NUMERICAL EXPERIMENTS ON THE IMPACTS OF SEA SPRAY ON TROPICAL CYCLONES

The latest version of sea spray flux parameterization scheme developed by Andreas is coupled with the PSU/NCAR model MM5 in this paper. A western Pacific tropical cyclone named Nabi in 2005 is simulated using this coupled air-sea spray modeling system to study the impacts of sea spray evaporation on the evolution of tropical cyclones. The results demonstrate that sea spray can lead to a significant increase of heat fluxes in the air-sea interface, especially the latent heat flux, the maximum of which can increase by up to about 35% - 80% The latent heat flux seems to be more important than the sensible heat flux for the evolution of tropical cyclones. Regardless of whether sea spray fluxes have been considered, the model can always simulate the track of Nabi well, which seems to indicate that sea spray has little impact on the movement of tropical cyclones. However, with sea spray fluxes taken into account in the model, the intensity of a simulated tropical cyclone can have significant increase. Due to the enhancement of water vapor and heat from the sea surface to the air caused by sea spray, the warm core structure is better-defined, the minimum sea level pressure decreases and the vertical speed is stronger around the eye in the experiments, which is propitious to the development and evolution of tropical cyclones.     

Air-sea Interaction of Typhoon Sinlaku （2002） Simulated by the Canadian MC2 Model

Three experiments for the simulation of typhoon Sinlaku (2002) over the western North Pacific are performed in this study by using the Canadian Mesoscale Compressible Community (MC2) atmospheric model. The objective of these simulations is to investigate the air-sea interaction during extreme weather conditions, and to determine the sensitivity of the typhoon evolution to the sea surface temperature (SST)cooling induced by the typhoon. It is shown from the three experiments that the surface heat fluxes have a substantial influence on the slow-moving cyclone over its lifetime. When the SST in the East China coastal ocean becomes 1℃ cooler in the simulation, less latent heat and sensible heat fluxes from the underlying ocean to the cyclone tend to reduce the typhoon intensity. The cyclone is weakened by 7 hPa at the time of its peak intensity. The SST cooling also has impacts on the vertical structure of the typhoon by weakening the warm core and drying the eye wall. With a finer horizontal resolution of (1/6)°×(1/6)°, the model produces higher surface wind, and therefore more surface heat fluxes are emitted from the ocean surface to the cyclone, in the finer-resolution MC2 grid compared with the relatively lower resolution of 0.25°×0.25°MC2 grid.     

An investigation of the effects of wave state and sea spray on an idealized typhoon using an air-sea coupled modeling system

In this study, the impact of atmosphere-wave coupling on typhoon intensity was investigated using numerical simulations of an idealized typhoon in a coupled atmosphere-wave-ocean modeling system. The coupling between atmosphere and sea surface waves considered the effects of wave state and sea sprays on air-sea momentum flux, the atmospheric low-level dissipative heating, and the wave-state-affected sea- spray heat flux. Several experiments were conducted to examine the impacts of wave state, sea sprays, and dissipative heating on an idealized typhoon system. Results show that considering the wave state and sea-spray-affected sea-surface roughness reduces typhoon intensity, while including dissipative heating intensifies the typhoon system. Taking into account sea spray heat flux also strengthens the typhoon system with increasing maximum wind speed and significant wave height. The overall impact of atmosphere-wave coupling makes a positive contribution to the intensification of the idealized typhoon system. The minimum central pressure simulated by the coupled atmosphere-wave experiment was 16.4 hPa deeper than that of the control run, and the maximum wind speed and significant wave height increased by 31% and 4%, respectively. Meanwhile, within the area beneath the typhoon center, the average total upward air-sea heat flux increased by 22%, and the averaged latent heat flux increased more significantly by 31% compared to the uncoupled run.     

Variation of Air-Sea Heat Fluxes over the Western Pacific Warm Pool Area and Its Relationship with the South China Sea Summer Monsoon Onset

Based on oceanic and atmospheric parameters retrieved by satellite remote sensing using a neural network method, air-sea heat fluxes over the western Pacific warm pool area were calculated with the advanced the advanced Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment 3.0 (COARE3.0) bulk algorithm method. Then, the average annual and interannual characteristics of these fluxes were analyzed. The rela- tionship between the fluxes and the South China Sea (SCS) summer monsoon onset is highlighted. The results indicate that these fluxes have clear temporal and spatial characteristics. The sensible heat flux is at its maximum in the Kuroshio area, while the latent heat flux is at its maximum in the North Equatorial Current and Kuroshio area. The distribution of average annual air-sea heat fluxes shows that both sensible and latent heat fluxes are maximized in winter and minimized in summer. The air-sea heat fluxes have obvious interannual variations. Correlation analysis indicates a close lag-correlation between air-sea heat fluxes in the western Pacific warm pool area and at the SCS summer monsoon onset. The lagcorrelation can therefore predict the SCS summer monsoon onset, providing a reference for the study of precipitation related to the monsoon.     

BOUNDARY LAYER STRUCTURE IN TYPHOON SAOMAI (2006): UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF EXCHANGE COEFFICIENT

Recent studies have shown that surface fluxes and exchange coefficients are particularly important to models attempting to simulate the evolution and maintenance of hurricanes or typhoons.By using an advanced research version of the Weather Research and Forecasting(ARW)modeling system,this work aims to study the impact of modified exchange coefficient on the intensity and structures of typhoon Saomai(2006)over the western North Pacific.Numerical experiments with the modified and unmodified exchange coefficients are used to investigate the intensity and structure of the storm,especially the structures of the boundary layer within the storm.Results show that,compared to the unmodified experiment,the simulated typhoon in the modified experiment has a bigger deepening rate after 30-h and is the same as the observation in the last 12-h.The roughness is leveled off when wind speed is greater than 30 m/s.The momentum exchange coefficient(CD)and enthalpy exchange coefficient(CK)are leveled off too,and CD is decreased more than CK when wind speed is greater than 30 m/s.More sensible heat flux and less latent heat flux are produced.In the lower level,the modified experiment has slightly stronger outflow,stronger vertical gradient of equivalent potential temperature and substantially higher maximum tangential winds than the unmodified experiment has.The modified experiment generates larger wind speed and water vapor tendencies and transports more air of high equivalent potential temperature to the eyewall in the boundary layer.It induces more and strong convection in the eyewall,thereby leading to a stronger storm.     

A DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FLUXES AND METEOROLOGICAL ELEMENTS OVER TROPICAL WESTERN PACIFIC

Through the use of the hourly wind, air temperature and humidity, sea surface temperature data measured on board the observing vessel Moana Wave and buoy in the warm pool of western Pacific during the IOP of TOGA COARE, we compute the fluxes over sea surface and analyze the characteristics of the variation ofthe latent heat flux with sea surface temperature. During weak rather than strong wind periods a maximum valueof latent heat flux appears at some points of SST, which is caused mainly by the variations of wind, then by the humidity difference between air and sea and the transfer coefficient with SAT. Using correlation analysis. we also analyze the relationship between the fluxes and meteorological elements during weak wind periods. wester lywind burst periods, and convective disturbed periods etc. The main conclusions are that the latent heat flux ismainly determined by wind, sensible heat flux by the potential temperature difference between air and sea and the momentum flux by wind. The precipitation affects the sensible heat flux through the potential temperature difference and wind.     

A METHOD OF ESTIMATING TYPHOON CENTRAL WIND BASED ON SEA LEVEL PRESSURE OF THE TYPHOON YEARBOOK OF CHINA

Based on the Typhoon Yearbook data (1980–2000), some wind-pressure fitting relationships were established for different typhoon intensity at the different latitudes of the western North Pacific. As shown in validations with the 2001-2005 data, the relationships (namely, those between minimum sea level pressure (SLP) and maximum sustained wind near a typhoon center) are stable. They may be applied to correct the overestimated typhoon wind speeds in earlier years (1950–1979). Statistical analysis showed that the stronger the typhoon, the more stable this wind-pressure relationship is. Moreover, it is more stable at the lower latitude belt (10°N–30°N). On the basis of this result, a methodology of correcting typhoon’s wind speeds and frequency in these years was put forward, and the climatological series were reconstructed of yearly total typhoon frequencies over the western North Pacific in 1950-1979 and indices were determined of destructive power of typhoons in the offshore regions of China.     

KEY AREAS OF AIR-SEA INTERACTION IN GLOBAL OCEANS AND STUDY OF THE CLIMATOLOGICAL FEATURES

Seven key areas of air-sea interaction in the global oceans are determined by comprehensive analysis of the global data of monthly mean sea surface temperature (SST), surface wind, temperature, humidity, sea surface sensible heat and latent heat fluxes. The time-lag correlation between SST and each atmospheric element in each key area are focally analyzed to expose the same and the different features of air-sea interaction in different key areas. The results show that the air-sea thermal interaction is strong in each area, SST, temperature and humidity can be fairly replaced with one another, particularly in the central eastern Pacific and the south India Ocean. The dynamic effect on SST is different in different areas and in the central western Pacific such effect is more important. The correlation between sensible heat, latent heat and SST is more significant in the eastern Pacific, the western Pacific and the two major monsoon areas — the northwestern Pacific and the south India Ocean. By analyzing the sustainable correlation probability of SST and every atmospheric element in each key area, we further know that the anomalies of which element, in which area and in which period are well sustained or easily destroyed. This is beneficial not only to prediction, but also to discussion of the physical mechanism of air-sea interaction.     

Numerical Study on the Impacts of the Bogus Data Assimilation and Sea Spray Parameterization on Typhoon Ducts

The Weather Research and Forecasting model version 3.2 (WRF v3.2) was used with the bogus data assimilation (BDA) scheme and sea spray parameterization (SSP), and experiments were conducted to assess the impacts of the BDA and SSP on prediction of the typhoon ducting process induced by Typhoon Mindule (2004). The global positioning system (GPS) dropsonde observations were used for comparison. The results show that typhoon ducts are likely to form in every direction around the typhoon center, with the main type of ducts being elevated duct. With the BDA scheme included in the model initialization, the model has a better performance in predicting the existence, distribution, and strength of typhoon ducts. This improvement is attributed to the positive effect of the BDA scheme on the typhoon’s ambient boundary layer structure. Sea spray affects typhoon ducts mainly by changing the latent heat (LH) flux at the air-sea interface beyond 270 km from the typhoon center. The strength of the typhoon duct is enhanced when the boundary layer under this duct is cooled and moistened by the sea spray; otherwise, the typhoon duct is weakened. The sea spray induced changes in the air-sea sensible heat (SH) flux and LH flux are concentrated in the maximum wind speed area near the typhoon center, and the changes are significantly weakened with the increase of the radial range.     

A New Ocean Mixed-Layer Model Coupled into WRF

A new mesoscale air-sea coupled model (WRF- OMLM-Noh) was constructed based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and an improved Mellor-Yamada ocean mixed-layer model from Noh and Kim (OMLM-Noh). Through off-line tests and a simulation of a real typhoon, the authors compared the performance of the WRF-OMLM-Noh with another existing ocean mixed-layer coupled model (WRF-OMLM-Pollard). In the off-line tests with Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Program’s Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA-COARE) observational data, the results show that OMLM-Noh is better able to simulate sea surface temperature (SST) variational trends than OMLM -Pollard. Moreover, OMLM-Noh can sufficiently reproduce the diurnal cycle of SST. Regarding the typhoon case study, SST cooling due to wind-driven ocean mixing is underestimated in WRF-OMLM-Pollard, which artificially increases the intensity of the typhoon due to more simulated air-sea heat fluxes. Compared to the WRF- OMLM-Pollard, the performance of WRF-OMLM-Noh is superior in terms of both the spatial distribution and temporal variation of SST and air-sea heat fluxes.     

海洋飞沫对台风“Morakot”结构影响的数值模拟研究

将海洋飞沫参数化引入到高分辨率、非静力中尺度模式中,并对0908号台风"Morakot"进行了数值模拟,研究了海洋飞沫对台风"Morakot"结构和强度的影响。结果表明:(1)不论是否考虑海洋飞沫作用,模式均能较好地模拟出台风"Morakot"的移动路径,说明海洋飞沫对其移动路径影响不大;(2)引入海洋飞沫参数化后,台风眼墙区域的切向风速、径向风速、垂直速度、涡度、云水混合比、雨水混合比等物理量均增强,表明飞沫对台风结构变化的影响明显;(3)海洋飞沫对台风"Morakot"演变的直接影响是在对流层低层,低层风速明显增大,大风速区的影响尤为显著;(4)飞沫的蒸发使台风范围内的潜热和感热通量明显增强,尤其是潜热通量,其大值区对应着台风中心附近的最大风速区。由于水汽和热量输送的增强,使台风眼壁附近的云水量与雨水量增多,因此降水强度明显增加。     

The Signature of Sea Spray in the Hexos Turbulent Heat Flux Data

The role of sea spray intransferring heat and moisture across the air-sea interface has remained elusive. Some studies have reported that sea spray does not affect the turbulent air-sea heat fluxes for 10-m wind speeds up to at least 25 m s^-1, while others have reported important spray contributions for wind speeds as low as 12 m s^-1. One goal of the HEXOS (Humidity Exchange over the Sea) program was to quantify spray's contribution to the turbulent air-sea heat fluxes, but original analyses of the HEXOS flux data found the spray signal to be too small to be reliably identified amid the scatter in the data. We look at the HEXOS data again in the context of the TOGA-COARE bulk flux algorithm and a sophisticated microphysical spray model. This combination of quality data andstate-of-the-art modelling reveals a distinct spray signature in virtually all HEXOS turbulent heat flux data collected in winds of 15 m s^-1 and higher. Spray effects are most evident in the latent heat flux data, where spray contributes roughly 10% of the total turbulent flux in winds of 10 m s^-1 and between 10 and 40% in winds of 15–18 m s^-1. The spray contribution to the total sensible heat flux is also at least 10% in winds above 15 m s^-1. These results lead to a new, unified parameterization for the turbulent air-sea heat fluxes that should be especially useful in high winds because it acknowledges both the interfacial and spray routes by which the sea exchanges heat and moisture with the atmosphere.     

寒潮过程中风浪对黄海海气热量通量和动量通量影响研究

采用2009—2013年CFSR(Climate Forecast System Reanalysis)大气和海洋再分析资料对黄海海气间热量通量和动量通量的特征进行统计分析,并通过FVCOMSWAVE浪流耦合模式对典型寒潮过程中风浪的影响效果进行模拟研究与对比分析。统计结果显示,通量受海表大风、海气温差及海洋环流等因子影响,秋冬季节强烈,春夏季节相对较弱,在寒潮活跃的冷季该海域的海流处于弱流期,风浪对海面通量的作用明显增强。海温特征也显示冷季的不稳定性显著强于暖季,因此该海域冷季具有更强的海气热量通量。沿岸站点的比较显示,南部吕泗站面向更开阔的东海海域,其平均波高高出北部20%左右。这与沿海南部通量强于北部特征对应。数值模拟显示,在寒潮过程中,海气界面热量通量和动量通量输送比多年月平均状态显著增强,动量通量增大1~5倍,热量通量增大1~6倍。寒潮过程入海冷锋走向、强度、移动方向显著影响海面热量通量和动量通量大值区的分布。偏北路寒潮纬向型冷锋入海,其强度东部大于西部,造成通量大值区形成在黄海东北部,而偏西路寒潮经向型冷锋入海,其强度南部大于北部,造成通量大值区形成在黄海南部。同时偏北路径寒潮强度大于偏西路径,海气动量通量响应较偏西路径强约25%,热量通量强约50%。耦合风浪作用的模拟显示,海气间热量通量和动量通量明显增大,对不同强度风浪,浪高增加1.5倍,动量通量最大值增大约2倍,热量通量增大10~160 W/m2;浪高减弱至0.5倍,动量通量最大值则减弱约40%,热量通量减小10~55 W/m2。冷锋及其驱动的风浪强烈影响区域海气通量时空特征。     

Effects of Drag Coefficients on Surface Heat Flux during Typhoon Kalmaegi (2014)

The lack of in situ observations and the uncertainties of the drag coefficient at high wind speeds result in limited understanding of heat flux through the air-sea interface and thus inaccurate estimation of typhoon intensity in numerical models. In this study, buoy observations and numerical simulations from an air-sea coupled model are used to assess the surface heat flux changes and impacts of the drag coefficient parameterization schemes on its simulations during the passage of Typhoon Kalmaegi (2014). Three drag coefficient schemes, which make the drag coefficient increase, level off, and decrease, respectively, are considered. The air-sea coupled model captured both trajectory and intensity changes better than the atmosphere-only model, though with relatively weaker sea surface cooling (SSC) compared to that captured by buoy observations, which led to relatively higher heat flux and thus a stronger typhoon. Different from previous studies, for a moderate typhoon, the coupled simulation with the increasing drag coefficient scheme outputted an intensity most consistent with the observation because of the strongest SSC, reasonable ratio of latent and sensible heat exchange coefficients, and an obvious reduction in the overestimated surface heat flux among all experiments. Results from sensitivity experiments showed that surface heat flux was significantly determined by the drag coefficient-induced SSC rather than the resulting wind speed changes. Only when SSC differs indistinctively (<0.4°C) between the coupled simulations, heat flux showed a weak positive correlation with the drag coefficient-impacted 10-m wind speed. The drag coefficient also played an important role in decreasing heat flux even a long time after the passage of Kalmaegi because of the continuous upwelling from deeper ocean layers driven by the impacted momentum flux through the air-sea interface.     

The spray contribution to net evaporation from the sea: A review of recent progress

The part that sea spray plays in the air-sea transfer of heat and moisture has been a controversial question for the last two decades. With general circulation models (GCMs) suggesting that perturbations in the Earth's surface heat budget of only a few W m^–2 can initiate major climatic variations, it is crucial that we identify and quantify all the terms in that heat budget. Thus, here we review recent work on how sea spray contributes to the sea surface heat and moisture budgets. In the presence of spray, the near-surface atmosphere is characterized by a droplet evaporation layer (DEL) with a height that scales with the significant-wave amplitude. The majority of spray transfer processes occur within this layer. As a result, the DEL is cooler and more moist than the atmospheric surface layer would be under identical conditions but without the spray. Also, because the spray in the DEL provides elevated sources and sinks for heat and moisture, the vertical heat fluxes are no longer constant with height. We use Eulerian and Lagrangian models and a simple analytical model to study the processes important in spray droplet dispersion and evaporation within this DEL. These models all point to the conclusion that, in high winds (above about 15 m/s), sea spray begins to contribute significantly to the air-sea fluxes of heat and moisture. For example, we estimate that, in a 20-m/s wind, with an air temperature of 20°C, a sea surface temperature of 22°C, and a relative humidity of 80%, the latent and sensible heat fluxes resulting from the spray alone will have magnitudes of order 150 and 15 W/m², respectively, in the DEL. Finally, we speculate on what fraction of these fluxes rise out of the DEL and, thus, become available to the entire marine boundary layer.     

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AIR-SEA HEAT FLUX EXCHANGE DURING THE GENERATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL TYPHOONS OVER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

A South China Sea （SCS） local TC （SLT） is defined as a tropical cyclone （TC） that forms within the SCS region and can reach the grade of tropical storm （TS） or above. The statistical features of the SLTs from 1985 to 2007 are analyzed first. It is found that over the SCS about 68% of the TCs can develop into TSs. The SLT intensity is relatively weak and associated with its genesis latitude as well as its track. The SLT monthly number presents a seasonal variation with two peaks in May and July to September. Based on the daily heat flux data from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution_Objectively Analyzed air-sea Fluxes （WHOI_OAFlux） in the same period, the air-sea exchange during the process of generation and development of the SLT is studied. Results show that the heat fluxes released to the atmosphere increase significantly day by day before cyclogenesis. The ocean to the south to the TC center provides the main energy. Along with the development of SLT, the regions with large heat fluxes spread clockwise to the north of TC, which reflects the energy dispersion property of vortex Rossby waves in the periphery of the TC. Once the SLT forms the heat fluxes are not intensified as much. During the whole process, the net heat, latent heat and sensible heat flux display a similar evolution, while the latent heat flux makes a main contribution to the net heat flux. The maximum air-sea heat exchange always occurs at the left side of the TC moving direction, which may reflect the influence of the SCS summer monsoon on TC structure.