimilated inversions were approximately 28.6%(17%-38%)higher than the mean of five emission inventories using the bottomup method,showing that the top-down CCMVS-R system can obtain more comprehensive information on anthropogenic carbon emissions.

A New Method for Deriving High-Vertical-Resolution Wind Vector Data from the L-Band Radar Sounding System in China

High-vertical-resolution radiosonde wind data are highly valuable for describing the dynamics of the meso-and microscale atmosphere. However, the current algorithm used in China's L-band radar sounding system for calculating highvertical-resolution wind vectors excessively smooths the data, resulting in significant underestimation of the calculated kinetic energy of gravity waves compared to similar products from other countries, which greatly limits the effective utilization of the data. To address this issue, this study proposes a novel method to calculate high-vertical-resolution wind vectors that utilizes the elevation angle, azimuth angle, and slant range from L-band radar. In order to obtain wind data with a stable quality, a two-step automatic quality control procedure, including the RMSE-F(root-mean-square error F) test and elemental consistency test are first applied to the slant range data, to eliminate continuous erroneous data caused by unstable signals or radar malfunctions. Then, a wind calculation scheme based on a sliding second-order polynomial fitting is utilized to derive the high-vertical-resolution radiosonde wind vectors. The evaluation results demonstrate that the wind data obtained through the proposed method show a high level of consistency with the high-resolution wind data observed using the Vaisala Global Positioning System and the data observed by the new Beidou Navigation Sounding System. The calculation of the kinetic energy of gravity waves in the recalculated wind data also reaches a level comparable to the Vaisala observations.

Evaluation and projection of marine heatwaves in the South China Sea: insights from CMIP6 multi-model ensemble

This study evaluates the performance of 16 models sourced from the coupled model intercomparison project phase 6(CMIP6)in simulating marine heatwaves(MHWs)in the South China Sea(SCS)during the historical period(1982−2014),and also investigates future changes in SCS MHWs based on simulations from three shared socioeconomic pathway(SSP)scenarios(SSP126,SSP245,and SSP585)using CMIP6 models.Results demonstrate that the CMIP6 models perform well in simulating the spatial-temporal distribution and intensity of SCS MHWs,with their multi-model ensemble(MME)results showing the best performance.The reasonable agreement between the observations and CMIP6 MME reveals that the increasing trends of SCS MHWs are attributed to the warming sea surface temperature trend.Under various SSP scenarios,the year 2040 emerges as pivotal juncture for future shifts in SCS MHWs,marked by distinct variations in changing rate and amplitudes.This is characterized by an accelerated decrease in MHWs frequency and a notably heightened increase in mean intensity,duration,and total days after 2040.Furthermore,the projection results for SCS MHWs suggest that the spatial pattern of MHWs remains consistent across future periods.However,the intensity shows higher consistency only during the near-term period(2021−2050),while notable inconsistencies are observed during the medium-term(2041−2070)and long-term(2071−2100)periods under the three SSP scenarios.During the nearterm period,the SCS MHWs are characterized by moderate and strong events with high frequencies and relatively shorter durations.In contrast,during the medium-term period,MHWs are also characterized by moderate and strong events,but with longer-lasting and more intense events under the SSP245 and SSP585 scenarios.However,in the long-term period,extreme MHWs become the dominant feature under the SSP585 scenario,indicating a substantial intensification of SCS MHWs,effectively establishing a near-permanent state.

Mesoscale and Microphysical Characteristics of a Double Rain Belt Event in South China on May 10–13,2022

A second rain belt sometimes occurs ahead of a frontal rain belt in the warm sector over coastal South China,leading to heavy precipitation.We examined the differences in the mesoscale characteristics and microphysics of the frontal and warm sector rain belts that occurred in South China on May 10–13,2022.The southern rain belt occurred in an environment with favorable mesoscale conditions but weak large-scale forcing.In contrast,the northern rain belt was related to low-level horizontal shear and the surface-level front.The interaction between the enhanced southeasterly winds and the rainfall-induced cold pool promoted the persistent growth of convection along the southern rain belt.The convective cell propagated east over the coastal area,where there was a large temperature gradient.The bow-shaped echo in this region may be closely related to the rear-inflow jet.By contrast,the initial convection of the northern rain belt was triggered along the front and the region of low-level horizontal shear,with mesoscale interactions between the enhanced warm-moist southeasterly airflow and the cold dome associated with the earlier rain.The terrain blocked the movement of the cold pool,resulting in the stagnation of the frontal convective cell at an early stage.Subsequently,a meso-γ-scale vortex formed during the rapid movement of the convective cell,corresponding to an enhancement of precipitation.The representative raindrop spectra for the southern rain belt were characterized by a greater number and higher density of raindrops than the northern rain belt,even though both resulted in comparable hourly rainfalls.These results help us better understand the characteristics of double rain belts over South China.

A New Algorithm of Rain Type Classification for GPM Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar in Summer Tibetan Plateau

In this study, a new rain type classification algorithm for the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar(DPR) suitable over the Tibetan Plateau(TP) was proposed by analyzing Global Precipitation Measurement(GPM) DPR Level-2 data in summer from 2014 to 2020. It was found that the DPR rain type classification algorithm(simply called DPR algorithm) has mis-identification problems in two aspects in summer TP. In the new algorithm of rain type classification in summer TP,four rain types are classified by using new thresholds, such as the maximum reflectivity factor, the difference between the maximum reflectivity factor and the background maximum reflectivity factor, and the echo top height. In the threshold of the maximum reflectivity factors, 30 d BZ and 18 d BZ are both thresholds to separate strong convective precipitation, weak convective precipitation and weak precipitation. The results illustrate obvious differences of radar reflectivity factor and vertical velocity among the three rain types in summer TP, such as the reflectivity factor of most strong convective precipitation distributes from 15 d BZ to near 35 d BZ from 4 km to 13 km, and increases almost linearly with the decrease in height. For most weak convective precipitation, the reflectivity factor distributes from 15 d BZ to 28 d BZ with the height from 4 km to 9 km. For weak precipitation, the reflectivity factor mainly distributes in range of 15–25 d BZ with height within 4–10 km. It is also shows that weak precipitation is the dominant rain type in summer TP, accounting for 40%–80%,followed by weak convective precipitation(25%–40%), and strong convective precipitation has the least proportion(less than 30%).

Ingredients-based Methodology and Fuzzy Logic Combined Short-Duration Heavy Rainfall Short-Range Forecasting:An Improved Scheme

Short-duration heavy rainfall(SHR),as delineated by the National Meteorological Center of the China Me-teorological Administration,is characterized by hourly rainfall amounts no less than 20.0 mm.SHR is one of the most common convective weather phenomena that can cause severe damage.Short-range forecasting of SHR is an important part of operational severe weather prediction.In the present study,an improved objective SHR forecasting scheme was developed by adopting the ingredients-based methodology and using the fuzzy logic approach.The 1.0°×1.0°National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP)final analysis data and the ordinary rainfall(0.1-19.9 mm h-1)and SHR observational data from 411 stations were used in the improved scheme.The best lifted index,the total precipitable water,the 925 hPa specific humidity(Q 925),and the 925 hPa divergence(DIV 925)were selected as predictors based on objective analysis.Continuously distributed membership functions of predictors were obtained based on relative frequency analysis.The weights of predictors were also objectively determined.Experiments with a typhoon SHR case and a spring SHR case show that the main possible areas could be captured by the improved scheme.Verification of SHR forecasts within 96 hours with NCEP global forecasts 1.0°×1.0°data initiated at 08:00 Beijing Time during the warm seasons in 2015 show the results were improved from both deterministic and probabilistic perspectives.This study provides an objectively feasible choice for short-range guidance forecasts of SHR.The scheme can be applied to other convective phenomena.

Cloud-Type-Dependent 1DVAR Algorithm for Retrieving Hydrometeors and Precipitation in Tropical Cyclone Nanmadol from GMI Data

Understanding the structure of tropical cyclone(TC)hydrometeors is crucial for detecting the changes in the distribution and intensity of precipitation.In this study,the GMI brightness temperature and cloud-dependent 1DVAR algorithm were used to retrieve the hydrometeor profiles and surface rain rate of TC Nanmadol(2022).The Advanced Radiative Transfer Modeling System(ARMS)was used to calculate the Jacobian and degrees of freedom(△DOF)of cloud water,rainwater,and graupel for different channels of GMI in convective conditions.The retrieval results were compared with the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar(DPR),GMI 2A,and IMERG products.It is shown that from all channels of GMI,rain water has the highest△DOF,at 1.72.According to the radiance Jacobian to atmospheric state variables,cloud water emission dominates its scattering.For rain water,the emission of channels 1–4 dominates scattering.Compared with the GMI 2A precipitation product,the 1DVAR precipitation rate has a higher correlation coefficient(0.713)with the IMERG product and can better reflect the location of TC precipitation.Near the TC eyewall,the highest radar echo top indicates strong convection.Near the melting layer where Ka-band attenuation is strong,the double frequency difference of DPR data reflects the location of the melting.The DPR drop size distribution(DSD)product shows that there is a significant increase in particle size below the melting layer in the spiral rain band.Thus,the particle size may be one of the main reasons for the smaller rain water below the melting layer retrieved from 1DVAR.

Influences of Earth Incidence Angle on FY-3/MWRI SST Retrieval and Evaluation of Reprocessed SST

Sea surface temperature(SST)is a crucial physical parameter in meteorology and oceanography.This study demonstrates that the influence of earth incidence angle(EIA)on the SST retrieved from the microwave radiation imager(MWRI)onboard FengYun-3(FY-3)meteorological satellites should not be ignored.Compared with algorithms that do not consider the influence of EIA in the regression,those that integrate the EIA into the regression can enhance the accuracy of SST retrievals.Subsequently,based on the recalibrated Level 1B data from the FY-3/MWRI,a long-term SST dataset was reprocessed by employing the algorithm that integrates the EIA into the regression.The reprocessed SST data,including FY-3B/MWRI SST during 2010-2019,FY-3C/MWRI SST during 2013-2019,and FY-3D/MWRI SST during 2018-2020,were compared with the in-situ SST and the SST dataset from the Operational Sea Surface Temperature and Ice Analysis(OSTIA).The results show that the FY-3/MWRI SST data were consistent with both the in-situ SST and the OSTIA SST dataset.Compared with the Copernicus Climate Change Service V2.0 SST,the absolute deviation of the reprocessed SST,with a quality flag of 50,was less than 1.5℃.The root mean square errors of the FY-3/MWRI orbital,daily,and monthly SSTs,with a quality flag of 50,were approximately 0.82℃,0.69℃,and 0.37℃,respectively.The primary discrepancies between the FY-3/MWRI SST and the OSTIA SST were found mainly in the regions of the western boundary current and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.Overall,this reprocessed SST product is recommended for El Niño and La Niña events monitoring.

The First Global Map of Atmospheric Ammonia(NH_(3)) as Observed by the HIRAS/FY-3D Satellite

Atmospheric ammonia(NH_(3)) is a chemically active trace gas that plays an important role in the atmospheric environment and climate change. Satellite remote sensing is a powerful technique to monitor NH_(3) concentration based on the absorption lines of NH_(3) in the thermal infrared region. In this study, we establish a retrieval algorithm to derive the NH_(3)column from the Hyperspectral Infrared Atmospheric Sounder(HIRAS) onboard the Chinese Feng Yun(FY)-3D satellite and present the first atmospheric NH_(3) column global map observed by the HIRAS instrument. The HIRAS observations can well capture NH_(3) hotspots around the world, e.g., India, West Africa, and East China, where large NH_(3) emissions exist. The HIRAS NH_(3) columns are also compared to the space-based Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer(IASI)measurements, and we find that the two instruments observe a consistent NH_(3) global distribution, with correlation coefficient(R) values of 0.28–0.73. Finally, some remaining issues about the HIRAS NH_(3) retrieval are discussed.

Improving Satellite-Retrieved Cloud Base Height with Ground-Based Cloud Radar Measurements

Cloud base height(CBH) is a crucial parameter for cloud radiative effect estimates, climate change simulations, and aviation guidance. However, due to the limited information on cloud vertical structures included in passive satellite radiometer observations, few operational satellite CBH products are currently available. This study presents a new method for retrieving CBH from satellite radiometers. The method first uses the combined measurements of satellite radiometers and ground-based cloud radars to develop a lookup table(LUT) of effective cloud water content(ECWC), representing the vertically varying cloud water content. This LUT allows for the conversion of cloud water path to cloud geometric thickness(CGT), enabling the estimation of CBH as the difference between cloud top height and CGT. Detailed comparative analysis of CBH estimates from the state-of-the-art ECWC LUT are conducted against four ground-based millimeter-wave cloud radar(MMCR) measurements, and results show that the mean bias(correlation coefficient) is0.18±1.79 km(0.73), which is lower(higher) than 0.23±2.11 km(0.67) as derived from the combined measurements of satellite radiometers and satellite radar-lidar(i.e., Cloud Sat and CALIPSO). Furthermore, the percentages of the CBH biases within 250 m increase by 5% to 10%, which varies by location. This indicates that the CBH estimates from our algorithm are more consistent with ground-based MMCR measurements. Therefore, this algorithm shows great potential for further improvement of the CBH retrievals as ground-based MMCR are being increasingly included in global surface meteorological observing networks, and the improved CBH retrievals will contribute to better cloud radiative effect estimates.

Summer Atmospheric Water Cycle under the Transition Influence of the Westerly and Summer Monsoon over the Yarlung Zangbo River Basin in the Southern Tibetan Plateau

This study compares the summer atmospheric water cycle,including moisture sources and consumption,in the upstream,midstream,and downstream regions of the Yarlung Zangbo River Basin in the southern Tibetan Plateau.The evolutions of moisture properties under the influence of the westerly and summer southerly monsoon are examined using 5-yr multi-source measurements and ERA5 reanalysis data.Note that moisture consumption in this study is associated with clouds,precipitation,and diabatic heating.Compared to the midstream and downstream regions,the upstream region has less moisture,clouds,and precipitation,where the moisture is brought by the westerly.In early August,the vertical wet advection over this region becomes enhanced and generates more high clouds and precipitation.The midstream region has moisture carried by the westerly in June and by the southerly monsoon from July to August.The higher vertical wet advection maximum here forms more high clouds,with a precipitation peak in early July.The downstream region is mainly affected by the southerly-driven wet advection.The rich moisture and strong vertical wet advection here produce the most clouds and precipitation among the three regions,with a precipitation peak in late June.The height of the maximum moisture condensation is different between the midstream region(325 hPa)and the other two regions(375 hPa),due to the higher upward motion maximum in the midstream region.The diabatic heating structures show that stratiform clouds dominate the upstream region,stratiform clouds and deep convection co-exist in the midstream region,and deep convection systems characterize the downstream region.

Long-term Variation of the Solar Polar Magnetic Fields at Different Latitudes

The polar magnetic fields of the Sun play an important role in governing solar activity and powering fast solar wind.However,because our view of the Sun is limited in the ecliptic plane,the polar regions remain largely uncharted.Using the high spatial resolution and polarimetric precision vector magnetograms observed by Hinode from 2012 to 2021,we investigate the long-term variation of the magnetic fields in polar caps at different latitudes.The Hinode magnetic measurements show that the polarity reversal processes in the north and south polar caps are non-simultaneous.The variation of the averaged radial magnetic flux density reveals that,in each polar cap,the polarity reversal is completed successively from the 70°latitude to the pole,reflecting a poleward magnetic flux migration therein.These results clarify the polar magnetic polarity reversal process at different latitudes.

Consistency of Tropospheric Water Vapor between Reanalyses and Himawari-8/AHI Measurements over East Asia

High spatiotemporal resolution radiances from the advanced imagers onboard the new generation of geostationary weather satellites provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the abilities of various reanalysis datasets to depict multilayer tropospheric water vapor(WV),thereby enhancing our understanding of the deficiencies of WV in reanalysis datasets.Based on daily measurements from the Advanced Himawari Imager(AHI)onboard the Himawari-8 satellite in 2016,the bias features of multilayer WV from six reanalysis datasets over East Asia are thoroughly evaluated.The assessments show that wet biases exist in the upper troposphere in all six reanalysis datasets;in particular,these biases are much larger in summer.Overall,we find better depictions of WV in the middle troposphere than in the upper troposphere.The accuracy of WV in the ERA5 dataset is the highest,in terms of the bias magnitude,dispersion,and pattern similarity.The characteristics of the WV bias over the Tibetan Plateau are significantly different from those over other parts of East Asia.In addition,the reanalysis datasets all capture the shift of the subtropical high very well,with ERA5 performing better overall.

New Record Ocean Temperatures and Related Climate Indicators in 2023

The global physical and biogeochemical environment has been substantially altered in response to increased atmospheric greenhouse gases from human activities.In 2023,the sea surface temperature(SST)and upper 2000 m ocean heat content(OHC)reached record highs.The 0–2000 m OHC in 2023 exceeded that of 2022 by 15±10 ZJ(1 Zetta Joules=1021 Joules)(updated IAP/CAS data);9±5 ZJ(NCEI/NOAA data).The Tropical Atlantic Ocean,the Mediterranean Sea,and southern oceans recorded their highest OHC observed since the 1950s.Associated with the onset of a strong El Niño,the global SST reached its record high in 2023 with an annual mean of~0.23℃ higher than 2022 and an astounding>0.3℃ above 2022 values for the second half of 2023.The density stratification and spatial temperature inhomogeneity indexes reached their highest values in 2023.