西北太平洋热带云团发展与两类El Nio事件的联系

利用1982—2009年全球热带云团数据集、NCEP/NCAR再分析资料和英国Hadley中心海温资料,并引入热带云团生成率(Genesis Productivity,GP)来分析EP(Eastern Pacific)El Nio和CP(Central Pacific)El Nio事件与西北太平洋热带云团发展的相关性。研究表明,1)夏秋两季GP与Nio3指数在东南区(SE)均为显著正相关,在西南区(SW)仅秋季呈显著正相关;GP与EMI(El Nio Modoki Index)指数在夏季SE区域为显著正相关,在秋季南中国海(South China Sea,SCS)区呈负相关。2)在EP El Nio年,夏季SE区域的GP增大与低层涡度、高层散度以及低层相对湿度的相对增大一致。夏季SW区域与秋季SE区域的GP增大与有利的高低空配置相关,La Nia年则与之相反。3)在CP El Nio年,夏季SE区域的GP增大伴随着低层涡度和高层散度的增加,同时与充足的水汽及弱风切变相吻合;而秋季SCS区域的GP下降源于正涡度带、正散度带以及水汽带的东移。     

2014—2016年超强El Nio事件的发生发展过程与机理分析

本文主要分析了2014—2016年超强El Nio事件的发生发展过程与机理。结果表明,整个El Nio生命期长达2 a左右(2014年4月—2016年5月),其演变过程可划分为4个阶段:1)早期的西风连续爆发(2013年12月—2014年4月)。连续三次西风爆发不但改变了热带中东太平洋长期盛行的偏东信风,同时也开始改变了中东太平洋长达12 a的平均冷水状态,使海表温度开始增暖,在2014年初春超过0.5℃,标志着一次新的El Nio事件可能在赤道中太平洋发生。2)交替的减弱与增强期(2014年6月—2015年8月)。赤道西太平洋继续发生了6次西风爆发,不但维持和增强了赤道中东太平洋的增温,而且通过了两次(2014年5—8月与2015年1—3月)海洋增暖的减缓期或障碍期,使初生的El Nio事件不但未夭折,而且明显的增强为一次强El Nio事件。Nio3.4区海温指数在2015年8月达到2℃。相应,赤道太平洋次表层中也观测到有6次暖Kelvin波东传,其正的热含量距平不但维持了赤道中东太平洋的连续增暖,也使El Nio的类型由中部型向东部型过渡。3)发展的鼎盛期(2015年9月—2016年2月)。西风出现2次更强的爆发,相应中东赤道太平洋对流活动异常强盛,Nio3.4区快速增温,在2015年11月达到3℃,增强到其超强阶段。4)快速衰减阶段(2016年3—5月)。El Nio迅速从Nio3.4区的2℃减少到0.5℃。以后很快开始向冷海温过渡。2016年7—8月,Nio3.4区海温已接近-0.5℃。这种快速转换是延迟振子理论的一种体现。通过本文分析,可以得到,这次El Nio发生发展与冷暖位相转换的观测事实与目前的理论结果(如充电振荡与延迟振子理论)是一致的。正因为如此,基于这些理论的El Nio预报也是相当成功的。这清楚地表明El Nio理论研究的成果对于相关业务预报发展具有明显的科学支撑力。     

2015/2016年超强El Nio事件背景下我国月预测技巧差异分析

利用中国站点观测降水资料、国家气候中心第2代月动力延伸预报模式(BCC_DERF2.0)的回报和预报数据、NCEP/NACR再分析资料和国家气候中心实时发布的月尺度降水预测评分数据,通过评估和诊断分析发现,在2015/2016年超强El Nio事件背景下,这两年内业务发布的月降水预报能力有明显不同,BCC_DERF2.0对月环流的预测技巧也存在差异:在2015年(El Nio发展位相),降水预报和环流预测技巧较高且稳定,而在2016年(El Nio衰减位相)的预报技巧总体偏低。进一步的研究显示,亚洲—太平洋涛动(Asia-Pacific Oscillation,APO)可能是导致2015年和2016年夏季预测技巧高低的重要影响因素。2015(2016)年夏季为APO低(高)指数年,且2016年具有高指数年的典型环流特征。而APO高指数对应的环流特征与El Nio衰减位相对西北太平洋环流的影响不同,在El Nio和APO的物理影响途径不一致时,将直接影响东亚环流可预报性的高低及动力气候模式的预报技巧,即El Nio在发展和衰减位相与APO型不同组合的影响是2015和2016年月预测技巧有差异的重要原因。     

Physiological response to high temperature in the Tropical Eastern Pacific coral Pocillopora verrucosa

The ecological and economic values of coral reef communities have encouraged efforts to implement periodic visual survey programs to secure their conservation. To date, visual monitoring‐based approaches have detected bleaching events weeks or months after the initial onset. An evaluation of the stress response of coral colonies, as well as their ability to resist and recover from the stress events, may increase our understanding of the physiological processes underling the stress and/or acclimation responses. Coral bleaching events, caused primarily by abnormally high temperatures, are continuously affecting coral communities worldwide. To evaluate the stress and recovery responses of the reef‐building coral Pocillopora verrucosa, a laboratory study was conducted herein. Coral nubbins were exposed to high temperatures to induce bleaching, and their ability to resist and recover from bleaching was subsequently monitored after returning the corals to ambient temperature. Lipid and chlorophyll concentrations, as well as Symbiodinium spp. density, decreased in samples exposed to nearly 31°C, slowly recovering to near‐control levels upon return to non‐stressful conditions. The present data set allows for an assessment of the vulnerability and ability of this common species to resist sub‐optimal environmental conditions, particularly the thermal stress events that will occur more commonly in their habitats as global seawater temperatures continue to rise.     

SST年循环对El Niño事件局地海气过程的影响

利用Hadley中心逐月海表温度、欧洲中心ERA-40的10 m风场及CMAP降水资料探讨了年循环对热带太平洋El Niño海气相互作用过程的影响。尽管El Niño对应的海表温度异常主要出现在赤道东太平洋,经向上呈南北对称分布,然而其对应的大气响应在El Niño年衰减阶段却有着强的向南移动特征。在El Niño发展年的11月之前,强的西风和降水异常主要出现在赤道中太平洋;在12月份之后,赤道上的西风和降水异常迅速南移至5°S,随后西风一直维持在该位置直至衰亡。同时,西太平洋负降水和反气旋异常向北移动。这种SST异常与其大气响应的经向移动不一致,主要是由热带中太平洋气候态SST的季节性南移导致的。由于对流与海温之间存在非线性关系,即当总SST超过一定的阈值,对流降水才会迅速增强;因此相应的对流响应也随着总海温的南移而南移,风场响应也同时南移。此外,南半球增强的对流会通过经向环流进一步抑制北半球的降水,从而使西太平洋负降水和反气旋异常增强并北移。通过分析有/无年循环的两组数值试验结果验证了上述结论,即有年循环的试验较真实地模拟出了观测中异常西风南移和西北太平洋反气旋异常的出现;无年循环试验尽管能模拟出El Niño年赤道中太平洋的西风异常,但其却没有南北向的移动,西北太平洋的反气旋也没有出现。因此,热带中太平洋气候态暖海温的季节循环对El Niño事件大气响应有着至关重要的作用。     

Different Impact of Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Nio on the Duration of Sudden Stratospheric Warming

The NCEP–NCAR reanalysis dataset and the Had ISST dataset(1959–2014) are used to analyze the impact of two types of El Nio events, i.e., eastern Pacific El Nio(EP-El Nio) and central Pacific El Nio(CP-El Nio) events, on the duration of major and minor sudden stratospheric warmings(SSWs) in Northern Hemisphere winter(November to February). Although the frequency of major and minor SSWs during different types of El Nio shows no distinct differences, the duration of both major and minor SSWs during CP-El Nio is shorter than that during EP-El Nio. The spatial distribution of geopotential height anomalies preceding major SSWs resembles the western Pacific(WP) teleconnection pattern, while the spatial distribution of geopotential height anomalies preceding minor SSWs bears similarity to the Pacific–North America(PNA)teleconnection pattern. An enhancement of the strength of both wavenumber 1 and wavenumber 2 is found before major SSWs. Before minor SSWs, wavenumber 1 is also strengthened, but wavenumber 2 is weakened. The analysis also reveals that EP-El Nio tends to induce positive phases of PNA and WP teleconnections, while CP-El Nio induces negative-phase WP teleconnection. As the positive phases of the PNA and WP teleconnections are related to the strengthening of wavenumber 1, EP-El Nio causes an enhancement of wavenumber 1 in the high-latitude upper troposphere and an enhancement of the upward wave flux in the high-latitude stratosphere, accompanied by a negative anomaly in Eliassen–Palm flux divergence in the subpolar stratosphere, which accounts for the longer SSW duration during EP-El Nio than during CP-El Nio.     

Contrasting the Skills and Biases of Deterministic Predictions for the Two Types of El Nio

The tropical Pacific has begun to experience a new type of El Nio, which has occurred particularly frequently during the last decade, referred to as the central Pacific(CP) El Nio. Various coupled models with different degrees of complexity have been used to make real-time El Nio predictions, but high uncertainty still exists in their forecasts. It remains unknown as to how much of this uncertainty is specifically related to the new CP-type El Nio and how much is common to both this type and the conventional Eastern Pacific(EP)-type El Nio. In this study, the deterministic performance of an El Nio–Southern Oscillation(ENSO) ensemble prediction system is examined for the two types of El Nio. Ensemble hindcasts are run for the nine EP El Nio events and twelve CP El Nio events that have occurred since 1950. The results show that(1) the skill scores for the EP events are significantly better than those for the CP events, at all lead times;(2) the systematic forecast biases come mostly from the prediction of the CP events; and(3) the systematic error is characterized by an overly warm eastern Pacific during the spring season, indicating a stronger spring prediction barrier for the CP El Nio. Further improvements to coupled atmosphere–ocean models in terms of CP El Nio prediction should be recognized as a key and high-priority task for the climate prediction community.     

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.     

The Pioneering Works of Professor Duzheng YE on Atmospheric Dispersion,Tibetan Plateau Meteorology,and Air–Sea Interaction

This paper provides an overview of the impacts of the original works of Professor Duzheng YE on a selected set of observational and model studies with which the present author has been associated over the past several decades. The main themes of these works include atmospheric energy dispersion, air–land interactions over the Tibetan Plateau, and El Ni n?orelated air–sea coupling over East Asia.The dispersive behavior of observed atmospheric fluctuations accompanying cold surge events in East Asia is demonstrated. Cold air outbreaks over Korea and southern China are coincident with the successive downstream development of troughs and ridges, with the group velocity of such wave packets being notably faster than the phase propagation speed of individual troughs and ridges. In a more general context, dispersive features are also discernible from lagged teleconnection charts and cross-spectra of observed and model-simulated geopotential height variations on 10–30-day time scales.Using the output from a high-resolution general circulation model, the relative contributions of condensational, sensible, and radiative heating to the atmospheric energy budget over the Tibetan Plateau are documented. The rapid changes of the upper tropospheric Tibetan anticyclone and East Asian mei-yu("plum rain") precipitation band associated with the development of the Asian monsoon system are described.The principal anomalies in sea level pressure, surface wind, precipitation and sea surface temperature over southeastern China and the Philippine Sea region during El Nio events are presented. The contributions of remote El Nio-related forcing and local air–sea interaction to the occurrence of these anomalies are assessed.     

North-East monsoon rainfall extremes over the southern peninsular India and their association with El Niño

The present study investigates the relationship between extreme north-east (NE) monsoon rainfall (NEMR) over the Indian peninsula region and El Niño forcing. This turns out to be a critical science issue especially after the 2015 Chennai flood. The puzzle being while most El Niños favour good NE monsoon, some don’t. In fact some El Niño years witnessed deficit NE monsoon. Therefore two different cases (or classes) of El Niños are considered for analysis based on standardized NEMR index and Niño 3.4 index with case-1 being both Niño-3.4 and NEMR indices greater than +1 and case-2 being Niño-3.4 index greater than +1 and NEMR index less than −1. Composite analysis suggests that SST anomalies in the central and eastern Pacific are strong in both cases but large differences are noted in the spatial distribution of SST over the Indo-western Pacific region. This questions our understanding of NEMR as mirror image of El Niño conditions in the Pacific. It is noted that the favourable excess NEMR in case-1 is due to anomalous moisture transport from Bay of Bengal and equatorial Indian Ocean to southern peninsular India. Strong SST gradient between warm western Indian Ocean (and Bay of Bengal) and cool western Pacific induced strong easterly wind anomalies during NE monsoon season favour moisture transport towards the core NE monsoon region. Further anomalous moisture convergence and convection over the core NE monsoon region supported positive rainfall anomalies in case-1. While in case-2, weak SST gradients over the Indo-western Pacific and absence of local low level convergence over NE monsoon region are mainly responsible for deficit rainfall. The ocean dynamics in the Indian Ocean displayed large differences during case-1 and case-2, suggesting the key role of Rossby wave dynamics in the Indian Ocean on NE monsoon extremes. Apart from the large scale circulation differences the number of cyclonic systems land fall for case-1 and case-2 have also contributed for variations in NE monsoon rainfall extremes during El Niño years. This study indicates that despite having strong warming in the central and eastern Pacific, NE monsoon rainfall variations over the southern peninsular India is mostly determined by SST gradient over the Indo-western Pacific region and number of systems formation in the Bay of Bengal and their land fall. The paper concludes that though the favourable large scale circulation induced by Pacific is important in modulating the NE monsoon rainfall the local air sea interaction plays a key role in modulating or driving rainfall extremes associated with El Niño.