Abstract
This study focuses on the construction of an index to measure Okhotsk–Japan (OKJ) teleconnection pattern that mainly occurs in early summer. There are three major results presented here. The first is that four indices were developed to describe the OKJ pattern occurring in the monthly mean height field by using one point correlation and empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. Although there is no substantial difference among them, the third OKJ index (OKJ-III) gives a better result for the OKJ pattern when correlated with height field at 500 hPa in June. Second, there exists a significant positive correlation between the East Asian monsoon index and the OKJ-III in June. The positive OKJ-III is associated with the positive anomalies of precipitation rate to the south of the Yangtze River and Northeast China in June and negative anomalies of the surface air temperature over Japan in June through August and vice versa. All of these coincide well with the features of Rossby wave propagation in OKJ pattern that were summarized in previous studies. This index that simply represents the strength of the OKJ propagation can be used as a diagnostic tool to assess East Asian summer monsoon climate, especially for the month of June. Third, the OKJ pattern can be detected by using the first principal component of the EOF analysis in June 500 hPa height field, and it accounts for large portion of the total variance. Such a strong OKJ signal was not found in the rest of the summer months, i.e., July and August. These results strongly suggest the importance of the OKJ pattern in the East Asian circulation of early summer.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Horel JD (1981) A rotated principal component analysis of the interannual variability of the Northern Hemisphere 500 mb height field. Mon Weather Rev 109:2080–2092
Hoskins BJ, Ambrizzi T (1993) Rossby wave propagation on a realistic longitudinally varying flow. J Atmos Sci 50:1661–1671
Hoskins BJ, Karoly DJ (1981) The steady linear response of a spherical atmosphere to thermal and orographic forcing. J Atmos Sci 38:1179–1196
Kalnay E et al (1996) The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 77:437–471
Kurihara K, Tsuyuki T (1987) Development of the barotropic high around Japan and its association with Rossby wave-like propagations over the North Pacific: an observational study of August 1984. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 65:237–246
Ninomiya K, Mizuno H (1985) Anomalous cold spell in summer over northeastern Japan caused by northeasterly wind from polar maritime airmass: Part I. EOF analysis of temperature variation in relation to the large-scale situation causing the cold summer. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 63:845–857
Nitta T (1987) Convective activities in the tropical western Pacific and their impact on the northern hemisphere summer circulation. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 65:373–390
North GR, Bell TL, Cahalan RF (1982) Sampling errors in the estimation of empirical orthogonal functions. Mon Weather Rev 110:699–706
Ogi M, Tachibana T, Yamazaki K (2004) The Connectivity of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the summer Okhotsk High. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 82:905–913
Plumb RA (1985) On the three dimensional propagation of stationary waves. J Atmos Sci 42:217–229
Sampe T, Xie S-P (2010) Large-scale dynamics of the Meiyu–Baiu rain band: Environmental forcing by the westerly jet. J Climate 23:113–134
Suda K, Asakura T (1955) A study on the unusual “Baiu” season in 1954 by means of Northern Hemisphere upper air mean charts. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 33:233–244
Wallace JM, Gutzler DS (1981) Teleconnections in the geopotential height field during the Northern Hemisphere winter. Mon Weather Rev 109:785–812
Wang Y (1992) Effects of blocking anticyclones in Eurasia in the rainy season (Meiyu/Baiu season). J Meteorol Soc Jpn 70:929–951
Wang Y, Lupo AR (2009) An extratropical air–sea interaction over the North Pacific in association with a preceding El Niño episode in early summer. Mon Weather Rev 137:3771–3785
Wang Y, Yasunari T (1994) A diagnostic analysis of the wave train propagating from high-latitudes to low-latitudes in early summer. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 72:269–279
Wang Y, Wang B, Oh J-H (2001) Impact of preceding El Niño on the East Asian summer atmosphere circulation. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 79:575–588
Wang Y, Yamazaki K, Fujiyoshi Y (2007) The interaction between two separate propagations of Rossby Waves. Mon Weather Rev 135:3521–3540
Wang Y, Xu X, Lupo AR, Li P, Yin Z (2011) The remote effect of the Tibetan Plateau on downstream flow in early summer. J Geophys Res 116:D19108. doi:10.1029/2011JD015979
Acknowledgments
We thank the editor and the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions and comments. This study was supported by National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program No. 2012CB417202).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, Y., Zhai, P. & Qin, J. Construction of the OKJ teleconnection index. Theor Appl Climatol 114, 303–314 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-013-0837-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-013-0837-9