A CASE STUDY ON SANDSTORM

The favourable synoptic situation and climate background for a sandstorm process,which occurred in theperiod 9—16 April 1988,have been studied through analyzing weather maps,meteorological elements,satellitecloud pictures and sandstorm trajectories.The sand dust origin area,the directions and the paths of sanddust transport,and the extent the sand dust reached are also investigated.The results of measurments andanalysis indicate that the concentration of sand dust particles is 10 times greater than the normal.It is also shownthat the elements in the sand dust are lithophylic and come from natural source through the chemical composi-tion analysis of the sand dust,so that the sand dust has not been polluted by human activities.     

Lower Tropospheric Warm Air Advection Patterns Associated with Heavy Rainfall over the Appalachian Region*

A synoptic climatology of warm season heavy rainfall is developed from patterns of 850 mb thermal advection over the Appalachian region. Heavy rain events are categorized according to the position and orientation of a warm air advection (WAA) ridge, a feature found in nearly two-thirds of the events. Numerous study events occur within the conditionally unstable region of the WAA ridge. In fact, numerous occurrences of heavy rainfall are tied to a superpositioning of a WAA and air mass instability ridge in the vicinity or upstream of the heavy rain area.     

Sensitivity of Mesoscale Model Forecast During a Satellite Launch to Different Cumulus Parameterization Schemes in MM5

The identification of the model discrepancy and skill is crucial when a forecast is issued. The characterization of the model errors for different cumulus parameterization schemes (CPSs) provides more confidence on the model outputs and qualifies which CPSs are to be used for better forecasts. Cases of good/bad skill scores can be isolated and clustered into weather systems to identify the atmospheric structures that cause difficulties to the forecasts. The objective of this work is to study the sensitivity of weather forecast, produced using the PSU-NCAR Mesoscale Model version 5 (MM5) during the launch of an Indian satellite on 5th May, 2005, to the way in which convective processes are parameterized in the model. The real-time MM5 simulations were made for providing the weather conditions near the launch station Sriharikota (SHAR). A total of 10 simulations (each of 48 h) for the period 25th April to 04th May, 2005 over the Indian region and surrounding oceans were made using different CPSs. The 24 h and 48 h model predicted wind, temperature and moisture fields for different CPSs, namely the Kuo, Grell, Kain-Fritsch and Betts-Miller, are statistically evaluated by calculating parameters such as mean bias, root-mean-squares error (RMSE), and correlation coefficients by comparison with radiosonde observation. The performance of the different CPSs, in simulating the area of rainfall is evaluated by calculating bias scores (BSs) and equitable threat scores (ETSs). In order to compute BSs and ETSs the model predicted rainfall is compared with Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) observed rainfall. It was observed that model simulated wind and temperature fields by all the CPSs are in reasonable agreement with that of radiosonde observation. The RMSE of wind speed, temperature and relative humidity do not show significant differences among the four CPSs. Temperature and relative humidity were overestimated by all the CPSs, while wind speed is underestimated, except in the upper levels. The model predicted moisture fields by all CPSs show substantial disagreement when compared with observation. Grell scheme outperforms the other CPSs in simulating wind speed, temperature and relative humidity, particularly in the upper levels, which implies that representing entrainment/detrainment in the cloud column may not necessarily be a beneficial assumption in tropical atmospheres. It is observed that MM5 overestimates the area of light precipitation, while the area of heavy precipitation is underestimated. The least predictive skill shown by Kuo for light and moderate precipitation asserts that this scheme is more suitable for larger grid scale (>30 km). In the predictive skill for the area of light precipitation the Betts-Miller scheme has a clear edge over the other CPSs. The evaluation of the MM5 model for different CPSs conducted during this study is only for a particular synoptic situation. More detailed studies however, are required to assess the forecast skill of the CPSs for different synoptic situations.     

A Synoptic Climatology of Severe Storms in Virginia*

A synoptic climatology is developed for Virginia using 21 years of late spring and summer surface and upper air observations. The climatology is produced by applying a combination of principal components analysis and cluster analysis such that each day is classified into one of a distinct number of synoptic situations. Days on which at least one severe storm occurred in Virginia are merged with the synoptic climatology. A majority of severe storms are associated with one synoptic situation distinguished by moderate instability and a high moisture content.     

夏季云顶高于对流层顶事件对东亚天气型及上对流层-下平流层大气结构的影响

采用A-Train系列卫星的AURA/MLS水汽、温度资料,CALIPSO/CALIOP云物理资料,结合ECMWF气象再分析资料,分析了东亚地区云顶高于对流层顶事件(Cloud Top Above the Tropopause,CTAT)的区域分布,及其对上对流层-下平流层(Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere,UTLS)水汽和温度结构的影响。结果表明:亚洲季风区的夏季CTAT发生率是30%~55%,为全球最强区域;东北亚的夏季CTAT发生率是15%~20%,为中纬度最强分布区。以CTAT为指标的合成结果表明:15~30°N的东亚-西太平洋UTLS,水汽呈"上干下湿"的异常分布,温度呈"上冷下暖"的异常分布,该结构与该区域热带气旋合成的结果一致,说明热带气旋是该区域CTAT形成的主要天气系统;35~50°N的东北亚UTLS,水汽呈"上干下湿"的异常分布,温度呈"上暖下冷"的异常分布,该结构与该区域温带气旋合成的结果一致,说明温带气旋是该区域CTAT形成的主要天气系统。     

广西“回南天”发生特征及预报着眼点

利用常规MICAPS数据资料,对广西“回南天”发生特征及预报着眼点进行分析研究。结果表明：(1) “回南天”发生在春季低温阴雨后期迅速回暖的转变过程中;(2) 有利“回南天”发生的环流形势共同特征为: 500 hPa我国北支西风气流转为纬向环流,南支槽加深并向东移动,850 hPa有西南急流,地面冷空气减弱,华南静止锋减弱北抬;(3) T lnp探空曲线中,锋区逆温层上限持续下降到850 hPa以下,次日落地消失;(4) 室外空气露点温度高于室内物体表面温度,暖湿空气中的水汽入室遇冷后,在物体表面发生相变凝结;(5) 根据前一天最低气温、当天露点温度及升幅,将“回南天”划分为重度、中度和轻度3个等级;(6)“回南天”有冷性结束和暖性结束两种方式。所得成果可应用到预报业务中。     

2014年12月至2015年2月T639、ECMWF及日本模式中期预报性能检验

文章对2014年12月至2015年2月T639、ECMWF（文中简称EC）及日本数值模式的中期预报产品进行了对比分析和检验。结果表明：三个模式对亚洲中高纬环流形势的调整和演变及850 hPa温度转折性变化具有较好的中期预报性能,但都存在随时效增长的系统性偏差;对北方地区温度的预报, EC模式表现为预报较零场偏高,而T639模式表现为预报较零场偏低;对于海平面气压场,EC模式对冷空气前锋的预报与零场更加一致。     

2015年5月大气环流和天气分析

对2015年3—5月T639、ECMWF（文中简称EC）及日本数值模式中期预报产品进行了检验和对比。结果表明：三个模式对亚洲中高纬地区大尺度环流和850 hPa温度的演变和调整均具有较好的预报性能,EC模式对西风指数、850 hPa温度转折过程和变化幅度的预报略优于其他两个模式。对2015年3月31日至4月1日北方地区强沙尘暴天气过程的主要影响天气系统,三个模式预报能力相当,121 h时效都较好地预报出了地面冷高压,但强度和范围与实况有一定偏差。     

STATISTICAL AND COMPOSITE ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF CONVECTIVE CORES AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TBB WITHIN THE TROPICAL CYCLONE CIRCULATION AND ITS INTENSITY

Based on the data(including radius of maximum winds) from the JTWC(Joint Typhoon Warning Center),the tropical cyclones(TCs) radii of the outermost closed isobar, TCs best tracks from Shanghai Typhoon Institute and the Black Body Temperature(TBB) of the Japanese geostationary meteorological satellite M1 TR IR1, and combining13 tropical cyclones which landed in China again after visiting the island of Taiwan during the period from 2001 to2010, we analyzed the relationship between the number of convective cores within TC circulation and the intensity of TC with the method of convective-stratiform technique(CST) and statistical and composite analysis. The results are shown as follows:(1) The number of convective cores in the entire TC circulation is well corresponding with the outer spiral rainbands and the density of convective cores in the inner core area increases(decreases) generally with increasing(decreasing) TC intensity. At the same time, the number of convective cores within the outer spiral rainbands is more than that within the inner core and does not change much with the TC intensity. However, the density of convective cores within the outer spiral rainbands is lower than that within the inner core.(2) The relationship described above is sensitive to landing location to some extent but not sensitive to the structure of TC.(3) The average value of TBB in the inner core area increases(decreases) generally with increasing(decreasing) of TC intensity, which is also sensitive to landing situation to some extent. At the same time, the average value of TBB within the outer spiral rainbands is close to that within the entire TC circulation, and both of them are more than that within the inner core. However, they do not reflect TC intensity change significantly.(4) The results of statistical composite based on convective cores and TBB are complementary with each other, so a combination of both can reflect the relationship between TC rainbands and TC intensity much better.