Feedback between surface air temperature and atmospheric circulation in high‐temperature weather in East China: a diurnal perspective

Abstract

AbstractThis study proposes the generality of surface air temperature (SAT)–atmospheric circulation feedback during high‐temperature weather in late July 2003 over East China by using the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF; Version 3) simulations with a succession of 24‐h integrations, i.e. on a daily scale, the SAT increase leads to a weakened ridge of the western Pacific subtropical high in the lower troposphere (i.e. negative feedback), whereas it leads to a strengthened ridge in the upper troposphere (i.e. positive feedback) and vice versa. Additionally, using the balance equation of temperature, the feedbacks are clarified from the diurnal‐variation perspective. This shows many complex details, e.g. the changes in geopotential heights are more complex than those in air temperatures, and the overall daily feedback appears to be dominated by the feedback during the phase with intense daytime surface heating. All of the WRF‐modified land surface conditions can lead to large changes in the maximum, minimum, and average SATs over the mean diurnal scale, with generally larger differences induced by land surface schemes than those induced by initial soil moisture, suggesting that the SAT–circulation feedback can be greatly reduced (or amplified) by different land conditions over the diurnal weather scale and that diurnal variations could substantially contribute to longer timescale climate.