Structural Changes of a Tropical Cyclone during Landfall: β-plane Simulations

This study investigated the effects of landfall on the structure of a tropical cyclone (TC). Numerical simulations were performed using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model on a β-plane. Two landfall experiments, one with an east--west and another with a north--south oriented coastline, were performed. Similar to previous studies on an f-plane, large-scale flows in the low-to-middle troposphere were modified due to friction. A pair of counter rotating gyres was found, which was shown to be consistent with the slight deflection of the TC relative to the control experiment without land. Compared to previous f-plane simulations, because of the inherent asymmetries due to the β-gyres, the large-scale pattern of flows and convergences/divergences related to friction were found to depend on coastline orientations. On the other hand, regardless of the coastline orientation, convergences were found to be stronger to the left for both cases near landfall, as in previous f-plane simulations. Such a convergence pattern subsequently induced a change in convection and rainfall at the eyewall.     

Tropical cyclone genesis frequency over the western North Pacific simulated in medium-resolution coupled general circulation models

This study examines the tropical cyclone (TC) genesis frequency over the western North Pacific simulated in atmosphere–ocean coupled general circulation models from the World Climate Research Programme’s Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3. We first evaluate performances of eight models with atmospheric horizontal resolution of T63 or T106 by analyzing their daily-mean atmospheric outputs of twentieth-century climate simulations available from the Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison database. The genesis frequency is validated against the best-track data issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Five of the eight models reproduce realistic horizontal distribution of the TC genesis with a large fraction over the 10°–20°N, 120°–150°E area. These five high-performance models also realistically simulate the summer–winter contrast of the frequency. However, detailed seasonal march is slightly unrealistic; four of the models overestimate the frequency in the early season (May–June) while all of them underestimate the frequency in the mature season (July–September). Reasons for these biases in the seasonal march for the five high-performance models are discussed using the TC genesis potential (GP) index proposed by Emanuel and Nolan (in Am Meteor Soc, pp 240–241, 2004). The simulated GP has seasonal biases consistent with those of the TC genesis frequency. For all five models, the seasonal biases in GP are consistent with those in environmental lower-tropospheric vorticity, vertical wind shear, and relative humidity, which can be attributed to the simulated behavior of monsoon trough. The observed trough migrates northward from the equatorial region to reach the 10°–20°N latitudinal band during the mature season and contributes to the TC frequency maximum, whereas the simulated trough migrates northward too rapidly and reaches this latitude band in the early season, leading to the overestimation of the TC genesis frequency. In the mature season, the simulated trough reaches as far as 15°–25°N, accompanied by a strong vertical shear south of the trough, providing an unfavorable condition for TC genesis. It is concluded that an adequate simulation of the monsoon trough behavior is essential for a better reproduction of the TC frequency seasonal march.     

Short‐term stream water temperature observations permit rapid assessment of potential climate change impacts

Assessment of potential climate change impacts on stream water temperature (T_s) across large scales remains challenging for resource managers because energy exchange processes between the atmosphere and the stream environment are complex and uncertain, and few long‐term datasets are available to evaluate changes over time. In this study, we demonstrate how simple monthly linear regression models based on short‐term historical T_s observations and readily available interpolated air temperature (T_a) estimates can be used for rapid assessment of historical and future changes in T_s. Models were developed for 61 sites in the southeastern USA using ≥18 months of observations and were validated at sites with longer periods of record. The T_s models were then used to estimate temporal changes in T_s at each site using both historical estimates and future T_a projections. Results suggested that the linear regression models adequately explained the variability in T_s across sites, and the relationships between T_s and T_a remained consistent over 37 years. We estimated that most sites had increases in historical annual mean T_s between 1961 and 2010 (mean of +0.11 °C decade^?1). All 61 sites were projected to experience increases in T_s from 2011 to 2060 under the three climate projections evaluated (mean of +0.41 °C decade^?1). Several of the sites with the largest historical and future T_s changes were located in ecoregions home to temperature‐sensitive fish species. This methodology can be used by resource managers for rapid assessment of potential climate change impacts on stream water temperature. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A last peak in diversity: the stalked echinoderms of the Permian of Timor

In north‐west Europe, the Permian is limited to the New Red Sandstone and the restricted marine facies of the Zechstein, yet elsewhere it is constituted of thick marine deposits with an abundant shelly fauna. One of the most notable sites for the marine Permian is the island of Timor in south‐east Asia, where thick, olistostromic blocks of limestone have yielded 1000+ shelly species. Over a third of these are stalked echinoderms, both crinoids and blastoids, two diverse Palaeozoic groups that would be devastated by the end‐Permian mass extinction.     

The Role of β-effect and a Uniform Current on Tropical Cyclone Intensity

A limited-area primitive equation model is used to study the role of the β-effect and a uniform current on tropical cyclone (TC) intensity.It is found that TC intensity is reduced in a non-quiescent environment compared with the case of no uniform current.On an f-plane,the rate of intensification of a tropical cyclone is larger than that of the uniform flow.A TC on a β-plane intensifies slower than one on an f-plane.The main physical characteristic that distinguishes the experiments is the asymmetric thermodynamic (including convective) and dynamic structures present when either a uniform flow or β-effect is introduced.But a fairly symmetric TC structure is simulated on an f-plane.The magnitude of the warm core and the associated subsidence are found to be responsible for such simulated intensity changes.On an f-plane,the convection tends to be symmetric,which results in strong upper-level convergence near the center and hence strong forced subsidence and a very warm core.On the other hand,horizontal advection of temperature cancels part of the adiabatic heating and results in less warming of the core,and hence the TC is not as intense.This advective process is due to the tilt of the vortex as a result of the β-effect.A similar situation occurs in the presence of a uniform flow.Thus,the asymmetric horizontal advection of temperature plays an important role in the temperature distribution.Dynamically,the asymmetric angular momentum (AM) flux is very small on an f-plane throughout the troposphere.However,the total AM exports at the upper levels for a TC either on aβ-plane or with a uniform flow environment are larger because of an increase of the asymmetric as well as symmetric AM export on the plane at radii ＞450 km,and hence there is a lesser intensification.     

Ensemble Forecasting of Tropical Cyclone Motion Using a Baroclinic Model

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of two different ensemble forecasting (EF) techniques–the lagged-averaged forecast (LAF) and the breeding of growing modes (BGM). In the BGM experiments, the vortex and the environment are perturbed separately (named BGMV and BGME). Tropical cyclone (TC) motions in two difficult situations are studied: a large vortex interacting with its environment, and an apparent binary interaction. The former is Typhoon Yancy and the latter involves Typhoon Ed and super Typhoon Flo, all occurring during the Tropical Cyclone Motion Experiment TCM- 90. The model used is the baroclinic model of the University of New South Wales. The lateral boundary tendencies are computed from atmospheric analysis data. Only the relative skill of the ensemble forecast mean over the control run is used to evaluate the effectiveness of the EF methods, although the EF technique is also used to quantify forecast uncertainty in some studies. In the case of Yancy, the ensemble mean forecasts of each of the three methodologies are better than that of the control, with LAF being the best. The mean track of the LAF is close to the best track, and it predicts landfall over Taiwan. The improvements in LAF and the full BGM where both the environment and vortex are perturbed suggest the importance of combining the perturbation of the vortex and environment when the interaction between the two is appreciable. In the binary interaction case of Ed and Flo, the forecasts of Ed appear to be insensitive to perturbations of the environment and/or the vortex, which apparently results from erroneous forecasts by the model of the interaction between the subtropical ridge and Ed, as well as from the interaction between the two typhoons, thus reducing the effectiveness of the EF technique. This conclusion is reached through sensitivity experiments on the domain of the model and by adding or eliminating certain features in the model atmosphere. Nevertheless, the forecast tracks in some of the cases are improved over that of the control. On the other hand, the EF technique has little impact on the forecasts of Flo because the control forecast is already very close to the best track. The study provides a basis for the future development of the EF technique. The limitations of this study are also addressed. For example, the above results are based on a small sample, and the study is actually a simulation, which is different than operational forecasting. Further tests of these EF techniques are proposed.     

Regional and Synoptic-scale Features Associated with Inactive Periods of the Summer Monsoon over South China

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Regional climate simulations of summer diurnal rainfall variations over East Asia and Southeast China

This study evaluates the performance of RegCM3 (Regional Climate Model Version 3) in simulating the East Asian rainfall, with emphasis on the diurnal variations of rainfall over Southeast China during the 1998–2002 summer (June–August) seasons. The evaluation focuses on the sensitivity of the choice of cumulus parameterizations and model domain. With the right setup, the spatial and temporal evolution of diurnal rainfall over Southeast China, which has not been well simulated by past studies, can be accurately simulated by RegCM3. Results show that the Emanuel cumulus scheme has a more realistic simulation of summer mean rainfall in East Asia, while the GFC (Grell scheme with the Frisch-Chappell convective closure assumption) scheme is better in simulating the diurnal variations of rainfall over Southeast China. The better performance of these two schemes [relative to the other two schemes in RegCM3: the Kuo scheme and the GAS (Grell scheme with the Arakawa–Schubert closure assumption) scheme] can be attributed to the reasonable reproduction of the major formation mechanism of rainfall—the moisture flux convergence—over Southeast China. Furthermore, when the simulation domain covers the entire Tibetan Plateau, the diurnal variations of rainfall over Southeast China are found to exhibit a noticeable improvement without changes in the physics schemes.     

Interannual and interdecadal variations of tropical cyclone activity over the western North Pacific

Summary This paper reviews the interannual and interdecadal variations in tropical cyclone (TC) activity over the western North Pacific (WNP) and the possible physical mechanisms responsible for such variations. Interannual variations can largely be explained by changes in the planetary-scale flow patterns. Sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) in the WNP, however, do not contribute to such variations. Rather, SSTs in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific are significantly correlated with TC activity over the WNP. Causality can be established: changes in the SST in the equatorial Pacific are related to the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, and modifications of the planetary-scale flow associated with ENSO alter the conditions over the WNP and hence TC activity there. Variations in annual TC activity are also associated with different phases of the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillations due to its modification of the vertical wind shear of the environment in which TCs form. Interdecadal variations in TC activity are apparently related to the location, strength and extent of the North Pacific subtropical high. However, the mechanisms responsible for modifying these characteristics of the subtropical high have yet to be identified.