scholarly journals Interannual Variations in Summer Precipitation in Southwest China: Anomalies in Moisture Transport and the Role of the Tropical Atlantic

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (14) ◽  
pp. 5993-6007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaoxia Yuan ◽  
Mengzhou Yang
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Moisture Transport ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Summer Precipitation ◽  
Tropical Atlantic ◽  
Anomalous Anticyclone

AbstractUsing a Lagrangian trajectory model, contributions of moisture from the Indian Ocean (IO), the South China Sea (SCS), the adjacent land region (LD), and the Pacific Ocean (PO) to interannual summer precipitation variations in southwestern China (SWC) are investigated. Results show that, on average, the IO, SCS, LD, and PO contribute 48.8%, 21.1%, 23.6%, and 3.7% of the total moisture release in SWC, respectively. In summers with the above-normal precipitation, moisture release from the IO and SCS increases significantly by 41.4% and 15.1%, respectively. In summers with below-normal precipitation, moisture release from the IO and SCS decreases significantly by 44.2% and 24.6%, respectively. In addition, the moisture anomalies from the four source regions together explain 86.5% of the total interannual variances of SWC summer precipitation, and the IO and SCS only can explain 75.7%. Variations in moisture transport from the IO, SCS, and LD to SWC are not independent of one another and are commonly influenced by the anomalous anticyclone in the western North Pacific Ocean, which enhances the moisture transport from the IO and SCS by the anomalous southwesterlies over its northwestern quadrant but reduces that from the LD east of SWC by the anomalous westerlies along its northern edge. Anomalous warming in the tropical Atlantic Ocean can modify the Walker circulation, induce anomalous descending motion over the central tropical Pacific, and excite the anomalous anticyclone in the western North Pacific as the classic Matsuno–Gill response. The observed impacts of the tropical Atlantic warming on the anomalous anticyclone and summer precipitation in SWC can be well reproduced in an atmospheric general circulation model.

scholarly journals Dynamics of the Coastal Oyashio and Its Seasonal Variation in a High-Resolution Western North Pacific Ocean Model

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 1283-1301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kei Sakamoto ◽  
Hiroyuki Tsujino ◽  
Shiro Nishikawa ◽  
Hideyuki Nakano ◽  
Tatsuo Motoi
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Maximum Velocity ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Okhotsk Sea ◽  
Resolution Model

Abstract The Coastal Oyashio (CO) carries the cold, fresh, and relatively light water mass called the Coastal Oyashio Water (COW) westward along the southeastern coast of Hokkaido in winter and spring. To investigate dynamics of the CO and its seasonal variation, model experiments are executed using a western North Pacific general circulation model with horizontal resolutions of approximately 2 and 6 km. The 2-km resolution model reproduces the properties of COW with temperature of 0°–2°C and salinity of 32.2–32.6 and reproduces its distribution. COW is less dense than offshore water by 0.2 kg m−3, and it forms a surface-to-bottom density front with a width of 10 km near the shelf break. The CO appears as a baroclinic jet current along the front with a maximum velocity of approximately 40 cm s−1. The velocity and density structures and the front location relative to bathymetry indicate that the CO can be understood in terms of a simplified dynamical model developed for the shelfbreak front in the Middle Atlantic Bight. In contrast to the 2-km resolution model, the 6-km model cannot realistically reproduce the COW distribution. This is because only the 2-km model can represent the sharp density structure of the shelfbreak front and the accompanying CO. The CO exists during the limited period from January to April. This is directly connected with seasonal variation of the COW inflow from the Okhotsk Sea to the North Pacific Ocean through the Nemuro and Kunashiri Straits, indicating that the seasonal variation of the CO is ultimately controlled by the variation of the circulation in the Okhotsk Sea induced by the monsoon.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of the Simulated Distributions of Water Masses, CFCs, and Bomb 14C to Parameterizations of Mesoscale Tracer Transports in a Model of the North Pacific

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongfu Xu ◽  
Shigeaki Aoki ◽  
Koh Harada
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Water Masses ◽  
Intermediate Water ◽  
North Pacific Intermediate Water ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract A basinwide ocean general circulation model of the North Pacific Ocean is used to study the sensitivity of the simulated distributions of water masses, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and bomb carbon-14 isotope (14C) to parameterizations of mesoscale tracer transports. Five simulations are conducted, including a run with the traditional horizontal mixing scheme and four runs with the isopycnal transport parameterization of Gent and McWilliams (GM). The four GM runs use different values of isopycnal and skew diffusivities. Simulated results show that the GM mixing scheme can help to form North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW). Greater isopycnal diffusivity enhances formation of NPIW. Although greater skew diffusivity can also generate NPIW, it makes the subsurface too fresh. Results from simulations of CFC uptake show that greater isopycnal diffusivity generates the best results relative to observations in the western North Pacific. The model generally underestimates the inventories of CFCs in the western North Pacific. The results from simulations of bomb 14C reproduce some observed features. Greater isopycnal diffusivity generates a longitudinal gradient of the inventory of bomb 14C from west to east, whereas greater skew diffusivity makes it reversed. It is considered that the ratio of isopycnal diffusivity to skew diffusivity is important. An increase in isopycnal diffusivity increases storage of passive tracers in the subtropical gyre.

scholarly journals A modelling study of the 1976 climate regime shift in the North Pacific Ocean

1999 ◽  
Vol 56 (12) ◽  
pp. 2450-2462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Qiuying Wu ◽  
William W Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Regime Shift ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Climate Regime ◽  
Climate Regime Shift ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific

Around 1976, the North Pacific Ocean underwent a climate regime shift, with significant biological consequences. To model the changes in the ocean, an ocean general circulation model was forced by the wind stress and sea surface temperature monthly climatology of the 1952-1975 period in one numerical experiment and the 1976-1988 period in another. Changes in the ocean model between the two experiments revealed how the ocean might have changed under the 1976 climate regime shift. In winter, the intensified post-1976 Aleutian Low spun up the subarctic gyre and the subtropical gyre, except in the Gulf of Alaska, where the circulation weakened. Upwelling was generally enhanced in the subarctic and downwelling enhanced in the subtropical region, with temperature changes down to 600 m. In the post-1976 period, the meridional heat transports were also enhanced: poleward in the low latitudes, equatorward in the midlatitudes, and poleward in the high latitudes.

scholarly journals Decadal Variability of the Meridional Geostrophic Transport in the Upper Tropical North Pacific Ocean

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (15) ◽  
pp. 5891-5910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Zhou ◽  
Dongliang Yuan ◽  
Lina Yang ◽  
Xiang Li ◽  
William Dewar
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Decadal Variability ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Salt Content ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Meridional Transport ◽  
Tropical Ocean

The meridional geostrophic transport (MGT) in the interior tropical North Pacific Ocean is estimated based on global ocean heat and salt content data. The decadal variations of the zonally and vertically integrated MGT in the tropical North Pacific Ocean are found to precede the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) by 1–3 years. The dynamics of the MGT are analyzed based on Sverdrup theory. It is found that the total meridional transport variability (MGT plus Ekman) is dominated by the MGT variability having positive correlations with the PDO index. The Sverdrup transports differ from the total meridional transport significantly and have insignificant correlations with PDO index, suggesting that the MGT variability is not controlled by the Sverdrup dynamics. In comparison, the simulated meridional transport variability in the models from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) and the Ocean General Circulation Model for the Earth Simulator are dominated by the Sverdrup transports, having insignificant correlations with the simulated PDO indices. The comparison suggests that the non-Sverdrup component in the MGT is important for the predictability of PDO and that significant deficiencies exist in these models in simulating a realistic structure of the tropical ocean gyre variability and predicting the decadal climate variations associated with it.

Interannual Variations of Summer Precipitation in Southwest China: Anomalies in the Moisture Transport and Roles of the Tropical Atlantic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Mengzhou ◽  
Yuan Chaoxia ◽  
Li Wenmao ◽  
Zhong Yahan
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Southwest China ◽  
Summer Precipitation ◽  
Tropical Atlantic ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Circulation Anomalies

<div> <p>Using a Lagrangian trajectory model, contributions of moisture from the Indian Ocean (IO), South China Sea (SCS), adjacent land region (LD) and Pacific Ocean (PO) to the interannual summer precipitation variations in Southwest China (SWC) are investigated. Results show that on average, IO, SCS, LD, and PO contribute 46.8%, 25.3%, 21.8% and 2.3% of total moisture release in SWC in summer. In the above-normal precipitation summers, the moisture from IO and LD is increased by 48.2% and 28.8%, whereas that from SCS is decreased by 37.2%. In the below-normal precipitation summers, the moisture from IO and LD is decreased by 34.6% and 25.2%, while that from SCS is increased by 23.7%. In addition, the moisture anomalies from the four source regions can explain 85% of the total variances of the SWC summer precipitation.</p> <p>The variations in the moisture from IO, SCS, and LD to SWC are not independent to one another and strongly influenced by the large-scale atmospheric circulation anomalies in the lower troposphere analogous to the Pacific-Japan (PJ) pattern and further studies showed that the PJ pattern was stimulated by the SST anomaly in the equatorial Atlantic. The anomalous warming in the tropical Atlantic that can modify the Walker circulation and introduce an anomalous descending over the central Pacific, thus inducing the anomalous anticyclone in the western North Pacific as the classical Matsuno-Gill response. The resultant suppressed precipitation in the western North Pacific excites the PJ pattern. The observed impacts of the tropical Atlantic SSTs on the atmospheric circulation can be well reproduced in an atmospheric general circulation model and the ability of the CMIP5 and CMIP6 models to reappear this relationship is verified, which will help the models to improve the simulation performance of summer large-scale circulation anomalies and precipitation in East Asia.</p> </div>

scholarly journals Atmospheric inorganic nitrogen input via dry, wet, and sea fog deposition to the subarctic western North Pacific Ocean

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 411-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jung ◽  
H. Furutani ◽  
M. Uematsu ◽  
S. Kim ◽  
S. Yoon
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Inorganic N ◽  
Fog Water ◽  
Western North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Sea Fog ◽  
Fog Deposition

Abstract. Aerosol, rainwater, and sea fog water samples were collected during the cruise conducted over the subarctic western North Pacific Ocean in the summer of 2008, in order to estimate dry, wet, and sea fog deposition fluxes of atmospheric inorganic nitrogen (N). During sea fog events, mean number densities of particles with diameters larger than 0.5 μm decreased by 12–78%, suggesting that particles with diameters larger than 0.5 μm could act preferentially as condensation nuclei (CN) for sea fog droplets. Mean concentrations of nitrate (NO3−), methanesulfonic acid (MSA), and non sea-salt sulfate (nss-SO42−) in sea fog water were higher than those in rainwater, whereas those of ammonium (NH4+) in both sea fog water and rainwater were similar. These results reveal that sea fog scavenged NO3− and biogenic sulfur species more efficiently than rain. Mean dry, wet, and sea fog deposition fluxes for atmospheric total inorganic N (TIN; i.e. NH4+ + NO3−) over the subarctic western North Pacific Ocean were estimated to be 4.9 μmol m−2 d−1, 33 μmol m−2 d−1, and 7.8 μmol m−2 d−1, respectively. While NO3− was the dominant inorganic N species in dry and sea fog deposition, inorganic N supplied to surface waters by wet deposition was predominantly by NH4+. The contribution of dry, wet, and sea fog deposition to total deposition flux for TIN (46 μmol m−2 d−1) were 11%, 72%, and 17%, respectively, suggesting that ignoring sea fog deposition would lead to underestimate of the total influx of atmospheric inorganic N into the subarctic western North Pacific Ocean, especially in summer periods.

scholarly journals Ecosystem model-based approach for modeling the dynamics of <sup>137</sup>Cs transfer to marine plankton populations: application to the western North Pacific Ocean after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 499-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Belharet ◽  
C. Estournel ◽  
S. Charmasson
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Dose Rate ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Ecosystem Model ◽  
Western North Pacific Ocean

Abstract. Huge amounts of radionuclides, especially 137Cs, were released into the western North Pacific Ocean after the Fukushima nuclear power plant (FNPP) accident that occurred on 11 March 2011, resulting in contamination of the marine biota. In this study we developed a radioecological model to estimate 137Cs concentrations in phytoplankton and zooplankton populations representing the lower levels of the pelagic trophic chain. We coupled this model to a lower trophic level ecosystem model and an ocean circulation model to take into account the site-specific environmental conditions in the area. The different radioecological parameters of the model were estimated by calibration, and a sensitivity analysis to parameter uncertainties was carried out, showing a high sensitivity of the model results, especially to the 137Cs concentration in seawater, to the rates of accumulation from water and to the radionuclide assimilation efficiency for zooplankton. The results of the 137Cs concentrations in planktonic populations simulated in this study were then validated through comparison with the data available in the region after the accident. The model results have shown that the maximum concentrations in plankton after the accident were about 2 to 4 orders of magnitude higher than those observed before the accident, depending on the distance from FNPP. Finally, the maximum 137Cs absorbed dose rate for phyto- and zooplankton populations was estimated to be about 5  ×  10−2 µGy h−1, and was, therefore, lower than the predicted no-effect dose rate (PNEDR) value of 10 µGy h−1 defined in the ERICA assessment approach.

scholarly journals High-Resolution Seeded Simulations of Western North Pacific Ocean Tropical Cyclones in Two Future Extreme Climates

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-334
Author(s):  
J. G. McLay ◽  
E. A. Hendricks ◽  
J. Moskaitis
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Bootstrap Analysis ◽  
Western North Pacific Ocean ◽  
The Future

ABSTRACT A variant of downscaling is devised to explore the properties of tropical cyclones (TCs) that originate in the open ocean of the western North Pacific Ocean (WestPac) region under extreme climates. This variant applies a seeding strategy in large-scale environments simulated by phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) climate-model integrations together with embedded integrations of Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System for Tropical Cyclones (COAMPS-TC), an operational, high-resolution, nonhydrostatic, convection-permitting numerical weather prediction (NWP) model. Test periods for the present day and late twenty-first century are sampled from two different integrations for the representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5 forcing scenario. Then seeded simulations for the present-day period are contrasted with similar seeded simulations for the future period. Reinforcing other downscaling studies, the seeding results suggest that the future environments are notably more conducive to high-intensity TC activity in the WestPac. Specifically, the future simulations yield considerably more TCs that exceed 96-kt (1 kt ≈ 0.5144 m s−1) intensity, and these TCs exhibit notably greater average life cycle maximum intensity and tend to spend more time above the 96-kt intensity threshold. Also, the future simulations yield more TCs that make landfall at &gt;64-kt intensity, and the average landfall intensity of these storms is appreciably greater. These findings are supported by statistical bootstrap analysis as well as by a supplemental sensitivity analysis. Accounting for COAMPS-TC intensity forecast bias using a quantile-matching approach, the seeded simulations suggest that the potential maximum western North Pacific TC intensities in the future extreme climate may be approximately 190 kt.

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