Subtropical Air Research Articles

Tracking rapid ice recession in a major Southern Alps valley during the last glacial termination

The last glacial termination featured a major reconfiguration of Earth's climate and cryosphere, whose underlying cause remains unresolved. To investigate this problem, we combine 10Be surface-exposure dating of moraines with former equilibrium line altitudes to determine the magnitude and timing of atmospheric temperature warming that ended the Last Glaciation in the Takapō/Tekapo valley in the central Southern Alps of New Zealand. We show mountain-valley glacier recession from a nearly full-glacial configuration to a near-interglacial configuration early in the termination between ∼18,000 and ∼17,000 yrs ago, commensurate with a net atmospheric warming of ∼3.8 °C (from −6.25 °C to −2.5 °C cooler than present). Similar recession also affected mid-latitude mountain glaciers in South America. We suggest trans-South Pacific glacier withdrawal early in the termination resulted from a decisive poleward shift of the austral westerlies that increased the proportion of warm subtropical air masses flowing over southern mid-latitude mountains, markedly raising glacier ablation rates. Farther south, the poleward-shifted westerlies drove increased ocean upwelling and surface warming, outgassing of carbon dioxide, and progressive ocean destratification, together raising atmospheric temperature over the Antarctic Ice Sheet, but at a rate slower than over mid-latitude mountain glaciers. Overall, we consider that Southern Hemisphere middle-latitude glacier recession was linked to Antarctic warming by a poleward displacement in latitude and an increase in strength of the Southern Hemisphere westerlies.

Examining Atmospheric River Life Cycles in East Antarctica

AbstractDuring atmospheric river (AR) landfalls on the Antarctic ice sheet, the high waviness of the circumpolar polar jet stream allows for subtropical air masses to be advected toward the Antarctic coastline. These rare but high‐impact AR events are highly consequential for the Antarctic mass balance; yet little is known about the various atmospheric dynamical components determining their life cycle. By using an AR detection algorithm to retrieve AR landfalls at Dumont d'Urville and non‐AR analogs based on 700 hPa geopotential height, we examined what makes AR landfalls unique and studied the complete life cycle of ARs reaching Dumont d'Urville. ARs form in the mid‐latitudes/subtropics in areas of high surface evaporation, likely in response to tropical deep convection anomalies. These convection anomalies likely lead to Rossby wave trains that help amplify the upper‐tropospheric flow pattern. As the AR approaches Antarctica, condensation of isentropically lifted moisture causes latent heat release that—in conjunction with poleward warm air advection—induces geopotential height rises and anticyclonic upper‐level potential vorticity tendencies downstream. As evidenced by a blocking index, these tendencies lead to enhanced ridging/blocking that persist beyond the AR landfall time, sustaining warm air advection onto the ice sheet. Finally, we demonstrate a connection between tropopause polar vortices and mid‐latitude cyclogenesis in an AR case study. Overall, the non‐AR analogs reveal that the amplified jet pattern observed during AR landfalls is a result of enhanced poleward moisture transport and associated diabatic heating which is likely impossible to replicate without strong moisture transport.

Is the Climate of the Congo basin Becoming Less Able to Support a Tropical Forest Ecosystem?

Abstract Ongoing degradation of the Congolese rain forest is documented, but the individual roles of climate change and deforestation are unknown. A modified version of the Centro de Previsao de Tempo e Estudios Climaticos (CPTEC) potential vegetation model (PVM) forced by ERA5 reanalysis data translates decadal climate states (1980–2020) into natural vegetation distributions to identify regions where climate change could have played a role in changing vegetation. These areas are then examined to understand how and why these climate changes could affect the tropical rain forest coverage. Between the 1980s and the 2010s, the climate over the northern and southern Congo basin rain forest margins becomes less able to support the forest. In the north, strong, negative meridional moisture gradients in boreal winter separate warm, dry conditions to the north from the cooler, moist rain forest. By the 2010s greenhouse gas warming deepens the low-level trough in the north, enhancing the inflow of drier subtropical air. A similar drying response occurs over the southern margin during austral winter when the low-level westerly transport of Atlantic moisture decreases in association with warming and reduced low-level heights over the equatorial Congo basin. In the interior, climate conditions also become less favorable along major transportation routes by the 2010s due to human intervention/deforestation. Along coastal Angola, the climate becomes more favorable for tropical forest vegetation when coastal upwelling weakens and SSTs warm in response to changes in the South Atlantic subtropical anticyclone. These results have implications for the future as global warming continues.

몽골의 기후지형학적 특징과 토양발달

Mongolia's high latitude/altitude and strong continentality make its climate and vegetation, topography and soil development different from those of a typical periglacial or arid zone. The wide range of daily/annual temperatures, glaciers and permafrost means that freeze-thaw processes are very active in almost all areas, and forest/steppe landscapes develop. It is an arid environment with low precipitation, but subtropical air masses in summer can cause seasonal flooding and inundation. These features make Mongolia a region with a very different character from region to region. Zuunkharaa is characterised by relatively low temperatures/evaporation and permafrost, leading to the development of periglacial features such as ice lenses, ice wedges and hummocks, while Lun, a tributary lowland formed by summer flooding, dries up and takes on the characteristics of a deflation lake. In the Karakorum, at the junction of mountains and plains, extensive alluvium is deposited in the form of alluvial fans. In Bayanzag, strong evaporation causes solonchacks to form, but active freeze-thaw processes and winds produce a hardened surface similar to desert pavements. Mongolia's landforms and soils are the result of a combination of strong freeze-thaw processes/evaporation, surface water and wind erosion, seasonal precipitation and flooding, and the influence of permafrost.

Magnitude, Scale, and Dynamics of the 2020 Mei-yu Rains and Floods over China

Large parts of East and South Asia were affected by heavy precipitation and flooding during early summer 2020. This study provides both a statistical and dynamical characterization of rains and floods affecting the Yangtze River Basin (YRB). By aggregating daily and monthly precipitation over river basins across Asia, it is shown that the YRB is one of the areas that was particularly affected. June and July 2020 rainfall was higher than in the previous 20 years, and the YRB experienced anomalously high rainfall across most of its sub-basins. YRB discharge also attained levels not seen since 1998/1999. An automated method detecting the daily position of the East Asian Summer Monsoon Front (EASMF) is applied to show that the anomalously high YRB precipitation was associated with a halted northward progression of the EASMF and prolonged mei-yu conditions over the YRB lasting more than one month. Two 5-day heavy-precipitation episodes (12−16 June and 4−8 July 2020) are selected from this period for dynamical characterization, including Lagrangian trajectory analysis. Particular attention is devoted to the dynamics of the airstreams converging at the EASMF. Both episodes display heavy precipitation and convergence of monsoonal and subtropical air masses. However, clear differences are identified in the upper-level flow pattern, substantially affecting the balance of airmass advection towards the EASMF. This study contextualizes heavy precipitation in Asia in summer 2020 and showcases several analysis tools developed by the authors for the study of such events.

Attenuation of Central Pacific El Niño Amplitude by North Pacific Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies

AbstractThere exists a pronounced asymmetry between the amplitudes of central Pacific (CP) and eastern Pacific (EP) El Niño sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA). The present study examines such an asymmetry and its relationship with the North Pacific SSTA. Results indicate that the weaker CP El Niño amplitude can be attributed to the weaker anomalous zonal wind response to the east–west equatorial SSTA gradient during its growing phase compared with EP El Niño. Furthermore, the occurrence of CP El Niño is closely associated with southwesterly surface wind anomalies in the subtropical North Pacific, as well as ocean warming reminiscent of the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO) pattern in its vicinity. Both the observations as well as the pacemaker experiments with a coupled global climate model suggest that the anomalous low-level southwesterlies, induced by the North Pacific Oscillation (NPO)-like atmospheric variability, can enhance anomalously positive SST signals and extend them southwestward to the central equatorial Pacific via the wind–evaporation–SST feedback. This will further attenuate the atmospheric response to zonal SSTA gradient, and hence weaken the amplitude of CP El Niño. Therefore, anomalous low-level southwesterlies over the subtropical North Pacific can effectively act as a conduit for tropical–subtropical air–sea interaction in that region, and can play an important role in limiting the intensity of CP El Niño.

The relationship of sea level changes to climatic change in northeast Asia and northern North America during the last 75 ka B.P.

The Arctic air mass is the cold, dry body of air slowly moving eastwards around the North Pole in the northern hemisphere. Its southern boundary consists of four planetary waves known as the Rossby waves that mark the interface with subtropical air bringing heat polewards. The Arctic air mass is constantly being modified by the addition of heat and moisture over the oceans, as well as by winter cooling over the land masses due to limited incoming solar radiation and constant reradiation of heat into the atmosphere. The coldest air in winter is located over northeastern Siberia and moves east, cooling Canada. Warm ocean currents add large quantities of heat to the air mass moving over them, but without this addition of heat, the Arctic air mass becomes significantly colder. Research in Tibet and Northeast Asia on depression of sea level shows that during the Late Wisconsin cold event (65–10 ka B.P.), vast quantities of sea water were sequestered on land primarily as ice sheets, exposing the sea bed in the Bering Strait from 50–10 ka B.P. together with the bottom of the South China Sea between 30–20 ka B.P.. The East China Monsoon failed to reach Tibet and much of Northeast China, resulting in severe cooling of northeast Siberia and northern Tibet. This, in turn, caused severe cooling in eastern Canada together with the development of a vast, predominantly cold-based ice sheet. As the sea levels started to rise (about 19 ka B.P.), the East China Monsoon slowly redeveloped and a gradual warming took place on both continents. However, along the west side of the North American Cordillera, the Late Wisconsin glaciation only began in 29 ka B.P. but continued along the west coast until about 10 ka B.P. This paper explores the relationship of the Late Wisconsin history on the two continents, together with the mechanisms causing the landforms and climatic differences. Finally, the probable effects of these climatic changes on the early peopling of North America are discussed.

The influence of tropical and subtropical air masses on the chemical composition of the tropospheric aerosol of Western Siberia based on the results of systematic aircraft sounding in 1997-2017

Almost monthly sensing of the troposphere from 500 to 7000 m above Karakansky bor (Novosibirsk Province) are conducted since 1997 up to now by using of the aircraft-laboratory "Optik" based on Antonov-30 or Tupolev-134. Aerosol sampling on to Petryanov filters AFA-CP-20 for subsequent laboratory quantitative analysis of the content of inorganic ions and the next elements in the aerosol composition: Al, Ba, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sn, Ti, V, Be, Cd, Si, Co, Cr, Sr, Zn, Zr was performed for each flight. For the region of the study of tropospheric aerosol, the chemical composition of the aerosol was classified for the main air masses during the period of airborne sounding from September 1997 to June 2017 - continental arctic, continental moderate, and combined into one “southern” group of the continental tropical and subtropical air masses. Explicit "southern" origin, along with silicon, have chromium, manganese, silver and bicarbonate-anion. To the same group, the ions of chlorine and sodium are attracted, which probably were transported together with salt particles originating from Central Asian deserts.

Coupled Land‐Atmosphere Regional Model Reduces Dry Bias in Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall Simulated by CFSv2

AbstractGlobal climate models including the Climate Forecast System version 2, the operational model used for prediction of Indian summer monsoon rainfall by the India Meteorological Department, has dry precipitation bias, mostly over densely populated Ganga basin. This restricts the use of model output in hydrological simulations/forecasts. We use regional atmospheric Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with land surface models, driven by the boundary conditions from Climate Forecast System version 2. We find significant reduction in the dry bias of Indian summer monsoon rainfall with regional land‐atmosphere model and this attributes to (a) improved moisture transport from Western and Upper Indian Ocean to Ganga Basin and (b) improved precipitation recycling over the Ganga basin. We find that the smoothened topography in the global model allows advection of cold dry subtropical air into the Indian monsoon region, contributing to the cold temperature and dry precipitation bias. These results have important implications for monsoon simulations in developing operational hydroclimatic prediction system in India.

Analysis of the Exceptionally Warm December 2015 in France Using Flow Analogues

Capsule December 2015 in France was an extreme of circulation and temperature. Both circulation and climate change partly explain the 4°C anomaly. We found no link between climate change and circulation. The event The December 2015 average temperature broke a record in France, with an anomaly of +4.1°C (Fig. 1a) with respect to the 1949-2015 climatology. The linear trend of average December temperature (in red in Fig. 1a) is not significant (p-value > 0.05), as regional temperature variability is high in winter. Such a positive temperature anomaly has impacts on the vegetation cycle (the French press covered this topic in the daily newspaper Le Monde 1). It also affects local economies, e.g. tourism in ski resorts. The temperature anomaly was concomitant with a zonal atmospheric circulation over Western Europe (Fig. 1b), directing mild subtropical air masses towards France. We found that the mean monthly SLP (sea level pressure) anomaly over the black box of Fig.1b is also a record high for the NCEP reanalysis. Such a circulation type generally leads to warm temperatures overs France (Yiou and Nogaj, 2004). In this paper we seek to address three questions: How much does the circulation anomaly explain the temperature anomaly during December 2015 in France? What is the influence of climate change on the occurrence of the circulation anomaly? How does the distribution of temperature conditional to the atmospheric circulation evolve with climate change?

Continuous measurements of stable isotopes of carbon dioxide and water vapour in an urban atmosphere: isotopic variations associated with meteorological conditions

ABSTRACTIsotope ratios of carbon dioxide and water vapour in the near-surface air were continuously measured for one month in an urban area of the city of Nagoya in central Japan in September 2010 using laser spectroscopic techniques. During the passages of a typhoon and a stationary front in the observation period, remarkable changes in the isotope ratios of CO2 and water vapour were observed. The isotope ratios of both CO2 and water vapour decreased during the typhoon passage. The decreases can be attributed to the air coming from an industrial area and the rainout effects of the typhoon, respectively. During the passage of the stationary front, δ13C–CO2 and δ18O–CO2 increased, while δ2H–H2Ov and δ18O–H2Ov decreased. These changes can be attributed to the air coming from rural areas and the air surrounding the observational site changing from a subtropical air mass to a subpolar air mass during the passage of the stationary front. A clear relationship was observed between the isotopic CO2 and water vapour and the meteorological phenomena. Therefore, isotopic information of CO2 and H2Ov could be used as a tracer of meteorological information.

Ozone, water vapor, and temperature anomalies associated with atmospheric blocking events over Eastern Europe in spring - summer 2010

Using data from the AIRS satellite instrument (V6, L3), ozone, water vapor (WV), and temperature anomalies associated with the relatively short spring atmospheric blocking event and anomalously prolonged summer block over European Russia (ER) in 2010 are analyzed. Within the domain of the blocking anticyclones, negative total column ozone (TCO) anomalies and positive total column water vapor (TCWV) anomalies reaching the values of −25 and −32 Dobson Units (DU) and 10 and 11 kg m−2 during the spring and summer blocks are observed, respectively. Conversely, within the regions adjacent to the anticyclones to the west and east, positive TCO anomalies (77 and 45 DU) and negative TCWV anomalies (−3 and −4 kg m−2) are found. These TCO and TCWV anomalies are conditioned by the regional atmospheric circulation associated with the strong omega-type blocking. The TCO deficit and TCWV surplus within the atmospheric blocking domain are explained primarily by the poleward advection of subtropical air with low TCO and high TCWV content and tropopause uplift. The TCO and TCWV anomalies are also associated with quasi-stationary Rossby wave trains that accompanied these blocking events. An analysis of the anomaly vertical structure shows that the marked TCO decrease is primarily due to the lower stratospheric ozone decrease, while the strong TCWV increase is mainly the result of an increase of lower tropospheric WV content. The possible role of photochemical ozone destruction in the lower stratosphere due to WV advection within the blocked regions is also discussed. Vertical profiles of the thermal anomalies during both atmospheric blocking events reveal dipole-like structures characterized by positive temperature anomalies in the troposphere and negative anomalies in the lower stratosphere.

Multilevel cloud structures over Svalbard.

The presented picture of the month is a superposition of space-borne lidar observations and high-resolution temperature fields of the ECMWF integrated forecast system (IFS). It displays complex tropospheric and stratospheric clouds in the Arctic winter 2015/16. Near the end of December 2015, the unusual northeastward propagation of warm and humid subtropical air masses as far north as 80°N lifted the tropopause by more than 3 km in 24 h and cooled the stratosphere on a large scale. A widespread formation of thick cirrus clouds near the tropopause and of synoptic-scale polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) occurred as the temperature dropped below the thresholds for the existence of cloud particles. Additionally, mountain waves were excited by the strong flow at the western edge of the ridge across Svalbard, leading to the formation of mesoscale ice PSCs. The most recent IFS cycle using a horizontal resolution of 8 km globally reproduces the large-scale and mesoscale flow features and leads to a remarkable agreement with the wave structure revealed by the space-borne observations.

A network-based detection scheme for the jet stream core

Abstract. The polar and subtropical jet streams are strong upper-level winds with a crucial influence on weather throughout the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes. In particular, the polar jet is located between cold arctic air to the north and warmer subtropical air to the south. Strongly meandering states therefore often lead to extreme surface weather. Some algorithms exist which can detect the 2-D (latitude and longitude) jets' core around the hemisphere, but all of them use a minimal threshold to determine the subtropical and polar jet stream. This is particularly problematic for the polar jet stream, whose wind velocities can change rapidly from very weak to very high values and vice versa. We develop a network-based scheme using Dijkstra's shortest-path algorithm to detect the polar and subtropical jet stream core. This algorithm not only considers the commonly used wind strength for core detection but also takes wind direction and climatological latitudinal position into account. Furthermore, it distinguishes between polar and subtropical jet, and between separate and merged jet states. The parameter values of the detection scheme are optimized using simulated annealing and a skill function that accounts for the zonal-mean jet stream position (Rikus, 2015). After the successful optimization process, we apply our scheme to reanalysis data covering 1979–2015 and calculate seasonal-mean probabilistic maps and trends in wind strength and position of jet streams. We present longitudinally defined probability distributions of the positions for both jets for all on the Northern Hemisphere seasons. This shows that winter is characterized by two well-separated jets over Europe and Asia (ca. 20° W to 140° E). In contrast, summer normally has a single merged jet over the western hemisphere but can have both merged and separated jet states in the eastern hemisphere. With this algorithm it is possible to investigate the position of the jets' cores around the hemisphere and it is therefore very suitable to analyze jet stream patterns in observations and models, enabling more advanced model-validation.

Tropospheric ozone seasonal and long-term variability as seen by lidar and surface measurements at the JPL-Table Mountain Facility, California

Abstract. A combined surface and tropospheric ozone climatology and interannual variability study was performed for the first time using co-located ozone photometer measurements (2013–2015) and tropospheric ozone differential absorption lidar measurements (2000–2015) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Table Mountain Facility (TMF; elev. 2285 m), in California. The surface time series were investigated both in terms of seasonal and diurnal variability. The observed surface ozone is typical of high-elevation remote sites, with small amplitude of the seasonal and diurnal cycles, and high ozone values, compared to neighboring lower altitude stations representative of urban boundary layer conditions. The ozone mixing ratio ranges from 45 ppbv in the winter morning hours to 65 ppbv in the spring and summer afternoon hours. At the time of the lidar measurements (early night), the seasonal cycle observed at the surface is similar to that observed by lidar between 3.5 and 9 km. Above 9 km, the local tropopause height variation with time and season impacts significantly the ozone lidar observations. The frequent tropopause folds found in the vicinity of TMF (27 % of the time, mostly in winter and spring) produce a dual-peak vertical structure in ozone within the fold layer, characterized by higher-than-average values in the bottom half of the fold (12–14 km), and lower-than-averaged values in the top half of the fold (14–18 km). This structure is consistent with the expected origin of the air parcels within the fold, i.e., mid-latitude stratospheric air folding down below the upper tropospheric sub-tropical air. The influence of the tropopause folds extends down to 5 km, increasing the ozone content in the troposphere. No significant signature of interannual variability could be observed on the 2000–2015 de-seasonalized lidar time series, with only a statistically non-significant positive anomaly during the years 2003–2007. Our trend analysis reveals however an overall statistically significant positive trend of 0.3 ppbv year−1 (0.6 %) in the free troposphere (7–10 km) for the period 2000–2015. A classification of the air parcels sampled by lidar was made at 1 km intervals between 5 and 14 km altitude, using 12-day backward trajectories (HYSPLIT, Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model). Our classification revealed the influence of the Pacific Ocean, with air parcels of low ozone content (43–60 ppbv below 9 km), and significant influence of the stratosphere leading to ozone values of 57–83 ppbv down to 8–9 km. In summer, enhanced ozone values (76 ppbv at 9 km) were found in air parcels originating from Central America, probably due to the enhanced thunderstorm activity during the North American Monsoon. Influence from Asia was observed throughout the year, with more frequent episodes during spring, associated with ozone values from 53 to 63 ppbv at 9 km.

Sensitivity of MJO propagation to a robust positive Indian Ocean dipole event in the superparameterized CAM

AbstractThe superparameterized Community Atmosphere Model (SPCAM) is used to investigate the impact and geographic sensitivity of positive Indian Ocean Dipole (+IOD) sea‐surface temperatures (SSTs) on Madden‐Julian oscillation (MJO) propagation. The goal is to clarify potentially appreciable +IOD effects on MJO dynamics detected in prior studies by using a global model with explicit convection representation. Prescribed climatological October SSTs and variants of the SST distribution from October 2006, a +IOD event, force the model. Modest MJO convection weakening over the Maritime Continent occurs when either climatological SSTs, or +IOD SST anomalies restricted to the Indian Ocean, are applied. However, severe MJO weakening occurs when either +IOD SST anomalies are applied globally or restricted to the equatorial Pacific. MJO disruption is associated with time‐mean changes in the zonal wind profile and lower moist static energy (MSE) in subsiding air masses imported from the Subtropics by Rossby‐like gyres. On intraseasonal scales, MJO disruption arises from significantly smaller MSE accumulation, weaker meridional advective moistening, and overactive submonthly eddies that mix drier subtropical air into the path of MJO convection. These results (1) demonstrate that SPCAM reproduces observed time‐mean and intraseasonal changes during +IOD episodes, (2) reaffirm the role that submonthly eddies play in MJO propagation and show that such multiscale interactions are sensitive to interannual SST states, and (3) suggest that boreal fall +IOD SSTs local to the Indian Ocean have a significantly smaller impact on Maritime Continent MJO propagation compared to contemporaneous Pacific SST anomalies which, for October 2006, resemble El Niño‐like conditions.

Storm on june 22, 2013 in Indjija (Serbia): A consequence of heat wave

In the period between 16 and 22 June 2013, Europe was hit by a heat wave. At the end of the period characterized by extremely high temperatures, the development of storm along with supercell HP convection cell took place in Serbia, producing tennis ball-sized hailstones and wind with speed exceeding 35 m/s. This paper analyzes the underlying conditions that led to development of this storm using synoptic charts, vertical atmosphere characteristics as well satellite and radar images. The development of strong convective clouds was enabled by exceptional thermal instability of the atmosphere above the Pannonian Plain and the Balkans and warm subtropical air. The analysis of the vertical structure of atmosphere indicates that the separate convective cells could produce large amounts of precipitation and hailstones up to 8 cm in diameter. Cloudy zone, of the supercell type in development, of 12-16 km width, reached to 20 km height (cloud penetrated tropopause) and indicating extremely great energy instability. Furthermore, this analysis is supplemented with results of nonhydrostatic mesoscale NMM model. Big hailstones from this storm took life of 31 persons in addition to great material damage it caused.

The Role of a Polar/Subtropical Jet Superposition in the May 2010 Nashville Flood

Abstract Contributions to the increased poleward moisture flux that characterized the second day of the 1–3 May Nashville, Tennessee, flood of 2010 are examined from the perspective of polar and subtropical jet superposition and its influence on the secondary ageostrophic circulation. Employing the Sawyer–Eliassen circulation equation, the analysis reveals that the poleward moisture flux attributed to the jet increased nearly 120% prior to the second day of the event in response to the superposed jet’s ageostrophic circulation, helping to further fuel the production of heavy rainfall. The full Sawyer–Eliassen circulation associated with the superposed jet is further partitioned into its geostrophic and diabatic components. The geostrophic forcing drove midtropospheric ascent that fueled the production of deep convection and the record rainfall. The diabatic component, through forcing lower-tropospheric ascent and vigorous lower-tropospheric poleward moisture flux, provided the link between the tropical moisture and the deep convective environment. Since superposed jets, by their nature, develop on the poleward edge of the tropical or subtropical air, it is suggested that such a mutually reinforcing interaction between these two component forcings of the secondary circulation may routinely characterize the involvement of superposed jet structures in high-impact weather events.

Greenland ice sheet melt from MODIS and associated atmospheric variability.

Daily June-July melt fraction variations over the Greenland ice sheet (GIS) derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) (2000–2013) are associated with atmospheric blocking forming an omega-shape ridge over the GIS at 500 hPa height. Blocking activity with a range of time scales, from synoptic waves breaking poleward (<5 days) to full-fledged blocks (≥5 days), brings warm subtropical air masses over the GIS controlling daily surface temperatures and melt. The temperature anomaly of these subtropical air mass intrusions is also important for melting. Based on the years with the greatest melt (2002 and 2012) during the MODIS era, the area-average temperature anomaly of 2 standard deviations above the 14 year June-July mean results in a melt fraction of 40% or more. Though the summer of 2007 had the most blocking days, atmospheric temperature anomalies were too small to instigate extreme melting.Key PointsShort-term atmospheric blocking over Greenland contributes to melt episodesAssociated temperature anomalies are equally important for the meltDuration and strength of blocking events contribute to surface melt intensity

Simulation of the western North Pacific summer monsoon by regional ocean–atmosphere coupled model: impacts of oceanic components

A successful simulation of the western North Pacific summer monsoon needs a regional ocean–atmosphere coupled model (ROAM). How the performance of ROAM relies on the oceanic component model remains unknown. In this study, the authors investigated the effects of different oceanic components on the simulation of western North Pacific (WNP) summer monsoon in a ROAM. Three cases of simulations were performed, viz. the summer of 1998 (El Nino decaying phase), 2004 (El Nino developing phase), and 1993 (the non-ENSO phase). Results show that the coupled simulations for different ENSO phases exhibit improvements in the simulation of location of Meiyu rainband and spatial distribution of monsoon low-level flow over WNP, whereas the systemic cold biases of sea surface air temperature are further increased. The coupled simulations with different oceanic components show similar performance, which is not ENSO phase dependent. For the case of the summer of 1998, a slightly stronger western Pacific subtropical high and colder sea surface air temperature are found in the simulation with colder sea surface temperature (SST) biases. The colder SST biases are partly contributed by the ocean dynamics processes because the sea surface net flux favors a warmer SST. This study suggests that the dependence of performance of ROAM over WNP on oceanic models is much weaker than that on atmospheric models.