Monsoonal quasi-stationary ultralong waves of the tropical troposphere predicted by a real data prediction over a global tropical belt

The mechanisms of the maintenance of the tropical upper tropospheric quasi-stationary ultralong waves during the northern hemisphere summer season are briefly reviewed and discussed. Diagnostic and prognostic studies indicate that the waves are maintained by the land-ocean contrast heating. These scales of motion as a whole (sum of the zonal wavenumbers 1, 2 and 3) are considered to supply kinetic energy to all other scales of motion.The ultralong waves predicted in the real data numerical prediction experiment over the global tropics using a multi-level primitive equation model are examined and compared with the observed climatological waves. The predicted waves are found to have several similarities with the observations. Further investigations of the baroclinic nature of the waves indicate that their thermal structure is essential for understanding their dynamics.The vorticity budget computations are performed for the predicted ultralong waves at 200 mb and also compared with the climatological observations. It is found that the advection term is one of the leading terms in the vorticity equation.This study indicates that the tropical quasi-stationary ultralong waves are fully nonlinear, non-geostrophic, three-dimensional waves forced mainly by the convective heating over the monsoon Indian subcontient.     

Global vorticity budget over the tropics and subtropics at 200-mb during northern hemisphere summer

The large-scale terms in the vorticity equation are evaluated usingKrishnamurti's (1971a, b) summer mean winds at 200 mb for a global belt from 25°S to 45°N. The production of vorticity by the divergent wind field is found to be imbalanced over all of the tropical and subtropical belt. As a result there is a requirement for a sub-grid scale (space or time) mechanism which removes negative vorticity from the regions of strong divergence (Tibetan and Mexican highlands) and removes positive vorticity from the regions of strong convergence (mid-oceanic troughs) at 200 mb during northern summer at a rate of approximately 4×10^–10 sec^–2. As suggested byHolton andColton (1972), in regions of strong and persistent convection, such as the Tibetan Plateau, deep cumulus clouds can account for this transport. However, the mechanism for removing positive vorticity in the vicinity of the upper tropospheric mid-oceanic troughs is still an intriguing and open question.On leave-of-absence at the National Science Foundation, Climate Dynamics Research Section.     

A Godunov-type Finite Volume Scheme for Meso- and Micro-scale Flows in Three Dimensions

This short note reports the extension of the f-waves approximate Riemann solver (Ahmad and Lindeman, 2007; LeVeque, 2002; Bale et al., 2002) for three-dimensional meso- and micro-scale atmospheric flows. The Riemann solver employs flux-based wave decomposition for the calculation of Godunov fluxes and does not require the explicit definition of the Roe matrix to enforce conservation. The other important feature of the Riemann solver is its ability to incorporate source term due to gravity without introducing discretization errors. The resulting finite volume scheme is second-order accurate in space and time. The finite-difference schemes currently used in atmospheric flow models are neither conservative nor able to resolve regions of sharp gradients. The finite volume scheme described in this paper is fully conservative and has the ability to resolve regions of sharp gradients without introducing spurious oscillations in the solution. The scheme shows promise in accurately resolving flows on the meso- and micro-scales and should be considered for implementation in the dynamical cores of next generation meso- and micro-scale atmospheric flow models.     

The nonlinear spin-up of a stratified ocean

Abstract

The adjustment of a nonlinear, quasigeostrophic, stratified ocean to an impulsively applied wind stress is investigated under the assumption that barotropic advection of vortex tube length is the most important nonlinearity. The present study complements the steady state theories which have recently appeared, and extends earlier, dissipationless, linear models.

In terms of Sverdrup transport, the equation for baroclinic evolution is a forced advection-diffusion equation. Solutions of this equation subject to a “tilted disk” Ekman divergence are obtained analytically for the case of no diffusion and numerically otherwise. The similarity between the present equation and that of a forced barotropic fluid with bottom topography is shown.

Barotropic flow, which is assumed to mature instantly, can reverse the tendency for westward propagation, and thus produce regions of closed geostrophic contours. Inside these regions, dissipation, or equivalently the eddy field, plays a central role. We assume that eddy mixing effects a lateral, down-gradient diffusion of potential vorticity; hence, within the closed geostrophic contours, our model approaches a state of uniform potential vorticity. The solutions also extend the steady-state theories, which require weak diffusion, by demonstrating that homogenization occurs for moderately strong diffusion.

The evoiution of potential vorticity and the thermocline are examined, and it is shown that the adjustment time of the model is governed by dissipation, rather than baroclinic wave propagation as in linear theories. If dissipation is weak, spin-up of a nonlinear ocean may take several times that predicted by linear models, which agrees with analyses of eddy-resolving general circulation models. The inclusion of a western boundary current may accelerate this process, although dissipation will still play a central role.     

Attenuation and Shock Waves in Linear Hereditary Viscoelastic Media; Strick–Mainardi,Jeffreys–Lomnitz–Strick and Andrade Creep Compliances

Dispersion, attenuation and wavefronts in a class of linear viscoelastic media proposed by Strick and Mainardi (Geophys J R Astr Soc 69:415–429, 1982) and a related class of models due to Lomnitz, Jeffreys and Strick are studied by a new method due to the author. Unlike the previously studied explicit models of relaxation modulus or creep compliance, these two classes support propagation of discontinuities. Due to an extension made by Strick, either of these two classes of models comprise both viscoelastic solids and fluids. We also discuss the Andrade viscoelastic media. The Andrade media do not support discontinuity waves and exhibit the pedestal effect.     

Characteristics and mechanism of vertical coupling in the genesis of tropical cyclone Durian(2001)

The vertical coupling(VC)process and mechanism during the genesis of a tropical cyclone(TC)implied by the weak vertical shear of horizontal wind,one of the key factors impacting TC genesis,constitute important but unanswered fundamental scientific problems.This paper carried out a targeted investigation of this problem through numerical simulation and theoretical analyses.The main conclusions are as follows.Even if TC genesis occurs in a barotropic environment,a VC process still occurs between the trough(vortex)at the middle level and that at the lower level in the TC embryo area.VC mainly occurs at the tropical disturbance(TDS)stage.Only after the VC is accomplished can the tropical depression(TD)organize further by itself and develop into the tropical storm(TS)stage or the stronger tropical typhoon(TY)stage through the WISHE(wind-induced surface heat exchange)mechanism.In the VC process,vortical hot towers(VHTs)play vertical connecting roles and are the actual practitioners of the VC.Through the VHTs’vertical connections,the middle-and lower-troposphere trough axes move towards each other and realize the VC.VHTs can produce intensive cyclonic vorticity in the lower troposphere,which is mainly contributed by the stretching term.The tilting term can produce a single dipole or double dipole of vorticity,but the positive and negative vorticity pairs offset each other roughly.While the stretching term ensures that the cyclonic rotations of the wind field in the middle and lower levels tend to be consistent,the tilting term acts to uniformly distribute the horizontal wind in the vertical direction,and both terms facilitate the VC of the wind field.With the latent heat of condensation,VHTs heat the upper and middle troposphere so that the 352 K equivalent potential temperature contour penetrates vertically into the 925–300 hPa layer,realizing the VC of the temperature field.While forming cloud towers,VHTs make the ambient air become moist and nearly saturated so that the 95%relative humidity contour penetrates vertically into the 925–400 hPa layer,realizing the VC of the humidity field.Due to the collective contributions of the VHTs,the embryo area develops into a warm,nearly saturated core with strong cyclonic vorticity.The barotropic instability mechanism may also occur during TC genesis over the Northwest Pacific and provide rich large-scale environmental vorticity for TC genesis.The axisymmetric distribution of VHTs is an important sign of TC genesis.When a TC is about to form,there may be accompanying phenomena between the axisymmetric process of VHTs and vortex Rossby waves.     

An observational study of 300 mb winds in the tropical belt. Part I: Kinematic parameters

This study is diagnostic in character and entails a systematic investigation of the kinematic parameters of the mean monthly 300 mb horizontal-motion field for the global tropical region during January, April, and October. The kinematic parameters analysed include the horizontal velocity divergence, relative vorticity, velocity potential, and stream function. The magnitude of relative voritcity has been observed to be nearly equal to that of the horizontal velocity divergence in the equatorial latitudes and an order of magnitude larger in the subtropics. The magnitudes of?u/?x, ?v/?y, and horizontal velocity divergence are comparable and vary very little with latitude, while that of?u/?y is an order of magnitude larger than that of?v/?x, confirming its dominance in the computation of relative vorticity. The latitudinal position of zero absolute vorticity isopleth fluctuates within 5 degrees of the equator and is confined more to the winter hemisphere than to the summer hemisphere. The rotational component of wind is large compared with the divergent wind component. The magnitude of the rotational vector wind is four times that of the divergent vector wind in the equatorial latitudes and an order of magnitude larger in the subtropical latitudes.     

Constructing Constitutive Relationships for Seismic and Aseismic Fault Slip

For the purpose of modeling natural fault slip, a useful result from an experimental fault mechanics study would be a physically-based constitutive relation that well characterizes all the relevant observations. This report describes an approach for constructing such equations. Where possible the construction intends to identify or, at least, attribute physical processes and contact scale physics to the observations such that the resulting relations can be extrapolated in conditions and scale between the laboratory and the Earth. The approach is developed as an alternative but is based on Ruina (1983) and is illustrated initially by constructing a couple of relations from that study. In addition, two example constitutive relationships are constructed; these describe laboratory observations not well-modeled by Ruina’s equations: the unexpected shear-induced weakening of silica-rich rocks at high slip speed (Goldsby and Tullis, 2002) and fault strength in the brittle ductile transition zone (Shimamoto, 1986). The examples, provided as illustration, may also be useful for quantitative modeling.     

台风暴雨过程中位势散度波作用密度分析和预报应用研究

在位涡的基础上,考虑散度效应,把水平风矢量旋转90°后的旋度在广义位温梯度方向上的投影定义为位势散度,并把其二阶扰动量定义为位势散度波作用密度,该波作用密度代表扰动热量的扰动输送,与位势稳定度的发展演变有关.登陆台风Morakot(2009)的诊断分析表明,在台风登陆台湾岛,进入台湾海峡和登陆大陆三个阶段,波作用密度高值区与大陆和台湾降水区相重叠,扰动热量的扰动输送显著;在前两个阶段,大陆和台湾降水区波作用密度逐渐增大,扰动热量的扰动输送逐步增强;在台风登陆福建霞浦市后,大陆地区波作用密度减小,扰动热量的扰动输送减弱.在影响波作用密度局地变化的诸多物理因素中,扰动非地转风位涡项是主要强迫项.统计分析表明,波作用密度与观测降水有一定的相关性,据此发展了位势散度波作用密度降水预报方程,其本质是数值模式预报资料的动力延伸释用,预报应用表明,利用24 h模式预报场计算的波作用密度降水能够较好地再现观测降水的落区,对台风Morakot引发的暴雨有一定的预报技巧.     

Using TOPMODEL towards identifying and modelling the hydrological patterns within a headwater,humid, tropical catchment

Increasing pressure on the tropical environment requires a more thorough understanding of hydrological processes as part of reconciling the conflicting demands of economic development vis-à-vis sustainable land management. Using TOPMODEL, a physically based semi-distributed topohydrological model, we test its validity in modelling the stream flow dynamics (hydrograph) in a 1 ha tropical rainforest catchment in French Guiana. Another objective is through field validation of TOPMODEL to ascertain possible runoff generation mechanisms. The field validation of the temporal and spatial hydrodynamics across a rainfall–runoff event reveals that TOPMODEL may be suited for applications to this particular tropical rainforest environment; in fact, this is possibly the first successful application of such a model within the humid tropics. The main reasons why the model was successful are the presumed low hydraulic conductivities of the subsoil, coupled with the absence of an additional deep groundwater body, the contribution from which has caused difficulties in application of topographically, ‘physically’ based runoff models elsewhere in the humid tropics. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An intermediate coupled model for the tropical ocean-atmosphere system

An intermediate ocean-atmosphere coupled model is developed to simulate and predict the tropical interannual variability. Originating from the basic physical framework of the Zebiak-Cane(ZC) model, this tropical intermediate couple model(TICM) extends to the entire global tropics, with a surface heat flux parameterization and a surface wind bias correction added to improve model performance and inter-basin connections. The model well reproduces the variabilities in the tropical Pacific and Indian basins. The simulated El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation(ENSO) shows a period of 3–4 years and an amplitude of about 2°C, similar to those observed. The variabilities in the Indian Ocean, including the Indian Ocean basin mode(IOBM) and the Indian Ocean Dipole(IOD), are also reasonably captured with a realistic relationship to the Pacific. However, the tropical Atlantic variability in the TICM has a westward bias and is overly influenced by the tropical Pacific. A 47-year hindcast experiment using the TICM for the period of 1970–2016 indicates that ENSO is the most predictable mode in the tropics. Skillful predictions of ENSO can be made one year ahead, similar to the skill of the latest version of the ZC model, while a "spring predictability barrier" still exists as in other models. In the tropical Indian Ocean, the predictability seems much higher in the west than in the east. The correlation skill of IOD prediction reaches 0.5 at a 5-month lead, which is comparable to that of the state-of-the-art coupled general circulation models. The prediction of IOD shows a significant "winter-spring predictability barrier", implying combined influences from the tropical Pacific and the local sea-air interaction in the eastern Indian Ocean. The TICM has little predictive skill in the equatorial Atlantic for lead times longer than 3 months, which is a common problem of current climate models badly in need of further investigation.     

Can a minimalist model of wind forced baroclinic Rossby waves produce reasonable results?

The linear theory predicts that Rossby waves are the large scale mechanism of adjustment to perturbations of the geophysical fluid. Satellite measurements of sea level anomaly (SLA) provided sturdy evidence of the existence of these waves. Recent studies suggest that the variability in the altimeter records is mostly due to mesoscale nonlinear eddies and challenges the original interpretation of westward propagating features as Rossby waves. The objective of this work is to test whether a classic linear dynamic model is a reasonable explanation for the observed SLA. A linear-reduced gravity non-dispersive Rossby wave model is used to estimate the SLA forced by direct and remote wind stress. Correlations between model results and observations are up to 0.88. The best agreement is in the tropical region of all ocean basins. These correlations decrease towards insignificance in mid-latitudes. The relative contributions of eastern boundary (remote) forcing and local wind forcing in the generation of Rossby waves are also estimated and suggest that the main wave forming mechanism is the remote forcing. Results suggest that linear long baroclinic Rossby wave dynamics explain a significant part of the SLA annual variability at least in the tropical oceans.     

热带气旋Rossby波能量频散问题研究进展

热带气旋是发生在热带洋面上的强烈气旋性涡旋.由于地转涡度梯度的存在,热带气旋在移动过程中不断发生Rossby波能量频散,并在热带气旋运动方向的后部激发出反气旋和气旋交替排列的Rossby波能量频散波列.多热带气旋共存和热带气旋的异常运动是当前国际热带气旋研究领域的热点问题,热带气旋Rossby能量频散被证实与多个热带气...     

Global analysis of the lower tropospheric disturbances in the tropics during the northern summer of the FGGE year part II: Regional characteristics of the disturbances

Regional characteristics of the synoptic-scale wave disturbances in the tropical lower troposphere were examined by analyzing the FGGE level III-b data. Three tropical regions, western Pacific, eastern Pacific, and a region from the African Continent to the Atlantic, were selected for the present study. Spectrum analysis, trajectory analysis and composite analysis were used to obtain characteristics of the wave disturbances for each region.Main findings are as follows: 1.) The generation region of the western Pacific wave disturbances related to typhoon development are found around 5° N and 170° E. 2.) An interaction of the western Pacific wave disturbances with the upper Mid-Pacific trough was indicated statistically as an intensifying condition for typhoons. 3.) The wave disturbances in the eastern Pacific originate to the west of Panama and propagate west-north-westward with a period of 5.7 day and a wavelength of about 2700 km. 4.) The structure of the eastern Pacific wave disturbances is similar to that of the western Pacific disturbances. 5.) Two different paths of the African waves are found over the African Continent. The northern disturbance has a period of 4.4 days while the southern one has a period of 3.3–3.6 days. 6.) Disturbances along the northern path of the African waves are traced only to as far as 45° W, and those along the southern path are traced to the Caribbean Sea.     

On the Spectral Decomposition of Geopotential and Temperature Fields in the Stratosphere

The spectral structure of stratospheric fields (temperature and geopotential) is analyzed in terms of spherical harmonics in an effort to study the long-term behaviour of large-scale circulation patterns, as well as their connections to some extra-terrestrial effects. The daily meteorological data from the Free University Berlin (FUB) cover more or less the period 1976–1996 and are available for stratospheric levels of 50, 30 and 10 hPa. The analysis of the annual cycle of spherical harmonics is introduced, and changes of the principal wave components are compared with the changes in different sets of solar, geomagnetic and global circulation indices. This paper also deals with interannual variability with special emphasis on quasibiennial oscillations (QBO) and El Nino and Southern Oscillations (ENSO). Although this is a rather preliminary study, the decomposition of the stratospheric field into complex spherical harmonics seems to be a powerful technique in investigating and qualifying the response of the global atmospheric system to the changes in solar and geomagnetic activity, and in qualifying the relationships between large-scale circulation patterns and various oscillations such as QBO or ENSO, Using this technique, reasonable strong connections were found between wave numbers and interannual factors, and these connections were tentatively interpreted in terms of statistics. A very high degree of correlation was found for the four-trough shape of the polar vortex.     

Quasi-stationary striations in basin-scale oceanic circulation: vorticity balance from observations and eddy-resolving model

Recently, prominent jet-like features of the ocean circulation, called striations, with a meridional scale of O(300–500 ;km) and extending for thousands of kilometers in length, have been detected in satellite and in situ observations and in high-resolution numerical models. In this paper, we study quasi-stationary striations, which are best seen in the multi-year time-averaged velocity fields. Using 1993–2002 mean dynamic ocean topography, satellite altimeter observations, and output of the Ocean General Circulation Model for the Earth Simulator, the dynamics of the quasi-stationary striations in the eastern parts of the subtropical North and South Pacific are examined by assessing individual terms in the time-averaged equations of relative and potential vorticity. While non-linear effects are found to be essential in the dynamics of the striations, rejecting some linear hypotheses forwarded in the earlier studies, the relevance of the Rhines mechanism is not confirmed. Eddy flux does not act as a relative vorticity source for the striations. Using the potential vorticity (PV) diagnostics, we show that the time-mean PV is not conserved along the time-mean streamlines, and on the scale of the striations these changes in PV are largely induced by the eddy flux of layer thickness. The fact that eddy fluxes contribute to the striations’ time-mean PV budget suggests that the striations are not a kinematical artifact of time-averaging of westward-propagating eddies.     

Nonlinear waves on a coupled density front

Abstract

It is shown that the inclusion of the nonlinear terms in the equations of motion of a coupled density front of zero potential vorticity results in wave solutions which merely propagate with time. The linear theory, on the other hand, predicts an exponential temporal growth. The nonlinear equation admits steady solutions representing standing waves whereas if the nonlinear terms are omitted no steady solutions exist. The general initial value problem is difficult to solve numerically since the linear problem is ill posed.

In addition we prove that the general similarity solution of the nonlinear equation tends to zero for large times, at any point in space, regardless of the initial condition.     

Physics and chemistry of the mesopause region

This paper is based on a tutorial presentation given at the 2001 CEDAR (Coupling Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) workshop. It gives an overview of chemical and physical processes important in the mesopause region. Topics covered include composition, photochemistry, dynamics and transport, and energy budget. Special emphasis is placed on the role of variations in composition in linking the physical and chemical processes. Examples from numerical models and observations are given to illustrate the points. Two specific cases where composition plays a role are described. The first illustrates that hemispheric differences in CO₂ due to transport by the mean circulation enhance the mesopause temperature extremes near solstices. The second shows how transport of chemical species by gravity waves can alter the heating structure in such a way as to destabilize the gravity wave.     

Dune formation on the humid tropical sector of the North Queensland Coast,Australia

Several previous attempts have been made to explain the apparent poor development of coastal dunes in the humid tropics in terms of lack of wind energy, failure of sand supply to the shoreline, excessive climatic wetness, salt crust formation on beaches, and the character of tropical back-beach vegetation. However, recent published reports indicate that coastal dune occurrences are more common in the humid tropics than was formerly thought, throwing suspicion on the idea that environmental conditions militate against dune formation in these areas as a whole. Evidence from the humid tropical sector of the North Queensland coast suggests that the poor development of dunes in this area primarily reflects poor sediment sorting in the beach and nearshore zone and low wind energy at the shoreline due to the nature of the coastal orientation and physiography in relation to the prevailing southeasterly winds. These limiting factors are not unique to humid tropical climates.