THE ROLE OF THE MERIDIONAL CIRCULATION IN STATIONARY WAVE PROPAGATION

In a general baroclinic atmosphere,when the basic state includes meridional circulation,the sta-tionary waves might not only pass through the equatorial easterlies,but also strengthen significantly.The orographic forcing in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude might cause marked responses in thelow latitude atmosphere.This suggests that the meridional circulation plays an important role in theconnection of stationary responses in mid and low latitudes,and so does the heating forcing in theNorthern Hemisphere mid-latitude.Forced by the heating forcing in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude,the features similar to the Northern Hemisphere summer monsoon circulation can be ob-tained.It appears that the meridional circulation plays certain role in the formation of summer mon-soon circulation.The heating anomaly forcing located at the eastern equatorial Pacific makes the sta-tionary waves present PNA(Pacific-North America)pattern in the winter hemisphere,but it doesnot in the summer hemisphere.It suggests that the meridional circulation has a marked influence onthe route of stationary wave propagation both in the winter and summer hemispheres.     

STUDY OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF USING AN AIR MASS TRANSFORMATION MODEL IN TAIYUAN

An AMT-model,consisting of a trajectory model and a one-dimensional boundary layer model,is tested fortrajectories arriving in Taiyuan to study the possibility of using it in Taiyuan.The sensitivity of the model tothe different processes was studied.Some parameters of the model were modified for the purpose of forecast-ing in specific mountainous terrain and dry climate conditions.Results of examples which we have workedout for Taiyuan circumstances for the periods of July(summer)1985 and January(winter)1986,show that the12h runs of the AMT-model are able to reproduce(on historical data)the sounding of Taiyuan.The AMT-modelcontributes fruitfully to short-range weather forecasts(12—36h ahead)during periods of severe air pollution andwhen cold waves occur.     

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FORCED STATIONARY PLANETARY WAVE PROPAGATIONS IN SUMMER NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

The three-dimensional propagations of the forced stationary planetary waves in a realistic summer current, in which the vertical and horizontal wind shears are included, are discussed by using the refractive index squared of waves in a spherical coordinate system.The results show that there is no polar wave guide in stationary planetary wave propagations in summer. Thus, stationary planetary waves cannot propagate into the stratosphere. However, there are a wave guide pointing from the subtropics toward middle and high latitudes in the troposphere and another wave guide pointing from the lower troposphere at middle latitudes toward the upper troposphere near 30°oN in the forced stationary planetary wave propagations.A linearized, steady-state, quasi-geostrophic 34-level spherical coordinate model with Rayleigh friction and Newtonian cooling, horizontal kinematic thermal diffusivity is used to simulate the wave guides of three-dimensional propagations of stationary planetary waves in summer.     

Some physical aspects of summer monsoon clouds—comparison of cloud model results with observations

The physical characteristics of the summer monsoon clouds were investigated. The results of a simple cloud mod-el were compared with the aircraft cloud physical observations collected during the summer monsoon seasons of 1973,1974,1976 and 1981 in the Deccan Plateau region.The model predicted profiles of cloud liquid water content (LWC) are in agreement with the observed profiles. There is reasonable agreement between the model predicted cloud vertical thickness and observed rainfall.The observed cloud-drop spectra were found to be narrow and the concentration of drops with diameter >20μm is either low or absent on many occasions. In such clouds the rain-formation cannot take place under natural atmos-pheric conditions due to the absence of collision-coalescence process. A comparison of the model predicted and ob-served rainfall suggested that the precipitation efficiency in cumulus clouds of small vertical thickness could be as low as 20 per cent.The clouds forming in the Deccan Plateau region during the summer monsoon are, by and large, cumulus and strato-cumulus type. The vertical thickness of the cumulus clouds is in the range of 1.0-2.0 km. The LWC is found to be more in the region between 1.6-1.9 km A. S. L., which corresponds to the level at almost 3 / 4 th of the total verti-cal thickness of the cloud and thereafter the LWC sharply decreased. Nearly 98 per cent of the tops of the low clouds in the region are below freezing level and the most frequent range of occurrence of these cloud-tops is in the range of 2.0-3.0 km A. S. L.. The dominant physical mechanism of rain-formation in these summer monsoon clouds it the col-lision-coalescence process.     

DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS OF MEAN MERIDIONAL CIRCULATION ANOMALY IN LOW LATITUDES IN RELATION TO ZONAL MEAN SST ANOMALY

The mass stream function of zonal mean meridional circulation is calculated in terms of NCEP/NCAR monthly meridional wind speed and vertical velocity, and the climatic and anomalous features of zonal mean SST and meridional circulation are investigated. Results show that (1) a joint ascending branch of Northern and Southern Hadley circulation is on the side of the summer hemisphere near the equator ,being well consistent with the extremum of [SST ],and a strong descending by the winter-hemispheric side.(2)El Nino-related [SST] in low latitudes is an important outer-forcing source for anomaly meridional circulation, which is affected by seasonal variation of basic airflow and [SST ], and interannual and interdecadal changes of [SST] .     

Seasonal variation and physical properties of the cloud system over southeastern China derived from CloudSat products

Based on the National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP) and Climate Prediction Center(CPC) Merged Analysis of Precipitation(CMAP) data and Cloud Sat products, the seasonal variations of the cloud properties, vertical occurrence frequency, and ice water content of clouds over southeastern China were investigated in this study. In the Cloud Sat data, a significant alternation in high or low cloud patterns was observed from winter to summer over southeastern China. It was found that the East Asian Summer Monsoon(EASM) circulation and its transport of moisture leads to a conditional instability, which benefits the local upward motion in summer, and thereby results in an increased amount of high cloud. The deep convective cloud centers were found to coincide well with the northward march of the EASM, while cirrus lagged slightly behind the convection center and coincided well with the outflow and meridional wind divergence of the EASM. Analysis of the radiative heating rates revealed that both the plentiful summer moisture and higher clouds are effective in destabilizing the atmosphere. Moreover, clouds heat the mid-troposphere and the cloud radiative heating is balanced by adiabatic cooling through upward motion, which causes meridional wind by the Sverdrup balance. The cloud heating–forced circulation was observed to coincide well with the EASM circulation, serving as a positive effect on EASM circulation.     

IDAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS OF MEAN MERIDIONAL CIRCULATION ANOMALY IN LOW LATITUDES IN RELATION TO ZONAL MEAN SST ANOMALY

The mass stream function of mean meridional circulation is calculated in terms of NCEP/NCAR monthly meridional wind speed and vertical velocity,and the climatic and anomalous features of zonal mean SST and meridional circulation are investigated.Results show that(1) a joint ascending branch of Northern and Southern Hadley circulation is on the side of the summer hemisphere near the equator,being well consistent with the extremum of SST,and strong descending by the winter-hemispheric side.(2) E1 Ninorelated [SST]‘ in low latitudes in an important outer-forcing source for anomaly meridional circulation,which is affected by seasonal variation of basic airflow and [SST],and interannual and interdecadal changes of [SST]‘.     

EFFECTS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF HEATING FIELD ON THE SUMMER MONSOON CIRCULATION IN ASIA

In this paper,a primitive equation linear wave model is used to examine the effects of three-dimen-sional structure of heating field on the behavior of stationary planetary waves in summer and to comparethe roles of different heating functions for the formation and maintenance of summer monsoon circulationin Asia.It is shown that the aloft heating connected with the latent heating,especially the deep condensationheating associated with the cumulus convection in low latitudes,plays a crucial part in the Asian summer mon-soon and the structures of planetary wave responses are quite sensitive to the vertical distribution of heating.     

Evaluation of Heavy Rainfall Model Forecasts over the Korean Peninsula Using Different Physical Parameterization Schemes and Horizontal Resolution

In this study, the accuracy of a Pennsylvania State University-National Center for Atmospheric Research mesoscale model (PSU/NCAR MM5) for predicting heavy summer precipitation over the Korean Peninsula was investigated. A total of 1800 simulations were performed using this model for 30 heavy rainfall events employing four cumulus parameterization schemes (CPS), two grid-scale resolvable precipitation schemes (GRS), and two planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes in three model resolutions (90 km, 30 km, and 10 km). The heavy rainfall events were mesoscale convective systems developed under the influence of mid-latitude baroclinic systems with low-level moisture transport from the ocean. The predictive accuracy for maximum rainfall was approximately 80% for 10-km resolution and was 60% for 30-km resolution. The predictive accuracy for rainfall position extended to ～150 km from the observed position for both resolutions. Simulated rainfall was most sensitive to CPS, then to PBL schemes, and then to GRS. In general, the Grell (GR) scheme and the Anthes and Kuo (AK) scheme showed a better prediction capability for heavy rainfall than did the Betts-Miller (BM) scheme and the Kain-Fritsch (KF) scheme. The GR scheme also performed well in the 24-h and 12-h precipitation predictions: the parameterized convective rainfall in GR is directly related to synoptic-scale forcing. The models without CPS performed better for rainfall amounts but worse for rainfall position than those with CPS. The MM5 model demonstrated substantial predictive capacity using synoptic-scale initial conditions and lateral boundary data because heavy summer rainfall in Korea occurs in a strong synoptic-scale environment.     

CISK-rossby wave and the 30-60 Day Oscillation in the Tropics

The 30-60 day oscillation is an important aspect of the atmospheric variance in the tropical area. A number of works have been done on this phenomenon, this article is a further one. A quasi-geostrophic linear model that consists of a two-layer free atmosphere and a well-mixed boundary layer is used to investigate the instability of intraseasonal oscillation, its propagation and vertical structures. Results show that the dynamical coupling and interaction between the barotropic and baroclinic components via boundary layer convergence / divergence are responsible for the appearance of a new kind of low-frequency wave. Such wave is very different from the traditional tropical Rossby wave. It can propagate westward and eastward. Some behaviours of it appear to resemble the observed 30-60 day oscillation mode in many aspects, such,as vertical structures, zonal and meridional propagations. Now many researchers emphasize the direct relationship between CISK-Kelvin mode and the tropical atmospheric 30-60 oscil     

Modeling Arctic Boundary Layer Cloud Streets at Grey-zone Resolutions

To better understand how model resolution affects the formation of Arctic boundary layer clouds,we investigated the influence of grid spacing on simulating cloud streets that occurred near Utqiaġvik(formerly Barrow),Alaska,on 2 May 2013 and were observed by MODIS(the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer).The Weather Research and Forecasting model was used to simulate the clouds using nested domains with increasingly fine resolution ranging from a horizontal grid spacing of 27 km in the boundary-layer-parameterized mesoscale domain to a grid spacing of 0.111 km in the large-eddy-permitting domain.We investigated the model-simulated mesoscale environment,horizontal and vertical cloud structures,boundary layer stability,and cloud properties,all of which were subsequently used to interpret the observed roll-cloud case.Increasing model resolution led to a transition from a more buoyant boundary layer to a more shear-driven turbulent boundary layer.The clouds were stratiform-like in the mesoscale domain,but as the model resolution increased,roll-like structures,aligned along the wind field,appeared with ever smaller wavelengths.A stronger vertical water vapor gradient occurred above the cloud layers with decreasing grid spacing.With fixed model grid spacing at 0.333 km,changing the model configuration from a boundary layer parameterization to a large-eddy-permitting scheme produced a more shear-driven and less unstable environment,a stronger vertical water vapor gradient below the cloud layers,and the wavelengths of the rolls decreased slightly.In this study,only the large-eddy-permitting simulation with gird spacing of 0.111 km was sufficient to model the observed roll clouds.     

DIAGNOSIS OF WAVE ACTIVITY OVER RAINBAND OF LANDFALL TYPHOON

A generalized wave-activity density, which is defined as an absolute value of production of three-dimensional vorticity vector perturbation and gradient of general potential temperature perturbation, is introduced and its wave-activity law is derived in Cartesian coordinates. Constructed in an agoestrophic and nonhydrostatic dynamical framework, the generalized wave-activity law may be applicable to diagnose mesoscale weather systems leading to heavy rainfall. The generalized wave-activity density and wave-activity flux divergence were calculated with the objective analysis data to investigate the character of wave activity over heavy-rainfall regions. The primary dynamical processes responsible for disturbance associated with heavy rainfall were also analyzed. It was shown that the generalized wave-activity density was closely correlated to the observed 6-h accumulative rainfall. This indicated that the wave activity or disturbance was evident over the frontal and landfall-typhoon heavy-rainfall regions in middle and lower troposphere. For the landfall-typhoon rainband, the portion of generalized wave-activity flux divergence, denoting the interaction between the basic-state cyclonic circulation of landfall typhoon and mesoscale waves, was the primary dynamic process responsible for the evolution of generalized wave-activity density.     

Extended-Range Forecasts of the Principal 20–30-Day Oscillation of the Circulation over East Asia During the Summer of 2002

Daily 850-hPa meridional wind fields in East Asia from March to September 2002 were used to establish a model of the principal oscillation pattern (POP). This model was then used to conduct independent extended-range forecasts of the principal temporal and spatial variations in the low-frequency meridional wind field on a time scale of 20-30 days. These variations affect the occurrence of heavy precipitation events in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley (LYRV). The results of 135 forecast experiments during the summer half year show that the predicted and observed anomalies are strongly correlated at a lead time of 20 days (mean correlation greater than 0.50). This strong correlation indicates that the model is capable of accurately forecasting the low-frequency variations in meridional wind that corresponded to the 3 heavy precipitation events in the LYRV during the summer of 2002. Further forecast experiments based on data from multiple years with significant 20-30-day oscillations show that these prediction modes are effective tools for forecasting the space-time evolution of the low-frequency circulation. These findings offer potential for improving the accuracy of forecasts of heavy precipitation over the LYRV at lead times of 3-4 weeks.     

A Study of the Extratropical Transformation of Typhoon Winnie （1997）

The complicated evolutive process of how a tropical cyclone transforms into an extratropical cyclone is still an unresolved issue to date, especially one which arises in a weakly baroclinic environment. Typhoon Winnie （1997） is studied during its extratropical transformation stage of extratropical transition （ET） with observational data and numerical simulations. Results show that Winnie experienced its extratropical transformation to the south of the subtropical high without intrusion of the mid-latitude baroclinic zone. This is significantly different from previous studies. Analyses reveal that the cold air, which appeared in the north edge of Winnie circulation, resulted from the precipitation drag and cooling effect of latent heat absorption associated with the intense precipitation there. The cooling only happened below 3 km and the greatest cooling was below 1 km. With the cold air and its advection by the circulation of Winnie, a front was formed in the lower troposphere. The front above is related not only to the cooling in the lower level but also to the warming effect of latent heat release in the middle-upper levels. The different temperature variation in the vertical caused the temperature gradient over Winnie and resulted in the baroclinicity.     

THE EFFECTS OF MECHANICAL FORCING ON THE MEAN MERIDIONAL CIRCULATION AND TRANSFER PROPERTIES OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Experiments using a quasi-geostrophic model and the ECMWF T21 spectral model with and without orography are performed to investigate the effects of mechanical forcing on the mean meridional circulation. Results show that mechanical forcing intensifies the horizontal poleward heat flux and redistributes the eddy angular momentum in the vertical, and that this changes significantly the intensity and location of the mean meridional circulation centres.It is shown how the mean meridional circulation is set up in such a way to satisfy both the dynamical and thermodynamical transport requirements of the model atmosphere. Whenever external forcing changes the eddy fluxes, the Coriolis torques from the upper horizontal branches of the mean meridional circulations change to balance the extra divergence of eddy momentum flux, and additional adiabatic heating is produced by the vertical branches of the toroids to balance the extra divergence of eddy heat flux. The mean meridional circulation is, therefore, confirm     

NUMERICAL STUDY OF TROPICS-EXTRATROPICS INTERACTION

A nonlinear steady-state baroclinic primitive-equation numerical model of atmospheric forced stationarywaves is used to investigate the tropics-extratropics interactions.Newtonian cooling,Rayleigh friction andbiharmonic horizontal diffusion are included in the model.The Eliassen-Palm (EP) cross-section and three-dimensional wave activity flux,which was derived by Plumb (1985) for linear quasi-geostrophic stationarywaves on a zonal flow,are used as diagnostics for the vertical and horizontal propagation of the waves.Results of the numerical experiments and diagnostics analyses suggest that the extratropical influenceon the tropical large-scale motion is important.The mid-latitude orographic forcing,especially of the Qing-hai-Xizang Plateau,and the extratropical thermal forcing make substantial contribution to the main-tenance of the cyclonic circulation over the eastern tropical and subtropical Pacific as well as the inversecirculation over the western Pacific in the upper troposphere.In addition,the longitudinal variation ofdiabatic heating in tropics has a significant influence on the wintertime stationary waves at higher latitudes.     

STUDY ON DYNAMICS OF TROPICAL CISK-ROSSBY WAVES AND MECHANISM OF 30-50 DAY OSCILLATIONS

To add to the growing mature research on the tropical 30-50 day oscillations from a new prospective, the current work bases on dynamic analysis of baroclinic quasi-geostrophic models to discuss dynamic mechanisms for the generation and propagation of CISK-Rossby waves, and to understand restraints and effects of different wave structures and thermodynamic forcing on the 30-50 day oscillations in the tropical atmosphere. Some important properties of the oscillation propagation have been explained and, in detail, with respect to its meridional propagation and vertical “baroclinic” structure. The work has come up with some new opinions and viewpoints. New opinions about the propagation and energy dispersion are to be proved by more observations and study.     

Cloud and Radiation Processes Simulated by a Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean Model

Using NCC/IAP T63 coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM),two 20-yr integra- tions were processed,and their ability to simulate cloud and radiation was analysed in detail.The results show that the model can simulate the basic distribution of cloud cover,and however,obvious differences still exist compared with ISCCP satellite data and ERA reanalysis data.The simulated cloud cover is less in general,especially the abnormal low values in some regions of ocean.By improving the cloud cover scheme, simulated cloud cover in the eastern Pacific and Atlantic,summer hemisphere's oceans from subtropical to mid-latitude is considerably improved.But in the tropical Indian Ocean and West Pacific the cloud cover difference is still evident,mainly due to the deficiency of high cloud simulation in these regions resulting from deep cumulus convection.In terms of the analysis on radiation and cloud radiative forcing,we find that simulation on long wave radiation is better than short wave radiation.The simulation error of short wave radiation is caused mostly by the simulation difference in short wave radiative forcing,sea ice,and snow cover,and also by not involving aerosol's effect.The simulation error of long wave radiation is mainly resulting from deficiency in simulating cloud cover and underlying surface temperature.Corresponding to improvement of cloud cover,the simulated radiation (especially short wave radiation) in eastern oceans, summer hemisphere's oceans from subtropical to mid-latitude is remarkably improved.This also brings obvious improvement to net radiation in these regions.     

Some Physical Aspects of Summer Monsoon Clouds-Comparison of Cloud Model Results with Observations

The physical characteristics of the summer monsoon clouds were investigated. The results of a simple cloud model were compared with the aircraft cloud physical observations collected during the summer monsoon seasons of 1973, 1974, 1976 and 1981 in the Deccan Plateau region.The model predicted profiles of cloud liquid water content (LWC) are in agreement with the observed profiles. There is reasonable agreement between the model predicted cloud vertical thickness and observed rainfall.The observed cloud-drop spectra were found to be narrow and the concentration of drops with diameter > 20um is either low or absent on many occasions. In such clouds the rain-formation cannot take place under natural atmospheric conditions due to the absence of collision-coalescence process. A comparison of the model predicted and observed rainfall suggested that the precipitation efficiency in cumulus clouds of small vertical thickness could be as low as 20 per cent.The clouds forming in the Deccan Plateau region during t     

Cloud-base distribution and cirrus properties based on micropulse lidar measurements at a site in southeastern China

The cloud fraction(CF) and cloud-base heights(CBHs), and cirrus properties, over a site in southeastern China from June 2008 to May 2009, are examined by a ground-based lidar. Results show that clouds occupied the sky 41% of the time.Significant seasonal variations in CF were found with a maximum/minimum during winter/summer and similar magnitudes of CF in spring and autumn. A distinct diurnal cycle in the overall mean CF was seen. Total, daytime, and nighttime annual mean CBHs were 3.05 ± 2.73 km, 2.46 ± 2.08 km, and 3.51 ± 3.07 km, respectively. The lowest/highest CBH occurred around noon/midnight. Cirrus clouds were present ～36.2% of the time at night with the percentage increased in summer and decreased in spring. Annual mean values for cirrus geometrical properties were 8.89 ± 1.65 km, 9.80 ± 1.70 km, 10.73 ± 1.86 km and 1.83 ± 0.91 km for the base, mid-cloud, top height, and the thickness, respectively. Seasonal variations in cirrus geometrical properties show a maximum/minimum in summer/winter for all cirrus geometrical parameters. The mean cirrus lidar ratio for all cirrus cases in our study was ～ 25 ± 17 sr, with a smooth seasonal trend. The cirrus optical depth ranged from 0.001 to 2.475, with a mean of 0.34 ± 0.33. Sub-visual, thin, and dense cirrus were observed in ～12%, 43%, and 45%of the cases, respectively. More frequent, thicker cirrus clouds occurred in summer than in any other season. The properties of cirrus cloud over the site are compared with other lidar-based retrievals of midlatitude cirrus cloud properties.