Quantifying the uncertainty of the annular mode time scale and the role of the stratosphere

The impact of high resolution modern vegetation cover on the West African climate is examined using the International Centre for Theoretical Physics Regional Climate Model implementing the NCAR Community Land Model. Two high resolution 25 km long-term simulations driven by the output from a coarser 50-km resolution simulation are performed for the period 1998–2010. One high resolution simulation uses an earlier and coarser-resolution version of plant functional type distribution and leaf area index, while the other uses a more recent, higher-quality, and finer-resolution version of the data. The results indicate that the new land cover distribution substantially alters the distribution of temperature with warming in Central Nigeria, northern Gulf of Guinea and part of the Sahel due to the replacement of C4 grass with corn; and cooling along the coastlines of the Gulf of Guinea and in Central Africa due to the replacement of C4 grass with tropical broadleaf evergreen trees. Changes in latent heat flux appear to be largely responsible for these temperature changes with a net decrease (increase) in regions of warming (cooling). The improved land cover distribution also results in a wetter monsoon season. The presence of corn tends to favor larger precipitation amounts via more intense events, while the presence of tropical broadleaf evergreen trees tends to favor the occurrence of both more intense and more frequent events. The wetter conditions appear to be sustained via (1) an enhanced soil moisture feedback; and (2) elevated moisture transport due to increased low-level convergence in regions south of 10N where the most substantial land cover differences are present. Overall the changes induced by the improved vegetation cover improve, to some extent, the performance of the high resolution regional climate model in simulating the main West African summer monsoon features.     

西伯利亚高压强度与北大西洋海温异常的关系

利用NCEP/NCAR再分析资料和NOAA海温等资料,采用EOF、相关分析等方法,研究了西伯利亚高压(Siberian High,SH)强度和北大西洋海表温度(SST)的变化特征,揭示了二者的联系及其时空变化。结果表明:1)冬季SH在1960s中后期开始偏弱,2003年后略增强。2)各季北大西洋SST指数(全区平均SST的标准化距平)均在1960s中期后偏低,1990s末后偏高。北大西洋海温三极子位相由正转负的时间在春冬季(1970s初)晚于夏秋季(1960s初),而后均在1990s中期后进入正位相。3)各季偏高(低)的北大西洋SST指数和海温三极子正(负)位相均有利于冬季SH偏强(弱),但前者与SH的关系更显著,且冬季最强。北大西洋北部和西南部是影响SH强度的关键区,但SH对北部SST异常的响应范围在冬季最大,而对西南部的响应范围在夏季最大。4)当冬季大西洋SST指数异常偏高时,下游激发出的罗斯贝波列使乌拉尔山高压脊加强,使SH上空负相对涡度平流增大,高层辐合和低层辐散增强,整个对流层下沉气流深厚,促使SH增强,反之亦然。     

On the forecast of the onset and end of the convective season in the Amazon

Summary ?Some features of the climate system that can be considered predictors of the onset and end of the convective season over the Amazon were identified using one-month lag correlations and field composites. The fields analyzed were sea surface temperature (SST), outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR), vertical velocity and upper tropospheric winds. Warm (cold) anomalies in the SST in the tropical North Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea tend to be associated with delayed (early) onsets. Likewise, there is a tendency towards a delayed (early) end of the convective season with cold (warm) anomalies in these ocean regions. In addition, the SST in the cold tongue region of the equatorial Pacific is negatively, though weakly correlated with the onset date. The signal of this SST is more evident in the case of the end date, which is earlier with respect to its mean date in most of El Ni?o cases. The convective activity intensity itself conditions the onset and the end of the convective season, as it is evidenced by the behavior of the OLR and the vertical velocity fields. The more (less) intense the convective activity over South America during the preceding month, the earlier the onset and the later the end of the convective season on the Amazon region. The prediction of the onset and end dates of the convective season in the Amazon region was explored using a simple multiple regression technique based on the variables that have shown precursor signals with respect to these dates. The correlation coefficient between the predicted and the observed onset date is 0.81, and in the case of the end date, it is 0.76. The skill to predict early, delayed and normal categories was high, since in more than two thirds of the cases the category was successfully predicted, and there were no predictions of categories opposed to those observed. Received July 23, 2001; revised February 22, 2002; accepted April 26, 2002     

平流层强、弱极涡事件的演变过程及其对我国冬季天气的影响

本文利用1979～2010年的NCEP再分析资料,通过北半球环状模NAM指数挑选出的强、弱极涡个例,分析了北半球平流层异常变化过程中行星波的演变以及与之相联系的我国天气的变化特征。结果表明,在强极涡事件前,行星波1波会被反射回对流层,极地波导减弱,低纬波导增强,中高纬地区的E-P通量矢量有着从平流层传播到对流层的趋势;强极涡事件后,极地波导增强,低纬波导减弱。在弱极涡事件前,中、高纬度行星波1波沿着极地波导的传播明显增强;弱极涡事件后,极地波导明显减弱。与此对应的我国天气也有明显变化,在强极涡事件前,我国大部分地区温度偏低,南方地区偏湿而新疆西北部和云南西部地区偏干;在强极涡事件后,东亚冬季风进一步增强,冷空气加强南下,南方地区可降水量减少,新疆西北部仍然偏干,而云南大部分地区可将水量增加。在弱极涡事件前,东亚冬季风显著增强,使我国气温偏冷,降水减少,而弱极涡事件后,我国气温明显回升,中、东部地区和新疆西北部地区降水明显增加。     

近50年阿留申低压地区凝结加热的变化

利用1948~2003年NCEP再分析凝结加热率资料,研究了北太平洋地区整层凝结加热的季节演变,着重研究了阿留申低压地区(30~50°N,160~210°E)凝结加热的长期变化,探讨了它对北太平洋年代际变率可能的反馈。研究表明:冬季阿留申低压地区上空存在较强的凝结加热,它与阿留申低压的强度存在显著的正相关关系;该处凝结加热的垂直分布不均匀可引起大气环流热力适应,从而可能有利于阿留申低压的加强;该处凝结加热在20世纪70年代末发生了一次明显的阶段性转折,70年代末以后增强,它可能对阿留申低压的强度形成反馈,从而有利于阿留申低压在70年代末以后加强。作者进一步讨论了该处凝结加热发生这种阶段性转折的原因和传播机制。     

Progress in the study on the formation of the summertime subtropical anticyclone

The studies in China on the formation of the summertime subtropical anticyclone on the climate timescale are reviewed. New insights in resent studies are introduced. It is stressed that either in the free atmosphere or in the planetary boundary, the descending arm of the Hadley cell cannot be considered as a mechanism for the formation of the subtropical anticyclone. Then the theories of thermal adaptation of the atmosphere to external thermal forcing and the potential vorticity forcing are developed to understand the formation of the subtropical anticyclone in the three-dimensional domain. Numerical experiments are designed to verify these theories. Results show that in the boreal summer, the formation of the strong South Asian High in the upper troposphere and the subtropical anticyclone over the western Pacific in the middle and lower troposphere is, to a great extent, due to the convective latent heating associated with the Asian monsoon, but affected by orography and the surface sensible heating over the continents.On the other hand, the formation of the subtropical anticyclone at the surface over the northern Pacific and in the upper troposphere over North America is mainly due to the strong surface sensible heating over North America, but affected by radiation cooling over the eastern North Pacific. Moreover, in the real atmosphere such individual thermal forcing is well organized. By considering the different diabatic heating in synthesis, a quadruple heating pattern is found over each subtropical continent and its adjacent oceans in summer. A distinct circulation pattern accompanies this heating pattern. The global summer subtropical heating and circulation may be viewed as “mosaics” of such quadruplet heating and circulationpatterns respectively. At last, some important issues for further research in understanding and predicting the variations of the subtropical anticyclone are raised.     

我国气候对北太平洋海温的响应的模拟试验

利用联邦德国汉堡大学气象研究所大气环流模式的气候模拟的结果，就模式中我国气候对北太平洋海温异常的响应进行了分析，目的在于研究我国气候的成因。我国气候对海温的敏感性试验由异常算程和对照算程组成。异常算程是在北太平洋多年平均海温场上迭加一个“东温西凉”型的异常值，而对照算程中则为多年平均海温场。试验结果指出，1月300百帕上青藏高原两侧的南北两支急流大大增强，Hadley环流减弱，500百帕环流和850百帕温度场出现类似冷冬的形势，即经向环流加强，南北温度梯度加大，我国大部分地区的1月气温降低。但湿度场对北太平洋海温异常的响应甚弱，这与通常的看法一致，即冬季我国干旱主要是由于蒙古干冷高压频频入侵造成的。     

准两年振荡对大气中微量气体分布的影响

NCAR的包含化学、辐射、动力相互作用的两维模式（SOCRATES）移植回国后进行了初步的模拟试验,用以研究某些对环境问题重要的微量气体的化学、辐射、动力传输过程。在不考虑极地平流层云和气溶胶表面非均相化学等情况下,模式积分多年,计算结果稳定,模拟的风场、温度场显示出正常的季节变化,模拟的微量气体分布与卫星实测资料对照,结果也比较一致。为了探讨热带平流层风场的准两年周期振荡（QBO）对平流层微量气体分布的影响,我们做了QBO强迫的数值试验,即在模式中加入QBO强迫,并与不考虑QBO强迫的模拟结果对比。结果表明,QBO与其相关的次级环流所引起动力输送的变化,使平流层微量气体分布发生变化。     

Modeling the evolution of the family of Mediterranean cyclones using the regional model of the atmosphere

Due to the complex orography and the presence of the moisture-saturated air, the Mediterranean region is characterized by the increased baroclinic and convective instability, that leads to the sudden cyclogenesis and the formation of dangerous weather phenomena. The results are given of the investigation of formation mechanisms of Mediterranean cyclones, peculiarities of stages of their evolution and dynamical processes, which occur throughout the atmosphere, using the regional numerical ETA model of the atmosphere by the example of individual cases of the cyclogenesis over the Mediterranean Sea. It is revealed that the cold Arctic air outbreak (the intrusion of the cold Arctic air) to the south of the Western Europe, leading to the formation of the areas of the baroclinic instability and the increased moisture content of the air in the area of the vortex origin, favors the cyclogenesis. The use of the vertical coordinate η in the model enabled to compute more precisely the vertical wind speed, therefore, the influence of the orography on the moisture content and precipitation increase became pronounced. The transformation of the structure of meteorological fields in the course of the development of vortexes is considered. The computation of the helicity is made, and it is shown that this characteristic can be one of the earliest predictors of cyclogenesis.     

On the role of the freshwater budget at the origin of the salinity minimum at intermediate depths in the northern Pacific

Seasonal variability of the salinity field shows that the salinity minimum at subsurface (intermediate) depths is a temporal phenomenon and not a water mass in the common interpretation of the term. This extremum in the vertical salinity distribution appears and disappears as the freshwater budget changes sign on different timescales. Its characteristics are a function of the freshwater budget; they change in time. The salinity minimum appears and disappears seasonally in the transition zone associated with an ocean basin where the freshwater budget changes sign on the seasonal timescale. The long-lasting salinity minimum at intermediate depths in the arid ocean zone is attributed to air-sea interaction on long-term (climate) timescales. Its existence is due to one of the phases of this interaction, the continuous salt flux from the ocean surface.     

On the dynamics of the molecular temperature boundary layer above the sea

Results of measurements carried out in the Caspian Sea in 1975 and 1976 have been used to study the thickness of the molecular temperature boundary layer and the difference of temperature in this layer as functions of hydrometeorological parameters. This thickness of the molecular temperature boundary layer was found to be dependent on both the friction velocity and wave phase. The same is also true for the temperature difference. On the other hand, it was not possible to observe a definite dependence upon the roughness of the surface of the sea and the stability.     

On the missing component in the equation for the land surface heat balance as applied to the heat exchange between the desert or semidesert surface and the atmosphere

The unnoticed (up to now) appreciable component of the land surface heat balance equation is revealed and analyzed in this paper. This component describes the direct heat exchange between the atmosphere and the air in the porous soil. The physical mechanism which causes this exchange is described. The missing component of the heat balance equation is discussed in application to the desert surface heat balance.     

春季青藏高原西北侧一次平流层臭氧向对流层传输的模拟研究

利用NCEP/NCAR FNL客观分析资料和欧洲中期天气预报中心(ECMWF)的Interim再分析资料以及臭氧监测仪(OMI)的臭氧廓线资料,结合区域大气化学模式WRF-Chem对中国春季一次高空冷槽过境引起的对流层顶折卷过程(2012年3月19—21日)进行了分析,并从平流、湍流混合、对流输送等几个方面诊断分析了平流层臭氧向对流层的传输特征和细节。结果表明,发生于青藏高原西北侧的对流层顶折卷事件,其所在位置处于热带对流层顶向中纬度对流层顶的过渡区,由于陡峭的对流层顶南北梯度,在该区域发生的平流层-对流层物质交换(STE)比对流层顶东西方向折卷引起的物质交换要强烈和持久,跨越等熵面的物质交换和湍流混合对平流层-对流层物质交换有很大的贡献。大地形对平流层-对流层物质交换过程有显著的影响,且具有明显的日变化特征。早晚时段,大地形导致的爬坡上升气流显著,抑制了平流层空气与对流层空气的混合交换。午后,大地形热力作用增强,受背风坡局地环流的影响,靠近山顶处湍流混合作用对上对流层臭氧浓度升高的贡献显著增强,且地形越高,这种效应越显著。地形的湍流混合作用在2.5 km高度以上凸显,此高度之上地形平均高度每升高100 m,湍流混合的贡献增加约1%。     

On the relationship between the Bowen ratio and the near-surface air temperature

The sensitivity of land surface energy partitioning to near-surface air temperature (T _a) is a critical issue to understand the interaction between land surface and climatic system. Thus, studies with in situ observed data compiled from various climates and ecosystems are required. The relations derived from such empirical analyses are useful for developing accurate estimation methods of energy partitioning. In this study, the effect of T _a on land surface energy partitioning is evaluated by using flux measurement data compiled from a global network of eddy covariance tower sites (FLUXNET). According to the analysis of 25 FLUXNET sites (60 site-years) data, the Bowen ratio is found to have a linear relation with the bulk surface resistance normalized by aerodynamic and climatological resistance parameters in general, of which the slope and intercept are dependent on T _a. Energy partitioning in warmer atmosphere is less sensitive to changes in land surface conditions. In addition, a negative relation is found between Bowen ratio and T _a, and this relation is stronger above less vegetated surface and under low vapor pressure deficit and low received radiative energy condition. The empirical results obtained in this study are expected to be useful in gaining better understanding of alternating surface energy partitioning under increasing T _a.     

On the use of the Boussinesq equations,the reduced system,and the primitive equations for the computation of geophysical flows

Motivated in part by the mathematical problems associated with the application of open boundary conditions to the hydrostatic primitive equations (PE), Browning et al. (1990, Dyn. Atmos. Oceans, 14: 303–332) proposed the use of the reduced system (RS) of equations to replace PE for oceanographic problems. The RS are essentially the Boussinesq equations (BO) with the non-hydrostatic terms in the vertical momentum equation multiplied by a constant δ² ? 1. This artificially alters the physics (e.g. changing the intemal-inertial wave properties) to facilitate numerical integration, but the changes are assumed to have negligible effects on the dynamics of interest. We assess the accuracy and utility of the RS (following the guidelines for the choice of δ) by comparing numerical finite difference solutions of RS, PE and BO for initial-value problems involving three-dimensional instability of an ocean front and atmospheric frontal development in a two-dimensional Eady wave. Both explicit (BO, PE) and semi-implicit (BOSI, PESI) time-difference schemes are used for the Boussinesq and primitive equations. For RS, the same explicit scheme as for BO is used where δ ? 1 allows larger time steps than with the other explicit models. It is found that relative to BO solutions, the errors for RS are small but increase rapidly and monotonically with increasing δ (over a range consistent with the guidelines) and are greater than the errors for the other models. The use of BOSI allows time steps at least as large as those for RS and results in smaller errors than RS. For these problems, BOSI is the preferable model to replace PE.     

On the ratio between shifts in the eddy-driven jet and the Hadley cell edge

This study explores the relationship between latitudinal shifts in the eddy-driven jet and in the Hadley cell edge as depicted in models and reanalyses. We calculate an interannual shift ratio of approximately 1.5:1 between the eddy-driven jet and the Hadley cell edge over the Southern Hemisphere during austral summer in model data. We further find that the ratio varies from season to season, with similarities between corresponding seasons over each hemisphere. Ratios are broadly consistent between models in this study, and appear to be realistic when compared to those from reanalyses. Mean tropical SSTs and the strength of zonal winds in the tropics appear to be critical to determining the ratio, while sea surface temperature variability is not. We argue that conditions in the tropics act to modulate the effect of midlatitude eddies on the Hadley cell, and the action of eddies in turn explains most of the correlated shifts from year to year. In contrast, the mean state of the tropics is a poor predictor of both the ratio of observed trends in reanalyses and the ratio of modeled externally forced shifts. We show that the ratios of modeled shifts are dependent on the type of external forcing.     

美国天气预报的效果与预报估价

本文介绍美国天气预报的效果与对预报的估价。根据检验美国国家天气局从1967年到1985年逐日天气预报的效果表明，目前的预报水平明显高于15到20年前的预报水平。特别是客观预报效果明显的提高是值得引起注意的。预报的估价是一个很复杂的问题。本文主要介绍了美国的气象预报正确与否的得失估价及给经济带来获益或损失的经济评价工作。     

大西洋阻塞高压上层冷中心的成因

基于ERA-40再分析资料以及多尺度子空间变换和多尺度能量分析方法,探讨了大西洋阻塞高压平流层底部冷中心的形成机制,发现该冷中心形成的根本原因为16 d以下(高频尺度)和64 d以上过程(基本气流)向阻高尺度有效位能的正则传输,所获得有效位能在阻高尺度内被输运到西北和东南侧,并转换成动能,起到使阻高强度增加或者维持的作用。这种过程在西北侧表现得尤为明显,这可能是阻高形态不断向西北侧扩展的原因。在传统的认知中,大气有效位能从大尺度向小尺度传输,但本研究发现,阻高发生时,有效位能在平流层底部的传输方向表现为从高频尺度和基本气流尺度同时向阻高尺度传输。此外,前人的研究表明,阻高发展加强之后对流层中阻高动能向有效位能转化使得阻高消亡,而本文的分析表明两种能量的转换方向在平流层底部完全相反——由有效位能向动能转换,起到了使阻高加强或维持的作用。最近的研究表明对流层顶附近的动力学对于阻高的发展和维持非常重要,上述发现增进了对这些动力学深层的了解。     

On the Scale-dependence of the Gradient Richardson Number in the Residual Layer

We present results of a technique for examining the scale-dependence of the gradient Richardson number, Ri, in the nighttime residual layer. The technique makes use of a series of high-resolution, in situ, vertical profiles of wind speed and potential temperature obtained during CASES-99 in south-eastern Kansas, U.S.A. in October 1999. These profiles extended from the surface, through the nighttime stable boundary layer, and well into the residual layer. Analyses of the vertical gradients of both wind speed, potential temperature and turbulence profiles over a wide range of vertical scale sizes are used to estimate profiles of the local Ri and turbulence structure as a function of scale size. The utility of the technique lies both with the extensive height range of the residual layer as well as with the fact that the sub-metre resolution of the raw profiles enables a metre-by-metre ‘sliding’ average of the scale-dependent Richardson number values over hundreds of metres vertically. The results presented here show that small-scale turbulence is a ubiquitous and omnipresent feature of the residual layer, and that the region is dynamic and highly variable, exhibiting persistent turbulent structure on vertical scales of a few tens of metres or less. Furthermore, these scales are comparable to the scales over which the Ri is less than or equal to the critical value of Ri _c of 0.25, although turbulence is also shown to exist in regions with significantly larger Ri values, an observation at least consistent with the concept of hysteresis in turbulence generation and maintenance. Insofar as the important scale sizes are comparable to or smaller than the resolution of current models, it follows that, in order to resolve the observed details of small Ri values and the concomitant turbulence generation, future models need to be capable of significantly higher resolutions.     

青藏高原夏季热力状态和南半球大气环流的可能联系

本文通过对观测和再分析数据采用最大协方差分析以及回归、合成等分析方法,研究了青藏高原夏季地表气温与南半球大气环流之间的遥相关关系。结果表明,前期(4月)南半球极地—中高纬度大气环流呈现负位势高度异常、较低纬度印度洋—西太平洋区域呈现正位势高度异常时,高原中部和东部大部分区域夏季出现暖异常。在上述遥相关中,印度洋—西太平洋海温异常可能起到了重要的中间桥梁作用。在高原夏季温度偏高的年份,前期跨赤道的印度洋—西太平洋海温也持续偏暖,带来的海陆热力对比减小、经向跨赤道气流减弱有利于削弱夏季的季风环流,使得高原夏季降水偏少,有利于形成高原夏季的暖异常。在这一高原气温—南半球大气环流的遥相关关系中,4月南半球的大气位势高度场异常和与印度洋—西太平洋海温异常相关的异常高度场分布也十分相似。这一前期的跨赤道区域海温异常与南半球中高纬度位势高度场异常的因果关系仍有待进一步揭示。