East Asian Subtropical Jet Research Articles

Responses of East Asian summer monsoon to natural and anthropogenic forcings in the 17 latest CMIP5 models

AbstractIn this study, we examined the responses of East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) to natural (solar variability and volcanic aerosols) and anthropogenic (greenhouse gasses and aerosols) forcings simulated in the 17 latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Program phase 5 models with 105 realizations. The observed weakening trend of low‐level EASM circulation during 1958–2001 is partly reproduced under all‐forcing runs. A comparison of separate forcing experiments reveals that the aerosol forcing plays a primary role in driving the weakened low‐level monsoon circulation. The preferential cooling over continental East Asia caused by aerosol affects the monsoon circulation through reducing the land‐sea thermal contrast and results in higher sea level pressure over northern China. In the upper level, both natural forcing and aerosol forcing contribute to the observed southward shift of East Asian subtropical jet through changing the meridional temperature gradient.

Concurrent variation between the East Asian subtropical jet and polar front jet during persistent snowstorm period in 2008 winter over southern China

AbstractThe concurrent variation features between the East Asian subtropical jet and polar front jet were investigated during persistent snowstorm period in 2007/2008 winter over southern China. The East Asian subtropical jet was divided into two parts: (1) the plateau jet, located along the southern side of the Tibetan Plateau, and (2) the ocean jet, situated at the southeastern Japan Island. The concurrent intensity variation among the polar front jet, plateau jet, and ocean jet and the associated atmospheric anomalous signals were examined. A possible mechanism for concurrent variation among the three jets was also investigated from a perspective of synoptic‐scale transient eddy activities (STEA). The enhanced plateau jet was simultaneously correlated with the weakened polar front jet, while the variation of the ocean jet lagged the variation of the plateau jet (polar front jet) about 5 days. The concurrent variation between the plateau jet and the polar front jet acted as an important bridge that linked the snowstorm to the atmospheric anomalous signals associated with the cold and warm air activities. Due to the opposite trends of STEA variation over the southern and northern sides of the Tibetan Plateau, the plateau jet and the polar front jet exhibited a significant concurrent variation feature. The STEA anomalies over the plateau jet and polar front jet regions propagated downstream to the East Asian coast as a wave train along the southern and northern sides of the Tibetan Plateau, respectively, resulting in a 5 day lag variation relationship between the ocean jet and the plateau jet (polar front jet).

FGOALS-s2 simulation of upper-level jet streams over East Asia: Mean state bias and synoptic-scale transient eddy activity

Upper-level jet streams over East Asia simulated by the LASG/IAP coupled climate system model FGOALS-s2 were assessed, and the mean state bias explained in terms of synoptic-scale transient eddy activity (STEA). The results showed that the spatial distribution of the seasonal mean jet stream was reproduced well by the model, except that following a weaker meridional temperature gradient (MTG), the intensity of the jet stream was weaker than in National Centers for Environment Prediction (NCEP)/Department of Energy Atmospheric Model Inter-comparison Project II reanalysis data (NCEP2). Based on daily mean data, the jet core number was counted to identify the geographical border between the East Asian Subtropical Jet (EASJ) and the East Asian Polar-front Jet (EAPJ). The border is located over the Tibetan Plateau according to NCEP2 data, but was not evident in FGOALS-s2 simulations. The seasonal cycles of the jet streams were found to be reasonably reproduced, except that they shifted northward relative to reanalysis data in boreal summer owing to the northward shift of negative MTGs. To identify the reasons for mean state bias, the dynamical and thermal forcings of STEA on mean flow were examined with a focus on boreal winter. The dynamical and thermal forcings were estimated by extended Eliassen-Palm flux (E) and transient heat flux, respectively. The results showed that the failure to reproduce the tripolar-pattern of the divergence of E over the jet regions led to an unsuccessful separation of the EASJ and EAPJ, while dynamical forcing contributed less to the weaker EASJ. In contrast, the weaker transient heat flux partly explained the weaker EASJ over the ocean.

The East Asian upper-tropospheric jet streams and associated transient eddy activities simulated by a climate system model BCC_CSM1.1

In this paper, major features of the upper-tropospheric jet streams simulated by a coupled Climate System Model BCC_CSM1.1 are evaluated through comparison with the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. The jet streams consist of the East Asian subtropical jet (EASJ) and the East Asian polar-front jet (EAPJ). Associated stationary wave and synoptic-scale transient eddy activities (STEA) are also examined. The results show that the climatological positions of the westerly jet streams are well captured by BCC_CSM1.1, but with slight intensity biases. Statistics from the 6-h model outputs reveal that the jet core number (JCN) of ESPJ is significantly underestimated. Examination of the simulated seasonal evolution of the westerly jet stream indicates that the model has produced a westward movement of the EASJ core in May, one month earlier than that in the reanalysis. Analysis of stationary wave activities shows that the overestimated meridional wind component may have caused considerable enhancement of meridional momentum and heat transport. The stationary Rossby wave represented by the wave activity flux at the southern flank of the Tibetan Plateau is favorable to the growth of asymmetric zonal wind and the multiple-center pattern of JCN. Unlike the stationary wave heat flux transport, the model tends to systematically generate weaker transient heat flux over East Asia. Further analysis of STEA exhibits a general consistent pattern between the simulation and the reanalysis, while the intensity of the northern STEA branch associated with the EAPJ is greatly reduced. The deficiencies of eddy momentum and heat flux transport and accompanied eddy forcing may contribute to the biases of the simulated upper-tropospheric jet streams, suggesting the potential importance of midlatitude internal atmospheric dynamics in shaping the tropospheric general circulation, which is not yet fully and accurately resolved in the current BCC_CSM1.1.

The effect of transient eddy on interannual meridional displacement of summer East Asian subtropical jet

Using ERA-40 reanalysis daily data for the period 1958–2002, this study investigated the effect of transient eddy (TE) on the interannual meridional displacement of summer East Asian subtropical jet (EASJ) by conducting a detailed dynamical diagnosis. The summer EASJ axis features a significant interannual coherent meridional displacement. Associated with such a meridional displacement, the TE vorticity forcing anomalies are characterized by a meridional dipole pattern asymmetric about the climatological EASJ axis. The TE vorticity forcing anomalies yield barotropic zonal wind tendencies with a phase meridionally leading the zonal wind anomalies, suggesting that they act to reinforce further meridional displacement of the EASJ and favor a positive feedback in the TE and time-mean flow interaction. However, The TE thermal forcing anomalies induce baroclinic zonal wind tendencies that reduce the vertical shear of zonal wind and atmospheric baroclinicity and eventually suppress the TE activity, favoring a negative feedback in the TE and time-mean flow interaction. Although the two types of TE forcing tend to have opposite feedback roles, the TE vorticity forcing appears to be dominant in the TE effect on the time-mean flow.

Diagnostic comparison of wintertime East Asian subtropical jet and polar-front jet: Large-scale characteristics and transient eddy activities

Diagnostic comparison of the East Asian subtropical jet (EASJ) and polar-front jet (EAPJ) in winter season is carried out by using the ERA-40 dataset. The large-scale circulation characteristics and synopticscale transient eddy activities (STEAs) associated with the EASJ and EAPJ are examined. The results show that the EASJ and EAPJ in the upper-level monthly mean data have no clear geographical border, while the distribution of the numbers of jet cores from the daily data exhibits a distinct boundary at the latitudes of the northern Tibetan Plateau. The two areas with large numbers of jet cores correspond to the EASJ and EAPJ regions. The analysis of STEAs over the East Asian region shows a spatial match of STEAs with the EASJ and EAPJ in winter: the strong EASJ is located within the weak southern branch of the STEA while the relatively weak EAPJ appears within the active northern branch of the STEA, indicating that the EAPJ is the jet coexisting with the STEA. Further analysis shows two anomalous modes of the winter EAPJ: the anomalous anticyclonic/cyclonic circulation and the weakened/strengthened local westerly wind. The large-scale circulation anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere related to the first mode are concentrated in the Eurasian mid to high latitudes, and are also influenced by the anomalous circulation in the upstream area. When the local westerly wind over the EAPJ region is weakened/strengthened, the westerly jet in the eastern part of the EASJ and that in the western Pacific region show opposite variations. The corresponding anomalous atmospheric circulation demonstrates the Eurasian (EU) pattern. The EAPJ anomalies are also closely linked with the STEA anomalies over East Asia. The anomalies in the northern branch of the STEA propagate as a wave train along its axis into the East Asian coastal waters, and then migrate eastward to the oceanic region. However, the ones near the southern branch are trapped over the eastern part of East Asia and its coastal waters at 200 hPa.

Seasonal Variations of the Synoptic-Scale Transient Eddy Activity and Polar Front Jet over East Asia

Abstract Seasonal variations of the synoptic-scale transient eddy activity (STEA) and the jet streams over East Asia are examined through analysis of the 40-yr European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-40) data. Extracted from the 6-hourly upper-level wind fields, the distribution of the jet core numbers exhibits a distinct geographical border for the East Asian subtropical jet (EASJ) and the East Asian polar front jet (EAPJ) at the latitudes of the northern Tibetan Plateau (TP). In the cool seasons, two branches of the STEA and low-level baroclinicity exist over the East Asian landmass, accompanied by the two-jet state of the EASJ and EAPJ. In the warm seasons, a single jet pattern of the EASJ along the north flank of the TP is accompanied by the weakened STEA over the mid- to high latitudes of East Asia. Further analysis shows two distinct features of the seasonal variations of the STEA over East Asia, compared with that over the North Pacific. First, during the transitional period of April–June, the main STEA band over East Asia migrates northward dramatically, in conjunction with the EAPJ shifting in the same direction. Second, both the upper-level STEA and the lower-level baroclinicity poleward of the TP are prosperous in spring. The relationship between the STEA, baroclinicity, vertical wind shear, and static stability in the EAPJ region in different seasons is further investigated. It is found that in addition to the time-mean wind fields, the rapid increase in the sensible heat flux poleward side of the TP region in spring and the associated boundary layer processes are partially responsible for the spring prosperity of the local baroclinicity and the STEA.

Climatological study of the total ozone field around the subtropical jet stream

AbstractA study of the average distribution of total ozone was accomplished for the period from October 1982 to September 1983 in the area 20–50°N, 90–160°E, i.e. the entrance region of the East Asian subtropical jet stream. Total ozone data were obtained from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer on the Nimbus‐7 satellite.Normally, the subtropical jet stream (STJ) marks a steep gradient in total ozone. From the monthly mean study of total ozone and wind fields at the 200 hPa surface, it was found that in winter the total ozone contours are almost parallel to the wind directions; the horizontal gradient in total ozone increases as the wind speed strengthens. In winter and spring, a sharp gradient in total ozone is found on the cyclonic side of the STJ because of the strong Hadley circulation. As the Hadley cell ceases in summer, the jet weakens and horizontal gradients in total ozone become much smaller, disappearing almost entirely by early autumn.