SST intraseasonal oscillation and atmospheric forcing system of the South China Sea

Abstract In the present study, the spatiotemporal structures of the northward-propagating intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) over the South China Sea (SCS) in the premonsoon period are analyzed by using the TropFlux air–sea flux and the JRA-55 reanalysis datasets. It is found that the SCS ISO is significant in the premonsoon season with a strong component of the northward propagation and that the mean state is different from that of summertime. Moreover, there are similar structures to those of a boreal summer ISO event except for the perturbation vorticity with no obvious phase leading. An internal atmospheric dynamics mechanism is proposed to understand the cause of the northward propagation of the ISO during the premonsoon period based on the spatial and temporal structures of the ISOs. The key process associated with this mechanism is the barotropic vorticity advection by the mean barotropic southerly winds, and the main barotropic vorticity around the convection center can be induced by the vertical advection of the mean vorticity. Low-level moisture convergence caused by anomalous flow is a supplementary mechanism to drive the ISOs northward during the premonsoon period, particularly over the northern SCS. In this mechanism, the SST-induced wind anomalies play a more important role than the convection-induced wind anomalies. The summer monsoon circulation has not built up during the premonsoon period, and thus the vertical wind shear effect and the barotropic vorticity effect associated with the meridional advection of baroclinic vorticity are not essential to cause the northward propagation of the ISOs over the SCS.

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The Effect of Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation on Evaporation Duct and Electromagnetic Propagation over the South China Sea

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos11121298 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 1298

Author(s):

Wentao Jia ◽

Weimin Zhang ◽

Jiahua Zhu ◽

Jilin Sun

Keyword(s):

South China Sea ◽

South China ◽

Dominant Role ◽

Intraseasonal Oscillation ◽

The South China Sea ◽

Boreal Summer ◽

The South ◽

Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation ◽

China Sea ◽

Evaporation Duct

Intraseasonal oscillation of the evaporation duct, lasting 30–60 days, has been identified over the South China Sea (SCS) summer monsoon region based on multiple reanalyses and observational data. The boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) causes anomalies at the air–sea boundary and thus plays a dominant role in modulating the variation of the evaporation duct. The height and strength of the duct enhance/suppress during the negative/positive phase of the BSISO over the SCS. This results from the fact that active BSISO convection reduces solar radiation reaching the sea surface by increasing cumulus cloud cover, whereupon precipitation and water vapor transported by the enhanced southwest jet increase humidity over the air–sea boundary. Reduced air–sea temperatures and humidity differences lead to a weaker evaporation duct. Usually, the temporal evolution of the evaporation duct lags 2–4 days behind the BSISO, with the center of evaporation duct anomalies farther south than the BSISO. Simulated electromagnetic fields substantively influence the condition of the evaporation duct, with obvious over-the-horizon and radar blind spot effects in the typical negative phase of the BSISO, which is very different from standard atmospheric conditions.

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