Tropopause Folding Events to the East of Tibetan Plateau in Boreal Summer and their Remote Relation to the Circulation Anomalies over Northeastern Atlantic

This study investigates the occurrence of tropopause folding (TF) events to the east of Tibetan Plateau (ETP) (TF–ETP) in boreal summer. Firstly, it is revealed that, anomalously frequent TF–ETP occurrence in summer, always corresponds to a significant dipole rainfall anomaly pattern over China, with negative rainfall anomalies over the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze and Yellow river valleys, and positive rainfall anomalies over eastern China. Secondly, the South Asian High (SAH) center over Tibetan Plateau (TP) is found to be anomalously stronger when occurrence of TF–ETP events is frequent. Further diagnosis indicates that, the TF–ETP occurrence is related to an eastward propagating Rossby wave train (RWT) that originates from a barotropic low anomaly center over the northeastern Atlantic (NEA) about one–week before. The RWT propagates downstream via Western Europe, the west of Baikal and down to East Asia along the mid-latitude westerlies, and is connected to a high anomaly center over the north rim of TP, which enhances the SAH center over TP. The enhanced SAH in turn favors the southward and downward PV intrusion and the subsequent occurrence of TF–ETP. Furthermore, the low anomaly center that initiates the RWT is related to dynamical forcing of transient eddy activity over the NEA, which induces the low via eddy-forced upper divergence and its pumping. Finally, such local and remote processes are confirmed in a typical TF–ETP case. The ERA–Interim daily fields during 1979–2018 is used.

Dynamical analysis of extreme tropopause folding events in the coastal region of Antarctica

<p>Rapid and deep descent in the tropopause (the so-called tropopause folding; TF) is often observed in the extratropics. Previous studies pointed out that the frequency of deep TF is maximized along the coast of Antarctica. However, the dynamics of TF in the Antarctic region have not yet been studied adequately. In the present study, the extreme TF in the Antarctic are examined using the state-of-art reanalysis data to clarify the uniqueness of TF in the Antarctic.</p><p>First, the distribution of TF frequency in the extra-tropics of the Southern hemisphere is examined. In austral winter, extreme TF often occurs along the coast of Antarctica. Around Syowa Station (69.0S, 39.6E), the frequency of extreme TF is maximized in August while the frequency is small in austral summer. It is interesting that the coast of Antarctica is located to the south of the maximum of the synoptic-scale eddy kinetic energy. This implies that the maximum of TF frequency along the coast of Antarctica cannot be explained only by the geographical distribution of the storm track.</p><p>Next, to examine the dynamics of the extreme TF events along the coast of Antarctica, we perform composite analyses of the extreme TF events at Syowa Station. When the negative anomaly of tropopause height is maximized, the significant downwelling is observed at the location of the extreme TF. From the analyses using the quasi-geostrophic Q-vector, it is found that the divergence of the Q-vector is observed around Syowa Station. The distribution of Q-vector is explained by the local westerly jet and strengthening of the frontal structure associated with a synoptic low-pressure system extending west-east centered at 70°S over Antarctica. The mechanism of the low-pressure system extending along the coast of Antarctica based on ray-tracing theory under the WKB approximation is also discussed.</p>

Study of Clear Air Turbulence Related to Tropopause Folding over the Romanian Airspace

Clear air turbulence (CAT) poses a significant threat to aviation. CAT usually occurs in the lower stratosphere and the upper troposphere. It is generally associated with large scale waves, mountain waves, jet streams, upper-level fronts and tropopause folds. Aircraft can experience CAT when flying in proximity of a tropopause fold. To better understand and diagnose tropopause fold- associated CAT we selected a series of cases from among those reported by pilots between June 2017 and December 2018 in the Romanian airspace. Data on turbulence were used in conjunction with meteorological data, satellite imagery, and vertical profiles. Additionally, a set of indices as Ellrod, horizontal temperature gradient, Dutton, and Brown were computed to diagnose CAT associated with tropopause folding. These indices were also analyzed to test the physics mechanisms that may explain the occurrence of severe turbulence. Results show that out of the 420 cases announced by pilots, severe turbulence was reported in 80 cases of which 13 were associated with tropopause folding.

A Numerical Study of Aviation Turbulence Encountered on 13 February 2013 over the Yellow Sea between China and the Korean Peninsula

At 0247 UTC 13 February 2013, a South Korean commercial aircraft encountered moderate-level clear-air turbulence at ~24 000 ft (~7.3 km) over the Yellow Sea (121.25°E, 38.55°N) en route from Incheon, South Korea, to Tianjin, China. Two crew members were severely injured by this event. To investigate the possible mechanisms of this event, a high-resolution numerical simulation using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model was conducted. In the synoptic-scale flow pattern, one of two bifurcated jet streams passed over the Yellow Sea, and strong horizontal and vertical gradients of the wind occurred on the northern edge of the jet stream near the flight route. An upper-level frontal system on the cyclonic shear side of the jet intensified as it moved northward toward a strengthening upper-level trough in northeastern China. The developed jet–frontal system induced strong vertical wind shear and tropopause folding, which extended down to about z = 5 km, near the observed turbulence region. Despite a relatively high stability with an intrusion of stratospheric air with tropopause folding, the strong vertical wind shear led to a small Richardson number in the incident region, which in turn induced the aviation turbulence through the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. Although small-scale mountain waves were evident during the passage of flight before the incident time, breaking of these waves was not likely the key factor for the observed turbulence, given that the wave amplitudes were weak and that the strong zonal wind on the upstream of the mountain waves prohibited wave saturation and breakdown.

DINAMIKA LAPISAN STRATOSFER DI BELAHAN BUMI UTARA DAN DAMPAKNYA TERHADAP WILAYAH TROPIS: STUDI KASUS MUSIM DINGIN 2012-2013 (STRATOSPHERIC DYNAMICS IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE AND ITS IMPACT TO THE TROPICS: A CASE STUDY OF 2012-2013 WINTER)

This research aims to investigate the dynamic of static stability (N2), potential energy of gravity waves (Ep), and vortex in the stratospheric northern hemisphere during 2012-2013 winter using temperature (T) and zonal wind (u) data from NCEP-DOE Reanalysis II. The results showed two occurrences of decreasing N2 ascociated with reversal of u in the first and third week of December 2012 were believed as a trigger of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings (SSW) on January 7, 2013. There was a flow from the polar to the tropics region during the SSW event. It caused the tropopause folding in the sub-tropic region indicated by the distribution of Ep on January 24, 2013. This tropopause folding triggered the convective activity over the Indonesian continents as shown by the negative OLR anomaly from 22 to 26 January 2013. The impact of SSW event in the northern hemisphere to the convective activity was 20%. This results showed the interaction between stratosphere and troposphere and also the teleconnection between the polar and the tropics. ABSTRAKPenelitian ini bertujuan menyelidiki dinamika stabilitas statis (N2), energi potensial gelombang gravitas (Ep), dan pusaran angin di lapisan stratosfer Belahan Bumi Utara (BBU) selama musim dingin 2012-2013 menggunakan data temperatur (T) dan komponen angin zonal (u) dari NCEP-DOE Reanalysis II. Hasil riset menunjukkan bahwa dua kejadian penurunan N2 pada pekan awal dan ketiga bulan Desember 2012 diyakini sebagai pemicu kejadian Sudden Stratosphere Warmings (SSW) tanggal 7 Januari 2013. Pada saat terjadi SSW terdapat aliran dari kutub menuju tropis. Aliran ini mengakibatkan terjadinya pelipatan lapisan tropopause di wilayah sub-tropis yang terlihat pada distribusi Ep tanggal 24 Januari 2013. Pelipatan lapisan tropopause ini kemudian memicu aktivitas konvektif di atas wilayah Indonesia yang ditandai oleh anomali OLR negatif antara tanggal 22-26 Januari 2013. Dampak kejadian SSW di BBU terhadap aktivitas konvektif di atas wilayah kepulauan Indonesia sebesar 20%. Hasil ini membuktikan interaksi antara lapisan stratosfer dan troposfer serta telekoneksi wilayah kutub dan tropis.

On the behaviour of the tropopause folding events over the Tibetan Plateau

Due to its harsh natural conditions, there had not been any intensive radiosonde observations over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) before the year 2008, when a regional radiosonde observation network was implemented through a Sino-Japan joint cooperation project. This paper reports, on the basis of these observations, on an analysis of the structure of upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) and provides observations of stratosphere and troposphere exchange (STE) over the TP. Due to sparseness of high resolution radiosonde data, many previous studies assumed that there was only one thermal tropopause over the TP. Actually, the radiosonde temperature profiles in winter time over the TP often exhibit a multiple tropopause (MT). The MT occurs in winter with a high frequency over the Plateau. MT events during this time are associated with tropopause folds near the subtropical westerly jet. The MT consistently varied with the movement of the jet. The MT becomes a single tropopause with the development of the monsoon. The detailed analyses of MT characteristics are reported in this paper. Earlier analyses of global MT events (with data based on GPS radio occultation, ERA-40 data and Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive database) resulted in a climatic frequency of MT occurrences in the winter season over the Plateau is not more than 40 %. Based on high resolution data of intensive radiosonde observations, our estimations of MT occurrence over the Plateau can be as high as 80 % during certain winters. This reminds us to pay more attention to the MT events above the Plateau. The influence of the coarse vertical resolution and other effects on the estimation of MT occurrence frequency are also discussed. The stratospheric intruding episodes are generally associated with the presence of subtropical jet stream over the Plateau. The complex structure of dynamic tropopause folding over the Plateau have been reflected by the thermal MT events observed by radiosondes. The intrusion of air masses from the stratosphere may contribute to a higher upper tropospheric ozone concentration in winter than in summer above the plateau.

On the behaviour of the tropopause folding events over the Tibetan Plateau

Due to its harsh natural conditions, there had not been any intensive radiosonde observations over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) until the year 2008, when a regional radiosonde observation network was implemented through a Sino–Japan joint cooperation project. This paper reports new findings on the structure of upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) layer, and provides evidence for stratosphere and troposphere exchange (STE) over the TP. Due to sparseness of high resolution sonde data, many previous studies assumed that there was only one thermal tropopause over the TP. Actually the radiosonde temperature profiles at pre-onset time of the Asian monsoon over the TP often exhibit a multiple tropopause (MT). The MT occurs in winter time with much higher frequency than any previous estimations over the Plateau. The MT during this time period is associated with tropopause folding near the subtropical westerly jet. The MT consistently varied with the movement of the jet. The MT becomes a single tropopause with the development of the monsoon. According to their height distribution, the MT can be divided into tropical and polar characterized tropopauses. Detailed analyses of MT characteristics are reported in this paper. Although some scientists have analyzed global MT events (with data including GPS radio occultation, ERA40 data and Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive database), the frequency of their MT occurrences in winter season over the plateau is largely under-estimated. This significant difference must be caused by the coarse vertical resolution of these data. The stratospheric intruding episodes are generally associated with the presence of subtropical westerly jet stream over the Plateau. The subtropical jet causes dynamic tropopause foldings over the plateau, which have been observed by us as thermal MT events. Intrusions of high latitude stratospheric ozone rich air into the troposphere over the plateau give us a new explanation to why total column ozone in winter is higher than that in summer.