Shallow Meridional Circulation Research Articles

Revisiting the Seasonal Cycle of Rainfall over Central Africa

Abstract The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), with its twice-annual passage over central Africa, is considered as the main driver of the rainfall seasonality. In this ITCZ paradigm, high rainfall occurs over regions of large low-level convergence. But recently, this paradigm was challenged over central Africa. Here, we show that a shallow meridional overturning circulation—driven by surface conditions—plays a thermodynamical control on the rainfall seasonality over central Africa. Indeed, due to the local evaporative cooling effect, the foot of the ascending branch of Hadley cells occurs where the temperature is the warmest, indicating a thermal low. This distorts the southern Hadley cell by developing its bottom-heavy structure. As result, both shallow and deep Hadley cells coexist over central Africa year-round. The deep mode is associated with the poleward transport of atmospheric energy at upper levels. The shallow mode is characterized by a shallow meridional circulation, with its moisture transport vanishing and converging in the midtroposphere rather than at lower troposphere. This midtropospheric moisture convergence is also the dominant component that shapes the vertically integrated moisture flux convergence, with little contribution of African easterly jets. This convergence zone thus controls the precipitating convection. Its meridional migration highlights the interhemispheric rainfall contrast over central Africa and outlines the unimodal seasonality. On the other hand, forced by the Congo basin cell, the precipitable water regulates the deep convection from the vegetated surface of Congo basin, acting as a continental sea. This nonlinear mechanism separates the rainfall into three distinct regimes: the moisture-convergence-controlled regime, with convective rainfall exclusively occurring in the rainy season; the local evaporation-controlled regime with drizzle in the dry season; and the precipitable-water-controlled regime, with exponential rainfall increase in the dry season.

An observational analysis of the eastern tropical Pacific Shallow Meridional Circulation using YOTC data and pilot balloons from Isla del Coco, Costa Rica

The low-level circulation of the atmosphere over Isla del Coco has been studied and the presence of a northerly wind at low levels of the atmosphere in the eastern tropical Pacific, in addition to the deep Hadley circulation cell, has been confirmed. Using data from pilot balloons (May 1997 through January 1999, October 2007 through April 2008), the northern flow is between 1 and 5 km high, depending on the time of year, with a maximum speed located between 2 and 3 km above the surface. The generating mechanism of the surface return flow in the Hadley circulation cell has been formulated as a sea breeze, Ekman pumping of the boundary layer, and it could even be a response to the Rossby wave generated by warming in the Chocó region. These results agree with those obtained from the ERA5 reanalysis (January 1979 through December 2020), which show that the southern return cell varies in position and height during the course of the year, with a poorly organized circulation in March and strengthening from July to February. The incorporation of data of low, medium and high cloud cover from Year of the Tropical Convection (boreal summer 2009) evidenced the presence of high-level clouds in the ITCZ region and low-level clouds to the south of the ITCZ, latitudes where the south surface circulation cell is located.

The Impact of the Direct Radiative Effect of Increased CO2 on the West African Monsoon

Abstract Projections of future West African monsoon (WAM) precipitation change in response to increasing greenhouse gases are uncertain, and an improved understanding of the drivers of WAM precipitation change is needed to help aid model development and better inform adaptation policies in the region. This paper addresses one of those drivers, the direct radiative effect of increased CO2 (i.e., the impact of increased CO2 in the absence of SST warming and changes in plant physiology). An atmosphere-only model is used to examine both the equilibrium response and the evolution of the change over the days following the instantaneous CO2 increase. In response to the direct radiative effect, WAM precipitation increases due to a weakening of the shallow meridional circulation over North Africa, advecting less dry air into the convective column associated with the monsoon. Changes in the shallow circulation are associated with atmospheric and surface warming patterns over North Africa. A large-scale atmospheric warming pattern, whereby North Africa warms more than the monsoon region, leads to a northward shift in the Saharan heat low. In response to increased precipitation in the Sahel, local soil moisture feedbacks play a key role in determining the low-level circulation change and the location of the intertropical discontinuity. The large-scale warming patterns over North Africa result from differing levels of constraint applied by convective quasi-equilibrium. While this constraint acts strongly in the equatorial WAM region, preventing the region from warming in response to the direct radiative effect, North Africa is not strongly constrained and is therefore able to warm.

Easterly Waves in the East Pacific during the OTREC 2019 Field Campaign

Abstract Easterly waves (EWs) are off-equatorial tropical synoptic disturbances with a westward phase speed between 11 and 14 m s−1. Over the east Pacific in boreal summer, the combination of EWs and other synoptic disturbances, plus local mechanisms associated with sea surface temperature (SST) gradients, define the climatological structure of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). The east Pacific ITCZ has both deep and shallow convection that is linked to deep and shallow meridional circulations, respectively. The deep convection is located around 9°N over warm SSTs. The shallow convection is located around 6°N and is driven by the meridional SST gradient south of the ITCZ. This study aims to document the interaction between east Pacific EWs and the deep and shallow meridional circulations during the Organization of Tropical East Pacific Convection (OTREC) field campaign in 2019 using field campaign observations, ERA5, and satellite precipitation. We identified three EWs during the OTREC period using precipitation and dynamical fields. Composite analysis shows that the convectively active part of the EW enhances ITCZ deep convection and is associated with an export of column-integrated moist static energy (MSE) by vertical advection. The subsequent convectively suppressed, anticyclonic part of the EW produces an increase of moisture and column-integrated MSE by horizontal advection that likely enhances shallow convection and the shallow overturning flow at 850 hPa over the southern part of the ITCZ. Therefore, EWs appear to strongly modulate shallow and deep circulations in the east Pacific ITCZ.

Eastward-Propagating Disturbances in the Tropical Pacific

Abstract Within the tropical Pacific intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), organized cloud systems that evolve over synoptic time scales frequently propagate eastward and contribute significantly to the clouds and precipitation in that region. This study analyzes eastward-propagating disturbances (EPDs) in the tropical Pacific during boreal winter (DJF) and spring (MAM) and their connection to Northern Hemisphere (NH) extratropical Rossby wave activity using cloud and precipitation fields from satellite and dynamical fields from reanalysis. During DJF, EPDs are located north of the ITCZ (around 15°N), propagate eastward at 10 m s−1 within the central Pacific, and exhibit high cloudiness associated with upper-level divergence on the east side of NH Rossby waves propagating into the tropics. During MAM, EPDs initiate in the west Pacific and propagate along the ITCZ axis (around 7°N) into the east Pacific at 15 m s−1 where NH Rossby waves induce upper-level divergence, enhancing their convective activity. The MAM EPDs are decidedly associated with Kelvin wave characteristics, while the DJF EPDs are not. The shallow meridional circulation (SMC) in the east Pacific is also studied in the context of EPDs. During DJF, EPDs do not impact the SMC, but the deep meridional circulation in the northern part of the ITCZ strengthens. During MAM, the shallow convection ahead of the EPDs enhances the SMC in the southern part of the ITCZ. These results distinguish between two types of EPDs during DJF and MAM that have different physical characteristics, forcing mechanisms, and regional impacts.

Assessing the Vertical Latent Heating Structure of the East Pacific ITCZ Using the CloudSat CPR and TRMM PR

In the east Pacific (EP) intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) latent heating retrievals suggest a top-heavy structure; however, light precipitation and its associated low-level heating are underestimated by the PR. This study uses stratiform and deep convective precipitation from the TRMM PR and shallow precipitation from the more sensitive CloudSat radar to assess the seasonal latent heating structure in the EP ITCZ (130°–90°W) for 1998–2014. This study also uses reanalyses (MERRA-2, ERA-Interim, and NCEP–NCAR) to analyze the meridional circulation linked to variations in ITCZ heating. The TRMM/ CloudSat heating profiles suggest a distinct seasonality. During DJF, latent heating peaks at 800 hPa because of the predominance of shallow convection and rises to 700 hPa during MAM as the contribution from deep convective rain increases. During JJA and SON, stratiform precipitation increases and the latent heating has a double peak at 700 and 400 hPa. Additionally, the EP ITCZ heating has a meridional slope throughout most of the year as a result of the prevalence of shallow (deep) convection in the southern (northern) part of the ITCZ. While the reanalyses agree that the most bottom-heavy heating occurs in DJF and the most top-heavy heating occurs in JJA, they underestimate heating aloft compared to the satellite retrievals throughout the year and show varying ability in representing the shallow meridional circulation and deeper Hadley cell overturning.

An influence of extreme southern hemisphere cold surges on the North Atlantic Subtropical High through a shallow atmospheric circulation

AbstractPrevious studies have attributed interhemisphere influences of the atmosphere to the latitudinal propagation of planetary waves crossing the equator, to the triggering of equatorial Kelvin waves, or to monsoonal circulation. Over the American‐Atlantic sector, such cross‐equatorial influences rarely occur during boreal summer due to unfavorable atmospheric conditions. We have observed that an alternative mechanism provides an interhemisphere influence. When episodes of extreme cold surges and upper tropospheric westerly winds occur concurrently over southern hemisphere Amazonia, cold surges from extratropical South America can penetrate deep into southern Amazonia. Although they do not appear to influence upper tropospheric circulation of the northern hemisphere, extremely strong southerly cross‐equatorial advection (>2σ standard deviations, or 2) of cold and dense air in the lower troposphere can reach as least 10°N. Such cold advection increases the northward cross‐equatorial pressure gradient in the lower to middle troposphere, thus shallow northerly return flow below 500 hPa. This return flow and the strong lower tropospheric southerly cross‐equatorial flow form an anomalous shallow meridional circulation spanning from southern Amazonia to the subtropical North Atlantic, with increased geopotential height anomalies exceeding +1σ to at least 18°N. It projects onto the southern edge of the North Atlantic Subtropical High (NASH), increasing its pressure and leading to equatorward expansion of NASH's southern boundary. These anomalies enhance the NASH, leading to its equatorward expansion. These extreme cold surges can potentially improving the predictability of weather patterns of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, including the variability of the NASH's southern edge.

The drying tendency of shallow meridional circulations in monsoons

Shallow meridional overturning circulations are superimposed on the deep circulations that produce precipitation in nearly all monsoon regions, and these shallow circulations transport subtropical, mid‐tropospheric dry air into the tropical monsoon precipitation maxima. Here horizontal moisture advection produced by shallow meridional circulations is characterized in the monsoon regions of West Africa, South Asia, Australia, and southern Africa during local summer. Horizontal flow in the upper and lower branches of the shallow meridional circulations consistently dries and moistens air, respectively, in the continental precipitation maxima of each region. The peak drying by horizontal advection occurs at a lower altitude than peak winds in the upper branch of the shallow circulations, consistent with the small scale height of water vapour. Advection of time‐mean moisture by time‐mean wind dominates horizontal moisture advection in South Asia and West Africa, while most horizontal moisture advection in Australia and southern Africa is produced by transient eddies. Much of the transient eddy advection can be accurately represented as a first‐order horizontal diffusion with a constant, globally uniform diffusivity. These results suggest that horizontal moisture advection in theoretical and conceptual models of seasonal mean monsoons can be adequately represented in terms of time‐mean winds plus a simple horizontal moisture diffusion. Finally, interannual variations in the summer mean regional averages of monsoon precipitation and horizontal advective drying in the lower free troposphere are shown to be negatively correlated in most regions, consistent with the hypothesis that advective drying by shallow meridional circulations inhibits monsoon precipitation.

Weakening and Shifting of the Saharan Shallow Meridional Circulation during Wet Years of the West African Monsoon

Abstract The correlation between increased Sahel rainfall and reduced Saharan surface pressure is well established in observations and global climate models and has been used to imply that increased Sahel rainfall is caused by a stronger shallow meridional circulation (SMC) over the Sahara. This study uses two atmospheric reanalyses to examine interannual variability of Sahel rainfall and the Saharan SMC, which consists of northward near-surface flow across the Sahel into the Sahara and southward flow near 700 hPa out of the Sahara. During wet Sahel years, the Saharan SMC shifts poleward, producing a drop in low-level geopotential and surface pressure over the Sahara. Statistically removing the effect of the poleward shift from the low-level geopotential eliminates significant correlations between this geopotential and Sahel precipitation. As the Saharan SMC shifts poleward, its midtropospheric divergent outflow decreases, indicating a weakening of its overturning mass flux. The poleward shift and weakening of the Saharan SMC during wet Sahel years is reproduced in an idealized model of West Africa; a wide range of imposed sea surface temperature and land surface albedo perturbations in this model produce a much larger range of SMC variations that nevertheless have similar quantitative associations with Sahel rainfall, as in the reanalyses. These results disprove the idea that enhanced Sahel rainfall is caused by strengthening of the Saharan SMC. Instead, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that a stronger SMC inhibits Sahel rainfall, perhaps by advecting midtropospheric warm and dry air into the precipitation maximum.

The momentum constraints on the shallow meridional circulation associated with the marine ITCZ

Recent studies have shown that the shallow meridional circulation (SMC) coexists with the deep circulation in the marine ITCZ. The SMC has been assumed to be forced by strong meridional gradients of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) which affect the atmosphere under hydrostatic balance. In this paper, we present a new viewpoint that the shallow meridional circulation is a part of circulation that forms when the marine ITCZ is located away from the equator. To support this view, we have used reanalysis data over east Pacific ocean to show that the shallow meridional circulation is absent when the ITCZ is located near the equator while it is strong to the south of the ITCZ when the ITCZ is located away from the equator. To further support this view, we have conducted idealized aquaplanet experiments by shifting SST maximum polewards to simulate the observed contrast in the meridional circulation associated with near equatorial and off-equatorial ITCZ. The detailed momentum budget of the flow above the boundary layer shows that, to the south of an off-equatorial ITCZ, the dominant balance between the Coriolis force and the advection of relative vorticity by the mean flow leads to cancellation of the planetary rotational effects. As a result, the net rotational effects experienced by the diverging flow above the boundary layer are negligible and a shallow meridional flow along the pressure gradients is generated. This dominant balance does not occur in the aquaplanet GCM when the ITCZ forms near the equator.

Improving Energy-Based Estimates of Monsoon Location in the Presence of Proximal Deserts

Abstract Two theoretical frameworks have been widely used to understand the response of monsoons to local and remote forcings: the vertically integrated atmospheric energy budget and convective quasi-equilibrium (CQE). Existing forms of these frameworks neglect some of the complexities of monsoons, such as the shallow meridional circulations that advect dry air from adjacent deserts into the middle and lower troposphere of monsoon regions. Here the fidelity of energy budget and CQE theories for monsoon location is assessed in a three-dimensional beta-plane model with boundary conditions representative of an off-equatorial continent with a tropical grassland and an adjacent subtropical desert. Energy budget theories show mixed success for various SST and land surface albedo forcings, with the ITCZ being collocated with the energy flux equator but a nonmonotonic relationship existing between ITCZ latitude and cross-equatorial energy transport. Accounting for the off-equatorial position of the unperturbed energy flux equator is shown to be important when a linearization of meridional energy transports is used to quantitatively diagnose ITCZ location. CQE theories that diagnose ITCZ location based on the subcloud moist static energy maximum are shown to have large biases; accounting for convective entrainment of dry air by using a lower-tropospheric mean moist static energy provides a more correct diagnosis of ITCZ location. Finally, it is shown that although ITCZ shifts can be diagnosed by modified CQE and energy budget frameworks, neither can be used in a quantitatively prognostic capacity because of unpredictable feedbacks that are often larger than the imposed forcing.

Radiative driving of shallow return flows from the ITCZ

AbstractThe tropical overturning circulation over the central‐east Pacific not only extends through the troposphere but also includes a shallow component outflowing from the ITCZ near the planetary boundary layer (PBL) top, the Shallow Meridional Circulation (SMC). Idealized simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, which qualitatively reproduce this two‐component circulation, are used to investigate the mechanism driving the SMC by altering model parameterization schemes (PBL, cumulus and radiation), the solar heating rate, and the SST gradient. A radiative‐driving model for subsidence is tested and found to quantitatively predict the altitude and strength of the SMC in all experiments. This includes experiments with a changed SST gradient, in which the changes in temperature profile and clouds near PBL top in the subsiding region altered radiative cooling so as to make the SMC vary in proportion to the SST gradient. These results indicate that the SMC is strongly controlled by radiative cooling rather than independently by SST patterns or convective processes, at least in this model setup. Experiments with altered solar heating of the atmosphere affected the strength of the SMC strongly, while changes in cumulus parameterization had a weaker effect. Parameterization changes influenced the SMC mainly by altering shallow cloud amount and humidity in subsidence regions, but vertical gradients of temperature also affect the radiative driving of the SMC in at least one case. The results highlight that atmospheric radiative heating is of prime importance for determining the character of deep and shallow overturning.

Warm Organized Rain Systems over the Tropical Eastern Pacific

Abstract This study uses 16-yr Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) radar precipitation feature (RPF) data to characterize warm rain systems in the tropics with large horizontal extensions, referred to as warm organized rain systems. The systems are selected by specifying the RPFs with minimum infrared brightness temperature warmer than 0°C and rain area greater than 500 km2. ERA-Interim atmospheric fields and SST from NOAA are analyzed to highlight the environmental characteristics of warm organized rain systems. Warm organized systems occur over specific oceanic regions, including the eastern Pacific ITCZ, the eastern part of the SPCZ, and coastal regions. In contrast with ubiquitous warm isolated RPFs, warm organized systems have greater near-surface radar reflectivity. The rainfall amounts generated by warm organized systems are greater in winter than in summer. Composite analyses indicate that warm organized RPFs prefer to coexist with a dry midtroposphere associated with a strong upper-level descent, an enhanced near-surface moisture convergence, and a strong low-level large-scale ascent. The shallow meridional circulation in the eastern Pacific is significantly stronger for warm organized RPFs compared to the circulation for warm isolated RPFs. Warm organized systems over the tropical eastern Pacific occur at warm SSTs with mean value of about 27°C and a strong SST meridional gradient. The warm organized RPFs in the tropical eastern Pacific are found to be at the southern edge of deep ITCZ cores. This is probably related to the meridional asymmetrical thermodynamic structure over the eastern Pacific ITCZ with a higher low-level humidity to the south. Similar favorable large-scale environments for the warm organized RPFs are also found over the SPCZ and other regions.

Processes Leading to Double Intertropical Convergence Zone Bias in CESM1/CAM5

Abstract The double intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) bias in the eastern Pacific in the Community Earth System Model version 1 with Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CESM1/CAM5) is diagnosed. In CAM5 standalone, the northern ITCZ is associated with inertial instability and the southern ITCZ is thermally forced. After air–sea coupling, the processes on both hemispheres are switched because the spatial pattern of sea surface temperature (SST) is changed. Biases occur during boreal spring in both CAM5 and the ocean model. In CAM5 alone, weaker-than-observed equatorial easterly in the tropical eastern South Pacific leads to weaker evaporation and an increase in local SST. The shallow meridional circulation overly converges in the same region in the CAM5 standalone simulation, the planetary boundary layer and middle troposphere are too humid, and the large-scale subsidence is too weak at the middle levels. These biases may result from excessive shallow convection behavior in CAM5. The extra moisture would then fuel stronger convection and a higher precipitation rate in the southeastern Pacific. In the ocean model, the South Equatorial Current is underestimated and the North Equatorial Countercurrent is located too close to the equator, causing a warm SST bias in the southeastern Pacific and a cold bias in the northeastern Pacific. These SST biases feed back to the atmosphere and further influence convection and the surface wind biases in the coupled simulation. When the convection in the tropical northeastern Pacific becomes thermally forced after coupling, the northern ITCZ is diminished due to colder SST, forming the so-called alternating ITCZ bias.

Interannual Variability of Monsoon Precipitation and Local Subcloud Equivalent Potential Temperature

The interannual variability of monsoon precipitation is described in the context of a convective quasi-equilibrium framework. Using two reanalysis products and two global precipitation datasets, the authors examine linear relationships between seasonal anomalies of precipitation and subcloud equivalent potential temperature (θeb) local to six monsoon regions. This approach provides a single near-surface thermodynamically relevant variable over both land and ocean, extending previous studies of interannual monsoon variability that emphasized ocean surface temperatures. After removing the variability linearly associated with an index of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, positive monsoon precipitation anomalies are shown to be associated with enhanced θeblocal to and slightly poleward of the climatological θebmaximum. The variations in continental θeblocal to the monsoon precipitation maxima are mainly due to variations in subcloud specific humidity, with changes in subcloud temperature having the opposite sign. Motivated by the fact that some of these subcloud humidity anomalies occur over deserts poleward of monsoon regions, the relationship of 700-hPa flow with precipitation is examined, and enhanced precipitation in several regions is found to covary with the properties of shallow meridional circulations. The implications of these results for the understanding of monsoon interannual variability are discussed.

Regional sea level trends due to a Pacific trade wind intensification

[1] Over the past two decades, sea level trends have increased in the western tropical Pacific Ocean with rates that are approximately three times the global average. A general circulation model is used to show that the high rates are caused by a gradual intensification of Pacific trade winds since the early 1990s. The modeled sea level change captures the spatial trend pattern in satellite altimeter sea surface heights and the temporal trend shift in tide gauge observations. In addition to the sea level response, the model is used to show how other aspects of the ocean circulation have increased appreciably in amplitude as a consequence of the trade wind intensification, including tropical surface currents, the shallow meridional over-turning circulation, the Equatorial Undercurrent, and the Indonesian Throughflow. These results highlight an ongoing shift in the state of the tropical Pacific Ocean that will continue as long as the trade wind trend persists.

Annual cycle of the West African monsoon: regional circulations and associated water vapour transport

AbstractAnalysis of the annually varying regional circulations and their relationship to surface conditions and water vapour transport in the West African region is presented. The progression of the West African monsoon is described in terms of four key phases: (i) an oceanic phase between November and mid‐April when the rain band is broad with peak values just north of the Equator (∼1°N); (ii) a coastal phase between mid‐April and the end of June when the rainfall peak is in the coastal region around 4°N (over the ocean); (iii) a transitional phase during the first half of July when the rainfall peak decreases; and (iv) a Sahelian phase between mid‐July and September when the rainfall peak is more intense and established in the Sahelian region around 10°N. The annual evolution of the moisture fluxes, associated convergence, and rainfall is strongly impacted by the Atlantic cold tongue (cool water close to the Equator between boreal spring and summer) and the Saharan heat‐low. The cold tongue strongly regulates the timing and intensity of the coastal rainfall in spring. The heat‐low and its associated shallow meridional circulation strongly affect the profile in moisture flux convergence north of the main rain‐band maximum; in particular it is responsible for the establishment of a second peak in column moisture flux convergence there (approximately 8° poleward of the rainfall peak).Particular emphasis is given to the coastal rainfall onset in April. A key aspect of this onset is acceleration of low‐level cross‐equatorial southerly winds, important for establishing the cold tongue, discouraging convection near the Equator and transporting moisture towards the coast. We argue that the rainfall peak is maintained at the coast, rather than steadily moving inland with the solar insolation, due to persistent warm water in the coastal region together with frictionally induced moisture convergence there. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society

West African Monsoon water cycle: 2. Assessment of numerical weather prediction water budgets

Water budgets from European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re‐Analysis (ERA)‐Interim and National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Reanalysis I and II are intercompared and compared to GPS precipitable water and to the 6 year hybrid budget data set described in part 1 of this study. Deficiencies are evidenced in the reanalyses which are most pronounced over the Sahel. Results from operational models (ECMWF Integrated Forecast System, NCEP Global Forecast System, and ARPEGE‐Tropiques) and the special ECMWF African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses reanalysis confirm and help understanding these findings. A bias (∼1–2 mm d−1) in precipitation and evapotranspiration leads to an unrealistic view of West Africa as a moisture source during the summer. North of the rainband (13°N–16°N), moisture flux convergence (MFC) shows a minimum in the NCEP models and divergence in the ECMWF models not consistent with the hybrid data set. This feature, added to presence of a deep layer of northerly dry air advected at midlevels (800–400 hPa), is thought to block the development of deep convection in the models and the northward propagation of the monsoonal rainband. The northerly flow is part of a shallow meridional circulation that is driven by the Saharan heat low. This circulation appears too strong in some of the models, a possible consequence of the too‐approximate representation of physical processes and land surface properties over the Sahel. In most of the models, evapotranspiration shows poor connection with precipitation. This is linked with large analysis increments in precipitable water, soil moisture, and MFC. Despite the large biases affecting the water budget components in the models, temporal variations (seasonal and interannual) might nevertheless be recovered with reasonable accuracy.

Diabatic heating, divergent circulation and moisture transport in the African monsoon system

AbstractThe dynamics of the West African monsoon system is studied through the diagnosis of the roles of diabatic heating in the divergent circulation and moisture transport. The divergent circulation is partitioned into latent‐heating and non‐latent‐heating (the sum of surface sensible heat flux and radiative heating) driven components based on its field properties and its relationship with diabatic heating profiles. Roles of latent and non‐latent diabatic heating in the moisture transport of the monsoon system are thus distinguished.The gradient in surface sensible heat flux between the Saharan heat‐low and the Gulf of Guinea drives a shallow meridional circulation, which transports moisture far into the continent on the northern side of the monsoon rain band and thereby promotes the seasonal northward migration of monsoon precipitation. In contrast, the circulation directly associated with latent heating is deep and the corresponding moisture convergence maximum is within the region of precipitation and thus enhances local monsoon precipitation. Meanwhile, latent heating also induces dry air advection from the north. The seasonal northward migration of precipitation is encouraged by neither of the two effects. On the other hand, the divergent circulation forced by remote latent heating influences local moisture distribution through advection. Specifically by bringing Saharan air from the north, and driving moisture to the adjacent oceans, global latent heating has an overall drying effect over the Sahel. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society

Shallow Meridional Circulations in the Tropical Atmosphere

Abstract A shallow meridional circulation (SMC) in the tropical atmosphere features a low-level (e.g., 700 hPa) flow that is in the opposite direction to the boundary layer monsoon or trade wind flow and is distinct from the meridional flow above. Representations of the SMC in three global reanalyses show both similarities and astonishing discrepancies. While the SMC over West Africa appears to be the strongest, it also exists over the eastern Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans, and over the Indian subcontinent, with different strength and structure. All SMCs undergo marked seasonal cycles. The SMCs are summarized into two types: one associated with the marine ITCZ and the other with the summer monsoon. The large-scale conditions for these two types of SMCs are similar: a strong meridional gradient in surface pressure linked to surface temperature distributions and an absence of deep moist convection. The processes responsible for these conditions are different for the two types of SMCs, as are their structures relative to moist convection, associated precipitation, and deep meridional overturning circulations. It is suggested that discrepancies among the representations of the SMC in the three global reanalyses stem from different treatment of physical parameterizations, especially for cumulus convection, in the models used for the data assimilation.