A comparative study on initial developments between explosive and nonexplosive cyclones off the East Asian coast in winter
Explosive cyclones (ECs) pose serious challenges for weather forecasting and significant threats to human life and property. In searching for the key points that make a cyclone go through explosive deepening off the East Asian coast, we present a comparative analysis of ECs and nonexplosive cyclones...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.968736/full |
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| author | Xiaoyu Gao Xiaoyu Gao Ping Lu Shuqin Zhang Yang Hu Gang Fu Xiaoyan Sun Qiuyang Zhang |
| author_facet | Xiaoyu Gao Xiaoyu Gao Ping Lu Shuqin Zhang Yang Hu Gang Fu Xiaoyan Sun Qiuyang Zhang |
| author_sort | Xiaoyu Gao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Explosive cyclones (ECs) pose serious challenges for weather forecasting and significant threats to human life and property. In searching for the key points that make a cyclone go through explosive deepening off the East Asian coast, we present a comparative analysis of ECs and nonexplosive cyclones (or ordinary cyclones; OCs) using 10 years of ERA5 reanalysis data with high temporal and spatial resolutions. Their differences in synoptic backgrounds are shown, and mechanisms of the initial developments are compared quantitatively from the perspective of potential vorticity (PV). Among the identified 135 cyclones, 72 went through explosive growth and 37.5/36.1/20.8/5.6% of these ECs are ranked as weak/medium/strong/super ECs. ECs feature stronger low-level baroclinicity and higher PV than OCs. The decomposition of the local PV tendency shows the dominant role of the PV advection (with a correlation coefficient of 0.8). During the initial development, ECs have an average meridional temperature contrast 4 K larger than OCs within 20 latitudes at the low troposphere in the upstream, due to a stronger cold advection. The upstream colder air increases the horizontal temperature gradient and thus produces steeper isentropic surfaces inclining to the west. Since the PV intrusion is mainly along the isentropic surfaces, the increase in their slope significantly enhances the downward transport of PV from upper air. The importance of the horizontal gradient of potential temperature is further proved by numerical experiments with the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model on typical winter ECs. In sensitivity experiments, the low troposphere meridional temperature contrast decreasing by the average difference between ECs and OCs significantly decreases PV and stops the cyclones from explosive deepening. Despite the importance of diabatic processes in the deepening of mid-latitude cyclones emphasized by many studies, this study shows that the PV intrusion dominated by cold air mass is the key cause of winter explosive cyclogenesis in this region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T16:58:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-634296d5d1b048ae8b1d3529657c048c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-6463 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T16:58:26Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-634296d5d1b048ae8b1d3529657c048c2022-12-22T03:24:07ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Earth Science2296-64632022-09-011010.3389/feart.2022.968736968736A comparative study on initial developments between explosive and nonexplosive cyclones off the East Asian coast in winterXiaoyu Gao0Xiaoyu Gao1Ping Lu2Shuqin Zhang3Yang Hu4Gang Fu5Xiaoyan Sun6Qiuyang Zhang7State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science and Joint Center for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science and Joint Center for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaCollege of Oceanography and Meteorology, South China Sea Institute of Marine Meteorology, Key Laboratory of Climate Resources and Environment in Continental Shelf Sea and Deep Sea of Department of Education of Guangdong Province, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science and Joint Center for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Marine Meteorology, College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, ChinaCollaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters/Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disasters of Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, ChinaCollege of Atmospheric Sciences, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu, ChinaExplosive cyclones (ECs) pose serious challenges for weather forecasting and significant threats to human life and property. In searching for the key points that make a cyclone go through explosive deepening off the East Asian coast, we present a comparative analysis of ECs and nonexplosive cyclones (or ordinary cyclones; OCs) using 10 years of ERA5 reanalysis data with high temporal and spatial resolutions. Their differences in synoptic backgrounds are shown, and mechanisms of the initial developments are compared quantitatively from the perspective of potential vorticity (PV). Among the identified 135 cyclones, 72 went through explosive growth and 37.5/36.1/20.8/5.6% of these ECs are ranked as weak/medium/strong/super ECs. ECs feature stronger low-level baroclinicity and higher PV than OCs. The decomposition of the local PV tendency shows the dominant role of the PV advection (with a correlation coefficient of 0.8). During the initial development, ECs have an average meridional temperature contrast 4 K larger than OCs within 20 latitudes at the low troposphere in the upstream, due to a stronger cold advection. The upstream colder air increases the horizontal temperature gradient and thus produces steeper isentropic surfaces inclining to the west. Since the PV intrusion is mainly along the isentropic surfaces, the increase in their slope significantly enhances the downward transport of PV from upper air. The importance of the horizontal gradient of potential temperature is further proved by numerical experiments with the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model on typical winter ECs. In sensitivity experiments, the low troposphere meridional temperature contrast decreasing by the average difference between ECs and OCs significantly decreases PV and stops the cyclones from explosive deepening. Despite the importance of diabatic processes in the deepening of mid-latitude cyclones emphasized by many studies, this study shows that the PV intrusion dominated by cold air mass is the key cause of winter explosive cyclogenesis in this region.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.968736/fullexplosive cycloneEast Asian coastpotential vorticitybaroclinic instabilitydiabatic heating |
| spellingShingle | Xiaoyu Gao Xiaoyu Gao Ping Lu Shuqin Zhang Yang Hu Gang Fu Xiaoyan Sun Qiuyang Zhang A comparative study on initial developments between explosive and nonexplosive cyclones off the East Asian coast in winter Frontiers in Earth Science explosive cyclone East Asian coast potential vorticity baroclinic instability diabatic heating |
| title | A comparative study on initial developments between explosive and nonexplosive cyclones off the East Asian coast in winter |
| title_full | A comparative study on initial developments between explosive and nonexplosive cyclones off the East Asian coast in winter |
| title_fullStr | A comparative study on initial developments between explosive and nonexplosive cyclones off the East Asian coast in winter |
| title_full_unstemmed | A comparative study on initial developments between explosive and nonexplosive cyclones off the East Asian coast in winter |
| title_short | A comparative study on initial developments between explosive and nonexplosive cyclones off the East Asian coast in winter |
| title_sort | comparative study on initial developments between explosive and nonexplosive cyclones off the east asian coast in winter |
| topic | explosive cyclone East Asian coast potential vorticity baroclinic instability diabatic heating |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.968736/full |
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