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Volume 22 Issue 6

Nov.  2005

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Article >  ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES  > 2005 >  22(6): 807-820

Sensitivity of Cyclone Tracks to the Initial Moisture Distribution: A Moist Potential Vorticity Perspective

  • 1.

    Meteorological Service of Canada, Ontario, Canada,Department of Meteorology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA


doi: 10.1007/BF02918681

  • In this study, the characteristics of moist potential vorticity (MPV) in the vicinity of a surface cyclone center and their physical processes are investigated. A prognostic equation of surface absolute vorticity is then used to examine the relationship between the cyclone tracks and negative MPV (NMPV) using numerical simulations of the life cycle of an extratropical cyclone. It is shown that the MPV approach developed herein, i.e., by tracing the peak NMPV, can be used to help trace surface cyclones during their development and mature stages. Sensitivity experiments are conducted to investigate the impact of different initial moisture fields on the effectiveness of the MPV approach. It is found that the lifetime of NMPV depends mainly on the initial moisture field, the magnitude of condensational heating, and the advection of NMPV. When NMPV moves into a saturated environment at or near a cyclone center, it can trace better the evolution of the surface cyclone due to the conservative property of MPV. It is also shown that the NMPV generation is closely associated with the coupling of large potential temperature and moisture gradients as a result of frontogenesis processes. Analyses indicate that condensation, confluence and tilting play important but different roles in determining the NMPV generation. NMPV is generated mainly through the changes in the strength of baroclinicity and in the direction of the moisture gradient due to moist and/or dry air mass intrusion into the baroclinic zone.
  • [1] Zuohao CAO, Da-Lin ZHANG, 2004: Tracking Surface Cyclones with Moist Potential Vorticity, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 21, 830-835.  doi: 10.1007/BF02916379
    [2] WU Liji, HUANG Ronghui, HE Haiyan, SHAO Yaping, WEN Zhiping, 2010: Synoptic Characteristics of Heavy Rainfall Events in Pre-monsoon Season in South China, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 27, 315-327.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-009-8219-z
    [3] Zuohao Cao, G.W.K. Moore, 1998: A Diagnostic Study of Moist Potential Vorticity Generation in an Extratropical Cyclone, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 15, 152-166.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-998-0036-2
    [4] GAO Shouting, ZHOU Yushu, CUI Xiaopeng, DAI Guoping, 2004: Impacts of Cloud-Induced Mass Forcing on the Development of Moist Potential Vorticity Anomaly During Torrential Rains, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 21, 923-927.  doi: 10.1007/BF02915594
    [5] Shou Shaowen, Liu Yaohui, 1999: Study on Moist Potential Vorticity and Symmetric Instability during a Heavy Rain Event Occurred in the Jiang-Huai Valleys, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 16, 314-321.  doi: 10.1007/BF02973091
    [6] Lü Daren, T.E. VanZandt, W.L. Clark, 1987: MESOSCALE SPECTRA OF THE FREE ATMOSPHERIC MOTION IN MID-LATITUDE SUMMER－UNIVERSALITY AND CONTRIBUTION OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITIES, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 4, 105-112.  doi: 10.1007/BF02656666
    [7] Bin Wang, Yihui Ding, 1992: An Overview of the Madden-Julian Oscillation and Its Relation to Monsoon and Mid-Latitude Circulation, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 9, 93-111.  doi: 10.1007/BF02656934
    [8] Brian HOSKINS, 2015: Potential Vorticity and the PV Perspective, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 32, 2-9.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-014-0007-8
    [9] Zhou Tianjun, Yu Rucong, Li Zhaoxin, 2002: ENSO-Dependent and ENSO-Independent Variability over the Mid-Latitude North Pacific: Observation and Air-Sea Coupled Model Simulation, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 19, 1127-1147.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-002-0070-4
    [10] Xiangdong ZHANG, Thomas JUNG, Muyin WANG, Yong LUO, Tido SEMMLER, Andrew ORR, 2018: Preface to the Special Issue: Towards Improving Understanding and Prediction of Arctic Change and Its Linkage with Eurasian Mid-latitude Weather and Climate, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 35, 1-4.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-017-7004-7
    [11] Yurun TIAN, Yongqi GAO, Dong GUO, 2021: The Relationship between Melt Season Sea Ice over the Bering Sea and Summer Precipitation over Mid-Latitude East Asia, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 38, 918-930.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-021-0348-z
    [12] Peng Yongqing, Yan Shaojin, 1994: Seasonal Variation Features of Western North Pacific Tropical Cyclone Tracks with Their Predictability, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 11, 463-469.  doi: 10.1007/BF02658167
    [13] ZHAO Haikun, WU Liguang, ZHOU Weican, 2010: Assessing the Influence of the ENSO on Tropical Cyclone Prevailing Tracks in the Western North Pacific, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 27, 1361-1371.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-010-9161-9
    [14] Gang LI, Daoyong YANG, Xiaohua JIANG, Jing PAN, Yanke TAN, 2017: Diagnosis of Moist Vorticity and Moist Divergence for a Heavy Precipitation Event in Southwestern China, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 34, 88-100.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-016-6124-9
    [15] Chen Lianshou, Luo Zhexian, 2002: The Impact of the Eastward Shifting of Dipole Systems over Large-Scale Terrain on Tropical Cyclone Tracks, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 19, 1069-1078.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-002-0065-1
    [16] Quanjia ZHONG, Lifeng ZHANG, Jianping LI, Ruiqiang DING, Jie FENG, 2018: Estimating the Predictability Limit of Tropical Cyclone Tracks over the Western North Pacific Using Observational Data, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 35, 1491-1504.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-018-8008-7
    [17] Chanh Q. KIEU, Da-Lin ZHANG, 2012: Is the Isentropic Surface Always Impermeable to the Potential Vorticity Substance?, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 29, 29-35.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-011-0227-0
    [18] Xingyan ZHOU, Riyu LU, Guanghua CHEN, 2018: Impact of Interannual Variation of Synoptic Disturbances on the Tracks and Landfalls of Tropical Cyclones over the Western North Pacific, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 35, 1469-1477.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-018-8055-0
    [19] Olivia MARTIUS, Cornelia SCHWIERZ, Michael SPRENGER, 2008: Dynamical Tropopause Variability and Potential Vorticity Streamers in the Northern Hemisphere ---A Climatological Analysis, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 25, 367-380.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-008-0367-z
    [20] REN Rongcai, Ming CAI, 2006: Polar Vortex Oscillation Viewed in an Isentropic Potential Vorticity Coordinate, ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, 23, 884-900.  doi: 10.1007/s00376-006-0884-6
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    • Manuscript History

    Manuscript received: 10 November 2005
    Manuscript revised: 10 November 2005
    通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com
    • 1. 

      沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院 沈阳 110142

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    Sensitivity of Cyclone Tracks to the Initial Moisture Distribution: A Moist Potential Vorticity Perspective

    • 1. Meteorological Service of Canada, Ontario, Canada,Department of Meteorology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
    • Manuscript received: 2005-11-10
    • Manuscript revised: 2005-11-10

    Abstract: In this study, the characteristics of moist potential vorticity (MPV) in the vicinity of a surface cyclone center and their physical processes are investigated. A prognostic equation of surface absolute vorticity is then used to examine the relationship between the cyclone tracks and negative MPV (NMPV) using numerical simulations of the life cycle of an extratropical cyclone. It is shown that the MPV approach developed herein, i.e., by tracing the peak NMPV, can be used to help trace surface cyclones during their development and mature stages. Sensitivity experiments are conducted to investigate the impact of different initial moisture fields on the effectiveness of the MPV approach. It is found that the lifetime of NMPV depends mainly on the initial moisture field, the magnitude of condensational heating, and the advection of NMPV. When NMPV moves into a saturated environment at or near a cyclone center, it can trace better the evolution of the surface cyclone due to the conservative property of MPV. It is also shown that the NMPV generation is closely associated with the coupling of large potential temperature and moisture gradients as a result of frontogenesis processes. Analyses indicate that condensation, confluence and tilting play important but different roles in determining the NMPV generation. NMPV is generated mainly through the changes in the strength of baroclinicity and in the direction of the moisture gradient due to moist and/or dry air mass intrusion into the baroclinic zone.

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