Abstract

Global teleconnections associated with the Asian summer monsoon convective activities are investigated based on monthly data of 29 Northern Hemisphere summers defined as June–September (JJAS). Two distinct teleconnection patterns are identified that are associated respectively with variabilities of the Indian summer monsoon and the western North Pacific summer monsoon. The Indian summer monsoon convective activity is associated with a global pattern that has a far-reaching connection in both hemispheres, whereas the western North Pacific summer monsoon convective activity is connected to a Southern Hemisphere wave train that influences the high-latitude South Pacific and South America. A global primitive equation model is utilized to assess the cause of the global circulation anomalies. The model responses to anomalous heatings of both monsoon systems match the general features of the observed circulation anomalies well, and they are mainly controlled by linear processes. The response patterns are largely determined by the summertime large-scale background mean flow and the location of the heating anomaly relative to the upper easterly jet in the monsoon region.

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) has a global impact that may provide an important source of skill for subseasonal predictions. The extratropical response was found to be the strongest when the tropical diabatic heating has a dipole structure with convection anomaly centers of opposite sign in the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific. A positive (negative) MJO dipole heating refers to that with heating (cooling) in the eastern Indian Ocean and cooling (heating) in the western Pacific. In this study, two aspects of the extratropical response to the MJO are examined: 1) nonlinearity, which answers the question of whether the response to a positive MJO dipole heating is the mirror image of that to a negative MJO, and 2) sensitivity to the initial state, which explores the dependence of the extratropical response on the initial condition of the westerly jet.

Ensemble integrations using a primitive-equation global atmospheric circulation model are performed with anomalous tropical thermal forcings that resemble a positive MJO (+MJO) and a negative MJO (−MJO). The response in the first week is largely linear. After that, significant asymmetry is found between the response in the positive MJO and the negative MJO. The 500-hPa negative geopotential height response in the North Pacific of the −MJO run is located about 30° east of the positive height response of the +MJO run. There is also an eastward shift of the extratropical wave train in the Pacific–North American region. This simulated nonlinearity is in agreement with the observations. The two leading response patterns among the ensemble members are identified by an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. EOF1 represents an eastward shift of the wave train, which is positively correlated with strengthening of the East Asian subtropical upper-troposphere westerly jet in the initial condition. On the other hand, EOF2 represents an amplification of the response, which is associated with a southward shift of the westerly jet in the initial state.

Abstract

A long integration of a primitive equation dry atmospheric model with time-independent forcing under boreal winter conditions is analyzed. A variety of techniques such as time filtering, space–time spectral analysis, and lag regressions are used to identify tropical waves. It is evident that oscillations with intraseasonal time scales and a Kelvin wave structure exist in the model tropical atmosphere. Coherent eastward propagations in the 250-hPa velocity potential and zonal wind are found, with a speed of about 15 m s⁻¹. The oscillation is stronger in the Eastern Hemisphere than in the Western Hemisphere.

Interactions between the tropical and extratropical flows are found to be responsible for the simulated intraseasonal variability. Wave activity flux analysis reveals that a tropical influence occurs in the North Pacific region where a northeastward wave activity flux is found associated with the tropical divergent flow in the western and central Pacific. In the North Atlantic sector, on the other hand, a strong extratropical influence is observed with a southward wave activity flux into the Tropics. The extratropical low-frequency variability develops by extracting kinetic energy from the basic mean flow and through interactions with synoptic-scale transient eddies. Linear experiments show that the tropical atmospheric response to the extratropical forcing in the North Atlantic leads to an eastward-propagating wave in the tropical easterly mean flow of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Abstract

Tropical–extratropical interactions of intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs), based on 30 years (1979–2009) of northern winter observations and theory, are compared. The phase relationships between the tropical signal of the leading theoretical ISO for a January 1979 basic state and the development of Pacific–North America (PNA)-like and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) teleconnection patterns are found to compare closely with those for the observed Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). For both observations and theory positive NAO occurs 5–15 days after MJO convection [negative outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and positive precipitation] and negative upper-troposphere velocity potential ISO anomalies are focused over the central Indian Ocean. The fluxes of wave activity, based on the upper-troposphere streamfunction of the leading theoretical mode, indicate strong tropical–extratropical interactions and have very similar structures to those obtained by H. Lin et al. based on observations of extratropical anomalies associated with MJO convection.

The second leading theoretical ISO mode for January 1979 has quite similar properties to the leading ISO mode but has a longer period of 44.5 days compared with 34.4 days and a more distinct quadrupole streamfunction structure straddling the equator. Theoretical ISO modes for other observed basic states, including January 1988 and the 30-yr average of January 1980–2009, again link the tropical ISO signal with Northern Hemisphere teleconnection patterns, particularly the NAO. The growth rates of ISO modes increase with stronger baroclinicity of the basic-state zonal winds in the main jet streams and, importantly, with increased tropical–extratropical interactions because of stronger meridional winds.

Abstract

The warm Arctic–cold continent pattern (WACC) of near-surface air temperature variability has often been associated with the connection between Arctic sea ice reduction and cold weather over the midlatitude continents. Whether the existence of this pattern is due to variability of sea ice or is caused by atmospheric internal dynamics is subject to debate. Based on a long integration of a primitive equation atmospheric model (SGCM), this study examines the origin of the warm Arctic–cold North American pattern (WACNA), which is characterized by a pair of opposite surface air temperature anomalies over the high-latitude Chukchi–Bering Sea region and the North American continent, in boreal winter on the intraseasonal time scale. The model atmosphere is maintained by a time-independent forcing, so that atmospheric internal dynamics is the only source of variability. It is found that the SGCM model simulates well the behavior of the observed WACNA pattern. The WACNA pattern develops by interacting with the time-mean flow and synoptic-scale transient eddies. Two pathways of Rossby wave propagation are associated with WACNA. The northern pathway originates from eastern Siberia moving eastward across the Bering Strait to Canada, and the southern pathway is rooted in the subtropical waveguide propagating across the eastern North Pacific. Our simulation of this pattern implies that tropospheric dynamics alone can generate the WACNA, and the predictability associated with this pattern is likely limited by its internal dynamics nature.

Abstract

The total suspended particulate (TSP) samples over the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea were collected during two cruises in spring and autumn in 2012. Concentrations of water-soluble ions {Na⁺, K⁺, NH₄ ⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cl⁻, NO₃ ⁻, SO₄ ²⁻, and CH₃SO₃ ⁻ [methanesulfonic acid (MSA)]} and trace metals (Al, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, and V) were measured. Mass concentrations of TSP samples ranged from 65.2 to 136 μg m⁻³ in spring and from 15.9 to 70.3 μg m⁻³ in autumn, with average values of 100 ± 22.4 and 40.2 ± 17.8 μg m⁻³, respectively. The aerosol was acidic throughout the sampling periods according to calculation of equivalent concentrations of the cations (NH₄ ⁺, nss-Ca²⁺, and nss-K⁺) and anions (nss-SO₄ ²⁻ and NO₃ ⁻). Correlation analysis and enrichment factors revealed that the aerosol composition in the coastal marine atmosphere had a feature of a mixture of air masses: that is, crustal, marine, and anthropogenic emissions. Trace metals were enriched by a wide range of 1–10³, and enrichment factors for crustal source (EFc) were relatively higher in spring. Species like Cd, Zn, and Pb had an overwhelming contribution from anthropogenic sources. In addition, the concentrations of MSA varied from 0.0075 to 0.17 and from 0.0019 to 0.018 μg m⁻³ during the spring and autumn cruises, respectively, with means of 0.061 and 0.012 μg m⁻³, respectively. Based on the observed MSA and nss-SO₄ ²⁻ concentrations in spring and autumn, the relative biogenic sulfur contributions to nss-SO₄ ²⁻ were estimated to be 8.0% and 3.5% on average, respectively, implying that anthropogenic sources had a dominant contribution to the sulfur budget over the observational area.