Water Budgets of Tropical Cyclones: Three Case Studies

In this study, three tropical cyclones (TCs) that passed through the Taiwan Strait were analyzed; our results show that precipitation is not directly related to the intensity of TCs. From the perspective of water budget, moisture flux convergence was dominant and contributed ～70% of the moisture for TC precipitation over the ocean and almost all over the land, especially inside the TC circulation. Their spatial distributions were also similar. Evaporation contributed ～30% of the moisture for precipitation over the ocean but changed little with the time. Moisture flux convergence can be divided into two parts: wind convergence and moisture advection. Moisture flux convergence was mostly due to wind convergence, which was dominant in the southwestern quadrants of the TCs. Moisture advection was located in the northern area, and becomes relatively important when the TCs approached the land. The moisture flux convergence and its two parts varied during TC movement, with strengthening and contraction of moisture convergence present near landfall. The vertical structure of the three TC cases all indicated that the moisture convergence was mainly confined to the lower atmosphere under 800 hPa and a weak divergence region was present in the middle troposphere around 550 hPa.     

Numerical Simulation of Changes in Tropical Cyclone Intensity Using a Coupled Air-Sea Model

A coupled air-sea model for tropical cyclones （TCs） is constructed by coupling the Pennsylvania State University/National Center for Atmospheric Research mesoscale model （MM5） with the Princeton Ocean Model.Four numerical simulations of tropical cyclone development have been conducted using different configurations of the coupled model on the f-plane.When coupled processes are excluded,a weak initial vortex spins up into a mature symmetric TC that strongly resembles those observed and simulated in prior research.The coupled model reproduces the reduction in sea temperature induced by the TC reasonably well,as well as changes in the minimum central pressure of the TC that result from negative atmosphere-ocean feedbacks.Asymmetric structures are successfully simulated under conditions of uniform environmental flow.The coupled ocean-atmosphere model is suitable for simulating air-sea interactions under TC conditions.The effects of the ocean on the track of the TC and changes in its intensity under uniform environmental flow are also investigated.TC intensity responds nonlinearly to sea surface temperature （SST）.The TC intensification rate becomes smaller once the SST exceeds a certain threshold.Oceanic stratification also influences TC intensity,with stronger stratification responsible for a larger decrease in intensity.The value of oceanic enthalpy is small when the ocean is weakly stratified and large when the ocean is strongly stratified,demonstrating that the oceanic influence on TC intensity results not only from SST distributions but also from stratification.Air-sea interaction has only a slight influence on TC movement in this model.     

Re-Examination of the Potential Vorticity Metrics for Determining Extratropical Transition Onset and Completion Times Using High-Resolution Data

Based on a high-resolution dataset, this note re-examines the recently developed potential vorticity （PV） metrics for determining extratropical transition （ET） onset and completion times. The PV metrics use average 330-K isentropic potential vorticity （IPV） to determine the ET onset time, defined as the 330-K IPV minimum time. However, the suggested 330-K IPV threshold fails to determine the ET completion time using the 20-km resolution data, and this IPV method cannot resolve reintensifying and weakening tropical cyclone cases due to the absence of differentiation of lower-level IPV tendencies after ET onset between these two groups of cases.     

Evaluation of the Ocean Feedback on Height Characteristics of the Tropical Cyclone Boundary Layer

In this study, the interaction between the tropical cyclone（TC） and the underlying ocean is reproduced by using a coupled atmosphere-ocean model. Based on the simulation results, characteristics of the TC boundary layer depth are investigated in terms of three commonly used definitions, i.e., the height of the mixed layer depth（HVTH）, the height of the maximum tangential winds（HTAN）, and the inflow layer depth（HRAD）. The symmetric height of the boundary layer is shown to be cut down by the ocean response, with the decrease of HVTH slightly smaller than that of HTAN and HRAD. The ocean feedback also leads to evident changes in asymmetric features of the boundary layer depth. The HVTH in the right rear of the TC is significantly diminished due to presence of the cold wake, while the changes of HVTH in other regions are rather small. The decreased surface virtual potential temperature by the cold wake is identified to be dominant in the asymmetric changes in HVTH. The impacts of ocean response on the asymmetric distributions of HTAN are nonetheless not distinct, which is attributed to the highly axisymmetric property of tangential winds. The HRAD possesses remarkable asymmetric features and the inflow layer does not exist in all regions, an indication of the inadequacy of the definition based on symmetric inflow layer depth. Under influences of the cold wake, the peak inflow area rotates counterclockwise distinctly. As a consequence, the HRAD becomes deeper in the east while shallower in the west of the TC.     

登陆热带气旋引发云南强降水的环境场特征

应用《西北太平洋热带气旋年鉴检索系统》资料、NCEP/NCAR再分析资料及云南降水资料,对1959-2007年热带气旋(以下简称TC)西行登陆引发的云南强降水过程进行了分类统计,得到4类TC强降水环流模型,分别是TC低压环流型、TC低压外围或倒槽型、TC低压与低槽冷空气相互作用型和TC与两高辐合相互作用型.环境场特征显示,100 hPa南亚高压中心位置在90°E以西,高空东风急流提供了强大的辐散场,低空西南季风气流与TC环流相连接,高低层涡度差呈负值区分布,使TC低压环流在陆上维持或强度减弱缓慢;西南季风气流中的低空急流、副热带高压外围及TC低压东部的偏南急流共同作用,向云南输送充沛的水汽和能量,是登陆TC强降水产生的重要天气系统配置形势;强降水分布在低空急流左侧,TC低压或倒槽西北侧的正涡度中心附近;冷空气南下进入云南,增加了大气斜压不稳定,使TC外围降水增强.     

2013年6月大气环流和天气分析

2013年6月大气环流特征为：北半球极涡呈单极型,中心位于格陵兰岛附近,较常年偏弱,我国中高纬地区多高空槽活动;西太平洋副热带高压(以下简称副高)强度较常年偏弱,西段位置多变。6月全国平均降水量为99.9 mm,接近常年同期（99.3 mm）;全国平均气温为20.7℃,较常年同期（20.0℃）偏高0.7℃。月内我国主要天气气候事件有：全国发生7次大范围强降雨过程,多站出现极端日降水量,部分地区洪涝灾害较重,23日起长江中下游地区相继进入梅雨期,29日出梅;南方出现今年首次大范围高温天气过程;热带风暴贝碧嘉登陆,登陆时间偏早。     

Physical Mechanism of the Impacts of the Tropical Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature on the Decadal Change of the Summer North Atlantic Oscillation

In this study,physical mechanism of the impacts of the tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature(SST)on decadal change of the summer North Atlantic Oscillation(SNAO)was explored using an atmospheric general circulation model(AGCM)developed at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics(ICTP).The simulation results indicate that the decadal warming of the SST over the tropical Atlantic after the late 1970s could have significantly enhanced the convection over the region.This enhanced convection would have strengthened the local meridional circulation over the Eastern Atlantic-North Africa-Western Europe region,exciting a meridional teleconnection.This teleconnection might have brought the signal of the tropical Atlantic SST to the Extratropics,consequently activating the variability of the eastern part of the SNAO southern center,which led to an eastward shift of the SNAO southern center around the late 1970s.Such physical processes are highly consistent with the previous observations.     

Characteristics of Tropical Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies and Their Influences on the Onset of South China Sea Summer Monsoon

The characteristics of sea surface temperature anomalies(SSTAs)in the tropical oceans and their influences on the onset of South China Sea summer monsoon(SCSSM)have been studied.The anomaly of SST in tropical Pacific Ocean exerts persistence impact for one to three months on atmospheric circulations.If the warm pool becomes anomalously warmer during an earlier period from February to April,the SCSSM breaks out earlier,and vice versa.Singular value decomposition(SVD)and composite analysis have shown that,in La Ni a pattern,the convection over Western Pacific will occur earlier and be stronger than normal,which favors the convergence at a lower layer over Western Pacific,as well as the strengthening of upwelling branch of Walker circulation,leading to an earlier burst of westerly in the southern South China Sea.Moreover,the convection in Sumatra appears earlier than normal and favors the westerly evolution in eastern Indian Ocean,resulting in the splitting of the subtropical high belt and an early onset of SCSSM.However,the atmospheric circulation anomaly is reversed in El Nio pattern.     

孟加拉湾春季小型暖池对热带气旋的影响研究

本文研究了2017年春季孟加拉湾小型暖池对热带气旋Maarutha（4月14-17日）以及热带气旋Mora（5月27-30日）的影响.利用卫星遥感和现场观测数据分析发现,尽管春季孟加拉湾热带气旋确实能引起海洋上层冷却效应,但是其冷却强度受到暖池强度的影响.本文进一步对比孟加拉湾小型暖池对两个热带气旋的响应情况,发现当春季小型暖池的温度大于31℃（热带气旋Mora期间）,暖池效应能有效抑制海洋上层混合层的加深,降低热带气旋引起的潜热通量损失带来的冷却效应,并在一定程度上加强了热带气旋.     

云凝结核浓度对不同强度南海热带气旋强度影响的个例模拟研究

利用云分辨天气研究和预报模式（CR-WRF）模拟在清洁大气和污染大气下,气溶胶的云凝结核作用对不同强度南海热带气旋（TC）的强度变化影响,对比分析了动力结构和微物理结构的变化。(1)在污染大气环境中,更多气溶胶能进入到弱TC内部云带区,并充当凝结核作用,TC内部各相态水凝物含量都有明显增多, 释放潜热有利于TC内部的对流发展,弱TC中心海平面气压下降,强度加强。（2）在污染大气环境中,气溶胶主要影响强TC的外部螺旋云带区;外部云带区各相态水凝物增多,释放潜热有利于该处对流的发展;外部云带区对流与云墙区内对流形成竞争,导致入流减弱,云墙区内上升运动减弱,强TC中心海平面气压上升,强度减弱。