This study investigates the Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange(STE) of water vapor,emphasizes its interdecadal variations over Asia in boreal summer,and discusses the influences of atmospheric heat sources over the Tibetan Plateau and the tropical western North Pacific(WNP) on them by using the Wei method with reanalysis data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF) for the years of 1958-2001.The climatology shows that the upward transport of water vapor across the tropopause in boreal summer is the most robust over the joining area of the South Asian Peninsula and Indian-Pacific Oceans(defined as AIPO).The upward transport over there can persistently convey the abundant water vapor into the stratosphere and then influence the distribution and variation of the stratospheric water vapor.The analysis shows that interdecadal variations of the water vapor exchange over the AIPO are significant,and its abrupt change occurred in the mid-1970s and the early 1990s.In these three periods,as important channels of the water vapor exchange,the effect of Bay of Bengal-East Asia as well as South China Sea was gradually weakening,while the role of the WNP becomes more and more important.Further studies show that atmospheric heat sources over the Tibetan Plateau and the WNP are two main factors in determining the interdecadal variations of water vapor exchange.The thermal influences over the Tibetan Plateau and the WNP have been greatly adjusted over the pass 44 years.Their synthesis influences the interdecadal variations of the water vapor exchange by changing the Asian summer monsoon,but their roles vary with time and regions.Especially after 1992,the influence of heat source over the Tibetan Plateau remarkably weakens,while the heat source over the WNP dominates the across-tropopause water vapor exchange.Results have important implications for understanding the transport of other components in the atmosphere and estimating the impact of human activities(emission) on global climate.
ZHAN RuiFen1,2&LI JianPing2 1Shanghai Typhoon Institute of China Meteorological Administration,Shanghai 200030,China
The stratospheric polar vortex breakup (SPVB) is an important phenomenon closely related to the seasonal transition of stratospheric circulation. In this paper, 62-year NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data were employed to investigate the distinction between early and late SPVB. The results showed that the anomalous circulation signals extending from the stratosphere to the troposphere were reversed before and after early SPVB, while the stratospheric signals were consistent before and after the onset of late SPVB. Arctic Oscillation (AO) evolution during the life cycle of SPVB also demonstrated that the negative AO signal can propagate downward after early SPVB. Such downward AO signals could be identified in both geopotential height and temperature anomalies. After the AO signal reached the lower troposphere, it influenced the Aleutian Low and Siberian High in the troposphere, leading to a weak winter monsoon and large-scale warming at mid latitudes in Asia. Compared to early SPVB, downward propagation was not evident in late SPVB. The high-latitude tropospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere was affected by early SPVB, causing it to enter a summer circulation pattern earlier than in late SPVB years.
