A revised method of presenting wavenumber–frequency power spectrum diagrams that reveals the asymmetric nature of tropical large-scale waves

The popular method of presenting wavenumber–frequency power spectrum diagrams for studying tropical large-scale waves in the literature is shown to give an incomplete presentation of these waves. The so-called “convectively coupled Kelvin (mixed Rossby-gravity) waves” are presented as existing only in the symmetric (anti-symmetric) component of the diagrams. This is obviously not consistent with the published composite/regression studies of “convectively coupled Kelvin waves,” which illustrate the asymmetric nature of these waves. The cause of this inconsistency is revealed in this note and a revised method of presenting the power spectrum diagrams is proposed. When this revised method is used, “convectively coupled Kelvin waves” do show anti-symmetric components, and “convectively coupled mixed Rossby-gravity waves (also known as Yanai waves)” do show a hint of symmetric components. These results bolster a published proposal that these waves should be called “chimeric Kelvin waves,” “chimeric mixed Rossby-gravity waves,” etc. This revised method of presenting power spectrum diagrams offers an additional means of comparing the GCM output with observations by calling attention to the capability of GCMs to correctly simulate the asymmetric characteristics of equatorial waves.     

Upscale effects in simulations of tropical convection on an equatorial beta-plane

A cloud-resolving model is configured to span the full meridional extent of the tropical atmosphere and have sufficient zonal extent to permit the representation of tropical cloud super-clusters. This is made computationally feasible by the use of anisotropic horizontal grids where one horizontal coordinate direction has over an order of magnitude finer resolution than the other direction. Typically, the meridional direction is chosen to have the coarser resolution (40 km grid spacing) and the zonal direction has enough resolution to ‘permit’ crude convective squall line ascent (1 km grid spacing). The aim was to run in cloud-resolving model (CRM) mode yet still have sufficient meridional resolution and extent to capture the equatorial trapped waves and the Hadley circulation. The large-scale circulation is driven by imposed uniform tropospheric cooling in conjunction with a fixed sea surface temperature distribution. At quasi-equilibrium the flow is characterized by sub-tropical jetstreams, tropical squall line systems that form eastward-propagating super-clusters, tropical depressions and even hurricanes.Two scientific issues are briefly addressed by the simulations: what forces the Hadley circulation and the nature of stratospheric waves appearing in the simulation. It is found that the presence of a meridional sea surface temperature gradient is not sufficient on its own to force a realistic Hadley circulation even though convection communicates the underlying temperature gradient to the atmosphere. It is shown in a simulation that accounts for the observed time and zonal-mean momentum forcing effect of large-scale eddies (originating in middle latitudes) that the heaviest precipitation is concentrated near the equator in association with moisture flux convergence driven by the Trade winds.A spectral analysis of the stratospheric waves found on the equator using the dispersion relation for equatorially-trapped waves provides strong evidence for the existence of a domain-scale Kelvin wave together with eastward and westward propagating inertia-gravity waves. The eastward-propagating stratospheric waves appear to be part of a convectively coupled wave system travelling at about 15 ms⁻¹.     

Wave dynamics of super cloud clusters over the tropical region

A wave dynamics for the super cloud clusters associated with the tropical intraseasonal oscillation is constructed. Under the present framework, the basic state of super cloud clusters is considered to be a large-scale convergence of the zonal wind. This convergence is created by a nonlinear diabatic Kelvin wave front, which moves eastward slowly without change of shape. When interacting with free equatorial waves with n=−1, 0, 1 and 2, this basic flow will suppress those waves which move eastward except for free Kelvin waves, and permit westward propagating modes such as the mixed Rossby-gravity wave, the inertio-gravity waves with n=1 and 2 to appear in the large-scale convergent region. Among these waves, only fast modes, that is, inertio-gravity waves with n=1 and 2 are regarded to be responsible for the presence of cloud clusters which move westward within a super cloud cluster, while the multiplicity of the occurrences of super cloud clusters, which move eastward within the large-scale convergent region, is due to the superposition of free Kelvin wave upon these inertio-gravity waves.     

Upscale effects in simulations of tropical convection on an equatorial beta-plane

A cloud-resolving model is configured to span the full meridional extent of the tropical atmosphere and have sufficient zonal extent to permit the representation of tropical cloud super-clusters. This is made computationally feasible by the use of anisotropic horizontal grids where one horizontal coordinate direction has over an order of magnitude finer resolution than the other direction. Typically, the meridional direction is chosen to have the coarser resolution (40 km grid spacing) and the zonal direction has enough resolution to ‘permit’ crude convective squall line ascent (1 km grid spacing). The aim was to run in cloud-resolving model (CRM) mode yet still have sufficient meridional resolution and extent to capture the equatorial trapped waves and the Hadley circulation. The large-scale circulation is driven by imposed uniform tropospheric cooling in conjunction with a fixed sea surface temperature distribution. At quasi-equilibrium the flow is characterized by sub-tropical jetstreams, tropical squall line systems that form eastward-propagating super-clusters, tropical depressions and even hurricanes.Two scientific issues are briefly addressed by the simulations: what forces the Hadley circulation and the nature of stratospheric waves appearing in the simulation. It is found that the presence of a meridional sea surface temperature gradient is not sufficient on its own to force a realistic Hadley circulation even though convection communicates the underlying temperature gradient to the atmosphere. It is shown in a simulation that accounts for the observed time and zonal-mean momentum forcing effect of large-scale eddies (originating in middle latitudes) that the heaviest precipitation is concentrated near the equator in association with moisture flux convergence driven by the Trade winds.A spectral analysis of the stratospheric waves found on the equator using the dispersion relation for equatorially-trapped waves provides strong evidence for the existence of a domain-scale Kelvin wave together with eastward and westward propagating inertia-gravity waves. The eastward-propagating stratospheric waves appear to be part of a convectively coupled wave system travelling at about 15 ms⁻¹.     

A new model of tropical waves incorporating momentum mixing by cumulus convection

A comparison is made between the magnitudes of observed large-scale weather waves over the tropical Pacific and the magnitudes of the corresponding waves, predicted by wave-CISK theories, which are driven by the observed amount of latent heating (i.e., precipitation). The theoretical wave fields of meridional velocity, vorticity, and temperature rate are shown to exceed the observed quantities by an order of magnitude. An attempt is made to simulate the observed balance between the diabatic heating and adiabatic cooling within the context of the inviscid theories. For a broad class of heating profiles, geometries and basic states, it is found that this compensation without temperature change cannot be satisfactorily modelled, regardless of the vertical shape of the heating, when the vertical wavelength of the disturbance exceeds about 6 km.Scale analysis demonstrates that an important dynamical term has been neglected in the inviscid models, viz., the vertical transport of horizontal momentum by cumulus clouds. When this process is included in the wave model, velocities, relative vorticity, and the time rate of temperature change are all comparable to the observed values. The general behavior of a system where both forcing and cumulus “friction” are proportional to each other has not been previously examined. We find the behavior of such a system to have several novel features. For example, we find that for a wide range of precipitation amplitudes (from 1/4 to 4 times the precipitation amplitudes of waves in the western Pacific) we get essentially constant amplitudes for wind. The implications of this and other features for various aspects of tropical wave modelling are discussed.     

On the influences of large-scale inhomogeneity of sea temperature upon the oceanic waves in the tropical regions—part II: Linear numerical experiments

By using a linear oceanic mixed layer model, the long period waves in the tropical ocean are investi-gated numerically. Due to the inhomogeneity of the large-scale average sea temperature field of the ocean in tropical regions, besides the westward propagating equatorial Rossby wave to be modified, there will be a kind of long period thermal wave which propagates eastward under certain oceanic background conditions. Under the influences of these two kinds of waves, the propagating and evolving processes of the sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) are dearly shown by numerical experiments. The results of numerical ex-periments are consistent with the ones obtained by the theoretical analysis in Part I. The possible relation-ship between these two kinds of waves and El Nino events is also discussed indirectly.     

Convectively coupled Kelvin and easterly waves in a regional climate simulation of the tropics

This study evaluates the performance of a regional climate model in simulating two types of synoptic tropical weather disturbances: convectively-coupled Kelvin and easterly waves. Interest in these two wave modes stems from their potential predictability out to several weeks in advance, as well as a strong observed linkage between easterly waves and tropical cyclogenesis. The model is a recent version of the weather research and forecast (WRF) system with 36-km horizontal grid spacing and convection parameterized using a scheme that accounts for key convective triggering and inhibition processes. The domain spans the entire tropical belt between 45°S and 45°N with periodic boundary conditions in the east–west direction, and conditions at the meridional/lower boundaries specified based on observations. The simulation covers 6 years from 2000 to 2005, which is long enough to establish a statistical depiction of the waves through space-time spectral filtering of rainfall data, together with simple lagged-linear regression. Results show that both the horizontal phase speeds and three-dimensional structures of the waves are qualitatively well captured by the model in comparison to observations. However, significant biases in wave activity are seen, with generally overactive easterly waves and underactive Kelvin waves. Evidence is presented to suggest that these biases in wave activity (which are also correlated with biases in time–mean rainfall, as well as biases in the model’s tropical cyclone climatology) stem in part from convection in the model coupling too strongly to rotational circulation anomalies. Nevertheless, the model is seen to do a reasonable job at capturing the genesis of tropical cyclones from easterly waves, with evidence for both wave accumulation and critical layer processes being importantly involved.     

Modulation of Convectively Coupled Kelvin Wave Activity in the Tropical Pacific by ENSO

The influence of El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the convectively coupled Kelvin waves over the tropical Pacific is investigated by comparing the Kelvin wave activity in the eastern Pacific (EP) El Nio, central Pacific (CP) El Nio, and La Nia years, respectively, to 30-yr (1982-2011) mean statistics. The convectively coupled Kelvin waves in this study are represented by the two leading modes of empirical orthogonal function (EOF) of 2-25-day band-pass filtered daily outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), with the estimated zonal wavenumber of 3 or 4, period of 8 days, and eastward propagating speed of 17 ms-1 . The most significant impact of ENSO on the Kelvin wave activity is the intensification of the Kelvin waves during the EP El Nios. The impact of La Nia on the reduction of the Kelvin wave intensity is relatively weaker, reflecting the nonlinearity of tropical deep convection and the associated Kelvin waves in response to ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies. The impact of the CP El Nio on the Kelvin waves is less significant due to relatively weaker SST anomalies and smaller spatial coverage. ENSO may also alter the frequency, wavelength, and phase speed of the Kelvin waves. This study demonstrates that low-frequency ENSO SST anomalies modulate high-frequency tropical disturbances, an example of weather-climate linkage.     

热带大尺度大气运动的多时态特征

本文采用多时间尺度方法分析热带大气的大尺度运动,得到了三个阶段的运动性质。结果表明,热带大尺度大气运动与中纬度大尺度大气运动一样,具有双适应现象,即第一阶段由于重力波频散,产生了地转适应;第二阶段由于长波频散,产生了位涡适应。 同时指出,运动的三个阶段的演变过程,可以统一为位势涡度适应过程,这是一种非线性过程,而地转适应是位涡适应的初级阶段。      

STUDY OF CHARACTERISTIC MODES IN SIMPLE TROPICAL COUPLED AIR-SEA MODEL

The propagation features, stabilities and dynamical characteristic structures of coupled Kelvin inner modes andsecond order Rossby inner modes are studied using a simple tropical coupled air-sea model in this paper. It is shownthat there is mechanism of selecting scale and frequency in the tropical air-sea system. The effects of air-sea couplingare mainly on the large-scale modes and nonuniform. These effects make the frequency of Kelvin modes decrease andeven excite the eastward propagating Rossby inner modes. These effects make the unstable development of Kelvinmodes and result in the decay of Rossby modes. The effects of atmospheric damp are opposite to those of air-sea coup-ling. The oceanic damp only make the wave amplitudes decay. Simutaneously, this paper shows the dynamical character-istic structures of air-sea coupled system and the phase relations between the atmospheric and the oceanic wave compo-nent.     

INSTABILITY OF THE OCEANIC WAVES IN THE TROPICAL REGION

In this paper,the effects of the large-scale mean sea temperature fields of the tropical ocean and the zonal current field (southern equatorial current) have been comprehensively entered in consideration on the basis of Chao and Ji (1985),and Ji and Chao (1986),the equatorial oceanic waves of the tropical ocean have been discussed by use of linearized primitive equations,then,the significant influence of the climatic background fields of the tropical ocean upon the oceanic waves of this region has been further testified.When very cold water appears in the tropical region,and the southern equatorial current is also relatively strong,the effect of the Rossby wave weakens,as a consequence,there are substitutive slow waves (i.e.thermal waves) which travel in opposite direction (eastward) to the Rossby wave.The characteristics of the slow wave are similar to those of Rossby waves,only the travelling direction is opposite.Under a certain environmental background field,the slow wave and the modified Rossby wave may be instable.With this conclusion,the mechanism of the occurrence,development and propagation of El Nino events has been studied.It is pointed out that the opposite travelling direction of the thermal wave and Rossby wave will bring repectively into action under different marine environmental background fields.The physical causes for that the abnormal warm water inclines to occur along the South American coast have also been explored in this paper.     

Oscillations of the intertropical convergence zone and the genesis of easterly waves. Part I: diagnostics and theory

We examine the mean and transient state of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) by analyzing data and using simple theory. We concentrate on the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean noting that there exists in this region a well-developed mean ITCZ. Furthermore, it is a region where there has been considerable discussion in the literature of whether easterly waves develop in situ or propagate westwards from the Atlantic Ocean. The region is typical of tropical regions where there is a strong cross-equatorial pressure gradient (CEPG): mean convection well removed from the equator but located equatorward of the maximum sea-surface temperature (SST) and minimum sea level pressure (MSLP). Further to the west, near the dateline where the CEPG is much smaller, convection is weaker and collocated with SST and MSLP extrema. It is argued that in regions of significant CEPG that the near-equatorial tropical system is inertially unstable and that the rectification of the instability for a given CEPG determines the location and intensity of the climatological ITCZ. Using simple theoretical arguments, we develop an expression for the mean latitude of the ITCZ as a function of the CEPG. We note on a day-by-day basis that the ITCZ is highly transient state with variability occurring on 3–8 day time scales. Transients with amplitudes about half of the mean ITCZ, propagate northwards from the near-equatorial southern hemisphere as anomalous meridional oscillations, eventually amplifying convection in the vicinity of the mean ITCZ. It is argued that in these longitudes of strong CEPG the mean ITCZ is continually inertially unstable with advections of anticylonic vorticity across the equator resulting in the creation of an oscillating divergence–convergence doublet. The low-level convergence produces convection and the resultant vortex tube stretching generates cyclonic vorticity which counteracts the northward advection of anticylonic vorticity. During a cycle, the mid-troposphere heating near 10oN oscillates between 6 and 12 K/day at the inertial frequency of the latitude of the mean convection. As a result, there exists an anomalous and shallower, oscillating meridional circulation with a magnitude about 50% of the mean ITCZ associated with the stable state following the generation of anticylonic vorticity. Further, it is argued that the instabilities of the ITCZ are directly associated with in situ development of easterly waves which occur with the inertial period of the latitude of the mean ITCZ. The dynamical sequences and the genesis of easterly waves are absent in the regions further to the east where the CEPG is much weaker or absent altogether. In a companion study (Part II), numerical experiments are conducted to test the hypothesis raised in the present study.     

Development and propagation of equatorial waves

Development and propagation of equatorial waves are investigated with the model which includes convection -wave convergence feedback and convection-frictional convergence feedback. Two experiments with an initial Kelvin wave (Exp. K) and with an initial Rossby wave (Exp. R) are carried out. The equatorial waves in Exp. R grow much faster than those in Exp. K. The equatorial waves in both experiments follow zonal (eastward / westward) and meridional (poleward) propagation. The equatorial waves can be partitioned into two meridional modes using Parabolic Cylinder Function. An equa?tor mode denotes a wave component with a positive precipitation center at the equator and an off-equator mode rep?resents a wave component with positive precipitation centers off the equator. The equator mode dominates in Exp. K whereeas the off-equator mode dominates in Exp. R. The rapid wave growth in Exp. R is interpreted by analyzing the eddy available potential energy (EAPE) generation. Stronger off-equator mode in Exp. R obtains more EAPE through convection-frictional convergence feedback which results in more rapid wave growth. The relative vorticity tendency is determined by interactions between Earth’s vorticity and lower-troposphere convergence (divergence effect) and between the meridional gradient and lower-troposphere circulation (beta effect). The eastward and poleward propagation of equatorial waves is a result of the divergence effect, and the westward movement is caused by the beta effect.     

热带海气耦合Kelvin波的弱相互作用

本文在简单的热带海气耦合方程组中 ,引进基本风场和平均海流的作用以后 ,对热带海气耦合 Kelvin波的不稳定性进行了讨论 ,得到其耦合不稳定的判据条件 ,并且分析了它的传播结构特征。     

大气中非线性Kelvin波的一个特殊形态

通过对非线性方程组的求解和讨论，指出：非线性Ｋｅｌｖｉｎ波与线性波相比，在扰动的水平结构和时间演变上都存在着显著的差异；在波动的传播方式上也较线性情形复杂。与层结大气中的正压模态有关的波动亦有与上述类似的特征。     

热带大气半地转适应理论的尺度分析和物理机制

对热带大气行星尺度运动所做的尺度分析和物理分析表明:热带大气 的行星尺度运动在y方向容易实现气压梯度力与Coriolis力的平衡，它称为纬圈的 半地转运动。半地转平衡的建立过程，也就是半地转适应过程相对是很短暂的，它不需 要考虑f=β0y随y的变化，因而主要依靠惯性重力波为频散；而半地转平 衡建立后的演变过程相对是很缓慢的，它主要受Kelvin波和Rossby波控制。     

大地形上空偶极子东移对热带气旋路径的影响

With a quasi-geostrophic barotropic model on the β-plane with a topography term, 16 experiments were performed with an integration period of 6 days. The interaction between tropical cyclone tracks and 500 kin-scale vortices originating from the western part ora large-scale topography is investigated. It is suggested that this kind of interaction may have a significant impact on the moving speed and direction of tropical cyclones. Under certain conditions, this interaction may be a factor in causing an abnormal tropical cyclone track. Furthermore, the effect of large-scale topography plays an important role in the formation of unusual tropical cyclone tracks.     

On the transient adjustment of a mid-latitude abyssal ocean basin with realistic geometry: the constant depth limit

The early stages in the adjustment of a mid-latitude abyssal basin with realistic geometry are studied using an inverted one and one-half layer model of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea as a natural test basin. The model is forced with a localized sidewall mass source and a compensating distributed mass sink. A flat bottom basin is investigated for comparison with existing theories on abyssal gyral spin-up, and as a precursor to a study with realistic topography. As in existing theories, the early adjustment is dominated by sub-inertial Kelvin and Rossby waves. Obstacles and the varying coastal geometry do not impede the passage of the Kelvin wave, though the circuit time of the main Kelvin wave signal is reduced by an aggregate 6% for the abyssal Eastern Mediterranean basin. The scattering of the Kelvin wave due to small-scale variations in the coastline is also shown not to be significant to the adjustment. The relatively short period of time needed to reach a statistical steady state is attributed to western boundary current formation in response to local Kelvin wave dynamics. Upon cessation of the sidewall forcing, sub-inertial motion controls the spin-down adjustment with basin-scale Rossby waves becoming the most pronounced feature of the flow. Two dynamical issues of particular interest emerge in these simulations: the retardation of Kelvin wave propagation around the abyssal basin and the roles of detrainment and sidewall forcing in the interior vorticity balance. An idealized simulation using an elliptical basin is used to illustrate that the mechanism for Kelvin wave retardation is a geometrically induced dispersion due to large-scale variations in the coastline. A dynamical analysis of the interior circulation shows that detrainment alone does not develop a Sverdrup response. Both the localized sidewall injection and the detrainment are needed to describe the interior dynamics, with both poleward and equatorward flows developing during the adjustment.