Relationship between real meridional volume transport and Sverdrup transport in the North Subtropical Pacific

The meridional volume transport (MVT) associated with the wind-driven gyre is an important index for ocean general circulations because it is closely related to the poleward oceanic heat transport. In particular, the mass transport by the subtropical gyre…     

Modeling studies on the changes of the Subtropical High over the Western Pacific during the last 100 years

Intensity index series of Subtropical High over the Western Pacific was constructed according to modeling results by using of CCM3.6 atmospheric model with climatologically SST forcing for 30 years, and with observed SST forcing from 1900 to 2000. The index series constructed by modeling closely correlated to the observations for 1951-1999 (c.c. 0.72) and to the statistically reconstructed one for 1900-1950 (c.c. 0.51). The index series for 1900-1999 showed significant 80 a and 40 a periodicity. A minimum of persistence in seasonal variations of the index occurred in Autumn, which was called "Autumn Barrier". It may relate to the "Spring Barrier", found in the seasonal variations of SST over the Eastern Equatorial Pacific. The increasing trend shown in the index series for the 20th century may associate with the global warming caused by enhancement of greenhouse effect.     

The mean residence time of river water in the Canada Basin

Seawater was collected from the western Arctic Ocean for measurements of 18О, ^226Ra and ^228Ra. The fractions of river runoff and sea ice melt-water in water samples were estimated by using δ^18О-S-PО^＊ tracer system. The mean residence time of river water in the Canada Basin was calculated based on the relationship between ^228Ra/^226Ra）A.R. and the fractions of river runoff in the shelf and deep ocean. Our results showed that the river runoff fractions in the Canada Basin were significantly higher than those in the shelf regions, suggesting that the Canada Basin is a major storage region for Arctic river water. ^228Ra activity concentrations in the Chukchi shelf and the Beaufort shelf ranged from 0.16 to 1.22 Bq/m^3, lower than those reported for shelves in the low and middle latitudes, indicating the effect of sea ice melt-water. A good positive linear relationship was observed between ^228Ra/^226Ra）A.R. and the fraction of river runoff for shelf waters, while the ^228Ra/^226Ra）A.R. in the Canada Basin was located below this re-gressive line. The low ^228Ra/^226Ra）A.R. in the Canada Basin was ascribed to ^228Ra decay during shelf wa-ters transporting to the deep ocean. The residence time of 5.0-11.0 a was estimated for the river water in the Canada Basin, which determined the time response of surface freshening in the North Atlantic to the river runoff into the Arctic Ocean.     

Interdecadal shift in the western North Pacific Summer SST anomaly in the late 1980s

An interdecadal shift in summer (June―August) sea surface temperature (SST) variations during the period of 1968―2002 was identified in the late 1980s, which is characterized by a phase alternating from negative to positive phases of the leading mode of the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of the summer monthly mean SST in the Pacific domain 100°―180°E and 0°―40°N, accounting for 30.5% of the total variance. During the period of 1968―1987, the leading mode with a mean negative phase state (mean standard deviation = ?0.586) controlled SST variability in the western North Pacific. Correspondingly, negative SST anomalies occupied the western North Pacific south of Japan and Chinese marginal seas. During the period of 1988―2002, the leading mode shifted to its strong positive polarity (mean standard deviation = 0.781), thus positive SST anomalies appeared in the western North Pacific. Accompanied by the interdecadal shift in summer mean SST, summer mean rainfall increased in southern and southeastern China during the late period, particularly in southeastern China where increase in summer mean rainfall exceeded 40 mm, at the 0.05 significance level.     

The interdecadal trend and shift of dry/wet over the central part of North China and their relationship to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation （PDO）

Based on monthly precipitation and monthly mean surface air temperature (SAT),the dry/wet trends and shift of the central part of North China and their relationship to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) from 1951 to 2005 have been analyzed through calculating surface wetness index (SWI). The results indicate that there was a prominent drying trend and an abrupt change in the analysis period. A per-sistent warming period with less precipitation from the mid and late 1970s to present was found,and a shift process exists from the wet to the dry in the central part of North China during 1951-2005. The transition is located in the mid to late 1970s,which should be related to the shift variation of large-scale climate background. The correlation analysis has brought about a finding of significant correlativity between PDO index (PDOI) and SAT,precipitation and SWI in this region. The correlation exhibits that the positive phase of PDOI (warm PDO phase) matches warming,less precipitation and the drought period,and the negative PDOI phase corresponds to low SAT,more precipitation and the wet period. The duration of various phases is more than 25 years. The decadal variation of sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Pacific Ocean is one of the possible causes in forming the decadal dry/wet trend and shift of the central part of North China.     

Interdecadal variation of tropical cyclone activity in association with summer monsoon, sea surface temperature over the western North Pacific

Based on geographic division over the western North Pacific (WNP), the interdecadal relationships between summer monsoon, sea surface temperature (SST) and tropical cyclones activity (including number, track and intensity) are examined. In the past several decades, the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) and tropical westerlies contribute to the interdecadal variation of TC number in the northwest and southeast of WNP respectively. The increased TC occurrence density to the east of Philippines related to TC track appears during the 1990s, in terms of both steer flow induced by WPSH and genesis location. From the interdecadal viewpoint, the tendency of TC intensity, measured by averaged accumulated cyclone energy, does well agree with that of SST, implying that SST plays an important role in TC intensity. Supported by Special Scientific Research Project for Public Interest (Grant No. GYHY200806009) and National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2009CB421505)