The Impact of Verification Area Design on Tropical Cyclone Targeted Observations Based on the CNOP Method

This study investigated the impact of different verification-area designs on the sensitive areas identified using the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP) method for tropical cyclone targeted observations.The sensitive areas identified using the first singular vector (FSV) method,which is the linear approximation of CNOP,were also investigated for comparison.By analyzing the validity of the sensitive areas,the proper design of a verification area was developed.Tropical cyclone Rananim,which occurred in August 2004 in the northwest Pacific Ocean,was studied.Two sets of verification areas were designed;one changed position,and the other changed both size and position.The CNOP and its identified sensitive areas were found to be less sensitive to small variations of the verification areas than those of the FSV and its sensitive areas.With larger variations of the verification area,the CNOP and the FSV as well as their identified sensitive areas changed substantially.In terms of reducing forecast errors in the verification area,the CNOP-identified sensitive areas were more beneficial than those identified using FSV.The design of the verification area is important for cyclone prediction.The verification area should be designed with a proper size according to the possible locations of the cyclone obtained from the ensemble forecast results.In addition,the development trend of the cyclone analyzed from its dynamic mechanisms was another reference.When the general position of the verification area was determined,a small variation in size or position had little influence on the results of CNOP.     

The Roles of Spatial Locations and Patterns of Initial Errors in the Uncertainties of Tropical Cyclone Forecasts

In this study,a series of sensitivity experiments were performed for two tropical cyclones (TCs),TC Longwang (2005) and TC Sinlaku (2008),to explore the roles of locations and patterns of initial errors in uncertainties of TC forecasts.Specifically,three types of initial errors were generated and three types of sensitive areas were determined using conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP),first singular vector (FSV),and composite singular vector (CSV) methods.Additionally,random initial errors in randomly selected areas were considered.Based on these four types of initial errors and areas,we designed and performed 16 experiments to investigate the impacts of locations and patterns of initial errors on the nonlinear developments of the errors,and to determine which type of initial errors and areas has the greatest impact on TC forecasts.Overall,results from the experiments indicate the following:(1) The impact of random errors introduced into the sensitive areas was greater than that of errors themselves fixed in the randomly selected areas.From the perspective of statistical analysis,and by comparison,the impact of random errors introduced into the CNOP target area was greatest.(2) The initial errors with CNOP,CSV,or FSV patterns were likely to grow faster than random errors.(3) The initial errors with CNOP patterns in the CNOP target areas had the greatest impacts on the final verification forecasts.     

STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF THE MEIYU FRONT SYSTEM

A new subtropical front near the periphery of the West Pacific subtropical anticyclone isfound,which is never revealed in previous studies.The coupling of the subtropical front andMeiyu front forms a Meiyu front system (MFS) and is the most direct synoptic system for theMeiyu precipitation along the Mid-lower Reaches of Yangtze River (MRYR) in China.In thispaper.The detailed structural features and cloud features of the MFS in 1998 and 1999 areanalyzed,which manifests that the MFS is an objective phenomenon over the period of Meiyu alongMRYR and the Southwest Japan.Generally.the subtropical front is mainly located between 850hPa and 500 hPa.The moist southwest monsoon is transported in the passageway between theMeiyu front and the subtropical front.The vertical motion ascends in the passageway and descendson both sides of the MFS.forming the MFS's secondary circulation.A lower TBB band indicatedthat obvious convective activities are also located in the passageway of MFS.The horizontal windof MFS is vertically asymmetric.     

INSTABILITY OF SYMMETRIC TYPHOON CIRCULATION AND ADAPTIVE OBSERVATION

This study presents a new way to identify the sensitive areas for typhoon adaptive observations, that is, sensitive areas are determined by invoking the negative anomalies of moist potential vorticity (MPV). It is found that the areas of negative MPV are the symmetric instability areas and can be taken as sensitive areas for typhoon adaptive observations. Three typhoons in 2008, Nuri, Fung-wong, and Fengshen, were simulated with the help of MM5 model. It is shown that these typhoons are well simulated in the first 12 hours. Based on these investigations, the calculations of MPV are carried out sequentially. The result shows that the negative maxima of MPV are always around the typhoon eyes for all the cases, which means that the sensitive areas are also near them all the time.     

The Time and Regime Dependencies of Sensitive Areas for Tropical Cyclone Prediction Using the CNOP Method

This study examines the time and regime dependencies of sensitive areas identified by the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation(CNOP) method for forecasts of two typhoons.Typhoon Meari(2004) was weakly nonlinear and is herein referred to as the linear case,while Typhoon Matsa(2005) was strongly nonlinear and is herein referred to as the nonlinear case.In the linear case,the sensitive areas identified for special forecast times when the initial time was fixed resembled those identified for other forecast times.Targeted observations deployed to improve a special time forecast would thus also benefit forecasts at other times.In the nonlinear case,the similarities among the sensitive areas identified for different forecast times were more limited.The deployment of targeted observations in the nonlinear case would therefore need to be adapted to achieve large improvements for different targeted forecasts.For both cases,the closer the forecast time,the higher the similarities of the sensitive areas.When the forecast time was fixed,the sensitive areas in the linear case diverged continuously from the verification area as the forecast period lengthened,while those in the nonlinear case were always located around the initial cyclones.The deployment of targeted observations to improve a special forecast depends strongly on the time of deployment.An examination of the efficiency gained by reducing initial errors within the identified sensitive areas confirmed these results.In general,the greatest improvement in a special time forecast was obtained by identifying the sensitive areas for the corresponding forecast time period.     

A Fast Algorithm for Solving CNOP and Associated Target Observation Tests

Conditional Nonlinear Optimal Perturbation （CNOP） is a new method proposed by Mu et al. in 2003, which generalizes the linear singular vector （LSV） to include nonlinearity. It has become a powerful tool for studying predictability and sensitivity among other issues in nonlinear systems. This is because the CNOP is able to represent, while the LSV is unable to deal with, the fastest developing perturbation in a nonlinear system. The wide application of this new method, however, has been limited due to its large computational cost related to the use of an adjoint technique. In order to greatly reduce the computational cost, we hereby propose a fast algorithm for solving the CNOP based on the empirical orthogonal function （EOF）. The algorithm is tested in target observation experiments of Typhoon Matsa using the Global/Regional Assimilation and PrEdiction System （GRAPES）, an operational regional forecast model of China. The effectivity and feasibility of the algorithm to determine the sensitivity （target） area is evaluated through two observing system simulation experiments （OSSEs）. The results, as expected, show that the energy of the CNOP solved by the new algorithm develops quickly and nonlinearly. The sensitivity area is effectively identified with the CNOP from the new algorithm, using 24 h as the prediction time window. The 24-h accumulated rainfall prediction errors （ARPEs） in the verification region are reduced significantly compared with the ＂true state,＂ when the initial conditions （ICs） in the sensitivity area are replaced with the ＂observations.＂ The decrease of the ARPEs can be achieved for even longer prediction times （e.g., 72 h）. Further analyses reveal that the decrease of the 24-h ARPEs in the verification region is attributable to improved simulations of the typhoon＇s initial warm-core, upper level relative vorticity, water vapor conditions, etc., as a result of the updated ICs in the sensitivity area.     

Applications of Conditional Nonlinear Optimal Perturbation in Predictability Study and Sensitivity Analysis of Weather and Climate

Considering the limitation of the linear theory of singular vector (SV), the authors and their collaborators proposed conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP) and then applied it in the predictability study and the sensitivity analysis of weather and climate system. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Chinese National Committee for World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), this paper is devoted to reviewing the main results of these studies. First, CNOP represents the initial perturbation that has largest nonlinear evolution at prediction time, which is different from linear singular vector (LSV) for the large magnitude of initial perturbation or/and the long optimization time interval. Second, CNOP, rather than linear singular vector (LSV), represents the initial anomaly that evolves into ENSO events most probably. It is also the CNOP that induces the most prominent seasonal variation of error growth for ENSO predictability; furthermore, CNOP was applied to investigate the decadal variability of ENSO asymmetry. It is demonstrated that the changing nonlinearity causes the change of ENSO asymmetry. Third, in the studies of the sensitivity and stability of ocean’s thermohaline circulation (THC), the nonlinear asymmetric response of THC to finite amplitude of initial perturbations was revealed by CNOP. Through this approach the passive mechanism of decadal variation of THC was demonstrated; Also the authors studies the instability and sensitivity analysis of grassland ecosystem by using CNOP and show the mechanism of the transitions between the grassland and desert states. Finally, a detailed discussion on the results obtained by CNOP suggests the applicability of CNOP in predictability studies and sensitivity analysis.     

The Impact of Horizontal Resolution on the CNOP and on Its Identified Sensitive Areas for Tropical Cyclone Predictions

In this study,the impacts of horizontal resolution on the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP) and on its identified sensitive areas were investigated for tropical cyclone predictions.Three resolutions,30 km,60 km,and 120 km,were studied for three tropical cyclones,TC Mindulle (2004),TC Meari (2004),and TC Matsa (2005).Results show that CNOP may present different structures with different resolutions,and the major parts of CNOP become increasingly localized with increased horizontal resolution.CNOP produces spiral and baroclinic structures,which partially account for its rapid amplification.The differences in CNOP structures result in different sensitive areas,but there are common areas for the CNOP-identified sensitive areas at various resolutions,and the size of the common areas is different from case to case.Generally,the forecasts benefit more from the reduction of the initial errors in the sensitive areas identified using higher resolutions than those using lower resolutions.However,the largest improvement of the forecast can be obtained at the resolution that is not the highest for some cases.In addition,the sensitive areas identified at lower resolutions are also helpful for improving the forecast with a finer resolution,but the sensitive areas identified at the same resolution as the forecast would be the most beneficial.     

CONDITIONAL NONLINEAR OPTIMAL PERTURBATIONS: APPLICATION IN TROPICAL CYCLONE FORECASTS

Considering the feature of tropical cyclones (TCs) that strong positive vorticity exists in the lower layers of troposphere, this study proposed to use vorticity at 850 hPa as cost function to find the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP), which was largely different from those previous studies using total energy of perturbed forecast variables. The CNOP was obtained by an ensemble-based approach. All of the sensitive areas determined by CNOP with vorticity at 850 hPa as cost function for the three cases were located over the TC core region and its vicinity. The impact of the CNOP-based adaptive observations on TC forecasts was evaluated with three cases via observational system simulation experiments (OSSEs). Results showed obvious improvements in TC intensity or track forecasts due to the CNOP-based adaptive observations, which were related to the main error source of the verification area, i.e., intensity error or location error.     

The Impacts of Moisture Transport of East Asian Monsoon on Summer Precipitation in Northeast China

By using the ECMWF reanalysis daily data and daily precipitation data of 80 stations in Northeast China from 1961 to 2002, the impacts of moisture transport of East Asian summer monsoon on the summer precipitation anomaly in Northeast China, and the relationship between the variation of moisture budget and the establishment of East Asian summer monsoon in this region are studied. The results demonstrate that the moisture of summer precipitation in Northeast China mainly originates from subtropical, South China Sea, and South Asia monsoon areas. East China and its near coastal area are the convergent region of the monsoonal moisture currents and the transfer station for the currents continually moving northward. The monsoonal moisture transport, as an important link or bridge, connects the interaction between middle and low latitude systems. In summer half year, there is a moisture sink in Northeast China where the moisture influx is greater than outflux. The advance transport and accumulation of moisture are of special importance to pentad time scale summer precipitation. The onset, retreat, and intensity change of the monsoonal rainy season over Northeast China are mainly signified by the moisture input condition along the southern border of this area. The establishment of East Asian summer monsoon in this area ranges from about 10 July to 20 August and the onset in the west is earlier than that in the east. The latitude that the monsoon can reach is gradually northward from west to east, reaching 50°N within longitude 120°-135°E. In summer, the difference of air mass transport between summers with high and low rainfall mainly lies in whether more air masses originating from lower latitudes move northward through East China and its coastal areas, consequently transporting large amounts of hot and humid air into Northeast China.     

Impacts of Initial Perturbations on 24-h Sea-Level Pressure Predictions Near Typhoon Matsa

This study investigates the impact of uncertainty in initial conditions on 24-h sea-level pressure predictions near 0509 Typhoon Matsa by using conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP).The CNOP is calculated by using a newly proposed fast algorithm.The model used is the Global/Regional Assimilation and PrEdiction System (GRAPES).The sensitivity of the 24-h predictions is studied in terms of horizontal and vertical ranges and also in terms of different initial state variables.To study the sensitivity of 24-h sea-level pressure predictions to different initial state variables,four functions are given as metrics to find the sensitive initial locations.The results show that the main prediction errors come from initial uncertainty on the levels below 200 hPa and at the region south of about 37.6°N,with more sensitivity to initial winds than to other initial state variables.     

AN ATTRIBUTION ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN POTENTIAL EVAPOTRANSPIRATION IN THE BEIJING–TIANJIN–HEBEI REGION UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE

Based on the measurements obtained at 64 national meteorological stations in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region between 1970 and 2013, the potential evapotranspiration (ET0) in this region was estimated using the Penman–Monteith equation and its sensitivity to maximum temperature (Tmax), minimum temperature (Tmin), wind speed (Vw), net radiation (Rn) and water vapor pressure (Pwv) was analyzed, respectively. The results are shown as follows. (1) The climatic elements in the BTH region underwent significant changes in the study period. Vw and Rn decreased significantly, whereas Tmin, Tmax and Pwv increased considerably. (2) In the BTH region, ET0 also exhibited a significant decreasing trend, and the sensitivity of ET0 to the climatic elements exhibited seasonal characteristics. Of all the climatic elements, ET0 was most sensitive to Pwv in the fall and winter and Rn in the spring and summer. On the annual scale, ET0 was most sensitive to Pwv, followed by Rn, Vw, Tmax and Tmin. In addition, the sensitivity coefficient of ET0 with respect to Pwv had a negative value for all the areas, indicating that increases in Pwv can prevent ET0 from increasing. (3) The sensitivity of ET0 to Tmin and Tmax was significantly lower than its sensitivity to other climatic elements. However, increases in temperature can lead to changes in Pwv and Rn. The temperature should be considered the key intrinsic climatic element that has caused the "evaporation paradox" phenomenon in the BTH region.     

KEY AREAS OF AIR-SEA INTERACTION IN GLOBAL OCEANS AND STUDY OF THE CLIMATOLOGICAL FEATURES

Seven key areas of air-sea interaction in the global oceans are determined by comprehensive analysis of the global data of monthly mean sea surface temperature (SST), surface wind, temperature, humidity, sea surface sensible heat and latent heat fluxes. The time-lag correlation between SST and each atmospheric element in each key area are focally analyzed to expose the same and the different features of air-sea interaction in different key areas. The results show that the air-sea thermal interaction is strong in each area, SST, temperature and humidity can be fairly replaced with one another, particularly in the central eastern Pacific and the south India Ocean. The dynamic effect on SST is different in different areas and in the central western Pacific such effect is more important. The correlation between sensible heat, latent heat and SST is more significant in the eastern Pacific, the western Pacific and the two major monsoon areas — the northwestern Pacific and the south India Ocean. By analyzing the sustainable correlation probability of SST and every atmospheric element in each key area, we further know that the anomalies of which element, in which area and in which period are well sustained or easily destroyed. This is beneficial not only to prediction, but also to discussion of the physical mechanism of air-sea interaction.     

Adjoint Sensitivity Experiments of a Meso-β-scale Vortex in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River

A relatively independent and small-scale heavy rainfall event occurred to the south of a slow eastward-moving meso-α-scale vortex. The analysis shows that a meso-β-scale system is heavily responsible for the intense precipitation. An attempt to simulate it met with some failures. In view of its small scale, short lifetime and relatively sparse observations at the initial time, an adjoint model was used to examine the sensitivity of the meso-β-scale vortex simulation with respect to initial conditions. The adjoint sensitivity indicates how small perturbations of initial model variables anywhere in the model domain can influence the central vorticity of the vortex. The largest sensitivity for both the wind and temperature perturbation is located below 700 hPa, especially at the low level. The largest sensitivity for the water vapor perturbation is located below 500 hPa, especially at the middle and low levels. The horizontal adjoint sensitivity for all variables is mainly located toward the upper reaches of the Yangtze River with respect to the simulated meso-β-scale system in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces with strong locality. The sensitivity shows that warm cyclonic perturbations in the upper reaches can have a great effect on the development of the meso-β-scale vortex. Based on adjoint sensitivity, forward sensitivity experiments were conducted to identify factors influencing the development of the meso-β-scale vortex and to explore ways of improving the prediction. A realistic prediction was achieved by using adjoint sensitivity to modify the initial conditions and implanting a warm cyclone at the initial time in the upper reaches of the river with respect to the meso-β-scale vortex,as is commonly done in tropical cyclone prediction.     

Sensitivity Experiments of an Eastward-Moving Southwest Vortex to Initial Perturbations

Whether the initial conditions contain pronounced mesoscale signals is important to the simulation of the southwest vortex. An eastward-moving southwest vortex is simulated using the PSU/NCAR MM5. A modest degree of success is achieved, but the most serious failure is that the formation and displacement of the simulated vortex in its early phase are about fourteen hours later than the observed vortex. Considering the relatively sparse data on the mesoscale vortex and in an attempt to understand the cause of the forecast failure, an adjoint model is used to examine the sensitivity of the southwest vortex to perturbations of initial conditions. The adjoint sensitivity indicates how small perturbations of model variables at the initial time in the model domain can influence the vortex. A large sensitivity for zonal wind is located under 400 hPa, a large sensitivity for meridional wind is located under 500 hPa, a large sensitivity for temperature is located between 500 and 900 hPa, and almost all of the large sensitivity areas are located in the southwestern area. Based on the adjoint sensitivity results, perturbations are added to initial conditions to improve the simulation of the southwest vortex. The results show that the initial conditions with perturbations can successfully simulate the formation and displacement of the vortex; the wind perturbations added to the initial conditions appear to be a cyclone circulation under the middle level of the atmosphere in the southwestern area with an anticyclone circulation to its southwest; a water vapor perturbation added to initial conditions can strengthen the vortex and the speed of its displacement.     

NUMERICAL EXPERIMENTS OF THE EFFECTS OF SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES OVER THE PACIFIC ON PRECIPITATION IN 1991

A zonal domain,primitive equation model is used in this paper to study the influences of the main sea surface tem-perature anomaly(SSTA)areas over the Pacific on precipitation in 1991.Some numerical experiments are made and themechanisms of the influences are discussed.The results show that the influences of the SSTA are mainly confined withinthe tropical and the subtropical regions.The direct effect of the SSTA is to change the exchanges of the sensible heat andthe water vapour between the air and the sea,through the consequent changes of temperature and the flow fields and thefeedback process of condensation,the SSTA finally affects precipitation.     

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PRECEDING PACIFIC SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES AND SUBTROPICAL HIGH INDEXES OF MAIN RAINING SEASONS

With correlation analysis and factor analysis methods, the effects of preceding Pacific SSTs on subtropical high indexes of main raining seasons are discussed. The results of correlation analysis show that the effects of SSTs on five subtropical high indexes differ in seasons and regions. The variation of SSTs mostly affects the area and intensity indexes of the subtropical high, followed by the western ridge index, and the effect on the ridge line index is more remarkable than on the north boundary index. The results of factor analysis reveals that the first common factor of SST of each season reflected mainly the inverse relation of SSTs variation between the central and eastern part of equatorial Pacific and the western Pacific, which correlates better with the subtropical high indexes in the main raining seasons than other common factors of SST. The analysis of interdecadal variation indicated that the variation of SSTs was conducive to the emergence of the La Ni?a event before the end of 1970s, such that in the summer the subtropical high is likely to be weaker and smaller and located eastward and northward. After the 1980s, the opposite characteristics prevailed.     

DIAGNOSES OF THE SEVERE DROUGHT OVER YUNNAN AREA IN THE EARLY SUMMER OF 2005

High temperature and drought occurred in Yunnan province during the late spring and early summer in 2005, which was the most severe event in this region since 1950’s. Based on the observational data and relevant diagnoses, this extreme weather event was studied and discussed. The results show that the occurrence of this event could be due to the following observational facts that happened in 2005. (1) The seasonal adjustment of middle-high-leveled atmospheric circulation was delayed. (2) The cold air activity center was deviated north. (3) The onset of summer monsoon over South China Sea was delayed. (4) The tropical convection activity was much weaker than usual. (5) The subtropical high over the western Pacific was located southwestwards and relatively strong.     

Observation System Experiments for Typhoon Nida (2004) Using the CNOP Method and DOTSTAR Data

This study investigated the influence of dropwindsonde observations on typhoon forecasts. The study also evaluated the feasibility of the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP) method as a basis for sensitivity analysis of such forecasts. This sensitivity analysis could furnish guidance in the selection of targeted observations. The study was performed by conducting observation system experiments (OSEs). This research used the fifth-generation Mesoscale Model (MM5), the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, and dropsonde observations of Typhoon Nida at 1200 UTC 17 May 2004. The dropsondes were collected under the operational Dropsonde Observations for Typhoon Surveillance near the Taiwan Region (DOTSTAR) program. In this research, five kinds of experiments were designed and conducted:(1) no observations were assimilated; (2) all observations were assimilated;(3) observations in the sensitive area revealed by the CNOP method were assimilated;(4) the same as in (3), but for the region revealed by the first singular vector (FSV) method;and (5) observations within a randomly selected area were assimilated. The OSEs showed that (1) the DOTSTAR data had a positive impact on the forecast of Nida’s track;(2) dropsondes in the sensitive areas identified by the MM5 CNOP and FSV remained effective for improving the track forecast for Nida on the WRF platform;and (3) the greatest improvement in the track forecast resulted from the CNOP-based (third) simulation, which indicated that the CNOP method would be useful in decision making about dropsonde deployments.     

DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF RAINFALL ASSOCIATED WITH TYPHOON “MOLAVE” (0906)

This work examines the mechanism of rainfall associated with typhoon Molave(0906)in Guangdong province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonamous Region with rainfall observations,radar mosaics from China National Meteorological Center and the final analysis data of National Center of Environmental Prediction(FNL/NCEP,USA).The result shows that the mechanism is different for the rainfall in the these areas.The rainfall in eastern Guangdong is mainly associated with a convective line to the front-right of the typhoon.The convective line is about 200 km away from the typhoon center.The rainfall in western Guangdong and Guangxi appear ahead of or to the left of the typhoon and is very close to the typhoon center.Both rainfall moves forward with the typhoon anticlockwise.It was also found that the rainfall occurred in the boundary between unstable and low-level convergent areas and closer to the convergent area.The unstable area is located in the downstream of rainfall and ahead of the convective line.It is an important factor to the development and convection.Strong frontogenesis is observed in the backward or upstream convective area of rainfall and is thus an important lifting condition for the formation of rainfall.When the low-level convergent area moves to the unstable area ahead of it,the unstable energy is left behind and as a result the convection is strengthened.