A Case study of a snowstorm at the Great Wall Station,Antarctica

A case of a snowstorm at the Great Wall Station was studied using data of NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) analysis, in situ observations and surface weather charts. The storm occurred on August 29th,2006, and brought high winds and poor horizontal visibility to the region.It was found that the storm occurred under the synoptic situation of a high in the south and a low in the north. A low-level easterly jet from the Antarctic continent significantly decreased the air temperature and humidity.Warm air advection at high level brought sufficient vapor from lower latitudes for the snowstorm to develop.The dynamic factors relating to strong snowfall and even the developmentof a snowstorm were deep cyclonic vorticity at middle and low levels,the configuration of divergence at high level and convergence at low level, and strong verticaluplift. There was an inversion layer in the low-level atmosphere during the later phase of the storm.This vertical structure of cold air at low levels and warm air at high levels may have been important to the longevity of the snowstorm.     

黄海气旋数值模拟的可视化

对一次黄海气旋数值模拟进行了可视化研究, 给出了气旋云系、锋面、流场、涡度场的立体图像, 展示了可视化软件Live View在数值模拟研究中有广阔的应用前景.     

Sea Levels and Coastal Inundation Due to Tropical Cyclones in Indian Coastal Regions of Andhra and Orissa

Coastal inundation associated with extreme sea levels is the main factor which leads to the loss of life and property whenever a severe tropical cyclonic storm hits the Indian coasts. The Andhra and Orissa coasts are most vulnerable for coastal inundation due to extreme rise in sea levels associated with tropical cyclones. Loss of life may be minimized if extreme sea levels and associated coastal flooding is predicted well in advance. Keeping this in view, location specific coastal inundation models are developed and applied for the Andhra and Orissa coasts of India. Several numerical experiments are carried out using the data of past severe cyclones that struck these regions. The simulated inland inundation distances are found to be in general agreement with the reported flooding.     

Why relatively fewer people died? The case of Bangladesh’s Cyclone Sidr

Cyclone Sidr, a Category IV storm, struck the southwestern coast of Bangladesh on November 15, 2007 killing 3,406 people. Despite a similar magnitude, Sidr claimed far fewer lives than Cyclone Gorky, also a Category IV storm, which struck Bangladesh in 1991 causing an estimated 140,000 fatalities. The relatively low number of deaths experienced with Sidr is widely considered the result of Bangladesh government’s efforts to provide timely cyclone forecasting and early warnings, and successful evacuation of coastal residents from the projected path of Cyclone Sidr. Using information collected from both primary and secondary sources, this study identified several other reasons for the unexpectedly lower mortality associated with Cyclone Sidr relative to Cyclone Gorky. Fewer casualties may be attributed to a number of physical characteristics of Cyclone Sidr, such as duration of the storm and storm surge, landfall time and site, varied coastal ecology, and coastal embankment. This article recommends improvements to the cyclone warning systems, establishment of more public cyclone shelters, and implementation of an education campaign in coastal areas to increase the utilization of public shelters for future cyclone events.     

ENSO事件对西北太平洋热带气旋影响的分级研究

采用1951-2006年联合台风警报中心(JTWC)最佳路径数据集和气候预测中心(CPC) ENSO资料,分析了西北太平洋不同等级热带气旋累积能量(accumulated cyclone energy,ACE)与ENSO指数之间的关系.结果表明;ACE与ENSO指数间存在正相关关系;分级热带气旋中,ENSO事件主要通过超强台风(Super TY)的活动与ACE指数联系起来的,超强台风频数在El Ni(n)o期间多于La Ni(n)a 期间,同时持续时间也更长;ENSO指数和热带气旋活跃季超强台风ACE指数的滞后相关(ENSO指数滞后5个月内)与它们的同时相关大小相当.此外,还研究了分级热带气旋持续时间、强度和频数分别对ACE指数的贡献,结果显示超强台风频数的贡献最大.接下来,利用1951-2006年不同ENSO位相情况下NCEP再分析资料,分析了ENSO影响超强台风发生发展的物理机制.主要结论为:西北太平洋存在一些SuperTY频数与源地分布在ENSO年与平常年相比有明显差异的关键区;ENSO事件改变关键区低层相对涡度以及海表温度是其影响SuperTY源地及频数变化的重要途径.