Different response of North Pacific storm tracks in the upper and lower troposphere to jet strength

Abstract

The midwinter suppression of North Pacific storm tracks (NPSTs) reflects that the linear relationship between the NPST and baroclinicity breaks in winter. Based on the reanalysis data during the cold seasons of 1979–2019 and a tracking algorithm, this study analyzes the eddy growth process and shows that an enhanced upper-tropospheric jet favors the generation of upper-level eddies on the northeast side of the Pacific jet, but increasingly suppresses the generation of those in the Northwest Pacific. The upper-level eddies generated upstream of the jet core are unable to grow sufficiently throughout the whole cold season, and only those generated downstream of the jet core can grow normally and constitute the main body of the upper-level NPST. By contrast, the main lower-level eddy genesis area and growth area coincide with the baroclinic zone, with the genesis number and local growth rate increasing with the baroclinicity.摘要北太平洋风暴轴的深冬抑制表明风暴轴强度与斜压性之间的线性关系在冬季破裂. 本研究基于1979–2019年冷季的再分析数据和拉格朗日跟踪算法, 对比分析了高低层扰动的具体生长过程. 结果表明太平洋急流的增强有利于高层扰动在急流核东北侧产生, 但却抑制其在西北太平洋的生成. 在急流核上游产生的高层扰动在整个冷季都无法充分发展, 只有在急流核下游产生的高层扰动才能正常生长且它们是构成高层太平洋风暴轴的主体. 相比之下, 低层扰动的生成区和生长区都与斜压区重合, 并且它们的生成数量和局部增长率随着斜压性的增强而增强.