scholarly journals Modulations of the Diurnal Cycle of Coastal Rainfall over South China Caused by the Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 2089-2108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingchao Chen ◽  
Fuqing Zhang ◽  
James H. Ruppert

AbstractThe influence of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) on the diurnal cycle of coastal rainfall over south China during the mei-yu (heavy rainfall) season is investigated using the OLR-based Madden–Julian oscillation index (OMI), satellite rainfall data, and atmospheric reanalysis. Results show that the mei-yu season coastal rainfall is enhanced during the BSISO phase 1 (convectively active phase over the western Indian Ocean), with 25% greater rainfall than the climatological regional mean. Rainfall is suppressed during the BSISO phases 4 and 5 (convectively active phase in the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea), with negative rainfall anomalies of 39% and 46%, respectively. During phase 1, the rainfall enhancement is mostly over the inland region during the afternoon, while there is little diurnal variability of the rainfall anomaly offshore. During phases 4 and 5, the rainfall suppression is considerably stronger over the offshore region in the morning, whereas stronger rainfall suppression occurs inland during the afternoon. In phase 8, positive rainfall anomalies are found over the offshore region with a peak from the morning to the early afternoon, whereas negative rainfall anomalies are found over the inland region with the strongest suppression in the late afternoon. Analysis of phase composites and horizontal moisture advection shows that the diurnal variation of rainfall anomalies over the south China coastal area during different BSISO phases can be interpreted as the interaction between the large-scale anomalous moisture advection and the local land and sea breeze circulations.

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (11) ◽  
pp. 3633-3654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael B. Natoli ◽  
Eric D. Maloney

Abstract Precipitation in the region surrounding the South China Sea over land and coastal waters exhibits a strong diurnal cycle associated with a land–sea temperature contrast that drives a sea-breeze circulation. The boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) is an important modulator of diurnal precipitation patterns, an understanding of which is a primary goal of the field campaign Propagation of Intraseasonal Tropical Oscillations (PISTON). Using 21 years of CMORPH precipitation for Luzon Island in the northern Philippines, it is shown that the diurnal cycle amplitude is generally maximized over land roughly 1 week before the arrival of the broader oceanic convective envelope associated with the BSISO. A strong diurnal cycle in coastal waters is observed in the transition from the inactive to active phase, associated with offshore propagation of the diurnal cycle. The diurnal cycle amplitude is in phase with daily mean precipitation over Mindanao but is nearly out of phase over Luzon. The BSISO influence on the diurnal cycle on the eastern side of topography is nearly opposite to that on the western side. Using wind, moisture, and radiation products from the ERA5 reanalysis, it is proposed that the enhanced diurnal cycle west of the mountains during BSISO suppressed phases is related to increased insolation and weaker prevailing onshore winds that promote a stronger sea-breeze circulation when compared with the May–October mean state. Offshore propagation is suppressed until ambient midlevel moisture increases over the surrounding oceans during the transition to the active BSISO phase. In BSISO enhanced phases, strong low-level winds and increased cloudiness suppress the sea-breeze circulation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1973-1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte A. DeMott ◽  
Cristiana Stan ◽  
David A. Randall

Abstract Mechanisms for the northward propagation (NP) of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) and associated Asian summer monsoon (ASM) are investigated using data from the interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim, herein called ERAI) and the superparameterized Community Climate System Model (SP-CCSM). Analyzed mechanisms are 1) destabilization of the lower troposphere by sea surface temperature anomalies, 2) boundary layer moisture advection, and boundary layer convergence associated with 3) SST gradients and 4) barotropic vorticity anomalies. Mechanism indices are regressed onto filtered OLR anomaly time series to study their relationships to the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) and to equatorial Rossby (ER) waves. Northward propagation in ERAI and SP-CCSM is promoted by several mechanisms, but is dominated by boundary layer moisture advection and the barotropic vorticity effect. SST-linked mechanisms are of secondary importance but are nonnegligible. The magnitudes of NP mechanisms vary from the Indian Ocean to the west Pacific Ocean, implying that NP is accomplished by different mechanisms across the study area. SP-CCSM correctly simulates observed NP mechanisms over most of the ASM domain except in the Arabian Sea during the early stages of the monsoon life cycle. Reduced NP in the Arabian Sea arises from weaker-than-observed easterly shear, reducing the effectiveness of the barotropic vorticity mechanism. The ability of SP-CCSM to correctly simulate NP mechanisms in other regions results from the model’s ability to simulate reasonable mean wind and moisture fields, a realistic spectrum of variability, and the capability of convection to respond to boundary layer changes induced by large-scale NP mechanisms.


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1298
Author(s):  
Wentao Jia ◽  
Weimin Zhang ◽  
Jiahua Zhu ◽  
Jilin Sun

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.


2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 927-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pang-chi Hsu ◽  
Tim Li ◽  
Chih-Hua Tsou

Abstract The role of scale interactions in the maintenance of eddy kinetic energy (EKE) during the extreme phases of the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) is examined through the construction of a new eddy energetics diagnostic tool that separates the effects of ISO and a low-frequency background state (LFBS; with periods longer than 90 days). The LFBS always contributes positively toward the EKE in the boreal summer, regardless of the ISO phases. The synoptic eddies extract energy from the ISO during the ISO active phase. This positive barotropic energy conversion occurs when the synoptic eddies interact with low-level cyclonic and convergent–confluent ISO flows. This contrasts with the ISO suppressed phase during which the synoptic eddies lose kinetic energy to the ISO flow. The anticyclonic and divergent–diffluent ISO flows during the suppressed phase are responsible for the negative barotropic energy conversion. A positive (negative) EKE tendency occurs during the ISO suppressed-to-active (active-to-suppressed) transitional phase. The cause of this asymmetric EKE tendency is attributed to the spatial phase relation among the ISO vorticity, eddy structure, and EKE. The southwest–northeast-tilted synoptic disturbances interacting with cyclonic (anticyclonic) vorticity of ISO lead to a positive (negative) EKE tendency in the northwest region of the maximum EKE center. The genesis number and location and intensification rate of tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific are closely related to the barotropic energy conversion. The enhanced barotropic energy conversion favors the generation and development of synoptic seed disturbances, some of which eventually grow into tropical cyclones.


2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 1485-1494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinwon Kim ◽  
Duane E. Waliser ◽  
Gregory V. Cesana ◽  
Xianan Jiang ◽  
Tristan L’Ecuyer ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 140 (6) ◽  
pp. 1748-1760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyong-Hwan Seo ◽  
Eun-Ji Song

Abstract Potential vorticity (PV) thinking conceptually connects the upper-level (upper troposphere in the extratropics and middle troposphere for the tropics) dynamical process to the lower-level process. Here, the initiation mechanism of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) in the tropics is investigated using PV thinking. The authors demonstrate that the midtropospheric PV anomaly produces a dynamical environment favorable for the BSISO initiation. Under seasonal easterly vertical wind shear, the PV anomaly enhances low-level convergence and upward motion at its western edge. Tropical PV forcing in the middle troposphere produces balanced mass and circulation fields that spread horizontally and vertically so that its effect can reach even the lowest troposphere. The downward influence of the midtropospheric PV forcing is one of the key aspects of the PV thinking. Direct piecewise PV inversions confirm that the anomalous lower-level zonal wind and its convergence necessary for the initiation of BSISO convection do not arise solely from the response to the lower-level PV forcing but from the summed contribution by PV forcing at all levels. About 50% of the low-level circulation variations result from PV forcing from 700 to 450 hPa, with the largest contribution from the 600–650-hPa PV anomalies for the convection initiation region over the western Indian Ocean. The current study is compared with and incorporated into the thermodynamic recharge process and the frictional moisture flux convergence mechanism for the BSISO initiation. This study is the first qualitative application of the PV thinking approach that reveals the BSISO dynamics.


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