Exploring the phase-strength asymmetry of the North Atlantic Oscillation using conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation

Negative-phase North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO) events are generally stronger than positive-phase ones, i.e., there is a phase-strength asymmetry of the NAO. In this work, we explore this asymmetry of the NAO using the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation(CNOP) method with a three-level global quasi-geostrophic spectral model. It is shown that, with winter climatological flow forcing, the CNOP method identifies the perturbations triggering the strongest NAO event under a given initial constraint. Meanwhile, the phase-strength asymmetry characteristics of the NAO can be revealed. By comparing with linear results, we find that the process of perturbation self-interaction promotes the onset of negative NAO events, which is much stronger than during positive NAO onset. Results are obtained separately using the climatological and zonal-mean flows in boreal winter(December–February) 1979–2006 as the initial basic state. We conclude, based on the fact that NAO onset is a nonlinear initial-value problem, that phase-strength asymmetry is an intrinsic characteristic of the NAO.     

Prediction skill of monthly SST in the North Atlantic Ocean in NCEP Climate Forecast System version 2

This work evaluates the skill of retrospective predictions of the second version of the NCEP Climate Forecast System (CFSv2) for the North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) and investigates the influence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the prediction skill over this region. It is shown that the CFSv2 prediction skill with 0–8 month lead displays a “tripole”-like pattern with areas of higher skills in the high latitude and tropical North Atlantic, surrounding the area of lower skills in the mid-latitude western North Atlantic. This “tripole”-like prediction skill pattern is mainly due to the persistency of SST anomalies (SSTAs), which is related to the influence of ENSO and NAO over the North Atlantic. The influences of ENSO and NAO, and their seasonality, result in the prediction skill in the tropical North Atlantic the highest in spring and the lowest in summer. In CFSv2, the ENSO influence over the North Atlantic is overestimated but the impact of NAO over the North Atlantic is not well simulated. However, compared with CFSv1, the overall skills of CFSv2 are slightly higher over the whole North Atlantic, particularly in the high latitudes and the northwest North Atlantic. The model prediction skill beyond the persistency initially presents in the mid-latitudes of the North Atlantic and extends to the low latitudes with time. That might suggest that the model captures the associated air-sea interaction in the North Atlantic. The CFSv2 prediction is less skillful than that of SSTA persistency in the high latitudes, implying that over this region the persistency is even better than CFSv2 predictions. Also, both persistent and CFSv2 predictions have relatively low skills along the Gulf Stream.     

条件非线性最优扰动在可预报性问题研究中的应用

本文总结了近年来条件非线性最优扰动方法的应用研究的主要进展.主要包括四个方面:(1)将条件非线性最优扰动(CNOP)方法拓展到既考虑初始扰动又考虑模式参数扰动,形成了拓展的CNOP方法.拓展的CNOP方法不仅能够应用于研究分别由初始误差和模式参数误差导致的可预报性问题,而且能够用于探讨初始误差和模式参数误差同时存在的情形;(2)将拓展的CNOP方法分别应用于ENSO和黑潮可预报性研究,考察了初始误差和模式参数误差对其可预报性的影响,揭示了初始误差在导致ENSO和黑潮大弯曲路径预报不确定性中的重要作用;(3)考察了阻塞事件发生的最优前期征兆(OPR)以及导致其预报不确定性的最优增长初始误差(OGR),揭示了OPR和OGR空间模态及其演变机制的相似性及其局地性特征;(4)研究了台风预报的目标观测问题,用CNOP方法确定了台风预报的目标观测敏感区,通过观测系统模拟试验(OSSEs)和/或观测系统试验(OSEs),表明了CNOP敏感区在改进台风预报中的有效性.具体地,台风OGR的主要误差分布在某一特定区域,空间分布具有明显的局地性特征,在台风OGR的局地性区域增加观测,有效改进了台风的预报技巧,该区域代表了台风预报的初值敏感区.事实上,上述El Ni(n)o事件、黑潮路径变异以及阻塞事件的OGR的空间分布也具有明显的局地性特征,这些事件的OGR刻画的局地性区域可能也代表了初值敏感区.     

The Impact of Verification Area Design on Tropical Cyclone Targeted Observations Based on the CNOP Method

This study investigated the impact of different verification-area designs on the sensitive areas identified using the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP) method for tropical cyclone targeted observations.The sensitive areas identified using the first singular vector (FSV) method,which is the linear approximation of CNOP,were also investigated for comparison.By analyzing the validity of the sensitive areas,the proper design of a verification area was developed.Tropical cyclone Rananim,which occurred in August 2004 in the northwest Pacific Ocean,was studied.Two sets of verification areas were designed;one changed position,and the other changed both size and position.The CNOP and its identified sensitive areas were found to be less sensitive to small variations of the verification areas than those of the FSV and its sensitive areas.With larger variations of the verification area,the CNOP and the FSV as well as their identified sensitive areas changed substantially.In terms of reducing forecast errors in the verification area,the CNOP-identified sensitive areas were more beneficial than those identified using FSV.The design of the verification area is important for cyclone prediction.The verification area should be designed with a proper size according to the possible locations of the cyclone obtained from the ensemble forecast results.In addition,the development trend of the cyclone analyzed from its dynamic mechanisms was another reference.When the general position of the verification area was determined,a small variation in size or position had little influence on the results of CNOP.     

基于弱耦合资料同化的冬季北大西洋涛动年际变率预测

北大西洋涛动作为冬季北大西洋地区大气环流的主模态之一,其年际变率对全球许多地区气候变率具有重要影响,但目前其预测技巧并不高。采用降维投影四维变分同化方法,在耦合模式中建立了基于全球大气资料的弱耦合资料同化系统,直接同化月平均再分析资料,并进行了年代际后报试验。结果表明,通过耦合资料同化的手段,可以显著提升耦合模式对冬季北大西洋涛动年际变率及其相关的欧洲北部、美国东部、欧亚大陆北部的冬季近地面温度年际变率的后报效果,相关系数均超过0.05显著水平t检验。该后报效果的改进主要与在耦合同化过程中通过耦合模式中自由发展的海-气相互作用将大气的观测信息储存在耦合模式的海洋分量中,改进了冬季北大西洋地区海表温度“三极”型分布的时空变率及其时间序列的后报效果有关。该研究强调了耦合模式初始状态的准确度对提升冬季北大西洋涛动年际变率的后报技巧具有重要作用。     

伴随敏感性方法、第一奇异向量方法以及条件非线性最优扰动方法在台风目标观测敏感区识别中的比较研究

本文通过深入分析伴随敏感性（ADS）方法、第一奇异向量（LSV）方法、以及条件非线性最优扰动（CNOP）方法在目标观测敏感区识别方面的原理,提出了非线性程度的概念和计算方法,考察了转向型和直线型台风的非线性程度,分析了上述三种方法在不同非线性程度下识别的敏感区的异同,同时对比了转向型和直线型台风的敏感区的差异,并通过敏感性试验探讨了在不同非线性程度下以及在转向型与直线型台风中,预报对敏感区内初值的敏感性程度,进而探讨台风目标观测在不同情况下的有效性。结果表明,转向型台风的非线性程度差别比较大,或者特别强,或者特别弱;而直线型台风非线性程度居中,不同台风个例之间的非线性程度差别较小。对于非线性较弱的台风,三种方法识别的敏感区较为相似,而对于非线性较强的台风,LSV方法与ADS方法识别的敏感区较为相似,但是与CNOP方法识别的敏感区具有较大的差别。对于转向型台风,敏感区主要位于行进路径的右前方,而对于直线型台风,敏感区主要位于初始台风位置的后方。敏感性试验表明,不论台风非线性强弱,转向还是直行,CNOP敏感区内的随机扰动发展最大,而LSV敏感区内叠加的随机扰动发展次之,ADS敏感区内叠加的扰动发展最小;此外,非线性弱的台风,扰动的发展大于非线性强的台风的扰动的发展,表明非线性弱的台风预报受初值影响更大,目标观测的效果可能会更明显。     

江淮入梅的年际变化及其与北大西洋涛动和海温异常的联系

文中首先采用简单相关和合成分析的方法研究了江淮入梅的年际变化与前期冬季环流和前期冬、春全球海温的关系。研究结果表明江淮入梅的早晚与前期冬季北半球大型环流存在显著的相关 :入梅早的年份 ,其前期冬季北大西洋涛动强 ,北半球只有一个强的极涡并位于格陵兰上空 ,东亚大槽弱 ;入梅晚的年份 ,则其前期冬季环流表现为 ,北大西洋涛动弱 ,北半球存在两个极涡 ,其中一个仍然位于格陵兰上空 ,而另一个则位于西伯利亚上空 ,东亚大槽较常年强。江淮入梅的年际变化与前期冬春北大西洋海温的相关分析表明 :入梅早的年份 ,北大西洋海温较常年偏暖 ;入梅晚的年份 ,前期冬春北大西洋海温较常年偏冷。文中还用 CCM3模拟了冬、春季北大西洋海温增暖对后期江淮入梅和梅雨期降水的影响 ,并探讨了其影响的物理机制     

Observed Long- and Short-lived North Atlantic Oscillation Events: Role of the Stratosphere

Utilizing three different sets of reanalysis data, this study examines the long- and short-lived observed positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) events (referred to as NAO+_LE and NAO+_SE) and long- and short-lived observed negative NAO events (referred to as NAO?_LE and NAO?_SE). Composite results indicate that the NAO-like circulation anomalies associated with the long-lived NAO events can reach the stratosphere, while they are primarily confined to the troposphere in the short-lived NAO events. Thus, the coupling/connection of stratospheric and tropospheric circulation anomalies is much better (worse) in the long-lived (short-lived) NAO events. A series of modified stratospheric initial-value experiments conducted with a simplified model indicate that a better (worse) connection between stratospheric and tropospheric circulation anomalies in the initial-value fields tend to gradually induce the NAO-like tropospheric circulation anomalies in the troposphere on the subsequent days, and thus naturally elongate (reduce) the lifetimes of the original NAO events by altering the tropospheric synoptic eddy vorticity flux over the North Atlantic region.     

Role of tropical atlantic SST variability as a modulator of El Niño teleconnections

The present study suggests that the off-equatorial North Atlantic (NATL) SST warming plays a significant role in modulating El Niño teleconnection and its impact on the North Atlantic and European regions. The El Niño events accompanied by NATL SST warming exhibit south-north dipole pattern over the Western Europe to Atlantic, while the ENSO teleconnection pattern without NATL warming exhibits a Rossby wave-like pattern confined over the North Pacific and western Atlantic. Especially, the El Niño events with NATL warming show positive (negative) geopotential-height anomalies over the North Atlantic (Western Europe) which resemble the negative phase of the NAO. Consistently, it is shown using a simple statistical model that NATL SSTA in addition to the tropical Pacific SSTA leads to better prediction on regional climate variation over the North Atlantic and European regions. This role of NATL SST on ENSO teleconnection is also validated and discussed in a long term simulation of coupled global circulation model (CGCM).     

The Time and Regime Dependencies of Sensitive Areas for Tropical Cyclone Prediction Using the CNOP Method

This study examines the time and regime dependencies of sensitive areas identified by the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation(CNOP) method for forecasts of two typhoons.Typhoon Meari(2004) was weakly nonlinear and is herein referred to as the linear case,while Typhoon Matsa(2005) was strongly nonlinear and is herein referred to as the nonlinear case.In the linear case,the sensitive areas identified for special forecast times when the initial time was fixed resembled those identified for other forecast times.Targeted observations deployed to improve a special time forecast would thus also benefit forecasts at other times.In the nonlinear case,the similarities among the sensitive areas identified for different forecast times were more limited.The deployment of targeted observations in the nonlinear case would therefore need to be adapted to achieve large improvements for different targeted forecasts.For both cases,the closer the forecast time,the higher the similarities of the sensitive areas.When the forecast time was fixed,the sensitive areas in the linear case diverged continuously from the verification area as the forecast period lengthened,while those in the nonlinear case were always located around the initial cyclones.The deployment of targeted observations to improve a special forecast depends strongly on the time of deployment.An examination of the efficiency gained by reducing initial errors within the identified sensitive areas confirmed these results.In general,the greatest improvement in a special time forecast was obtained by identifying the sensitive areas for the corresponding forecast time period.     

THE APPLICATION OF CONDITIONAL NONLINEAR OPTIMAL PERTURBATION TO THE BINARY TYPHOONS INTERACTION —FENGSHEN AND FUNG-WONG

The interaction between the typhoons Fengshen and Fung-wong over the Western Pacific in 2002 is studied with the Conditional Nonlinear Optimal Perturbation (CNOP) method. The study discovered that the CNOP method reveals the process of one-way interaction between Fengshen and Fung-wong. Moreover, if the region of Fung-wong was selected for verification, the sensitivity area was mainly located in the region of Fengshen and presented a half-ring structure; if the region of Fengshen was selected for verification, most of the sensitivity areas were located in the region between the Fengshen and the subtropical high, far away from Fung-wong. This indicated that Fung-wong is mainly steered by Fengshen, but Fengshen is mainly affected by the subtropical high. The sensitivity experiment showed that the initial errors in the CNOP-identified sensitive areas have larger impacts on the verification-area prediction than those near the typhoon center and their developments take a large proportion in the whole domain. This suggests that the CNOP-identified sensitive areas do have large influence on the verification-area prediction.     

Dynamics of eddy-driven North Atlantic Oscillations in a localized shifting jet: zonal structure and downstream blocking

In a weakly nonlinear model how an initial dipole mode develops to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in a localized shifting jet under the prescribed eddy forcing is examined. It is found that the zonal structure of the eddy-driven NAO anomaly is not only dominated by the longitudinal distribution of the preexisting Atlantic storm track, but also by the initial condition of the NAO anomaly itself associated with the interaction between a localized shifting jet and a topographic standing wave over the Atlantic basin. When both the initial NAO anomaly and the eddy vorticity forcing in the prior Atlantic storm track are more zonally localized, the subsequent eddy-driven NAO anomaly can be more zonally isolated and asymmetric. But, it seems that the shape of the initial NAO anomaly associated with the latitudinal shift of a prior Atlantic jet plays a more important role in producing the zonal asymmetry of subsequent NAO patterns. The zonal asymmetry of the NAO anomaly can be enhanced as the height of topography increases. In addition, it is further found that blocking events occur easily over the Europe continent through the decaying of positive-phase NAO events. However, prior to the positive-phase NAO life cycle the variability in each of three factors: the Atlantic jet, the eddy vorticity forcing in the Atlantic storm track and the initial NAO anomaly can result in a variation in the blocking activity over the Europe sector in strength, duration, position and pattern.     

Do European Blocking Events Precede North Atlantic Oscillation Events?

Using a two-dimensional blocking index, the cause and effect relationship between European blocking (EB) events and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) events is investigated. It is shown that the EB event frequency is enhanced over Northern (Southern) Europe for negative (positive) phases of the NAO. Enhanced EB events over Northern Europe precede the establishment of negative phase NAO (NAO-) events, while the enhanced frequency of EB events over Southern Europe lags positive phase NAO (NAO+) events. The physical explanation for why enhanced EB events over Northern (Southern) Europe lead (lag) NAO- (NAO+) events is also provided. It is found that the lead-lag relationship between EB events in different regions and the phase of NAO events can be explained in terms of the different latitudinal distribution of zonal wind associated with the different phases of NAO events. For NAO+ events, the self-maintained eastward displacement of intensified midlatitude positive height anomalies owing to the intensified zonal wind can enhance the frequency of EB events over Southern Europe, thus supporting a standpoint that EB events over Southern Europe lag NAO+ events. Over Northern Europe, EB events lead NAO- events because NAO- events arise from the self-maintained westward migration of intensified blocking anticyclones due to the weakened zonal wind in higher latitudes.     

An Asymmetric Spatiotemporal Connection between the Euro-Atlantic Blocking within the NAO Life Cycle and European Climates

This paper examines an asymmetric spatiotemporal connection and climatic impact between the winter atmospheric blocking activity in the Euro-Atlantic sector and the life cycle of the North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO) during the period 1950–2012. Results show that, for positive NAO(NAO+) events, the instantaneous blocking(IB) frequency exhibits an enhancement along the southwest–northeast(SW–NE) direction from the eastern Atlantic to northeastern Europe(SW–NE pattern, hereafter), which is particularly evident during the NAO+decaying stage. By contrast, for negative NAO(NAO-)events, the IB frequency exhibits a spatially asymmetric southeast–northwest(SE–NW) distribution from central Europe to the North Atlantic and Greenland(SE–NW pattern, hereafter). Moreover, for NAO-(NAO+) events, the most marked decrease(increase) in the surface air temperature(SAT) in winter over northern Europe is in the decaying stage. For NAO+events, the dominant positive temperature and precipitation anomalies exhibit the SW–NE-oriented distribution from western to northeastern Europe, which is parallel to the NAO+-related blocking frequency distribution. For NAO-events, the dominant negative temperature anomaly is in northern and central Europe, whereas the dominant positive precipitation anomaly is distributed over southern Europe along the SW–NE direction. In addition, the downward infrared radiation controlled by the NAO's circulation plays a crucial role in the SAT anomaly distribution. It is further shown that the NAO's phase can act as an asymmetric impact on the European climate through producing this asymmetric spatiotemporal connection with the Euro-Atlantic IB frequency.     

CONDITIONAL NONLINEAR OPTIMAL PERTURBATIONS: APPLICATION IN TROPICAL CYCLONE FORECASTS

Considering the feature of tropical cyclones (TCs) that strong positive vorticity exists in the lower layers of troposphere, this study proposed to use vorticity at 850 hPa as cost function to find the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP), which was largely different from those previous studies using total energy of perturbed forecast variables. The CNOP was obtained by an ensemble-based approach. All of the sensitive areas determined by CNOP with vorticity at 850 hPa as cost function for the three cases were located over the TC core region and its vicinity. The impact of the CNOP-based adaptive observations on TC forecasts was evaluated with three cases via observational system simulation experiments (OSSEs). Results showed obvious improvements in TC intensity or track forecasts due to the CNOP-based adaptive observations, which were related to the main error source of the verification area, i.e., intensity error or location error.     

利用大气环流模式模拟北大西洋海温异常强迫响应

北大西洋地区的海温异常能够在多大程度上对大气产生影响，一直是一个有争议的问题。作者利用伴随北大西洋涛动出现的海温异常对大气环流模式CAM2.0.1进行强迫，考察了模式在冬季（12月、1月和2月）对三核型海温异常的响应。通过与欧洲中期天气预报中心提供的再分析资料的对比，发现该模式可以通过海温强迫在一定程度上再现具有北大西洋涛动特征的温度场和环流场。在北大西洋及其沿岸地区，模式模拟出了三核型的准正压响应，与经典的北大西洋涛动型大气异常是一致的。模式结果与北大西洋地区大气内部主导模态的差别主要体现在两个方面:一是异常中心位置多偏向于大洋上空，在陆地上的异常响应强度很弱；二是高纬地区对海温异常的响应不显著，没有强迫出与实际的大气模态相对应的异常中心，表明该地区海洋的反馈作用较弱。     

Impact of the North Atlantic sea surface temperature tripole on the East Asian summer monsoon

A strong (weak) East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) is usually concurrent with the tripole pattern of North Atlantic SST anomalies on the interannual timescale during summer, which has positive (negative) SST anomalies in the northwestern North Atlantic and negative (positive) SST anomalies in the subpolar and tropical ocean. The mechanisms responsible for this linkage are diagnosed in the present study. It is shown that a barotropic wave-train pattern occurring over the Atlantic-Eurasia region likely acts as a link between the EASM and the SST tripole during summer. This wave-train pattern is concurrent with geopotential height anomalies over the Ural Mountains, which has a substantial effect on the EASM. Diagnosis based on observations and linear dynamical model results reveals that the mechanism for maintaining the wave-train pattern involves both the anomalous diabatic heating and synoptic eddy-vorticity forcing. Since the North Atlantic SST tripole is closely coupled with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the relationships between these two factors and the EASM are also examined. It is found that the connection of the EASM with the summer SST tripole is sensitive to the meridional location of the tripole, which is characterized by large seasonal variations due to the north-south movement of the activity centers of the NAO. The SST tripole that has a strong relationship with the EASM appears to be closely coupled with the NAO in the previous spring rather than in the simultaneous summer.     

An Observed Connection Between Wintertime Temperature Anomalies over Northwest China and Weather Regime Transitions in North Atlantic

In this study, the association between wintertime temperature anomalies over Northwest China and the weather regime transitions in North Atlantic on synoptic scale is analyzed by using observational surface air temperature(SAT) data and atmospheric reanalysis data. Daily SAT anomaly and duration time are used in order to define SAT anomaly cases. Differences with regard to the circulation anomalies over the Ural Mountains and the upstream North Atlantic area are evident. It is found that the colder than normal SAT is caused by the enhanced Ural high and associated southward flow over Northwest China. Time-lagged composites reveal possible connections between the SAT anomalies and the different development phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO). The Ural highs tend to be strengthened during the negative phase of NAO(NAO–) to Atlantic ridge transition, which are closely related to the downstream-propagating Rossby wave activity. The opposite circulation patterns are observed in the warm SAT cases. A cyclonic circulation anomaly is distinctly enhanced over the Urals during the positive phase of NAO(NAO+) to Scandinavian blocking transition, which would cause warmer SAT over Northwest China. Further analyses suggest that the intensified zonal wind over North Atlantic would favor the NAO– to Atlantic ridge transition, while the weakened zonal wind may be responsible for the transition between NAO+ and Scandinavian blocking.     

条件非线性最优扰动方法在黑潮目标观测研究中的应用

对近年来利用条件非线性最优扰动（Conditional Nonlinear Optimal Perturbation,CNOP）方法开展的黑潮目标观测研究进行了总结,主要包括日本南部黑潮路径变异的目标观测研究、黑潮延伸体模态转变的目标观测研究和源区黑潮流量变化的目标观测研究。通过计算这些事件的CNOP型扰动,发现这些事件的CNOP型扰动具有局地特征,可以作为实施目标观测的敏感区。理想回报试验结果表明,如果在由CNOP方法识别的敏感区内实施目标观测,则会大幅度提高上述事件的预报技巧。