PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS OF OLR FIELDS ON ANNUAL FREQUENCY OF TROPICAL CYCLONE IN FUJIAN

Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR) has been shown to play an important role in climatic diagnosis and long-term prediction and research. With the OLR data 1974 ~ 1997 as observed by satellites, the characteristics are computed. The results are used to depict the location and intensity of the subtropical high in the study of the relationship between the annual frequency of tropical cyclones affecting the Fujian province and ITCZ / subtropical high. It is shown that in years of fewer (more) tropical cyclones, the ITCZ is southward (northward) located with weaker (stronger) intensity, and the subtropical high is southward (northward). As shown in the relationship between the anomalous years of tropical cyclones and characteristics of preceding OLR fields, the OLR anomalies are just oppositely distributed in the Pacific Ocean for years of more (fewer) tropical cyclones. In other words, the years of fewer (more) tropical cyclones are associated with positive anomalies of OLR in the tropical west Pacific but negative (positive) anomalies in the equatorial central and eastern Pacific. It is hoped that our study be setting foundation for short-term climatological prediction of tropical cyclones.     

Study on climatic characteristics of China-influencing tropical cyclones

Analysis of the climatic characteristics of the tropical cyclones that affect China yields several interesting features. The frequency of these tropical cyclones tended to decrease from 1951 to 2005, with the lowest frequency in the past ten years. The decrease in the frequency of super typhoons is particularly significant. The main season of tropical cyclone activities is from May to November, with an active period from July to September. There are three obvious sources of these tropical cyclones and they vary with seasons and decades. Their movement has also changed with seasons. On average, these tropical cyclones affect China for 5.6 months annually and the period of influence decreases in the past decades. An analysis of daily data indicates that the days of typhoon influence are shorter in winter and spring and longer in summer. The frequency of tropical cyclones is the largest over southeastern China, decreasing northwestward. Taiwan is the region that is affected by tropical cyclones most frequently. The average annual precipitation associated with tropical cyclones has also decreased gradually northwestward from southeastern China.     

THE RESEARCH ON RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OUTER CIRCULATION OF TROPICAL CYCLONES AND HIGH TEMPERATURE WEATHER IN GUANGZHOU

Using historical synoptic data, the surface observation data of Guangzhou, the data in the Yearbook on Tropical Cyclones of P. R. China, and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data of geopotential height, vertical velocity from June to September over the years 1983 to 2004, and defining three days or more in succession with daily maximum temperature over 35°C as a process of high temperature weather, this work analyzes the relationship between the activity of tropical cyclones and the disastrous high temperature weather in Guangzhou. The result shows that disastrous high temperature weather in Guangzhou is closely related to the outer circulation of tropical cyclones, and high temperatures weather over 37°C occur mainly when tropical cyclones move in the range from 400 to 1600 km southeast or east to Guangzhou. Furthermore, rapid temperature increase with descending motion resulting from tropical cyclones is the major factor that induces disastrous high temperature weather in Guangzhou when the city is controlled by the subtropical high.     

ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURE EVOLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS OF TROPICAL CYCLONES OVER THE WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC DURING EXTRATROPICAL TRANSITION

Fifty-eight extratropical transition (ET) cases in the years 2000-2008, including 2,021 observations (at 6-hour intervals), over the western North Pacific are analyzed using the cyclone phase space (CPS) method, in an effort to get the characteristics of the structure evolution and environmental conditions of tropical cyclones (TCs) during ET over this area. Cluster analysis of the CPS dataset shows that strong TCs are more likely to undergo ET. ET begins with the increment of thermal asymmetry in TCs, along with the generation and intensification of an upper-level cold core, and ends with the occurrence of a lower-level cold core. ET lasts an average duration of about 28 hours. Dynamic composite analysis of the environmental field of different clusters shows that, in general, when TCs move northward, they are gradually embedded in the westerlies and gradually transform into extratropical cyclones under the influence of the mid- and higher-latitude baroclinic systems. As for those TCs which complete ET, there is always much greater potential vorticity gradient in the northwest of them and obvious water vapor transport channels in the environment.     

An Application of the Adjoint Method to a Statistical-Dynamical Tropical-Cyclone Prediction Model (SD–90) II: Real Tropical Cyclone Cases

In the first paper in this series, a variational data assimilation of ideal tropical cyclone (TC) tracks was performed for the statistical-dynamical prediction model SD-90 by the adjoint method, and a prediction of TC tracks was made with good accuracy for tracks containing no sharp turns. In the present paper, the cases of real TC tracks are studied. Due to the complexity of TC motion, attention is paid to the diagnostic research of TC motion. First, five TC tracks are studied. Using the data of each entire TC track, by the adjoint method, five TC tracks are fitted well, and the forces acting on the TCs are retrieved. For a given TC, the distribution of the resultant of the retrieved force and Coriolis force well matches the corresponding TC track, i.e., when a TC turns, the resultant of the retrieved force and Coriolis force acts as a centripetal force, which means that the TC indeed moves like a particle; in particular, for TC 9911, the clockwise looping motion is also fitted well. And the distribution of the resultant appears to be periodic in some cases. Then, the present method is carried out for a portion of the track data for TC 9804, which indicates that when the amount of data for a TC track is sufficient, the algorithm is stable. And finally, the same algorithm is implemented for TCs with a double-eyewall structure, namely Bilis (2000) and Winnie (1997), and the results prove the applicability of the algorithm to TCs with complicated mesoscale structures if the TC track data are obtained every three hours.     

Idealized Experiments for Optimizing Model Parameters Using a 4D-Variational Method in an Intermediate Coupled Model of ENSO

Large biases exist in real-time ENSO prediction, which can be attributed to uncertainties in initial conditions and model parameters. Previously, a 4 D variational(4 D-Var) data assimilation system was developed for an intermediate coupled model(ICM) and used to improve ENSO modeling through optimized initial conditions. In this paper, this system is further applied to optimize model parameters. In the ICM used, one important process for ENSO is related to the anomalous temperature of subsurface water entrained into the mixed layer(T_e), which is empirically and explicitly related to sea level(SL) variation.The strength of the thermocline effect on SST(referred to simply as "the thermocline effect") is represented by an introduced parameter, αT_e. A numerical procedure is developed to optimize this model parameter through the 4 D-Var assimilation of SST data in a twin experiment context with an idealized setting. Experiments having their initial condition optimized only,and having their initial condition plus this additional model parameter optimized, are compared. It is shown that ENSO evolution can be more effectively recovered by including the additional optimization of this parameter in ENSO modeling.The demonstrated feasibility of optimizing model parameters and initial conditions together through the 4 D-Var method provides a modeling platform for ENSO studies. Further applications of the 4 D-Var data assimilation system implemented in the ICM are also discussed.     

THE OBJE CTIVE ANALOGUE PREDICTION MODEL FOR TROPICAL CYCLONE TRACK WITH COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

An objective analogue prediction model for tropical cyclone (TC) track is put forward that comprehensively assesses the environmental field. With the parameters of the tropical cyclone and environmental field at initial and future time, objective analogue criteria are set up in the model. Analogous samples are recognized by comprehensive assessment to historical TC cases for similarity with multivariate criteria,using non-linear analogue indexes especially defined for the purpose. When the historical tracks are coordinateconverted and weighted with reference to analogue indexes,forecast tracks are determined. As shown in model verification and forecast experiments, the model has forecasting skill.     

ANALYSIS OF “BIMODAL PATTERN” STORM ACTIVITY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL

Storms that occur at the Bay of Bengal (BoB) are of a bimodal pattern, which is different from that of the other sea areas. By using the NCEP, SST and JTWC data, the causes of the bimodal pattern storm activity of the BoB are diagnosed and analyzed in this paper. The result shows that the seasonal variation of general atmosphere circulation in East Asia has a regulating and controlling impact on the BoB storm activity, and the “bimodal period” of the storm activity corresponds exactly to the seasonal conversion period of atmospheric circulation. The minor wind speed of shear spring and autumn contributed to the storm, which was a crucial factor for the generation and occurrence of the “bimodal pattern” storm activity in the BoB. The analysis on sea surface temperature (SST) shows that the SSTs of all the year around in the BoB area meet the conditions required for the generation of tropical cyclones (TCs). However, the SSTs in the central area of the bay are higher than that of the surrounding areas in spring and autumn, which facilitates the occurrence of a “two-peak” storm activity pattern. The genesis potential index (GPI) quantifies and reflects the environmental conditions for the generation of the BoB storms. For GPI, the intense low-level vortex disturbance in the troposphere and high-humidity atmosphere are the sufficient conditions for storms, while large maximum wind velocity of the ground vortex radius and small vertical wind shear are the necessary conditions of storms.     

THE APPLICATION OF ASSIMILATED AIRCRAFT DATA IN SIMULATING A HEAVY RAIN OVER SOUTH CHINA IN JUNE 2005

Regular and irregular observational data are used to analyze and simulate a torrential rain over the south of China on 18 – 24 June 2005. Since the regular data cannot depict the rainfall system fully, GRAPES model is used to simulate this process. Different data are assimilated for 12 hours by its simulating system and different analysis data are obtained. In order to analyze how well the model forecast has been improved with the addition of assimilated aircraft data, these different analysis data are used as the first-guess data to conduct two control numerical simulation tests. From these tests, it is proved that the model that adds aircraft assimilation data can simulate the main region of precipitation, which is more consistent with the observed precipitation than the model that does not, and that the accuracy rate is also improved. These numerical simulation tests not only show that it is necessary and capable to improve the modeling of this torrential rain process by using aircraft data, but also lays the foundation for forecasting heavy rains in the south of China based on aircraft data.     

OPERATIONAL ENSEMBLE FORECASTING AND ANALYSIS OF TROPICAL CYCLONES OVER THE WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC (INCLUDING THE SOUTH CHINA SEA)

Based on the tropical cyclone data from the Central Meteorological Observatory of China, Japan Meteorological Agency, Joint Typhoon Warning Center and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts （ECMWF） during the period of 2004 to 2009, three consensus methods are used in tropical cyclone （TC） track forecasts. Operational consensus results show that the objective forecasts of ECMWF help to improve consensus skill by 2%, 3%-5% and 3%-5%, decrease track bias by 2.5 kin, 6-9 km and 10-12 km for the 24 h, 48 h and 72 h forecasts respectively over the years of 2007 to 2009. Analysis also indicates that consensus forecasts hold positive skills relative to each member. The multivariate regression composite is a method that shows relatively low skill, while the methods of arithmetic averaging and composite （in which the weighting coefficient is the reciprocal square of mean error of members） have almost comparable skills among members. Consensus forecast for a lead time of 96 h has negative skill relative to the ECMWF objective forecast.     

Ensemble Forecast for Tropical Cyclone Based on CNOP-P Method: A Case Study of WRF Model and Two Typhoons

In this paper, we set out to study the ensemble forecast for tropical cyclones. The case study is based on the Conditional Nonlinear Optimal Perturbation related to Parameter (CNOP-P) method and the WRF model to improve the prediction accuracy for track and intensity, and two different typhoons are selected as cases for analysis. We first select perturbed parameters in the YSU and WSM6 schemes, and then solve CNOP-Ps with simulated annealing algorithm for single parameters as well as the combination of multiple parameters. Finally, perturbations are imposed on default parameter values to generate the ensemble members. The whole proposed procedures are referred to as the Perturbed Parameter Ensemble (PPE). We also conduct two experiments, which are control forecast and ensemble forecast, termed Ctrl and perturbed-physics ensemble (PPhyE) respectively, to demonstrate the performance for contrast. In the article, we compare the effects of three experiments on tropical cyclones in aspects of track and intensity, respectively. For track, the prediction errors of PPE are smaller. The ensemble mean of PPE filters the unpredictable situation and retains the reasonably predictable components of the ensemble members. As for intensity, ensemble mean values of the central minimum sea-level pressure and the central maximum wind speed are closer to CMA data during most of the simulation time. The predicted values of the PPE ensemble members included the intensity of CMA data when the typhoon made landfall. The PPE also shows uncertainty in the forecast. Moreover, we also analyze the track and intensity from physical variable fields of PPE. Experiment results show PPE outperforms the other two benchmarks in track and intensity prediction.     

APPLICATION OF STATISTICAL INTERPRETATION TECHNIQUES WITH NWP PRODUCTS FOR OBJECTIVE FORECASTING OF TROPICAL CYCLONE MOTION

Statistical study is first performed of the efficiency of the technique of statistical interpretation using the products of NWP. The result shows that the application of the technique has improved the predictabilily of predictors in objective forecasting of tropical cyclone motion, increased the forecasting skill of models and extended the valid period of forecast. Then a discussion is made of some technical problems in the application in the motion forecasting, suggesting: a large sample of data and perfect forecast method be employed in constructing objective forecast models for tropical cyclone motion, predictors be included that are so finely built that they reflect all synoptic features and physical quantity fields and NWP products be used and corrected that are available at multiple times. It is one of the effective ways to improve the skill and stability of the forecast by composite use of outcomes from various forecasting models.     

Evaluation and Preprocess of Chinese Fengyun-3A Sea Surface Temperature Experimental Product for Data Assimilation

Validated satellite-derived sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are widely used for climate monitoring and ocean data assimilation systems. In this study, the Fengyun-3A (FY-3A) SST experimental product is evaluated using Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)-merged and in situ SSTs. A comparison of AVHRR-merged SSTs reveals a negative bias of more than 2K in FY-3A SSTs in most of the tropical Pacific and low-latitude Indian and Atlantic Oceans. The error variance of FY-3A SSTs is estimated using three-way error analysis. FY-3A SSTs show regional error variance in global oceans with a maximum error variance of 2.2 K in the Pacific Ocean. In addition, a significant seasonal variation of error variance is present in FY-3A SSTs, which indicates that the quality of FY-3A SST could be improved by adjusting the parameters in the SST retrieval algorithm and by applying regional and seasonal algorithms, particularly in key areas such as the tropical Pacific Ocean. An objective analysis method is used to merge FY-3A SSTs with the drifter buoy data. The errors of FY-3A SSTs are decreased to-0.45K comparing with SST observations from GTSPP.     

COMPARISONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TROPICAL CYCLONES EXPERIENCING EXTRATROPICAL TRANSITION IN THE WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC BASED ON DIFFERENT DATASETS

The differences in the climatology of extratropical transition(ET) of western North Pacific tropical cyclones(TCs) were investigated in this study using the TCs best-track datasets of China Meteorological Administration(CMA),Japan Meteorological Agency(JMA) and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center(JTWC). The results show that the ET identification, ET completion time, and post-ET duration reported in the JTWC dataset are greatly different from those in CMA and JMA datasets during 2004-2010. However, the key differences between the CMA and JMA datasets from 1951 to 2010 are the ET identification and the post-ET duration, because of inconsistent objective ET criteria used in the centers. Further analysis indicates that annual ET percentage of CMA was lower than that of JMA, and exhibited an interannual decreasing trend, while that of JMA was an unchanged trend. The western North Pacific ET events occurred mainly during the period June to November. The latitude of ET occurrence shifted northward from February to August,followed by a southward shift. Most of ET events were observed between 35°N and 45°N. From a regional perspective,TCs tended to undergo ET in Japan and the ocean east to it. It is found that TCs which experienced the ET process at higher latitudes were generally more intense at the ET completion time. TCs completing the ET overland or offshore were weaker than those finishing the ET over the ocean. Most of the TCs weakened 24 h before the completion of ET.In contrast, 21%(27%) of the TCs showed an intensification process based on the CMA(JMA) dataset during the post-ET period. The results presented in this study indicate that consistent ET determination criteria are needed to reduce the uncertainty involved in ET identification among the centers.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GLOBAL WARMING AND THE VARIATION IN TROPICAL CYCLONE FREQUENCY OVER THE WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC

The relationship between global warming and the variation in tropical cyclone (TC) genesis frequency is analyzed using the data of the Tropical Cyclone Year Book by the China Meteorological Administration and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data from 1949 to 2007. The observational results indicate that the average sea surface temperature (SST) in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) region (10°N – 20°N, 100°E – 140°E) increases by 0.6°C against the background of global warming, while the frequency of tropical cyclone geneses in this region decreases significantly. Generally, the rise of SSTs is favorable for the genesis of tropical cyclones, but it is now shown to be contrary to the normal effect. Most of the tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific (WNP) are generated in the ITCZ. This is quite different from the case in the Atlantic basin in which the tropical cyclones are mostly generated from the easterly wave. Our research results demonstrate that the ITCZ has a weakening trend in strength, and it has moved much more equatorward in the past 40 years; both are disadvantageous to the formation of tropical cyclones. Furthermore, our study also found that the ridge of the subtropical high tends to shift slightly equatorward, which is another adverse mechanism for the formation of tropical cyclones.     

THE ROLES OF BOUNDARY-LAYER DYNAMICS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MADDEN-JULIAN OSCILLATION

In this paper,a tropical atmospheric model of relevance to shorts-term climate variations(Wang and Li 1993)is util-ized for study of the development of Madden-Julian oscillation.The model contains an interactive process ofboundary-layer Ekman convergence and precipitation heating.The model is solved by expanding dependent variables interms of parabolic cylindrical functions in the meridional direction and truncating three meridional modes n=0,2,4 forequatorial symmetric solutions.The free wave solutions obtained under long-wave approximation are induced as aKelvin wave and two Rossby waves.After considering the effect of boundary-layer dynamic process,the modifiedKelvin wave becomes unstable in long-wave bands with a typical growth rate on an order of 10~(-6) s~(-1)and an eastwardphase speed of 10 m s~(-1);the most unstable mode is wavenumber one.These theoretical results are consistent with the ob-served Madden-Julian oscillation in equatorial area.For the two modified Rossby waves,one with a smaller meridionalscale(n=4)decays except for extra long-waves;the other with a larger meridional scale(n=2)grows in short-wavebands.This may be relevant to explaining the westward propagation of super cloud clusters in the Madden-Julianoscillation.The theory suggests that the boundary-layer dynamic process is an important mechanism in the develop-ment of the Madden-Julian oscillation.     

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MERIDIONALLY ORIENTED SHEAR LINES OVER THE TIBETAN PLATEAU AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH RAINSTORMS IN THE BOREAL SUMMER HALF-YEAR

In this paper, European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF) Reanalysis-Interim(ERAInterim) data and daily precipitation data in China from May to October during 1981-2016 are used to study the climatic characteristics of the meridionally oriented shear lines(MSLs) over the Tibetan Plateau(TP). The relationship between the MSL and rainstorms in the eastern TP and neighboring areas of the TP during the boreal summer half-year is also investigated. An objective method, which uses a combination of three parameters, i.e. the zonal shear of the meridional wind, the relative vorticity and the zero line of meridional wind, is adopted to identify the shear line. The results show that there are two high-occurrence centers of MSL. One is over the central TP(near 90°E) and the other is over the steep slope area of the eastern TP. Fewer MSLs are found along the Yarlung Zangbo River over the western TP and the southern Tibet. There are averagely 42.2 MSL days in each boreal summer half-year. The number of MSL days reaches the maximum of 62 in 2014 and the minimum of 22 in 2006. July and October witness the maximum of 10.2 MSL days/year and the minimum of 4.2 MSL days/year, respectively. The annual number of the MSL days shows periodicities of 2-4 and 4-6 years, which is quite similar to those of the MSL rainstorm days. In the neighboring areas of the TP, nearly56% of the MSLs lead to rainstorms, and nearly 40% of rainstorms are caused by the MSLs, indicating a close relationship between the MSLs and rainstorms in this region.     

An Application of the Adjoint Method to a Statistical-Dynamical Tropical-Cyclone Prediction Model （SD-90） Ⅱ： Real Tropical Cyclone Cases

In the first paper in this series, a variational data assimilation of ideal tropical cyclone （TC） tracks was performed for the statistical-dynamical prediction model SD-90 by the adjoint method, and a prediction of TC tracks was made with good accuracy for tracks containing no sharp turns. In the present paper, the cases of real TC tracks are studied. Due to the complexity of TC motion, attention is paid to the diagnostic research of TC motion. First, five TC tracks are studied. Using the data of each entire TC track, by the adjoint method, five TC tracks are fitted well, and the forces acting on the TCs are retrieved. For a given TC, the distribution of the resultant of the retrieved force and Coriolis force well matches the corresponding TC track, i.e., when a TC turns, the resultant of the retrieved force and Coriolis force acts as a centripetal force, which means that the TC indeed moves like a particle; in particular, for TC 9911, the clockwise looping motion is also fitted well. And the distribution of the resultant appears to be periodic in some cases. Then, the present method is carried out for a portion of the track data for TC 9804, which indicates that when the amount of data for a TC track is sufficient, the algorithm is stable. And finally, the same algorithm is implemented for TCs with a double-eyewall structure, namely Bilis （2000） and Winnie （1997）, and the results prove the applicability of the algorithm to TCs with complicated mesoscale structures if the TC track data are obtained every three hours.     

RECURRENCE METHOD FOR CALCULATION OF ATMOSPHERIC COOLING RATE DUE TO INFRARED RADIATION

A computational method for the mean slab transmissivities of water vapour and CO2 and a recurrence method for the atmospheric cooling rate due to infrared radiation arc developed and discussed in some detail in this paper.At first the spectra of water vapour and CO2 are divided into 10 and 2 basic bands according to the experimental data; then an analytic and universal expression of the mean slab transmissivity in those bands is obtained and checked with the experimental data at 220°, 260° and 300°K. Results show that the computational method developed in this paper has quite good accuracy, and therefore it can be used in the GCMs for calculations of the atmospheric cooling rates.The recurrence method for calculations of the upward and the downward fluxes of infrared radiation is derived and checked. It is proved that the method has a similar accuracy as others, but saves a lot of computation time. At last a simplified method of the transmissivity calculation, i.e. the tabulation method, is developed     

THE STRUCTURE OF TROPICAL CYCLONE BY TOVS AND ITS APPLICATION IN NUMERICAL WEATHER PREDICTION

The TOVS data are used to study the structure of a number of tropical cyclones for the year 2000. Differences are found to some extent between what is found and classic conceptual models in that (1) the horizontal structure is asymmetric and variable so that the low-value centers at low levels of the geopotential height field (or the high-value centers at high levels) do not necessarily coincide with the high-value centers of the temperature field; (2) the vertical structure is also variable in the allocation of the anomalies of the geopotential height field between low values at low levels and high values at high levels. It is especially noted that the centers of the anomalies are tilting at both high and low levels or the high level is only at the edge of a high-pressure zone. There is not any significant high-value anomalous center in a corresponding location with the tropical cyclone. The structure of tropical cyclone in the TOVS is also used as reference to modify the structure of typhoon BOGUS in the numerical prediction model system of tropical cyclones. It is found that the modified BOGUS performs better in coordinating with the environment and predicting the track of the tropical cyclone. The demonstration is two-fold — the structure of the typhoon BOGUS is such that it means much in the track prediction and the use of the TOVS-based tropical cyclone structure really helps in improving it. It provides the foundation for modification and evolution of typhoon BOGUS.