IMPACT OF ENSO ON THE PRECIPITATION OVER CHINA IN WINTER HALF-YEARS

In this paper, the impact of ENSO on the precipitation over China in the winter half-year is investigated diagnostically. The results show that positive precipitation anomalies with statistical significance appear over southern China in El Nio episodes, which are caused by the enhanced warm and humid southwesterlies along the East Asian coast in the lower troposphere. The enhanced southwesterlies transport more water vapor to southern China, and the convergence of water vapor over southern China increases the precipitable water and specific humidity. In La Nia episodes,although atmospheric elements change reversely, they are not statistically significant as those in El Nio periods. The possible physical mechanism of the different impact of ENSO cycle on the precipitation over southern China is investigated by analyzing the intraseasonal oscillations(ISOs) in El Nio and La Nia winter half-years, respectively. By comparing the characteristics of ISOs in El Nio and La Nia, a physical mechanism is proposed to explain the different responses of the precipitation over China to ENSO in the winter half-year. In El Nio episodes, over western North Pacific(WNP) and South China Sea(SCS) the ISOs are inactive and exert little effect on water vapor transport and convergence, inducing positive precipitation anomalies with statistical significance over southern China in El Nio episodes. In La Nia episodes, however, the ISOs are active, which weaken the interannual variation signals of ENSO over WNP and southern China and lead to the insignificance of the interannual signals related to ENSO. Therefore, the different responses of precipitation over China to ENSO in the winter half-year are possibly caused by the difference of intraseasonal oscillations over WNP and SCS between El Nio and La Nia.     

Variable and Robust East Asian Monsoon Rainfall Response to El Nio over the Past 60 Years(1957–2016)

Severe flooding occurred in southern and northern China during the summer of 2016 when the 2015 super El Nio decayed to a normal condition. However, the mean precipitation during summer(June–July-August) 2016 does not show significant anomalies, suggesting that — over East Asia(EA) — seasonal mean anomalies have limited value in representing hydrological hazards. Scrutinizing season-evolving precipitation anomalies associated with 16 El Nio episodes during 1957–2016 reveals that, over EA, the spatiotemporal patterns among the four categories of El Nio events are quite variable, due to a large range of variability in the intensity and evolution of El Nio events and remarkable subseasonal migration of the rainfall anomalies. The only robust seasonal signal is the dry anomalies over central North China during the El Nio developing summer. Distinguishing strong and weak El Nio impacts is important. Only strong El Nio events can persistently enhance EA subtropical frontal precipitation from the peak season of El Nio to the ensuing summer, by stimulating intense interaction between the anomalous western Pacific anticyclone(WPAC) and underlying dipolar sea surface temperature anomalies in the Indo-Pacific warm pool, thereby maintaining the WPAC and leading to a prolonged El Nio impact on EA. A weak El Nio may also enhance the post-El Nio summer rainfall over EA, but through a different physical process: the WPAC re-emerges as a forced response to the rapid cooling in the eastern Pacific. The results suggest that the skillful prediction of rainfall over continental EA requires the accurate prediction of not only the strength and evolution of El Nio, but also the subseasonal migration of EA rainfall anomalies.     

Relationships between the East Asian-western north pacific monsoon and ENSO simulated by FGOALS-s2

The relationships between ENSO and the East Asian-western North Pacific monsoon simulated by the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model, Spectral Version 2 (FGOALS-s2), a state-of-the-art coupled general circulation model (CGCM), are evaluated. For El Nio developing summers, FGOALS-s2 reproduces the anomalous cyclone over the western North Pacific (WNP) and associated negative precipitation anomalies in situ. In the observation, the anomalous cyclone is transformed to an anomalous anticyclone over the WNP (WNPAC) during El Nio mature winters. The model reproduces the WNPAC and associated positive precipitation anomalies over southeastern China during winter. However, the model fails to simulate the asymmetry of the wintertime circulation anomalies over the WNP between El Nio and La Nia. The simulated anomalous cyclone over the WNP (WNPC) associated with La Nia is generally symmetric about the WNPAC associated with El Nio, rather than shifted westward as that in the observation. The discrepancy can partially explain why simulated La Nin a events decay much faster than observed. In the observation, the WNPAC maintains throughout the El Nio decaying summer under the combined effects of local forcing of the WNP cold sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) and remote forcing from basinwide warming in the tropical Indian Ocean. FGOALS-s2 captures the two mechanisms and reproduces the WNPAC throughout the summer. However, owing to biases in the mean state, the precipitation anomalies over East Asia, especially those of the Meiyu rain belt, are much weaker than that in the observation.     

Prediction of the Western North Pacific Subtropical High in Summer without Strong ENSO Forcing

The western North Pacific subtropical high(WNPSH) is one of the deterministic predictors of the East Asian summer climate, and a better prediction of the WNPSH favors more reasonable forecast of the East Asian summer climate. This study focuses on seasonal prediction of the WNPSH during neutral summers without strong El Ni?o–Southern Oscillation(ENSO) forcing, and explores the associated predictable sources, using the one-month lead time retrospective forecasts from the Ensembles-Based Predictions of Climate Changes and Their Impacts(ENSEMBLES) project during 1960–2005. The results indicate that the ENSEMBLES atmosphere–ocean–land coupled models exhibit considerable prediction skill for the WNPSH during neutral summers, with successful reproduction of the WNPSH in the majority of neutral summers. The anomalous WNPSH in neutral summers, which corresponds to cyclonic/anticyclonic anomalies in the lower troposphere, is highly correlated with an east–west dipole local sea surface temperature(SST) distribution over the tropical WNP, suggesting an intimate local air–sea coupling. Further diagnosis of the local SST–rainfall relationship and surface heat flux indicates that the anomalous local SST plays an active role in modulating the variation of the WNPSH during neutral summers, rather than passively responding to the atmospheric change. The local SST anomalies and relevant air–sea coupling over the tropical WNP are reasonably well reproduced in the model predictions, and could act as primary predictable sources of the WNPSH in neutral summers. This could aid in forecasting of the East Asian rainband and associated disaster mitigation planning.     

The Asymmetric Effects of El Ni?o and La Ni?a on the East Asian Winter Monsoon and Their Simulation by CMIP5 Atmospheric Models

El Ni?o–Southern Oscillation(ENSO) events significantly affect the year-by-year variations of the East Asian winter monsoon(EAWM). However, the effect of La Ni?a events on the EAWM is not a mirror image of that of El Ni?o events. Although the EAWM becomes generally weaker during El Ni?o events and stronger during La Ni?a winters, the enhanced precipitation over the southeastern China and warmer surface air temperature along the East Asian coastline during El Ni?o years are more significant. These asymmetric effects are caused by the asymmetric longitudinal positions of the western North Pacific(WNP) anticyclone during El Ni?o events and the WNP cyclone during La Ni?a events; specifically, the center of the WNP cyclone during La Ni?a events is westward-shifted relative to its El Ni?o counterpart. This central-position shift results from the longitudinal shift of remote El Ni?o and La Ni?a anomalous heating, and asymmetry in the amplitude of local sea surface temperature anomalies over the WNP.However, such asymmetric effects of ENSO on the EAWM are barely reproduced by the atmospheric models of Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP5), although the spatial patterns of anomalous circulations are reasonably reproduced. The major limitation of the CMIP5 models is an overestimation of the anomalous WNP anticyclone/cyclone, which leads to stronger EAWM rainfall responses. The overestimated latent heat flux anomalies near the South China Sea and the northern WNP might be a key factor behind the overestimated anomalous circulations.     

Progress in Research of Stratosphere-Troposphere Interactions： Application of Isentropic Potential Vorticity Dynamics and the Effects of the Tibetan Plateau

This paper reviews recent progress in understanding isentropic potential vorticity （PV） dynamics during interactions between the stratosphere and troposphere, including the spatial and temporal propagation of circulation anomalies associated with the winter polar vortex oscillation and the mechanisms of stratosphere- troposphere coupling in the global mass circulation framework. The origins and mechanisms of interannual variability in the stratospheric circulation are also reviewed. Particular attention is paid to the role of the Tibetan Plateau as a PV source （via its thermal forcing） in the global and East Asian atmospheric circulation. Diagnosis of meridional isentropic PV advection over tile Tibetan Plateau and East Asia indicates that the distributions of potential temperature and PV over the east flank of the Tibetan Plateau and East Asia favor a downward and southward isentropic transport of high PV from the stratosphere to the troposphere. This transport manifests the possible influence of the Tibetan Plateau on the dynamic coupling between the stratosphere and troposphere during summer, and may provide a new framework for understanding the climatic effects of the Tibetan Plateau.     

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE HEATING EFFECTS OF THE TIBETAN PLATEAU AND THE WESTERN PACIFIC

A zonal domain primitive equation modeling system(ZDMS)is used to study the effects of theinitial heating anomalies over the Tibetan Plateau and the western Pacific on the East Asian and theChinese summer climate,the relative importance and the mechanisms are discussed.Results showthat in spite of the different locations of the heating anomalies the influences of the two anomalyareas are much similar to each other when the scaling of the two areas is the same.The two areasof heating anomalies have their own affecting domains in which one is more important than the oth-er.In the western Pacific the heating anomaly over the western Pacific is more evident and in theTibetan Plateau area the heating anomaly over the Tibetan Plateau is more obvious.For the eastpart of China the effects of the two heating anomalies both exist and almost have the equal impor-tance.The initial anomaly of the sea surface temperature(SST)over the western Pacific can bekept during the entire time integration while in the Tibetan Plateau it can not be maintained.     

Air–Sea Coupling Enhances the East Asian Winter Climate Response to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation

A simple air–sea coupled model,the atmospheric general circulation model(AGCM) of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction coupled to a mixed-layer slab ocean model,is employed to investigate the impact of air–sea coupling on the signals of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation(AMO). A regional coupling strategy is applied,in which coupling is switched off in the extratropical North Atlantic Ocean but switched on in the open oceans elsewhere. The coupled model is forced with warm-phase AMO SST anomalies,and the modeled responses are compared with those from parallel uncoupled AGCM experiments with the same SST forcing. The results suggest that the regionally coupled responses not only resemble the AGCM simulation,but also have a stronger intensity. In comparison,the coupled responses bear greater similarity to the observational composite anomaly. Thus,air–sea coupling enhances the responses of the East Asian winter climate to the AMO. To determine the mechanism responsible for the coupling amplification,an additional set of AGCM experiments,forced with the AMO-induced tropical SST anomalies,is conducted. The SST anomalies are extracted from the simulated AMO-induced SST response in the regionally coupled model. The results suggest that the SST anomalies contribute to the coupling amplification. Thus,tropical air–sea coupling feedback tends to enhance the responses of the East Asian winter climate to the AMO.     

The Amplitude-Duration Relation of Observed El Nino Events

The authors demonstrate that the El Ni o events in the pre-and post-1976 periods show two ampli-tude-duration relations. One is that the stronger El Ni o events have longer durations, which is robust for the moderate El Ni o events; the other is that the stronger El Ni o events have shorter durations but for strong El Nio events. By estimating the sign and amplitude of the nonlinear dynamical heating (NDH) anomalies, the authors illustrate that the NDH anomalies are negligible for moderate El Nio events but large for strong El Nio events. In particular, the large NDH anomalies for strong El Nio events are positive during the growth and mature phases, which favor warmer El Nio events. During the decay phase, however, the negative NDH anomalies start to arise and become increasingly significant with the evolution of the El Nio events, in which the negative NDH anomalies dampen the sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) and cause the El Nio events to reach the SST normal state earlier. This pattern suggests that the nonlinearity tends to increase the intensities of strong El Nio events and shorten their duration, which, together with the previous results showing a positive correlation between the strength of El Nio events and the significance of the effect of nonlinear advection on the events (especially the suppression of nonlinearity on the SSTA during the decay phase), shows that the strong El Nio events tend to have the amplitude-duration relation of the stronger El Nio events with shorter durations. This result also lends support to the assertion that moderate El Nio events possess the amplitude-duration relation of stronger El Nio events with longer durations.     

Subseasonal Reversal of East Asian Surface Temperature Variability in Winter 2014/15

Although there has been a considerable amount of research conducted on the East Asian winter-mean climate, subseasonal surface air temperature(SAT) variability reversals in the early and late winter remain poorly understood. In this study,we focused on the recent winter of 2014/15, in which warmer anomalies dominated in January and February but colder conditions prevailed in December. Moreover, Arctic sea-ice cover(ASIC) in September–October 2014 was lower than normal,and warmer sea surface temperature(SST) anomalies occurred in the Ni ?no4 region in winter, together with a positive Pacific Decadal Oscillation(PDO|+) phase. Using observational data and CMIP5 historical simulations, we investigated the PDO|+ phase modulation upon the winter warm Ni ?no4 phase(autumn ASIC reduction) influence on the subseasonal SAT variability of East Asian winter. The results show that, under a PDO|+ phase modulation, warm Ni ?no4 SST anomalies are associated with a subseasonal delay of tropical surface heating and subsequent Hadley cell and Ferrel cell intensification in January–February, linking the tropical and midlatitude regions. Consistently, the East Asian jet stream(EAJS) is significantly decelerated in January–February and hence promotes the warm anomalies over East Asia. Under the PDO|+ phase,the decrease in ASIC is related to cold SST anomalies in the western North Pacific, which increase the meridional temperature gradient and generate an accelerated and westward-shifted EAJS in December. The westward extension of the EAJS is responsible for the eastward-propagating Rossby waves triggered by declining ASIC and thereby favors the connection between ASIC and cold conditions over East Asia.     

Land–sea heating contrast in an idealized Asian summer monsoon

Mechanisms determining the tropospheric temperature gradient that is related to the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon are examined in an intermediate atmospheric model coupled with a mixed-layer ocean and a simple land surface model with an idealized Afro–Eurasian continent and no physical topography. These include processes involving in the influence of the Eurasian continent, thermal effects of the Tibetan Plateau and effects of sea surface temperature. The mechanical effect on the large-scale flow induced by the Plateau is not included in this study. The idealized land–sea geometry without topography induces a positive meridional tropospheric temperature gradient thus a weak Asian summer monsoon circulation. Higher prescribed heating and weaker surface albedo over Eurasia and the Tibetan Plateau, which mimic effects of different land surface processes and the thermal effect of the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, strengthens the meridional temperature gradient, and so as cold tropical SST anomalies. The strengthened meridional temperature gradient enhances the Asian summer monsoon circulation and favors the strong convection. The corresponding monsoon rainbelt extends northward and northeastward and creates variations of the monsoon rainfall anomalies in different subregions. The surface albedo over the Tibetan Plateau has a relatively weak inverse relation with the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon. The longitudinal gradient of ENSO-like SST anomalies induces a more complicated pattern of the tropospheric temperature anomalies. First, the positive (negative) longitudinal gradient induced by the El Niño (La Niña)-like SST anomalies weakens (strengthens) the Walker circulation and the circulation between South Asia and northern Africa and therefore the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon, while the corresponding monsoon rainbelt extends northward (southward). The El Niño (La Niña)-like SST anomalies also induces colder (warmer) tropospheric temperature over Eurasia and warmer (colder) tropospheric temperature over the Indian Ocean. The associated negative (positive) meridional gradient of the tropospheric temperature anomalies is consistent with the existence of the weak (strong) Asian summer monsoon.     

Parallel Comparison of the 1982/83,1997/98 and 2015/16 Super El Nios and Their Effects on the Extratropical Stratosphere

This study uses multiple sea surface temperature(SST) datasets to perform a parallel comparison of three super El Ni os and their effects on the stratosphere. The results show that, different from ordinary El Ni os, warm SST anomalies appear earliest in the western tropical Pacific and precede the super El Ni o peak by more than 18 months. In the previous winter,relative to the mature phase of El Ni o, as a precursor, North Pacific Oscillation-like circulation anomalies are observed. A Pacific–North America(PNA) teleconnection appears in the extratropical troposphere during the mature phase, in spite of the subtle differences between the intensities, as well as the zonal position, of the PNA lobes. Related to the negative rainfall response over the tropical Indian Ocean, the PNA teleconnection in the winter of 1997/98 is the strongest among the three super El Ni os. The northern winter stratosphere shows large anomalies in the polar cap temperature and the circumpolar westerly, if the interferences from other factors are linearly filtered from the circulation data. Associated with the positive PNA response in a super El Ni o winter, positive polar cap temperature anomalies and circumpolar easterly anomalies,though different in timing, are also observed in the mature winters of the three super El Ni os. The stratospheric polar vortex in the next winter relative to the 1982/83 and 1997/98 events is also anomalously weaker and warmer, and the stratospheric circulation conditions remain to be seen in the coming winter following the mature phase of the 2015/16 event.     

An Incursion of Off-Equatorial Subsurface Cold Water and Its Role in Triggering the “Double Dip” La Nia Event of 2011

Based on Global Ocean Data Assimilation System(GODAS) and NCEP reanalysis data, atmospheric and oceanic processes possibly responsible for the onset of the 2011/12 La Nia event, which followed the 2010/11 La Nia even—referred to as a "double dip" La Nia—are investigated. The key mechanisms involved in activating the 2011/12 La Nia are illustrated by these datasets. Results show that neutral conditions were already evident in the equatorial eastern Pacific during the decaying phase of the 2010/11 La Nia. However, isothermal analyses show obviously cold water still persisting at the surface and at subsurface depths in off-equatorial regions throughout early 2011, being most pronounced in the tropical South Pacific. The negative SST anomalies in the tropical South Pacific acted to strengthen a southern wind across the equator. The subsurface cold water in the tropical South Pacific then spread northward and broke into the equatorial region at the thermocline depth. This incursion process of off-equatorial subsurface cold water successfully interrupted the eastern propagation of warm water along the equator, which had previously accumulated at subsurface depths in the warm pool during the 2010/11 La Nia event. Furthermore, the incursion process strengthened as a result of the off-equatorial effects, mostly in the tropical South Pacific. The negative SST anomalies then reappeared in the central basin in summer 2011, and acted to trigger local coupled air–sea interactions to produce atmospheric–oceanic anomalies that developed and evolved with the second cooling in the fall of 2011.     

Factors favorable to frequent extreme precipitation in the upper Yangtze River Valley

Extreme precipitation events in the upper Yangtze River Valley (YRV) have recently become an increasingly important focus in China because they often cause droughts and floods. Unfortunately, little is known about the climate processes responsible for these events. This paper investigates factors favorable to frequent extreme precipitation events in the upper YRV. Our results reveal that a weakened South China Sea summer monsoon trough, intensified Eurasian-Pacific blocking highs, an intensified South Asian High, a southward subtropical westerly jet and an intensified Western North Pacific Subtropical High (WNPSH) increase atmospheric instability and enhance the convergence of moisture over the upper YRV, which result in more extreme precipitation events. The snow depth over the eastern Tibetan Plateau (TP) in winter and sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) over three key regions in summer are important external forcing factors in the atmospheric circulation anomalies. Deep snow on the Tibetan Plateau in winter can weaken the subsequent East Asian summer monsoon circulation above by increasing the soil moisture content in summer and weakening the land–sea thermal contrast over East Asia. The positive SSTA in the western North Pacific may affect southwestward extension of the WNPSH and the blocking high over northeastern Asia by arousing the East Asian-Pacific pattern. The positive SSTA in the North Atlantic can affect extreme precipitation event frequency in the upper YRV via a wave train pattern along the westerly jet between the North Atlantic and East Asia. A tripolar pattern from west to east over the Indian Ocean can strengthen moisture transport by enhancing Somali cross-equatorial flow.     

A comparative study on the dominant factors responsible for the weaker-than-expected El Niño event in 2014

Anomalous warming occurred in the equatorial central-eastern Pacific in early May 2014, attracting much attention to the possible occurrence of an extreme El Niño event that year because of its similarity to the situation in early 1997. However, the subsequent variation in sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) during summer 2014 in the tropical Pacific was evidently different to that in 1997, but somewhat similar to the situation of the 1990 aborted El Niño event. Based on NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) oceanic and atmospheric reanalysis data, the physical processes responsible for the strength of El Niño events are examined by comparing the dominant factors in 2014 in terms of the preceding instability of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system and westerly wind bursts (WWBs) with those in 1997 and 1990, separately. Although the unstable ocean-atmosphere system formed over the tropical Pacific in the preceding winter of 2014, the strength of the preceding instability was relatively weak. Weak oceanic eastward-propagating downwelling Kelvin waves were forced by the weak WWBs over the equatorial western Pacific in March 2014, as in February 1990. The consequent positive upper-oceanic heat content anomalies in the spring of 2014 induced only weak positive SSTAs in the central-eastern Pacific-unfavorable for the subsequent generation of summertime WWB sequences. Moreover, the equatorial western Pacific was not cooled, indicating the absence of positive Bjerknes feedback in early summer 2014. Therefore, the development of El Niño was suspended in summer 2014.     

Strengthened Relationship between the Antarctic Oscillation and ENSO After the Mid-1990s during Austral Spring

This paper documents a decadal strengthened co-variability of the Antarctic Oscillation(AAO)and ENSO in austral spring after the mid-1990 s.During the period 1979–93,the ENSO(AAO)spatial signatures are restricted to the tropics–midlatitudes(Antarctic–midlatitudes)of the Southern Hemisphere(SH),with a weak connection between the two oscillations.Comparatively,after the mid-1990 s,the El Ni o-related atmospheric anomalies project on a negative AAO pattern with a barotropic structure in the mid–high latitudes of the SH.The expansion of El Ni o-related air temperature anomalies have a heightened impact on the meridional thermal structure of the SH,contributing to a weakened circumpolar westerly and strengthened subtropical jet.Meanwhile,the ENSO-related southern three-cell circulations expand poleward and then strongly couple the Antarctic and the tropics.Numerical simulation results suggest that the intensified connection between ENSO and SST in the South Pacific since the mid-1990 s is responsible for the strengthened AAO–ENSO relationship.     

Nonlinearity Modulating Intensities and Spatial Structures of Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Nio Events

This paper compares data from linearized and nonlinear Zebiak–Cane model, as constrained by observed sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA), in simulating central Pacific(CP) and eastern Pacific(EP) El Nio. The difference between the temperature advections(determined by subtracting those of the linearized model from those of the nonlinear model),referred to here as the nonlinearly induced temperature advection change(NTA), is analyzed. The results demonstrate that the NTA records warming in the central equatorial Pacific during CP El Nio and makes fewer contributions to the structural distinctions of the CP El Nio, whereas it records warming in the eastern equatorial Pacific during EP El Nio, and thus significantly promotes EP El Nio during El Nio–type selection. The NTA for CP and EP El Nio varies in its amplitude,and is smaller in CP El Nio than it is in EP El Nio. These results demonstrate that CP El Nio are weakly modulated by small intensities of NTA, and may be controlled by weak nonlinearity; whereas, EP El Nio are significantly enhanced by large amplitudes of NTA, and are therefore likely to be modulated by relatively strong nonlinearity. These data could explain why CP El Nio are weaker than EP El Nio. Because the NTA for CP and EP El Nio differs in spatial structures and intensities, as well as their roles within different El Nio modes, the diversity of El Nio may be closely related to changes in the nonlinear characteristics of the tropical Pacific.