EFFECTS OF OROGRAPHY AND AIR FLOW IN EKMAN BOUNDARY LAYER*

It is convenient to use σ-coordinates to discuss the dynamic effect of orography and the flow in Ekman boundary layer.In this paper,the theory of mixing length is generalized to the σ-coordinate system.Then the governing equations,describing the motion in the boundary layer over the mountain regions are derived.The features of flow in the boundary layer,especially the effects of Ekman pumping,are discussed indetails.It is pointed out that there are three factors affecting the vertical motion at the top of the boundary layer:(1) vorticity distribution in the boundary layer,which is directly related to the divergence and convergence of air flow caused by friction,(2) the upslope or downslope motion of flow over the mountain slopes,and(3) the mutual effect of orography and friction induced by the ageostrophic component climbing upward or downward in the boundary layer over mountain regions.     

EFFECTS OF OROGRAPHY AND AIR FLOW IN EKMAN BOUNDARY LAYER

It is convenient to use σ-coordinates to discuss the dynamic effect of orography and the flow inEkman boundary layer.In this paper,the theory of mixing length is generalized to the σ-coordinate system.Then the governing equations,describing the motion in the boundary layer over the mountain regions arederived.The features of flow in the boundary layer,especially the effects of Ekman pumping,are discussed indetails.It is pointed out that there are three factors affecting the vertical motion at the top of the boun-dary layer:(1)vorticity distribution in the boundary layer,which is directly related to the divergence andconvergence of air flow caused by friction,(2)the upslope or downslope motion of flow over the mountainslopes,and(3)the mutual effect of orography and friction induced by the ageostrophic component climbing up-ward or downward in the boundary layer over mountain regions.     

Asymmetric rainband breaking in Typhoon Haitang (2005) before and after its landfall

Using the WRF (Weather Research Forecast) model, this work performed analysis and simulation on the rainband change during the landfall of Typhoon Haitang (2005) and found that breaking may occur over land and oceans leads to distinct asymmetric precipitation. The breaking is related to the topographic effect as well as interactions between the typhoon and midlatitude systems at upper levels. During the landfall, divergent flows at the 200-hPa level of the South-Asian high combined with divergent flows at the periphery of the typhoon to form a weak, inverted trough in the northwest part of the storm, with the mid- and low-level divergence fields on the west and northwest side of the typhoon center maintaining steadily. It intensifies the upper-level cyclonic flows, in association with positive vorticity rotating counterclockwise together with air currents that travel stepwise into a vorticity zone in the vicinity of the typhoon core, thereby forming a vorticity transfer belt in 22–25? N that extends to the eastern part of the storm. It is right here that the high-level vorticity band is subsiding so that rainfall is prevented from developing, resulting in the rainbelt breaking, which is the principal cause of asymmetric precipitation occurrence. Migrating into its outer region, the banded vorticity of Haitang at high levels causes further amplification of the cyclonic circulation in the western part and transfer of positive vorticity into the typhoon such that the rainband breaking is more distinct.     

A NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF TYPHOON GENERATION

By using a two-dimensional axisymmetrical PEM in which two physical processes (the Ekman pumping and the vertical transportation of cumulus momentum) are included, the genesis and development of typhoons have been simulated. The results of numerical simulation show that the generation and structure of the typhoon simulated by the model involving both the physical processes are much close to a real one in the atmosphere as compared with that involving either the Ekman pumping or the cumulus momentum transport. Therefore, it can be suggested that the cumulus momentum transport and Ekman pumping together play an important role in the genesis and development of typhoons through the CISK mechanism.     

Linear Momentum Approximation and Frontogenesis Caused by Baroclinic Ekman Momentum Flow

A method of linear momentum approximation is proposed that deals with weak nonlinear problems in an approximate manner. A motion of nonlinear nature is obtained in the system by assuming the motion to be in the form of linear momentum flow in the corresponding space introduced, followed by the transformation from the specified into a physical space. Significant results have been thereby derived in examining the effects of baroclinic Ekman momentum flow upon Eady-type baroclinic waves and frontogenesis. Also, this technique can be applied to investigate the dynamic characteristics of the weak nonlinear boundary layer including topography, stratification and non-Ekmantype friction for gaining further insight into the influence on the boundary layer inner parameters of terrain, baroclinicity and inhomogeneous process so that the classic theory is revised.     

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF MESOSCALE STRUCTURES OF TYPHOON AND OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS USING MM5*

The track,landfall,dynamic and thermodynamic and cloud-rain physical mesoscale structures and their evolution of typhoon HERB 1996 in 36 h from 0000 UTC 31 July to 1200 UTC 1 August 1996 were simulated by using the non-hydrostatic mesoscale model MM5.This period covered the process of typhoon HERB landfall at Taiwan and Fujian Provinces.Results show that the model successfully simulated the landfall process of typhoon HERB,revealed the most important characteristics of the mesoscale dynamic and thermodynamic and cloud-rain physical structure during its landfall.The simulated typhoon track was close to the observation.The center of cyclonic circulation simulated at 0000 UTC on 1 August 1996 (24 h integration) was located in shore near Fuqing,Fujian Province at which the typhoon was reported to landfall two hours later.It shows that strong upward motion formed by low level convergence existed in the eye-wall and subsidence at the eye.The wind field shows clear asymmetrical structure near the typhoon center.The cloud and rainband was screw-typed distributed around typhoon center,and consisted of meso-β scale rain cores.During the period of typhoon HERB staying near and passing over Taiwan,the lower cloud was developed in the eye region so that the previous clear typhoon eye on the satellite pictures became fuzzy.Observation shows that the typhoon center was "warm",but the model simulations with higher space resolution show that in the mid-troposphere the region of eye-wall with stronger upward motion and more cloud-and rain-water was warmer than the eye.During the period of typhoon passing over Taiwan and its following landfall at Fujian,the track of model typhoon deviated about 30 km northward (i.e.,rightward) because of the orographic effects of Taiwan Island,but the strength of the typhoon was not affected remarkably.The amount of rainfall on Taiwan in the 36 h simulations was enhanced more than six times by the orographic lifting of Taiwan Mountain.     

CLIMATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF TYPHOON PRECIPITATION OVER CHINA

The spatio-temporal characteristics of typhoon precipitation over China are analyzed in this study. The results show that typhoon precipitation covers most of central-eastern China. Typhoon precipitation gradually decreases from the southeastern coastal regions to the northwestern mainland. The maximum annual typhoon precipitation exceeds 700 mm in central-eastern Taiwan and part of Hainan, while the minimum annual typhoon precipitation occurs in parts of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Sichuan, with values less than 10 mm. Generally, typhoons produce precipitation over China during April – December with a peak in August. The annual typhoon precipitation time series for observation stations are examined for long-term trends. The results show that decreasing trends exist in most of the stations from 1957 to 2004 and are statistically significant in parts of Taiwan, Hainan, coastal Southeast China and southern Northeast China. The anomaly of typhoon precipitation mainly results from that of the general circulation over Asia and the Walker Cell circulation over the equatorial central and eastern Pacific. Typhoon torrential rain is one of the extreme rainfall events in the southeastern coastal regions and parts of central mainland. In these regions, torrential rains are mostly caused by typhoons.     

ADJUSTMENT OF WIND AND PRESSURE FIELDS IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER

The vertical transport of mass at the top of the boundary layer is considered as a link between theboundary layer and free atmosphere.The adjustment of the wind and pressure fields in the boundary layeris studied under the consideration of the interaction between the boundary layer and free atmosphere.Thevertical motion at the top of the boundary layer is evaluated.The results show that the distinguished differ-ences of the present results from classical Ekman layer do exist and they are discussed in the paper.     

A Study on Typhoon-Induced Rainfalls over Beijing: Statistics and Case Analysis

Based on the Shanghai Typhoon Institute (STI) Typhoon Year Book and typhoon precipitation data, Japan Meteorological Agency satellite TBB data, and National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data, the climatic characteristics of rainfalls in Beijing associated with typhoons were analyzed for the period 1949–2006, and two typhoon cases with remarkable differences in rainfall intensity over Beijing were compared and diagnosed. The 58-yr statistical results show that rainfall events associated with typhoons occurred in Beijing about once every three years during June–September. These typhoons were mainly active in the region 20?–50?N, 109?–128?E and most of them moved northwestward while the others turned to the northeast. The typhoon rainfall over Beijing in general sustained for 2–5 days. Typhoon centers were usually located in the areas from Jiangxi to Anhui, the Yellow Sea, or near Beijing, when rainstorms occurred over Beijing. Case study indicates that the 2-day torrential rainfall event that happened in Beijing in 1984 was due to the interaction between Typhoon Freda (8407) and a westerly trough, while only a medium-strength rainfall event occurred in Beijing in 2005 in spite of the dominating cyclonic circulation of Typhoon Matsa (0509) directly over Beijing. It is found that both Freda and Matsa underwent extratropical transition and possessed an asymmetric structure. The rainfall difference was caused by the fact that Beijing was located in different convective development areas of the two typhoons. On the other hand, the lifting conditions were different although plentiful atmospheric moisture and convective unstable energy existed over Beijing during both events. The ascending motion of warm southerly in Beijing was stronger and deeper and a larger vertical wind shear was associated with Typhoon Freda. However, the lifting of water vapor was restrained by the descending motion of northerly cold airflow in Beijing under the impact of Typhoon Matsa. Besides, it is also found that topography played an important role in the typhoon rainfall over Beijing.     

The Theory Study of the Influence of the Topography on the Cold Frontal Motion

In order to study the characteristics of cold frontal motion over the arbitrary topography, the velocity of cold frontal movement is derived by using the one layer shallow-water model. The results show that there exist the retardation in upwind side and rapid descent in the lee slope when the cold front crosses the topography.     

THE INFLUENCES OF OROGRAPHY UPON THE FLOW WITHIN EKMAN BOUNDARY LAYER UNDER THE APPROXIMATION OF GEOSTROPHIC MOMENTUM

In this paper, the influences of orography on the boundary layer flow with the approximation of geo strophic momentum are studied. The wind velocity at the lower boundary will not always be zero when the orography exists. So the structure of the boundary layer flow, as well as the vertical velocity at the top of the boundary layer, is affected. There are three factors affecting the vertical motion at the top of the boundary layer: lifting due to orography; divergence due to Ekman flow, and advection of the geostrophic momentum. These effects and the features of the flow within the boundary layer are discussed in detail.     

VARIATION IN WIND VELOCITY OVER WATER

Starting from the equations of motion and continuity, a theoretical model is deduced in this paper for the variation in wind velocity over water caused by abrupt changes in surface roughness and temperature when air flows from land to water, based on the consideration that the turbulent exchange coefficient varies with height and distance from the upwind edge. According to the computation of this model, the variation in wind velocity over water, as the drift of air is from land to water, occurs mainly in the first few kilometers from the upwind edge. The wind velocity over water increases to a maximum when the air over land is stable, it tends to moderate when neutral condition is reached, and least variation is shown in unstable condition. And when the air over land is unstable the wind velocity is less over water than over land in strong winds, but somewhat greater in light winds.     

Boundary-Layer Wind Structure in a Landfalling Tropical Cyclone

In this study, a slab boundary layer model with a constant depth is used to analyze the boundary-layer wind structure in a landfalling tropical cyclone. Asymmetry is found in both the tangential and radial components of horizontal wind in the tropical cyclone boundary layer at landfall. For a steady tropical cyclone on a straight coastline at landfall, the magnitude of the radial component is greater in the offshoreflow side and the tangential component is greater over the sea, slightly offshore, therefore the greater total wind speed occurs in the offshore-flow side over the sea. The budget analysis suggests that： （1） a greater surface friction over land produces a greater inflow and the nonlinear effect advects the maximum inflow downstream, and （2） a smaller surface friction over the sea makes the decrease of the tangential wind component less than that over land. Moreover, the boundary layer wind structures in a tropical cyclone are related to the locations of the tropical cyclone relative to the coastline due to the different surface frictions. During tropical cyclone landfall, the impact of rough terrain on the cyclone increases, so the magnitude of the radial component of wind speed increases in the offshore-flow side and the tangential component outside the radius of maximum wind speed decreases gradually.     

Interaction Between Typhoon Vicente (1208) and the Western Pacific Subtropical High During the Beijing Extreme Rainfall of 21 July 2012

The heaviest rainfall in recent six decades fell in Beijing on 21 July 2012, reaching a record of 460 mm within 18 h. This rainfall was a typical remote precipitation event related to Typhoon Vicente(1208).Observational analysis indicates that Vicente influenced distant heavy rainfall by transporting water vapor northward to the Beijing area. This moisture transport was mainly driven by the interaction between Vicente and the western Pacific subtropical high(WPSH) associated with the formation of a low-level southeasterly moisture channel. A set of numerical sensitivity experiments were performed with prescribed typhoons of different intensities to investigate the interaction between Vicente and the WPSH and its effects on this rainstorm process. The results indicate that the WPSH interacting with typhoons of different intensities may exert varying degrees of influence on the development of a southeasterly moisture channel, resulting in a change in rain rate and location over the Beijing area. Specifically, in the presence of an enhanced typhoon,the WPSH shows remarkable withdrawal to the east, which is favorable for a northward extension of the southeasterly moisture channel, thereby increasing moisture supply for the rainstorm. The WPSH tends to stretch westward in a zonal pattern if the typhoon is weakened or removed, hindering the northward extension of the moisture channel. Thus, the rainfall area may be expected to expand or contract, with corresponding increases or decreases in rain rate over the Beijing area with a strengthened or weakened typhoon, respectively.     

Variations in Typhoon Landfalls over China

The interannual variability in typhoon landfalls over China is investigated using historical and modern records. For the purpose of substantiating and elaborating upon the claim of north to south variation in tropical cyclone activity over China, a north-to-south anti-correlation in yearly activity is confirmed in the historical cyclone records. When cyclone activity over the province of Guangdong is high （low）, it tends to be low （high） over the province of Fujian. A similar spatial variation is identified in the modern records using a factor analysis model, which delineates typhoon activity over the southern provinces of Guangdong and Hainan from the activity over the northern provinces of Fujian, Taiwan, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Shandong. A landfall index of typhoon activity representing the degree to which each year follows this pattern of activity is used to identify correlated climate variables. A useful statistical regression model that includes sea-level pressure differences between Mongolia and western China and sea-surface temperature （SST） over the northwestern Pacific Ocean during the summer explains 26% of the interannual variability of the landfall index. It is suggested that a stronger than normal north-south pressure gradient increases the surface easterly wind flow over northern China： this, coupled with lower SST over the Pacific, favors typhoons taking a more westerly track toward southern China.     

A laboratory study of the turbulent velocity characteristics in the convective boundary layer

Based on the measurement of the velocity field in the convective boundary layer （CBL） in a convection water tank with the particle image velocimetry （PIV） technique, this paper studies the characteristics of the CBL turbulent velocity in a modified convection tank. The experiment results show that the velocity distribution in the mixed layer clearly possesses the characteristics of the CBL thermals, and the turbulent eddies can be seen obviously. The comparison of the vertical distribution of the turbulent velocity variables indicates that the modeling in the new tank is better than in the old one. The experiment data show that the thermal＇s motion in the entrainment zone sometimes fluctuates obviously due to the intermittence of turbulence. Analyses show that this fluctuation can influence the agreement of the measurement data with the parameterization scheme, in which the convective Richardson number is used to characterize the entrainment zone depth. The normalized square velocity wi^2/w＊^2. at the top of the mixed layer seems to be time-dependent, and has a decreasing trend during the experiments. This implies that the vertical turbulent velocity at the top of the mixed layer may not be proportional to the convective velocity （w＊）.     

THE IMPACT OF MID-LATITUDE CIRCULATION OVER THE TIBETAN PLATEAU ON THE TRACK OF TYPHOON OVER THE NORTHWEST PACIFIC

There is a close relationship between variation of middle latitude synoptic system over theTibetan Plateau and movement of typhoon over the Northwest Pacific.This paper tries to discussthe mechanism of it through the numerical simulation and dynamic diagnosis.25-year statistical results during the period from 1970 to 1995 indicate that the relationshipbetween middle latitude circulation over the Plateau and the track of typhoon over the NorthwestPacific are as follows.When longwave trough in 500 hPa isobaric surface over the Plateau.it isfavourable to typhoon's westward movement:on the contrary,large scale anticyclone over thePlateau is favourable to typhoon's recurvature.We simulated the typhoon under these two flowpatterns with MM5 model.Numerical simulation results showed that:(a)Longwave trough on500 hPa surface over the Plateau makes subtropical high extended westward so as to typhoon southto high moves westward in easterly steering flow.(b)Anticyclone over the Plateau will bringabout the longwave trough developing along the east coast of Asia,it'will usually cause typhoonrecurring in front of the developed trough.In addition,the results of dynamic diagnosis show the physical mechanism on impact ofsynoptic system over the Plateau on the downstream synoptic system,that is,the transport ofdisturbance kinetic energy over the upstream Plateau makes the downstream trough developed.And then it affects the steering flow of typhoon.Because of existence of the high ridge over thePlateau.the energy transport channel moves to north.On the contrary,the trough exists over thePlateau,the energy transport channel moves to south.The southerly in front of trough over thePlateau and the southerly in the east part of typhoon transport low potential vorticity of lowlatitude into subtropical high.That is beneficial to development of subtropical high and affectstyphoon's movement.These results fully reflect the impact of interaction between mid-latitude andlow latitude on synoptic system.     

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.     

Impacts of Soil Moisture on the Numerical Simulation of a Post-Landfall Storm

Surface heat and moisture fluxes are important to the evolution of a tropical storm after its landfall. Soil moisture is one of the essential components that influence surface heating and moisture fluxes. In this study, the impact of soil moisture on a pre-landfall numerical simulation of Tropical Storm Bill(2015), which had a much longer lifespan over land, is investigated by using the research version of the NCEP Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting(HWRF) model. It is found that increased soil moisture with SLAB scheme before storm's landfall tends to produce a weaker storm after landfall and has negative impacts on storm track simulation. Further diagnoses with different land surface schemes and sensitivity experiments indicate that the increase in soil moisture inside the storm corresponds to a strengthened vertical mixing within the storm boundary layer, which is conducive to the decay of storm and has negative impacts on storm evolution. In addition, surface diabatic heating effects over the storm environment are also found to be an important positive contribution to the storm evolution over land, but their impacts are not so substantial as boundary layer vertical mixing inside the storm. The overall results highlight the importance and uncertainty of soil moisture in numerical model simulations of landfalling hurricanes and their further evolution over land.     

A Possible Cause for Different Diurnal Variations of Warm Season Rainfall as Shown in Station Observations and TRMM 3B42 Data over the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

In this study,records from a 3-yr intensified observational experiment at eight stations along the hillside of Seqilashan over the southeastern Tibetan Plateau were analyzed and combined with records at 28 routine observation stations in the Chinese National Meteorological Station Network to investigate the influences of station location on the different diurnal rainfall variations between station records and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) data products.The results indicate that the diurnal variation of warm season rainfall is closely related to location of stations.The prevailing nocturnal rainfall peak in observations at routine stations can be largely attributed to the relatively lower location of the stations,which are mostly situated in valleys.The records at Seqilashan stations on hillsides revealed an evident diurnal afternoon peak of warm season rainfall,similar to that indicated by TRMM data.The different diurnal phases between valley and hillside stations are closely related to the orographically induced regional circulations caused by the complex topography over the Tibetan Plateau.The results of this study indicate that the prevailing nocturnal rainfall associated with the relatively lower location of routine observation stations can partially explain the diurnal rainfall variations between observation station records and TRMM data.