Future projections of the surface heat and water budgets of the Mediterranean Sea in an ensemble of coupled atmosphere–ocean regional climate models

Within the CIRCE project “Climate change and Impact Research: the Mediterranean Environment”, an ensemble of high resolution coupled atmosphere–ocean regional climate models (AORCMs) are used to simulate the Mediterranean climate for the period 1950–2050. For the first time, realistic net surface air-sea fluxes are obtained. The sea surface temperature (SST) variability is consistent with the atmospheric forcing above it and oceanic constraints. The surface fluxes respond to external forcing under a warming climate and show an equivalent trend in all models. This study focuses on the present day and on the evolution of the heat and water budget over the Mediterranean Sea under the SRES-A1B scenario. On the contrary to previous studies, the net total heat budget is negative over the present period in all AORCMs and satisfies the heat closure budget controlled by a net positive heat gain at the strait of Gibraltar in the present climate. Under climate change scenario, some models predict a warming of the Mediterranean Sea from the ocean surface (positive net heat flux) in addition to the positive flux at the strait of Gibraltar for the 2021–2050 period. The shortwave and latent flux are increasing and the longwave and sensible fluxes are decreasing compared to the 1961–1990 period due to a reduction of the cloud cover and an increase in greenhouse gases (GHGs) and SSTs over the 2021–2050 period. The AORCMs provide a good estimates of the water budget with a drying of the region during the twenty-first century. For the ensemble mean, he decrease in precipitation and runoff is about 10 and 15% respectively and the increase in evaporation is much weaker, about 2% compared to the 1961–1990 period which confirm results obtained in recent studies. Despite a clear consistency in the trends and results between the models, this study also underlines important differences in the model set-ups, methodology and choices of some physical parameters inducing some difference in the various air-sea fluxes. An evaluation of the uncertainty sources and possible improvement for future generation of AORCMs highlights the importance of the parameterisation of the ocean albedo, rivers and cloud cover.     

Evaluation of the twenty-first century RCM simulations driven by multiple GCMs over the Eastern Mediterranean–Black Sea region

In this study, human-induced climate change over the Eastern Mediterranean–Black Sea region has been analyzed for the twenty-first century by performing regional climate model simulations forced with large-scale fields from three different global circulation models (GCMs). Climate projections have been produced with Special Report on Emissions Scenarios A2, A1FI and B1 scenarios, which provide greater diversity in climate information for future period. The gradual increases for temperature are widely apparent during the twenty-first century for each scenario simulation, but ECHAM5-driven simulation generally has a weaker signal for all seasons compared to CCSM3 simulations except for the Fertile Crescent. The contrast in future temperature change between the winter and summer seasons is very strong for CCSM3-A2-driven and HadCM3-A2-driven simulations over Carpathians and Balkans, 4–5 °C. In addition, winter runoff over mountainous region of Turkey, which feeds many river systems including the Euphrates and Tigris, increases in second half of the century since the snowmelt process accelerates where the elevation is higher than 1,500 m. Moreover, analysis of daily temperature outputs reveals that the gradual decrease in daily minimum temperature variability for January during the twenty-first century is apparent over Carpathians and Balkans. Analysis of daily precipitation extremes shows that positive trend is clear during the last two decades of the twenty-first century over Carpathians for both CCSM3-driven and ECHAM5-driven simulations. Multiple-GCM driven regional climate simulations contribute to the quantification of the range of climate change over a region by performing detailed comparisons between the simulations.     

“Warm” dichothermal layer in the Sea of Okhotsk

The field data show that the ventilation of waters in the Sea of Okhotsk occurs the year round as a cyclic process and consists of several phases. During the initial phase, the shelf waters enter the offshore subsurface layers. Later, they appear at intermediate depths and spread southward as cold intrusions mixing with surrounding waters on their way. During the last phase of the cycle, the shelf waters do not penetrate the deep-sea layers, and in the vertical structure of temperature field near the northeast coast of Sakhalin, a local phenomenon of “warm” dichothermal layer is observed.     

Understanding of Sea Fog over the China Seas简介

正黄海和东海海雾雾季起始于4月,8月结束,雾季的开始源于局地海陆温差形成的浅的反气旋,而8月雾季的结束和东亚—西太季风的大尺度变化有关,黄海盛行风由南风向东风转变,终止了海雾维持所需要的从南部平流而来的暖湿气流。海雾是悬浮在海上和沿岸地区上空大气边界层内的大量水滴(或冰晶),使得大气水平能见度小于1km的天气现象。由于与海雾相伴随的大气低能见度往往会对海上或近海的人类各种活动产生重要影响,     

Statistical and Comparative Analysis of Tropical Cyclone Activity over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal (1977–2018)

A statistical comparative analysis of tropical cyclone activity over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal (BoB) has been conducted using best-track data and wind radii information from 1977 to 2018 issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Results have shown that the annual variation in the frequency and duration of tropical cyclones has a significant increasing trend over the Arabian Sea and an insignificant decreasing trend over the BoB. The monthly frequency of tropical cyclones in both the Arabian Sea and the BoB shows a notable bimodal character, with peaks occurring in May and October–November, respectively. The maximum frequency of tropical cyclones occurs in the second peak as a result of the higher moisture content at mid-levels in the autumn. However, the largest proportion of strong cyclones (H1–H5 grades) occurs in the first peak as a result of the higher sea surface temperatures in early summer. Tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea break out later during the first peak and activity ends earlier during the second peak, in contrast with those in the over BoB. This is related to the onset and drawback times of the southwest monsoon in the two basins. Tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea are mainly generated in the eastern basin, whereas in the BoB the genesis locations have a meridional (zonal) distribution in May–June (October–November) as a result of the seasonal movement of the low-level positive vorticity belt. The Arabian Sea is dominated by western and northwestern tropical cyclones by that track west and NW, accounting for about 74.6%, whereas the tropical cyclones with a NE track account for only 25.4%. The proportions of the three types of tracks are similar in the BoB, with each accounting for about 33% of the tropical cyclones. The mean intensity and size of tropical cyclones over the Arabian Sea are stronger and larger, respectively, than those over the BoB and the size of tropical cyclones over the North Indian Ocean in early summer is larger than that in autumn. The asymmetrical structure of tropical cyclones over North Indian Ocean is affected by the topography and the longest radius of the 34 kt surface wind often lies in the eastern quadrant of the tropical cyclone circulation in both sea areas. FAN Xiao-ting (樊晓婷), LI Ying (李 英), et al.     

Ocean-to-Atmosphere Forcing in the Vicinity of the Sea Surface Temperature Front in the East China Sea—Seasonal Variations

采用一系列高分辨率的卫星资料研究了我国东部海区的海洋温度锋对局地大气的强迫作用及其季节变化.分析表明,当春季海洋锋增强时,海温与海表面风速之间存在明显的正相关关系,并且在海洋锋的暖(冷)侧形成海表风的辐合(辐散),表现为海洋对大气的强迫作用.海温对表面风场的影响程度与海洋锋的强度成正比,春季影响程度最大,夏、秋季最小.海洋锋对其附近的总降水、对流、层云降水均有影响,尤其在春季海洋锋暖侧的降水强度增大,对流降水的频次增多,“雨顶”高度也有明显的抬升.暖流对大气的影响不仅局限在边界层,其影响可达整个对流层.另外,分析发现对流降水对海温的响应比层云降水更加敏感.研究还表明,暖流上空高、低云呈现相反的年循环特点,冬季多0.5～2 km的边界层云,夏季多云底在10 km以上的高云.深对流云集中出现在3～6月,从冬季到初夏,30％以上的云量中心抬高了接近8km.春季和初夏在海洋锋的暖侧频繁地出现深对流活动.     

Teleconnection–extreme precipitation relationships over the Mediterranean region

The relationship between five teleconnection patterns (North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Arctic Oscillation (AO), East Atlantic/Western Russian (EAWR) pattern, Scandinavian (SCAND) pattern, and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)) and the frequency of occurrence of days (per month) with extreme precipitation in the Euro-Mediterranean region is investigated with National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis data. To quantify the teleconnection–precipitation relationships over the Euro-Mediterranean region, linear correlations are calculated between the monthly teleconnection indices for the five patterns and time series at each grid point of the monthly frequency of days with extreme precipitation, focusing on daily precipitation amounts that exceed a particular threshold value (a 90 % threshold is used). To evaluate dynamical processes, the teleconnection indices are also correlated with the frequencies of days with extreme values of dynamic tropopause pressure and precipitable water. The former quantity is used as a proxy for potential vorticity intrusions and the latter to identify regions of enhanced moisture. The results of this analysis indicates positive, statistically significant correlations between the NAO, AO, and SCAND indices and the frequency of extreme precipitation in the western Mediterranean; positive (negative) correlations between the EAWR index and the extreme precipitation frequency in the eastern (western) Mediterranean; and a positive correlation between the Niño3.4 index and the extreme precipitation frequency over the Iberian Peninsula and the Middle East. For all of the teleconnection patterns other than ENSO, the dynamic tropopause pressure correlation patterns resemble those for the precipitation. In contrast, similar precipitation and precipitable water correlation patterns are observed only for ENSO. These findings suggest that the teleconnections affect the interannual variation of the frequency of days with extreme precipitation over a large part of the Euro-Mediterranean region through their impact on the spatial distribution of regions with enhanced potential vorticity and air moisture.     

A Heavy Sea Fog Event over the Yellow Sea in March 2005： Analysis and Numerical Modeling

In this paper, a heavy sea fog episode that occurred over the Yellow Sea on 9 March 2005 is investigated. The sea fog patch, with a spatial scale of several hundred kilometers at its mature stage, reduced visibility along the Shandong Peninsula coast to 100 m or much less at some sites. Satellite images, surface observations and soundings at islands and coasts, and analyses from the Japan Meteorology Agency （JMA） axe used to describe and analyze this event. The analysis indicates that this sea fog can be categorized as advection cooling fog. The main features of this sea fog including fog area and its movement axe reasonably reproduced by the Fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University/National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model （MM5）. Model results suggest that the formation and evolution of this event can be outlined as： （1） southerly warm/moist advection of low-level air resulted in a strong sea-surface-based inversion with a thickness of about 600 m; （2） when the inversion moved from the warmer East Sea to the colder Yellow Sea, a thermal internal boundary layer （TIBL） gradually formed at the base of the inversion while the sea fog grew in response to cooling and moistening by turbulence mixing; （3） the sea fog developed as the TIBL moved northward and （4） strong northerly cold and dry wind destroyed the TIBL and dissipated the sea fog. The principal findings of this study axe that sea fog forms in response to relatively persistent southerly waxm/moist wind and a cold sea surface, and that turbulence mixing by wind shear is the primary mechanism for the cooling and moistening the marine layer. In addition, the study of sensitivity experiments indicates that deterministic numerical modeling offers a promising approach to the prediction of sea fog over the Yellow Sea but it may be more efficient to consider ensemble numerical modeling because of the extreme sensitivity to model input.     

Cloudiness over the Black Sea region in 1985–2009 from satellite data

The seasonal and interannual variability ofcloud fraction over the Black Sea region for the period of1985-2009 is analyzed using the CM SAF dataset obtained from the satellite measurements of a high-resolution AVHRR instrument. The features of geographic distribution and seasonal variations in cloudiness are investigated. The causes for its spatial inhomogeneity in different months are analyzed. It is demonstrated using the long-term dataset that the dramatic decrease in the amount of cloudiness occurred over the Black Sea region from 67% in 1985 to 54% in 2008. The value of the trend is -0.4% per year. Both the trends and the features of interannual variability of cloudiness, in particular, strongly pronounced four-year cycles, are in antiphase with variations in sea surface temperature. The cloudiness reduction accompanied by the increase in the influx of short-wave radiation may be the basic reason for the warming and sea surface temperature variations in the Black Sea region.     

Intercomparison of Air–Sea Interface Fluxes over the Yellow Sea and Korea Strait: Impact of Tsushima Warm Current

Surface-layer meteorological observations obtained from oceanic buoys over the Korean Strait and the Yellow Sea are used to estimate surface-layer turbulent fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum over the East-Asian Marginal Seas. Special emphasis is paid towards explanation of the impact of the Tsushima warm current flowing through the Korean Strait on air–sea interface fluxes. During the active phase of the Tsushima warm current, when the difference in sea surface temperature and air temperature becomes as large as 8°C, the sensible heat flux increases to a value of about 135 W m⁻², while the latent heat flux is around 200 W m⁻². The study attempts to broaden our understanding on the air-sea interaction processes over the Yellow Sea and Korean Strait.     

Characteristic Study of the Boundary Layer Parameters over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal Using the QuikSCAT Dataset

The marine atmospheric boundary layer （MABL） plays a vital role in the transport of momentum and heat from the surface of the ocean into the atmosphere. A detailed study on the MABL characteristics was carried out using high-resolution surface-wind data as measured by the QuikSCAT （Quick scatterometer） satellite. Spatial variations in the surface wind, frictional velocity, roughness parameter and drag coefficient for the different seasons were studied. The surface wind was strong during the southwest monsoon season due to the modulation induced by the Low Level Jetstream. The drag coefficient was larger during this season, due to the strong winds and was lower during the winter months. The spatial variations in the frictional velocity over the seas was small during the post-monsoon season （-0.2 m s^-1）. The maximum spatial variation in the frictional velocity was found over the south Arabian Sea （0.3 to 0.5 m s^-1） during the southwest monsoon period, followed by the pre-monsoon over the Bay of Bengal （0.1 to 0.25 m s^-1）. The mean wind-stress curl during the winter was positive over the equatorial region, with a maximum value of 1.5×10^-7 N m^-3, but on either side of the equatorial belt, a negative wind-stress curl dominated. The area average of the frictional velocity and drag coefficient over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal were also studied. The values of frictional velocity shows a variability that is similar to the intraseasonal oscillation （ISO） and this was confirmed via wavelet analysis. In the case of the drag coefficient, the prominent oscillations were ISO and quasi-biweekly mode （QBM）. The interrelationship between the drag coefficient and the frictional velocity with wind speed in both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal was also studied.     

Development mechanisms of an explosive cyclone over East Sea on 3–4 April 2012

The development mechanisms of the explosive cyclone that occurred during 3–4 April 2012 over East Sea (Sea of Japan) are examined through numerical simulation and sensitivity experiments using the Weather and Research Forecasting (WRF) model. The characteristics of this explosive cyclone are different from typical cyclonic features observed in this region, including its intensity, deepening rate, and formation time. Numerical simulation, reanalysis data, upper and surface weather charts, and satellite data indicate that the strong baroclinic instability and temperature advection associated with upper-level cut-off low and the interaction of potential vorticity (PV) anomalies between the lower- and upper-level are essential to explosive cyclogenesis.The sensitivity experiments of the explosive cyclone show that latent heat release (LHR) is an important factor in explosive cyclogenesis. The intensification, extent, and movement speed of the cyclone are amplified by LHR as well as the formation of an upper-level cut-off low. The role of LHR is primary important in the generation and evolution of the cyclone. Especially, the LHR contributes to roughly 50% of decrease in sea level pressure (SLP) and 50% of the central cyclone’s low-level PV generation in initial stage. During a 48-h simulation, the contributions of the LHR, surface heat flux, and their interaction on the decrease of SLP of the cyclone are found to be 40.6, −8.2, and 10.5%, respectively. These results reveal that the explosive cyclone has larger deepening rates than OJ cyclones, and develops with a large amount of LHR near the cyclone center.     

Seasonal characteristics of waves in the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea in 2008–2009

Presented are the characteristics of waves in the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea obtained from the results of continuous instrumental observations in 2008–2009 on the offshore oil-and-gas platform. Discussed are the conditions and prerequisites for the formation of extreme waves.     

On the Improvement of the DSAEF＿LTP Model to Heavy Precipitation Simulation of Landfalling Tropical Cyclones over China in 2018

In this study, the Dynamical-Statistical-Analog Ensemble Forecast model (DSAEF_LTP model) for landfalling tropical cyclone (LTC) precipitation was employed to simulate the precipitation of 10 LTCs that occurred Pover China in 2018. With adding parameter‘similarity region scheme’(SRS) values and introducing TC intensity into the generalized initial value (GIV), four groups of precipitation simulation experiments were designed to verify the forecasting ability of the improved model for more TC samples. Results show that the simulation ability of the DSAEF_LTP model can be optimized regardless of whether adding SRS values only, or introducing TC intensity into GIV, while the experiment with both the two improvements shows a more prominent advantage in simulating the heavier precipitation of LTCs. Compared with four NWP models (i.e., ECMWF, GFS, GRAPES and SMS-WARMS), the overall forecasting performance of the DSAEF_LTP model achieves a better result in simulating precipitation at the thresholds over 250 mm and performs slightly better than NWP models at the thresholds over 100 mm.     

Decadal Change of the Linkage between Sea Ice over the Barents–Kara Seas in November–December and the Stratospheric Polar Vortex in Subsequent January

The linkage between the sea ice concentration(SIC) over the Barents–Kara Seas in November–December(SIC＿BKS＿ND) and the stratospheric polar vortex(SPV) in subsequent January(SPV＿Jan) is investigated. It is found that SIC＿BKS＿ND is positively(negatively) correlated with SPV＿Jan for the period 1979–1995(1996–2009).Further analyses reveal that, during 1979–1995(1996–2009), SIC＿BKS＿ND is relatively higher(lower), accompanied by smaller(larger) interannual variability with its center shifting northwes...     

Large scale features and energetics of the hybrid subtropical low ‘Duck’ over the Tasman Sea

New aspects of the genesis and partial tropical transition of a rare hybrid subtropical cyclone on the eastern Australian coast are presented. The ‘Duck’ (March 2001) attracted more recent attention due to its underlying genesis mechanisms being remarkably similar to the first South Atlantic hurricane (March 2004). Here we put this cyclone in climate perspective, showing that it belongs to a class within the 1 % lowest frequency percentile in the Southern Hemisphere as a function of its thermal evolution. A large scale analysis reveals a combined influence from an existing tropical cyclone and a persistent mid-latitude block. A Lagrangian tracer showed that the upper level air parcels arriving at the cyclone’s center had been modified by the blocking. Lorenz energetics is used to identify connections with both tropical and extratropical processes, and reveal how these create the large scale environment conducive to the development of the vortex. The results reveal that the blocking exerted the most important influence, with a strong peak in barotropic generation of kinetic energy over a large area traversed by the air parcels just before genesis. A secondary peak also coincided with the first time the cyclone developed an upper level warm core, but with insufficient amplitude to allow for a full tropical transition. The applications of this technique are numerous and promising, particularly on the use of global climate models to infer changes in environmental parameters associated with severe storms.