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Development and eastward movement mechanisms of the Tibetan Plateau vortices moving off the Tibetan Plateau

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Abstract

Based on the Final operational global analysis data from the Global Forecasting System of the National Centers for Environment Prediction and the radiosonde data, the development and eastward movement mechanisms of 15 Tibetan Plateau vortices (TPVs) after they move off the plateau are investigated. The results show that the convergence to the east of the TPVs at 500 hPa, the divergence associated with the westerly jet stream at 200 hPa, as well as the corresponding ascending motion provide favorable conditions for the development and eastward movement of the TPVs. The spatial structures of the atmospheric apparent heat source (Q1) and the apparent moisture sink (Q2) are studied, showing that the heating centers of Q1 at 400 hPa mainly sourced from the condensation latent heat are beneficial to the eastward movement of the TPVs, while the horizontal distribution of Q1 at 500 hPa goes against that. The development and eastward movement mechanisms of the TPVs after they move off the plateau are further discussed through diagnosing the potential vorticity (PV) tendency equation. It is revealed that the horizontal PV flux convergence to the east of the TPVs related to the convergence at 500 hPa plays as the dominant role, exerting positive contribution to the PV tendency. Meanwhile, the heating fields induce feeble PV tendency, indicating more important effect of the dynamic factor. The development and eastward movement mechanisms of the TPVs after they move off the plateau are different from those before the TPVs move off, and the dynamic effect is vital in the former stage while the effect of Q1 is revealed as the dominant influencing factor in the latter.

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Acknowledgements

This study is funded by National Key Research and Development Program (nos. 2016YFA0601504 and 2016YFA0600602), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 41775059), the China National 973 Project (2015CB453203), the Basic Scientific Research and Operation Foundation of CAMS (no. 2016Y001 and 2018Z006), the science and technology development fund of CAMS (no. 2018KJ029).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, #46, Zhong-Guan-Cun South Avenue, Beijing, 100081, China

    Lun Li & Min Wen

  2. Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Renhe Zhang

  3. CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, China

    Renhe Zhang

  4. Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy Science, Beijing, China

    Jianping Duan

Authors
  1. Lun Li
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  2. Renhe Zhang
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  3. Min Wen
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  4. Jianping Duan
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Correspondence to Lun Li.

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Li, L., Zhang, R., Wen, M. et al. Development and eastward movement mechanisms of the Tibetan Plateau vortices moving off the Tibetan Plateau. Clim Dyn 52, 4849–4859 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4420-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4420-z

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