Wind driven general circulation of the Mediterranean Sea simulated with a Spectral Element Ocean Model

This work is an attempt to simulate the Mediterranean Sea general circulation with a Spectral Finite Element Model. This numerical technique associates the geometrical flexibility of the finite elements for the proper coastline definition with the precision offered by spectral methods. The model is reduced gravity and we study the wind-driven ocean response in order to explain the large scale sub-basin gyres and their variability. The study period goes from January 1987 to December 1993 and two forcing data sets are used. The effect of wind variability in space and time is analyzed and the relationship between wind stress curl and ocean response is stressed. Some of the main permanent structures of the general circulation (Gulf of Lions cyclonic gyre, Rhodes gyre, Gulf of Syrte anticylone) are shown to be induced by permanent wind stress curl structures. The magnitude and spatial variability of the wind is important in determining the appearance or disappearance of some gyres (Tyrrhenian anticyclonic gyre, Balearic anticyclonic gyre, Ionian cyclonic gyre). An EOF analysis of the seasonal variability indicates that the weakening and strengthening of the Levantine basin boundary currents is a major component of the seasonal cycle in the basin.The important discovery is that seasonal and interannual variability peak at the same spatial scales in the ocean response and that the interannual variability includes the change in amplitude and phase of the seasonal cycle in the sub-basin scale gyres and boundary currents. The Coriolis term in the vorticity balance seems to be responsible for the weakening of anticyclonic structures and their total disappearance when they are close to a boundary.The process of adjustment to winds produces a train of coastally trapped gravity waves which travel around the eastern and western basins, respectively in approximately 6 months. This corresponds to a phase velocity for the wave of about 1 m/s, comparable to an average velocity of an internal Kelvin wave in the area.     

The Kuroshio Current System as a jet and twin “relative” recirculation gyres embedded in the Sverdrup circulation

By analyzing the results of a realistic ocean general circulation model (OGCM) and conducting a series of idealized OGCM experiments, the dynamics of the Kuroshio Current System is examined. In the realistic configuration, the Kuroshio Current System is successfully simulated when the horizontal resolution of OGCMs is increased from 1/2° to 1/10°. The difference between the two experiments shows a jet, the model’s Kuroshio Extension, and a pair of cyclonic and anticyclonic, “relative,” recirculation gyres (RRGs) on the northern and southern flanks of the jet. We call them recirculation gyres because they share some features with ordinary recirculation gyres in previous studies, and we add the adjective “relative” to emphasize that they may not be apparent in the total field. Similar zonal jet and RRGs are obtained also in the idealized model with a rectangular basin and a flat bottom with a horizontal resolution of 1/6°. The northern RRG is generated by the injection of high potential vorticity (PV) created in the viscous sublayer of the western boundary current, indicating the importance of a no-slip boundary condition. Since there is no streamline with such high PV in the Sverdrup interior, the eastward current in the northern RRG region has to lose its PV anomaly by viscosity before connecting to the interior. In the setup stage this injection of high PV is carried out by many eddies generated from the instability of the western boundary current. This high PV generates the northern RRG, which induces the separation of the western boundary current and the formation of the zonal jet. In the equilibrium state, the anomalous high PV values created in the viscous sublayer are carried eastward in the northern flank of the zonal jet. The southern RRG is due to the classical Rhines–Young mechanism, where low PV values are advected northward within the western boundary inertial sublayer, and closed, PV-conserving streamlines form to the south of the Kuroshio Extension, allowing slow homogenization of the low PV anomalies. The westward-flowing southern branch of this southern RRG stabilizes the inertial western boundary current and prevents its separation in the northern half of the Sverdrup subtropical gyre, where the western boundary current is unstable without the stabilizing effect of the southern RRG. Therefore, in the equilibrium state, the southern RRG should be located just to the north of the center of the Sverdrup subtropical gyre, which is defined as the latitude of the Sverdrup streamfunction maximum. The zonal jet (the Kuroshio Extension) and the northern RRG gyre are formed to the north of the southern RRG. This is our central result. This hypothesis is confirmed by a series of sensitivity experiments where the location of the center of the Sverdrup subtropical gyre is changed without changing the boundaries of the subtropical gyre. The locations of the zonal jets in the observed Kuroshio Current System and Gulf Stream are consistent as well. Sensitivities of the model Kuroshio Current System are also discussed with regard to the horizontal viscosity, strength of the wind stress, and coastline.     

The Kuroshio Current System as a jet and twin “relative” recirculation gyres embedded in the Sverdrup circulation

By analyzing the results of a realistic ocean general circulation model (OGCM) and conducting a series of idealized OGCM experiments, the dynamics of the Kuroshio Current System is examined. In the realistic configuration, the Kuroshio Current System is successfully simulated when the horizontal resolution of OGCMs is increased from 1/2° to 1/10°. The difference between the two experiments shows a jet, the model’s Kuroshio Extension, and a pair of cyclonic and anticyclonic, “relative,” recirculation gyres (RRGs) on the northern and southern flanks of the jet. We call them recirculation gyres because they share some features with ordinary recirculation gyres in previous studies, and we add the adjective “relative” to emphasize that they may not be apparent in the total field. Similar zonal jet and RRGs are obtained also in the idealized model with a rectangular basin and a flat bottom with a horizontal resolution of 1/6°. The northern RRG is generated by the injection of high potential vorticity (PV) created in the viscous sublayer of the western boundary current, indicating the importance of a no-slip boundary condition. Since there is no streamline with such high PV in the Sverdrup interior, the eastward current in the northern RRG region has to lose its PV anomaly by viscosity before connecting to the interior. In the setup stage this injection of high PV is carried out by many eddies generated from the instability of the western boundary current. This high PV generates the northern RRG, which induces the separation of the western boundary current and the formation of the zonal jet. In the equilibrium state, the anomalous high PV values created in the viscous sublayer are carried eastward in the northern flank of the zonal jet. The southern RRG is due to the classical Rhines–Young mechanism, where low PV values are advected northward within the western boundary inertial sublayer, and closed, PV-conserving streamlines form to the south of the Kuroshio Extension, allowing slow homogenization of the low PV anomalies. The westward-flowing southern branch of this southern RRG stabilizes the inertial western boundary current and prevents its separation in the northern half of the Sverdrup subtropical gyre, where the western boundary current is unstable without the stabilizing effect of the southern RRG. Therefore, in the equilibrium state, the southern RRG should be located just to the north of the center of the Sverdrup subtropical gyre, which is defined as the latitude of the Sverdrup streamfunction maximum. The zonal jet (the Kuroshio Extension) and the northern RRG gyre are formed to the north of the southern RRG. This is our central result. This hypothesis is confirmed by a series of sensitivity experiments where the location of the center of the Sverdrup subtropical gyre is changed without changing the boundaries of the subtropical gyre. The locations of the zonal jets in the observed Kuroshio Current System and Gulf Stream are consistent as well. Sensitivities of the model Kuroshio Current System are also discussed with regard to the horizontal viscosity, strength of the wind stress, and coastline.     

Potential role of Atlantic Warm Pool-induced freshwater forcing in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: ocean–sea ice model simulations

Recent studies have indicated that the multidecadal variations of the Atlantic Warm Pool (AWP) can induce a significant freshwater change in the tropical North Atlantic Ocean. In this paper, the potential effect of the AWP-induced freshwater flux on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is studied by performing a series of ocean–sea ice model experiments. Our model experiments demonstrate that ocean response to the anomalous AWP-induced freshwater flux is primarily dominated by the basin-scale gyre circulation adjustments with a time scale of about two decades. The positive (negative) freshwater anomaly leads to an anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation overlapping the subtropical gyre. This strengthens (weakens) the Gulf Stream and the recirculation in the interior ocean, thus increases warm (cold) water advection to the north and decreases cold (warm) water advection to the south, producing an upper ocean temperature dipole in the midlatitude. As the freshwater (salty water) is advected to the North Atlantic deep convection region, the AMOC and its associated northward heat transport gradually decreases (increases), which in turn lead to an inter-hemispheric SST seesaw. In the equilibrium state, a comma-shaped SST anomaly pattern develops in the extratropical region, with the largest amplitude over the subpolar region and an extension along the east side of the basin and into the subtropical North Atlantic. Based on our model experiments, we argue that the multidecadal AWP-induced freshwater flux can affect the AMOC, which plays a negative feedback role that acts to recover the AMOC after it is weakened or strengthened. The sensitivity of AMOC response to the AWP-induced freshwater forcing amplitude is also examined and discussed.     

Poleward heat flux by an ocean gyre

A calculation to determine the poleward heat flux by an oceanic subtropical gyre is described. The circulation is given by Stommel's (1948) barotropic wind-driven model, and the temperature field is treated as a passive tracer. Air-sea heat exchange is parameterized as linearly proportional to the difference between air and sea temperatures. The problem so formulated reduces to the solution of the advection-diffusion (heat) equation for the temperature. The results show how ocean circulation, with a narrow western boundary layer, transports significantly more heat than does a symmetric circulation. A more intense circulation transports more heat but the increase levels off beyond a certain point. A wide ocean basin transports more of its heat by conduction than does a narrow basin. Approximate analytical solutions for both weak and strong circulations yield results that agree semiquantitatively with the numerical results.     

Influences of tropical–extratropical interaction on the multidecadal AMOC variability in the NCEP climate forecast system

We have examined the mechanisms of a multidecadal oscillation of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in a 335-year simulation of the Climate Forecast System (CFS), the climate prediction model developed at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). Both the mean and seasonal cycle of the AMOC in the CFS are generally consistent with observation-based estimates with a maximum northward volume transport of 16?Sv (10⁶?m³/s) near 35°N at 1.2?km. The annual mean AMOC shows an intermittent quasi 30-year oscillation. Its dominant structure includes a deep anomalous overturning cell (referred to as the anomalous AMOC) with amplitude of 0.6?Sv near 35°N and an anomalous subtropical cell (STC) of shallow overturning spanning across the equator. The mechanism for the oscillation includes a positive feedback between the anomalous AMOC and surface wind stress anomalies in mid-latitudes and a negative feedback between the anomalous STC and AMOC. A strong AMOC is associated with warm sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) centered near 45°N, which generates an anticyclonic easterly surface wind anomaly. This anticyclonic wind anomaly enhances the regional downwelling and reinforces the anomalous AMOC. In the mean time, a wind-evaporation-SST (WES) feedback extends the warm SSTA to the tropics and induces a cyclonic wind stress anomaly there, which drives a tropical upwelling and weakens the STC north of the equator. The STC anomaly, in turn, drives a cold upper ocean heat content anomaly (HCA) in the northern tropical Atlantic and weakens the meridional heat transport from the tropics to the mid-latitude through an anomalous southward western boundary current. The anomalous STC transports cold HCA from the subtropics to the mid-latitudes, weakening the mid-latitude deep overturning.     

IMPACT OF AIR-SEA INTERACTION ON THE GENESIS OF TROPICAL INCIPIENT VORTEX OVER SOUTH CHINA SEA: A CASE STUDY

Based on 6-hourly sensible heat flux and latent heat flux from the NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) and circulation data from the Japanese 25-year Reanalysis (JRA-25), the initial developing process of tropical cyclone Mindulle (1005) in 2010 has been diagnosed to reveal the impact of air-sea interaction over the South China Sea (SCS) on the genesis of its incipient vortex. The results show that the incipient vortex first occurred east of the Luzon Island on 0000 UTC 20 August, suggesting that the topographic forcing of the Luzon Island for easterly winds over the western Pacific might be one of the factors responsible for the formation of the incipient vortex. During the formation stage of the incipient vortex, strong southeasterlies over the SCS caused warm water of the middle and eastern SCS to flow toward the Luzon Island due to Ekman transport resulting from wind stress, leading to an increase of the sea surface temperature and sensible heat flux into the atmosphere. Although the anomalous sensible heating favored surface pressure to reduce, it was not conducive to the increase of local vorticity associated with the vortex above the heating area because, according to the atmospheric thermal adaptation theory, the anticyclonic vorticity would be created in the lower troposphere due to the decreased vertical gradient of the sensible heating. However, the ascending motions occurred over the eastern area of the anomalous sensible heating due to the augmentation of the vorticity advection with increasing height, causing water vapor to condense in the middle and upper troposphere. In turn, cyclonic vorticity was generated in the lower troposphere due to the increased vertical gradient of the condensation latent heating, resulting in the formation and further growth of the incipient vortex. Therefore, the vorticity creation due to the condensation heating played a dominant role during the subsequent enhancing stage of the incipient vortex.     

An Analytical Study of the Diurnal Variations of Wind in a Semi-geostrophic Ekman Boundary Layer Model

A time-dependent semi-geostrophic Ekman boundary-layer model based on the geostrophic momentum approximation is used to study the diurnal wind variation in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and the evolution of the low-level nocturnal jet (LLJ). The coefficient of eddy viscosity varies periodically with time, varies linearly with height in the surface layer and is constant above the surface layer. The influence of horizontal advection of momentum on the diurnal wind variation in the PBL, the development of inertial oscillations (IOs) and the formation of the LLJ are examined.In comparison with the Ekman solutions, the diurnal wind variation in semi-geostrophic Ekman boundary-layer dynamics has the following features: (1) the phase angle of the diurnal wind wave shifts with height, the rate of shifting is increased in anticyclonic regions and decreased in cyclonic regions, (2) the time of occurrence of the low-level maximum wind speed is later in anticyclonic regions and earlier in cyclonic regions, (3) the height of occurrence of the maximum wind speed is higher in the anticyclonic and lower in cyclonic regions, (4) the wind speed maximum and the amplitude of the diurnal wind variation are larger in anticyclonic and smaller in cyclonic regions, (5) the period of IOs is larger in anticyclonic regions and smaller in cyclonic regions, (6) anticyclonic vorticity is conducive to the generation of LLJ in the PBL. These features are interpreted by means of the physical properties of semi-geostrophic Ekman boundary-layer dynamics and inertial oscillation dynamics.     

A note on the intergyre mass exchange due to migrating wind

The effect of the meridional migration of the wind field on the interior Sverdrup flow is examined near the boundary between a subtropic gyre and a subpolar gyre. An idealized model ocean is used which has a flat bottom. For annual wind variation with realistic magnitude, the cross-gyre Lagrangian mass flux in the model ocean can reach more than one-tenth of the total Sverdrup transport. The maximum northward penetration occurs for those particles that leave the western boundary at the autumnal equinox while the opposite occurs at the spring equinox.     

The formation and maintenance of the North Water Polynya

Abstract

This paper investigates the formation and maintenance of the North Water Polynya, Baffin Bay in winter using a multi‐category sea‐ice model coupled with the Princeton ocean model. Monthly climatological atmospheric data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis provides the forcing. An objectively‐analysed climatology provides the initial ocean temperature and salinity. Wind stress drives the ice in a cyclonic gyre around northern Baffin Bay. Localized regions of thin ice form where wind drives ice away from coastlines or fast ice. The regions of thin ice are characterized by enhanced ice growth, exceeding 1.2 m mo^?1. In the regions of thin ice, surface ocean heat flux is also enhanced and is between 30–60 W m^?2. Surface heat flux is, in part, attributable to convective mixing and entrainment driven by ice growth. The surface heat flux reflects advection of the warm West Greenland Current. Heat and salt balances show that horizontal advective exchange counterbalances surface fluxes of heat and salt.     

Effects of atmosphere-ocean interaction on the interannual variability of winter temperature in Taiwan and East Asia

 This study investigated the ocean-atmosphere interaction effect on the winter surface air temperature in Taiwan. Temperature fluctuations in Taiwan and marine East Asia correlated better with a SST dipole in the western North Pacific than the SST in the central/eastern equatorial Pacific. During the warm (cold) winters, a positive (negative) SST anomaly appears in marine East Asia and a negative (positive) SST anomaly appears in the Philippine Sea. The corresponding low-level atmospheric circulation is a cyclonic (anticyclonic) anomaly over the East Asian continent and an anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation in the Philippine Sea during the warm (cold) winters. Based on the results of both numerical and empirical studies, it is proposed that a vigorous ocean-atmosphere interaction occurring in the western North Pacific modulates the strength of the East Asian winter monsoon and the winter temperature in marine East Asia. The mechanism is described as follows. The near-surface circulation anomalies, which are forced by the local SST anomaly, strengthen (weaken) the northeasterly trade winds in the Philippine Sea and weaken (strengthen) the northeasterly winter monsoon in East Asia during warm (cold) winters. The anomalous circulation causes the SST to fluctuate by modulating the heat flux at the ocean surface. The SST anomaly in turn enhances the anomalous circulation. Such an ocean-atmosphere interaction results in the rapid development of the anomalous circulation in the western North Pacific and the anomalous winter temperature in marine East Asia. This interaction is phase-locked with the seasonal cycle and occurs most efficiently in the boreal winters. Received: 22 October 1999 / Accepted: 5 June 2000     

Interannual heat content variability in the South China Sea and its response to ENSO

The interannual variability of upper ocean heat content (OHC) in the South China Sea (SCS) for the period of 1987–2006 and its response to ENSO events are investigated. It is found that the variability has a good correspondence with ENSO events, but with opposite phase. Negative OHC anomalies appear during ENSO warm phases, while positive OHC anomalies occur during ENSO cool phases. In addition, negative (positive) OHC anomalies propagate westward obviously during ENSO warm (cool) phases in the northern SCS. In contrast, OHC anomalies in the southern SCS do not exhibit distinct westward propagation during ENSO events. To explore why the OHC anomalies cannot propagate westward in the southern SCS, the interannual variability of oceanic and atmospheric anomaly fields including wind stress curl (WSC), horizontal wind stress, latent heat flux (LHF) and sea level pressure (SLP) is investigated. The results show that after a mature phase of ENSO warm (cool) event, negative (positive) OHC anomalies first appear in the northern SCS, which comes from the western Pacific through Luzon Strait. Then cyclonic (anticyclonic) wind stress anomalies occur in the northern SCS, which leads to positive (negative) WSC anomalies. Meanwhile, positive (negative) LHF anomalies which correspond to oceanic heat loss (gain) occur in this region. The effects of WSC and LHF, combined with the westward propagating negative (positive) OHC anomalies from the western Pacific, may contribute to rapid growth and propagation of the OHC anomalies in the northern SCS. On the contrary, the negative (positive) WSC and LHF anomalies associated with positive (negative) SLP in the southern SCS seem to be the important processes responsible for the weakening and non-propagation of the OHC anomalies in the southern SCS after a mature phase of ENSO warm (cool) event.     

Atmospheric Response to Mesoscale Ocean Eddies over the South China Sea

The South China Sea(SCS) is an eddy-active area. Composite analyses based on 438 mesoscale ocean eddies during 2000–2012 revealed the status of the atmospheric boundary layer is influenced remarkably by such eddies. The results showed cold-core cyclonic(warm-core anticyclonic) eddies tend to cool(warm) the overlying atmosphere and cause surface winds to decelerate(accelerate). More than 5% of the total variance of turbulent heat fluxes, surface wind speed and evaporation rate are induced by mesoscale eddies. Furthermore, mesoscale eddies locally affect the columnar water vapor, cloud liquid water, and rain rate. Dynamical analyses indicated that both variations of atmospheric boundary layer stability and sea level pressure are responsible for atmospheric anomalies over mesoscale eddies. To reveal further details about the mechanisms of atmospheric responses to mesoscale eddies, atmospheric manifestations over a pair of cold and warm eddies in the southwestern SCS were simulated. Eddy-induced heat flux anomalies lead to changes in atmospheric stability. Thus, anomalous turbulence kinetic energy and friction velocity arise over the eddy dipole, which reduce(enhance) the vertical momentum transport over the cold(warm) eddy, resulting in the decrease(increase) of sea surface wind. Diagnoses of the model's momentum balance suggested that wind speed anomalies directly over the eddy dipole are dominated by vertical mixing terms within the atmospheric boundary layer, while wind anomalies on the edges of eddies are produced by atmospheric pressure gradient forces and atmospheric horizontal advection terms.     

Impact of Surface Sensible Heating over the Tibetan Plateau on the Western Pacific Subtropical High: A Land–Air–Sea Interaction Perspective

The impact of surface sensible heating over the Tibetan Plateau(SHTP) on the western Pacific subtropical high(WPSH)with and without air–sea interaction was investigated in this study. Data analysis indicated that SHTP acts as a relatively independent factor in modulating the WPSH anomaly compared with ENSO events. Stronger spring SHTP is usually followed by an enhanced and westward extension of the WPSH in summer, and vice versa. Numerical experiments using both an AGCM and a CGCM confirmed that SHTP influences the large-scale circulation anomaly over the Pacific, which features a barotropic anticyclonic response over the northwestern Pacific and a cyclonic response to the south. Owing to different background circulation in spring and summer, such a response facilitates a subdued WPSH in spring but an enhanced WPSH in summer. Moreover, the CGCM results showed that the equatorial low-level westerly at the south edge of the cyclonic anomaly brings about a warm SST anomaly(SSTA) in the equatorial central Pacific via surface warm advection.Subsequently, an atmospheric Rossby wave is stimulated to the northwest of the warm SSTA, which in turn enhances the atmospheric dipole anomalies over the western Pacific. Therefore, the air–sea feedbacks involved tend to reinforce the effect of SHTP on the WPSH anomaly, and the role of SHTP on general circulation needs to be considered in a land–air–sea interaction framework.     

长江中下游严重旱涝时期大气环流以及热源和水汽汇的异常

利用 1980-1997年 6-8月 NECP／NCAR月平均资料，计算了大气热源和水汽汇，研究了我国长江中下游夏季严重旱涝时期大气环流以及大气热源和水汽汇的异常特征，主要结果如下： 在对流层中下层，来自于孟加拉湾和南海的南风异常和长江流域以北的北风异常在长江中下游辐合。这两股异常气流分别与西太平洋上反气旋异常系统（中心位于22°N，140°E）和气旋异常系统（中心位于日本海）有关。在对流层高层，反气旋异常系统中心位于23°N，105°E，气旋异常系统中心位于朝鲜，两异常系统之间的西北异常气流在长江中下游辐散。而在印度西南季风区为偏东风异常，表示西南季风的减弱； 长江中下游严重干旱时，在对流层中下层，长江以北南风异常和长江以南北风异常从长江流域辐散，在以东的洋面上形成东风异常气流。这两股异常气流分别与酉太平洋上气旋异常系统（中心位于23°N，135°E）和西北太平洋上反气旋异常系统有关。在对流层高层，气旋异常系统中心位于南海，反气旋异常系统中心位于日本海，两异常系统之间的偏东异常气流在长江中下游辐合。 热源异常的最主要特征是长江中下游严重洪涝时从西太平洋到南海热源异常为负，表示热源偏弱；正热源异常位于长江流域。而长江中下游严重干旱时热源异常正好相反。垂直     

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。     

Ekman动量近似下中间边界层模式中的风场结构

发展了一个准三维的、中等复杂的边界层动力学模式，该模式包含了EKman动量近似下的惯性加速度和Blackadar的非线性湍流粘性系数，它进一步改进了Tan和Wu(1993）提出的边界层理论模型。该模型在数值计算复杂性上与经典Ekman模式相类似，但由于包含了Ekman动量近似下的惯性项，使得该模式比传统Ekman模式更近于实际过程。中详细地比较了该模式与其他简化边界层模式在动力学上的差异，结果表明：在经典的Ekman模式中，由于忽略了流动的惯性项作用，导致在气旋性切变气流（反气旋性切变气流）中风速和边界层顶部的垂直速度的高估（低估），而在半地转边界层模式中，由于高估了流动惯性项的作用，结果与经典Ekman模式相反。同样，该模式可以应用于斜压边界层，对于Ekman动量下的斜压边界层风场同时具有经典斜压边界层和Ekman动量近似边界层的特征。     

影响南海夏季风爆发年际变化的关键海区及机制初探

利用1958—2011年NCEP/ NCAR再分析资料和ERSST资料,采用Lanczos时间滤波器、相关分析、回归分析、合成分析和交叉检验等方法,研究了影响南海夏季风爆发年际变化的关键海区海温异常的来源与可能机制。结果表明,前冬(12—2月)热带西南印度洋和热带西北太平洋是影响南海夏季风爆发年际变化的关键海区。冬季热带西南印度洋(热带西北太平洋)的异常增暖是由前一年夏季El Ni?o早爆发(强印度季风异常驱动的行星尺度东-西向环流)触发、热带印度洋(西北太平洋)局地海气正反馈过程引起并维持到春季。冬季热带西北太平洋反气旋性环流(气旋性环流)及印度洋(热带西北太平洋)的暖海区局地海气相互作用使得印度洋(热带西北太平洋)海温异常维持到春末。春季,逐渐加强北移到10 °N附近的低层大气对北印度洋(热带西北太平洋)暖海温异常响应的东风急流(异常西风)及南海-热带西北太平洋维持的反气旋性环流(气旋性环流)异常,使得南海夏季风晚(早)爆发。      

The surface heat flux feedback. Part I: estimates from observations in the Atlantic and the North Pacific

The surface heat flux feedback is estimated in the Atlantic and the North Pacific, using monthly heat flux and sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly data from COADS and the NCEP reanalysis. In the Atlantic, the heat flux feedback is dominated by the turbulent flux. It is negative, mostly ranging between 10 and 35 W m^-2 K^-1, but larger in the western subtropical gyre and part of the subpolar gyre, and weaker in the tropics. The radiative feedback is generally weak. In the North Pacific, the heat flux feedback is also dominated by the turbulent flux and is negative nearly everywhere, peaking in the subtropics. In both oceans, the turbulent heat flux feedback remains primarily negative in each season, and is stronger in fall and winter; patches of positive feedback can be seen, but often with limited correspondence between COADS and NCEP. The radiative feedback remains weak, and is positive in spring and summer at mid-latitudes. It is also shown that the turbulent heat flux feedback is weaker over large-scale areas, that no positive heat flux feedback sustains the SST anomaly "dipole" in the tropical Atlantic, and that the main SST anomaly mode in the North Pacific is damped by a negative heat flux feedback. The energy exchange with the atmosphere that results from the heat flux feedback can be substantial at mid-latitudes, but does not exceed 7 W m^-2 at basin scale.     

副热带东南太平洋海温对东北夏季降水的影响及可能机制

诊断分析表明,前期副热带东南太平洋海温尤其是前春海温与东北夏季降水存在持续稳定的负相关关系。无论是在年际时间尺度还是年代际尺度上,冬、春、夏季海温演变趋势与降水均呈反位相。尺度分离结果显示,关键区海温与降水的显著负相关主要依赖于其年代际分量,但年际分量也起到较重要贡献。相关分析和合成分析结果都发现,当副热带东南太平洋海温偏低时,其上空可激发出反气旋式距平风场,而在关键区海域西北部激发出气旋式距平环流。同时在所罗门群岛和菲律宾南部分别出现反气旋式和气旋式距平环流。西太平洋副热带高压(副高)位置较常年偏西,副高区为反气旋式距平环流。在东北地区西侧则为气旋式距平环流。在这样的环流背景下,副高西侧的南风加强了源自南海和西太平洋的暖湿气流和北方冷空气在东北地区的交汇,从而使东北夏季多雨。反之,当东南太平洋海温偏高时,其激发的气旋及反气旋距平中心和偏低年刚好相反,副高位置偏东,其西侧的南方水汽输送偏弱,同时东北冷涡也偏弱,冷暖空气汇合形成的低空辐合弱,东北降水因此偏少。这表明,副热带东南太平洋海温异常时确实能激发出一个从关键海区到东北地区的跨越南北半球的气旋-反气旋交替波列,引发北半球中高纬度大气环流异常,从而影响东北夏季降水。