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Theory of three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation

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Abstract

This paper reviews the three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation (3P-DGAC) developed in recent years, including the decomposition model and the dynamical equations of global horizontal, meridional, and zonal circulations. Compared with the traditional two-dimensional (2D) circulation decomposition method, the 3P-DGAC can effectively decompose the actual vertical vorticity into two components that are caused by the horizontal circulation and convergent/divergent movement (associated with the meridional and zonal circulations). It also decomposes the vertical velocity into the components of the meridional vertical circulation and the zonal vertical circulation, thus providing a new method to study the dynamical influences of convergent/divergent motions on the evolution of actual vertical vorticity and an accurate description of local vertical circulations. The 3P-DGAC is a three-dimensional (3D) circulation decomposition method based on the main characteristics of the actual atmospheric movements. The horizontal, meridional, and zonal circulations after the 3P-DGAC are the global generalization of Rossby waves in the middle-high latitudes and Hadley and Walker circulations in low latitudes. Therefore, the three-pattern decomposition model and its dynamical equations provide novel theoretical tools for studying complex interactions between middle-high and low latitude circulations as well as the physical mechanisms of the abnormal evolution of large-scale atmospheric circulations under the background of global warming.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank reviewers for their valuable comments and constructive suggestions, which significantly improved the paper. This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC1502305) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41775069 & 41975076).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Shujuan Hu, Bingqian Zhou, Chenbin Gao, Zhihang Xu, Qingwan Wang & Jifan Chou

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  1. Shujuan Hu
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  2. Bingqian Zhou
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  3. Chenbin Gao
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  4. Zhihang Xu
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  5. Qingwan Wang
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  6. Jifan Chou
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Correspondence to Shujuan Hu.

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Hu, S., Zhou, B., Gao, C. et al. Theory of three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation. Sci. China Earth Sci. 63, 1248–1267 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-019-9614-y

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