Surface Energy Exchanges during Pre-monsoon Thunderstorm Activity over a Tropical Station Kharagpur

In the present study an attempt has been made to understand the variation of surface energy fluxes such as net radiation, sensible, latent and soil heat during different epochs of thunderstorm activity at Kharagpur. The study also focuses in delineating the difference in the surface energy budget from the days of thunderstorm activity to fair weather days in the pre-monsoon months (April and May) which is locally known as thunderstorm season. For this purpose, experimental data obtained from the Severe Thunderstorms- Observations and Regional Modeling (STORM) programme during pre-monsoon months of 2007, 2009 and 2010 at Kharagpur (22°30′N, 87°20′E), West Bengal, India are used. The present study reveals quick response, in the order of a few days, in the variations of transport of energy fluxes at soil-atmosphere interface to the upper atmosphere vis-à-vis to the occurrence of thunderstorm activity. Rise of surface sensible heat flux to the level of surface latent heat flux a day or two before the occurrence of a thunderstorm has been identified as a precursor signal for the thunderstorm occurrence over Kharagpur. Distinguishable differences are found in the partitioning of the surface energy fluxes to that of net radiation between thunderstorm and non-thunderstorm days. The present study reveals more Bowen’s ratio during thunderstorm days to that of nonthunderstorm days. These results are useful in validating mesoscale model simulations of thunderstorm activity.     

海南岛海风雷暴结构的数值模拟

本文利用高分辨率WRF模式对2012年7月20日发生在海南地区的一次海风雷暴过程进行模拟,探讨了海南岛复杂地形下海风雷暴的结构、发展演变过程及其触发机制.结果表明,海南岛北部向内陆传播的海风与南部受地形阻挡的海风相遇后会形成海风辐合带,辐合带能影响当地的散度和涡旋特征,为雷暴的发生发展提供有利的动力和热力学条件.海南岛受热带海洋的影响较大,当地的水汽条件和对流潜势长期保持着有利于对流发展的状态,自由对流高度始终处于较低的位置,一旦海风辐合带来的抬升运动克服对流抑制到达自由对流高度后,对流就能自主地发展起来,所以单纯的海风辐合也常常能触发当地的强雷暴.雷暴发生发展过程中对流参数存在明显的变化,其演变曲线的突变位置对雷暴的发生有一定的指示作用.海南岛的海风雷暴过程与当地的复杂地形密切相关,地形的动力阻挡作用影响着低层海风的辐合以及对流的发展.     

Aspects of Low Frequency Oscillation During the Northern Winter as Inferred From Nonlinear Energy Interactions

— The work deals with the computation and analysis of spectral energetics in the frequency domain at 850?hPa and 200?hPa over the tropics (20°S–20°N) and extratropics (20°N–60°N). The data for the winter months, i.e., November, December and January of 1995, 1996 and 1997 are selected for this purpose. The results suggest that much of the low frequency variability of the Northern Hemisphere wintertime general circulation is associated with disturbances which derive their energy from the time-mean flow through barotropic instability. Low frequency fluctuations tend to be larger in horizontal scale and their kinetic energy is largely confined to the upper troposphere. At 850?hPa, strong energy interaction south of 5°N is noticed due to a southward shift of major inflow channel, originating from the Bay of Bengal and entering the ITCZ from the western Arabian Sea. The energy balances in the tropics and the extratropics during winter have different characteristics from those during summer. In contrast to the summer circulation, instead of a downscale decascade as in the case of the extratropics, kinetic energy is transferred in an opposite sense, namely from transients of shorter to those of longer time scales in the tropics during winter. The strong nonlinear energy interactions associated with low frequency waves over the Indian Ocean (5°N–5°S) during winter is the manifestation of the deep convection due to warm water coupled with the crossequatorial low level flow along the ITCZ over this region. Forcing from this region readily excites a large response in terms of nonlinear energy interaction over the extratropical northeast Pacific.     

Frequency Distribution of Tropospheric Triad Energy Interactions During Summer Monsoon 1988

—In order to understand the physical mechanism for maintenance of low frequency waves, computations of nonlinear kinetic energy (KE) exchanges into individual triad interactions in frequency domain by use of cross-spectral technique over global tropics (20°S–30°N) at 850 hPa and 200 hPa for June, July and August of 1988 are carried out. The KE exchanges among different frequencies and the interactions between the transient eddies and the time mean flow are found to be an order of magnitude smaller in the lower troposphere than those in the upper troposphere. The results show two distinct spectral peaks of periods 45 and 25 days in nonlinear energy transfer in the lower troposphere. The former is more pronounced than the latter. The role of time mean flow on the low frequency transients is found to be secondary compared to the effect of the leading term due to nonlinear interactions in the lower troposphere. Low frequency waves suffer a net loss of energy in the upper troposphere. In the lower troposphere, north of 20°N low frequency waves lose energy through nonlinear triad interactions, unlike the upper troposphere where gain of energy is noticed. Longitude-frequency distributions suggest that wave-CISK process and strong gradient of SST are the possible mechanisms for the strong energy interactions associated with low frequency waves in the lower troposphere over the west Pacific and east coast of Africa, respectively. The study may aid investigation of the rapid loss of predictability of low frequency modes over the tropics.     

Divergent-rotational Nonlinear Energy Conversions in Wavenumber-frequency Domain During Summer Monsoon

--This work deals with computational modelling designed to understand the dynamical mechanism of low frequency monsoonal transients that results from nonlinear divergent-rotational (&gif1;) kinetic energy (KE) conversions due to the effects of Coriolis force, vorticity and divergence during the summer monsoon 1988 over the latitudinal belt 20°S-30°N at 850 hPa and 200 hPa. The results show two distinct spectral peaks spanning 30-45 days and 18-25 days in the energy conversions from the transient divergent motions to rotational motions. Due to the latitudinal variation of the earth's rotational effects, the conversion from the transient divergent to rotational motions, associated mainly with wavenumbers 1 and 2, tend to be more pronounced to the north of 15°N on the 30-45-day and 18-25-day time scales in the upper and lower tropospheres, respectively. The contribution of the stationary waves to maintenance of the low frequency rotational flow due to the effect of divergence through barotropic instability is significant at the upper troposphere. Divergent to rotational KE conversion by wave-wave interaction due to divergence is identified as an important mechanism for maintenance of low frequency oscillations in the lower troposphere. The upper tropospheric planetary scale divergent motions associated with 30-45-day oscillation gain substantial energy through nonlinear &gif1; interaction due to vorticity.     

Latitudinal dependence of the seasonal variation of particulate extinction in the UTLS over the Indian longitude sector during volcanically quiescent period based on lidar and SAGE-II observations

The altitude profiles of particulate extinction in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) obtained from SAGE-II in the latitude region 0–30°N over the Indian longitude sector (70–90°E) are used to study the latitudinal variation of its annual pattern in this region during the volcanically quiescent period of 1998–2003. The SAGE-II data is compared with the lidar measurements from Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E) when the satellite had an overhead occultation pass over a small geographical grid centered at this location. The particulate optical depth (τ_p) in the UT region shows a general decrease with increase in latitude and a pronounced summer–winter contrast with relatively low values during winter and high values during summer. In general, these variations are in accordance with the latitudinal variation of convective available potential energy (CAPE) and thunderstorm activity, which are good representative indices of tropospheric convection. While the particulate extinction (and τ_p) in the 18–21 km (LS₁) region is relatively low in the equatorial region up to 15°N, it shows an increase in the off-equatorial region, beyond 15°N. While the annual variation of τ_p in the LS₁ region is almost insignificant near the equator, it is rather well pronounced in latitude region between 10 and 15°N with relatively high values during winter and low values during summer. Beyond 20°N, this shows a prominent peak during summer. At a higher altitude, the 21–30 km (LS₂) region, the latitude variation of τ_p shows a different pattern with high values near the equator and low values in the off-equatorial region confirming the existence of a stratospheric aerosol reservoir. Low values of τ_p at lower regime (LS₁) near the equator could be due to rapid transport of particulates from the near equatorial region to higher latitudes, while the equatorial high at upper regime (LS₂) could be due to lofting and subsequent accumulation.     

An overview of a heavy rain event in southeastern Iberia: the role of large-scale meteorological conditions

The heavy rain event of 30 January to 4 February 1993 in the Segura Basin in SE Iberia is investigated. The study emphasizes the atmospheric processes that led to thunderstorm development. The meteorological scenario has been separated into preconvective and convective periods and into large-scale and subsynoptic settings. The warm, moist air now from the Mediterranean Sea, channelled by a high-over-low blocking pattern with a cold front over southeastern Iberia appears to be the main reason that helped trigger a severe weather occurrence. The study of the mesoscale environment parameters showed an enhanced conditional unstability through a deep troposphere layer with a moderate to strong vertical wind shear that promoted conditions to allow organization of long-lived convective structures.     

Remote sensing of thunderstorm activity by means of VLF sferics

The results of a three-month observational period (June–August 1981) during sunlit hours (9:00–15:00 GMT) with VLF sferics at the two stations Tel Aviv, Israel, and Pretoria, South Africa, are presented and compared with rainfall data for the European-African area, with two lability indices of thunderstorm prediction, and with synoptic thunderstorm reports for the same time interval. The locations of thunderstorm centers on the continents determined from the sferics stations compare reasonably well with the distribution of rainfall, indicating that the VLF sferics method is a useful measure of rainfall, particularly in remote regions with inadequate coverage of observing stations. The lability index of Showalter (1953) appears to be rather qualitative for the prediction of thunderstorm occurrence, and any fine structure in the distribution of thunderstorm centers as seen in the sferics data is lost. The same is true of the synoptic reports of thunderstorm days. A new lability index has been developed. This index leads to a more detailed structure of thunderstorm prediction, which is consistent with the sferics data.     

Evolutionary Features of Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL) over the Arabian Sea and the Onset of Monsoon over Kerala during ARMEX-2003

In this study an attempt has been made to examine the evolutionary features of the dynamic and thermodynamic characteristics of the marine atmosphere over the South-East Arabian Sea near 9.22°N, 74.51°E just two to three days prior to the onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala during 2003 and seek the linkages with the large-scale flow in the lower and middle troposphere at that time over the region. The marine meteorological data collected onboard ORV Sagarkanya as part of the experiment ARMEX-2003 for 4–8 June, 2003 are used. The monsoon onset over Kerala occurred on 8 June, 2003. The observed changes in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) characteristics just two days prior to the onset are discussed. It is observed that the MABL increased in height up to 4 km on 6 June from an initial height 2.8 km on 5 June. The top of the MABL dried up (Relative Humidity RH ~ 30–40%) with weak and variable winds throughout the day on 6 June while the air at 850 hPa is relatively humid (RH ~ 50–80%) but not saturated. A sequential increase in RH is associated with a change in the winds from southwesterly to westerly from 6 June onwards until the onset date. The changes in the lower and middle troposphere flow patterns over the Arabian Sea and Indian region are highlighted.     

雷暴激发的环状重力波在中高层大气中的传播特征

本文使用中国科学院国家空间科学中心——子午工程朔州观测站的全天空气辉成像数据,以及FY-2气象卫星云顶亮温数据（Black Body Temperature,TBB）,气象再分析数据和地闪数据,研究了2013年8月10日（LT）发生在内蒙古地区的雷暴活动激发的中高层环状重力波（Concentric Gravity Waves,CGWs）事件.根据最小二乘法的拟合结果和色散关系理论曲线,确定了激发中高层环状重力波的强对流系统,该对流中心位于内蒙古自治区中部（108.9°E,40.47°N）,重力波激发于雷暴初期,此时TBB低于220 K的深对流面积较小,随着时间的推移,该次雷暴活动越来越强,深对流面积在23：00达到最大,在23：30-24：00 LT时闪电频数最高,达到120.7 fl/min,随后深对流逐渐消散.在中高层87 km处OH（羟基）气辉层观测到的一次CGWs事件的两组波纹,分别沿水平方向传播了149.64 km和174.25 km,相应位置处的水平波长分别为12.67 km和16.75 km,周期分别为8.56 min和10.72 min,激发时间分别为19：34 LT和19：40 LT;随着水平传播距离的增加,CGWs水平波长增大.     

Latitude and Altitude Dependence of the Interannual Variability and Trends of Atmospheric Temperatures

—The 4-season (12-month) running means of temperatures at five atmospheric levels (surface, 850–300 mb, 300–100 mb, 100–50 mb, 100–30 mb) and seven climatic zones (60°N–90°N, 30°N–60°N, 10°N–30°N, 10°N–10°S, 10°S–30°S, 30°S–60°S, 60°S–90°S) showed QBO (Quasi-biennial Oscillation), QTO (Quasi-triennial Oscillation) and larger periodicities. For stratosphere and tropopause, the temperature variations near the equator and North Pole somewhat resembled the 50mb low latitude zonal winds, mainly due to prominent QBO. For troposphere and surface, the temperature variations, especially those near the equator, resemble those of eastern equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperatures, mainly due to prominent QTO. In general, the temperature trends in the last 35 years show stratospheric cooling and tropospheric warming. But the trends are not monotonic. For example, the surface trends were downward during 1960–70, upward during 1970–82, downward during 1982–85 and upward thereafter. Models of green-house warming should take these non-uniformities into account.     

北京地区闪电活动与气溶胶浓度的关系研究

基于2015—2017年北京闪电定位网(BLNET)总闪资料与35个自动空气质量监测站PM2.5数据,分析了北京地区(39.5°N—41.0°N,115.0°E—117.5°E)夏季(6—8月)闪电活动与PM2.5的时空分布特征,同时针对117次雷暴天气,探讨了气溶胶浓度变化对闪电活动的可能影响.结果表明:PM2.5浓度及总闪密度均呈现自西北向东南升高的空间分布特征.闪电峰值在污染背景下出现的时间(19∶00LT)晚于清洁背景下(15∶00LT)约4h,且总闪百分比(～20%)可达清洁背景下(～9%)的两倍.对雷暴前1～4h的PM2.5浓度与时间窗(12∶00—22∶00LT)内总闪数目的中位数进行相关分析,发现PM2.5浓度低于130μg·m-3时,PM2.5与总闪数存在明显正相关,此时气溶胶可能通过影响云微物理过程进而影响雷暴的对流发展,增强闪电活动;PM2.5大于150μg·m-3时,总闪数随PM2.5浓度的增加呈减少趋势,可能的原因是高气溶胶浓度下地面太阳辐射显著下降,对流活动受到抑制,导致闪电活动减少.当PM2.5浓度在130～150μg·m-3时,两者关系不明显.     

Observational evidence of deep convection over Indonesian sector in relation with major stratospheric warming events of 2003–04 and 2005–06

The major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events of 2003–04 and 2005–06 are considered to investigate changes in equatorial convection due to circulation changes associated with the SSW events. It is observed that the SSW events are accompanied by a considerable decrease in Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR), a proxy for tropical convection, over equatorial latitudes (15°N–15°S) in the Indonesian sector (90°E–150°E). However, unlike noted by earlier observations, the zonal mean OLR does not show any notable relationship with the SSW events. It can be explained from the latitude–longitude map of potential vorticity (PV) at 100 hPa, which shows a tongue of high PV emanating from high latitudes towards equator and converges in the longitude band of 90°E–150°E on the day of peak warming at 1 hPa in the case of 2003–04 and 10 hPa in the case of 2005–06. The latitude-height map of Eliassen–Palm (EP) vector and its divergence show convergence of EP flux in the upper troposphere at latitudes even lower than 20°N on these days. Further, vertical winds computed from the convergence of momentum flux are upward indicating convective activity at low-latitudes and downward at mid-latitudes.     

卫星观测到的全球闪电活动及其地域差异

闪电活动在时间和空间尺度上都有很大的可变性. 本文利用热带降水测量计划（TRMM）卫星上携带的闪电探测系统获取的闪电定位资料首次对一些典型地区的闪电活动进行了对比分析. 研究发现不同地区的闪电活动无论在闪电频数或放电强度方面都有很大的差别，海洋上的闪电活动频数与陆地上的闪电活动频数可相差几十倍；不同地区闪电活动的多少不仅取决于该地雷暴日数的多少，更重要的还取决于该地每次雷暴过程闪电频数的多少；不同地区的闪电放电强度有随闪电频数增加而减小的趋势. 进一步研究还表明，不同地区闪电光辐射能的不同可以用对流最大不稳定能量（ECAPE）来解释，闪电放电强度与ECAPE之间存在非常好的线性正相关；而闪电活动频数对ECAPE的响应则与闪电光辐射能不同，二者之间没有发现明显的相关.     

Mesospheric bore formation from large-scale gravity wave perturbations observed by collocated all-sky OH imager and sodium lidar

On 9 October 2007, long-horizontal-wavelength gravity waves were observed for the first time to steepen and form mesospheric bores at the altitude of ～87 km, by an all-sky OH imager located at Fort Collins (41°N, 105°W), Colorado. The collocated sodium lidar simultaneously observed the presence of a temperature inversion layer as the ducting region. One mesospheric bore uniquely later evolved into a large-amplitude soliton-like perturbation. When the gravity wave and the associated soliton-like perturbation passed through the lidar beams, the lidar detected strong vertical disturbance at 90 km, indicating convective instability. A large cold front system recorded several hours before in the troposphere was aligned to phase fronts of these large gravity waves. For all of the 7 mesospheric bores observed over a 5 year period, we found a similar alignment with a cold front 1000–1500 km away as the likely source of these large-scale gravity waves.     

Numerical Study of the Intertropical Convergence Zone Over the Indian Ocean During the 1997 and 1998 Northeast Monsoon Episodes

—?The hydrostatic Naval Research Laboratory/North Carolina State University (NRL/NCSU) model was used to study the mesoscale dynamics and diurnal variability of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) over the Indian Ocean in the short-range period. To achieve this objective the initial conditions from two northeast monsoon episodes (29 January, 1997 and 29 January, 1998) were run for 48-hour simulations using a triple-nested grid version of the model with 1.5°?×?1.5°, 0.5°?×?0.5° and 0.17°?×?0.17° resolutions. The 1997 case represents a typical northeast monsoon episode, while the 1998 case depicts an abnormal monsoon episode during an El Niño event.¶Comparisons between the model-produced and analyzed mean circulation, wind speed, and associated rainfall for different spatial scales are presented. During the active northeast monsoon season in 1997, the major low-level westerly winds and associated high rainfall rates between 0° and 15°S were simulated reasonably well up to 24 hours. During the 1998 El Niño event, the model was capable of simulating weak anomalous easterly winds (between 0° and 15°S) with much lower rainfall rates up to 48 hours. In both simulations, the finest grid size resulted in largest rainfall rates consistent with Outgoing Longwave Radiation data.¶The model performance was further evaluated using the vertical profiles of the vertical velocity, the specific humidity and temperature differences between the model outputs and the analyses. It is found that during a typical northeast monsoon year, 1997, the water vapor content in the middle troposphere was largely controlled by the low-level convergence determined by strong oceanic heat flux gradient. In contrast, during the 1998 El Niño year moisture was present only in the lower troposphere. Due to strong subsidence associated with Walker circulation over the central and eastern Indian Ocean, deep convection was not present. Finally, the diurnal variations of the maximum rainfall, vertical velocity and total heat flux were noticeable only during the 1997 northeast monsoon year.     

Variations of thermodynamical parameters in the atmospheric boundary layer over the Deccan plateau region,India

The thermodynamical structure of the atmospheric boundary layer over the Deccan plateau region has been studied with aerological data for 1980 and 1981.The temperatures in the sub-cloud layer were lower on active monsoon days than dose on weak monsoon days. An opposite trend was noticed in the layer above the 900 mbar level. The moisture content on active monsoon days was higher than that on weak monsoon days. The profile of relative humidity above the 850 mbar level showed large deviations between the active and weak monsoon conditions. On active monsoon days the values of dry static stability were higher than those on weak monsoon days. An opposite trend was noticed in the case of moist static stability. On active monsoon days the magnitudes of thev components of wind were small compared with those of theu components, and the latter showed a gradual decrease with height.     

A comparative study between two cases of extreme rainfall events in Catalonia

A diagnostic study of the synoptic aspects of two cases of heavy rain producing floods in Catalonia (northeast corner of the Iberian peninsula) is presented. The diagnosis consists in the determination of the area where large scale circulation induces favorable conditions for development of thunderstorms. We identify these conditions as upward quasi-geostrophic forcing, convergence of water vapor at low levels and convective instability in the lower troposphere. A composite chart showing where the three synoptic mechanisms overlap determines the area. Local studies of instability are carried out from upper air data given by the radiosonde ascents of Palma de Mallorca, looking for both the Convective Available Potential Energy and Bulk Richardson number and its temporal evolution during the events.     

双模态风垂直切变对台风结构和强度的作用分析

本文应用WRF(v 3.4)模式输出资料,揭示了风垂直切变(Vertical Wind Shear:VWS)在垂直方向上的波状变化特征,这种波状变化在台风不同发展时期又有不同形态,其中在持续强盛期呈双模态分布.应用VWS引起的次级垂直环流影响台风对流分布和强度变化的基本原理,用模式资料分析发现:对流层中层具有的VWS是整层VWS的主要部分,台风强度变化滞后VWS的形态突变6h左右;双模态波状变化的VWS产生的次级环流和台风垂直环流的配置不同使台风强对流带结构变得不对称及眼墙区对流强度在垂直分布上变得不均匀,随着持续强盛期涡旋运动的增强,强对流带分布又趋于对称.又根据VWS形成的垂直方向上涡度力分布不均匀引起台风内中尺度滚轴状对流带不稳定发展原理,分析表明:对流层中、低层的涡度力有利于对流不稳定增强,垂直速度的最大值与风垂直廓线的拐点在同一高度上,这与理论模型的结论一致.因此,VWS的波状变化分布特征不仅影响台风强对流带中尺度结构的改变,也对台风持续强盛具有重要作用;同时也是台风内滚轴状对流带不稳定的可能启动机制.     

Sub-daily variations observed in Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ) streams

To investigate the sub-daily variation in Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ), a few special experiments have been conducted with mesosphere–stratosphere–troposphere (MST) radar located at Gadanki(13.5°N, 79.2°E) under Study on Atmospheric Forcing and Responses (SAFAR) campaign during 2008–2009. Large sub-daily changes in the TEJ characteristics are observed within a day in addition to day-to-day changes. Based on this observational study, three possible mechanisms for the sub-daily variations are proposed i.e., (1) motion of TEJ core, (2) large updrafts and downdrafts, and (3) strong wave activity. Interestingly, TEJ peak altitude is seen above the Cold Point Tropopause altitude for about 42% of the days.