The Controlling Role of Boundary Layer Inertial Oscillations in Meiyu Frontal Precipitation and Its Diurnal Cycles Over China. Issue 10 (24th May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xue, Ming; Luo, Xia; Zhu, Kefeng; Sun, Zhengqi; Fei, Jianfang
• Is Part Of: Journal of geophysical research. Volume 123:Issue 10(2018)
• Page Start: 5090
• Page End: 5115
• Publication Date: 2018-05-24
• Subjects: Meiyu precipitation -- diurnal cycles -- inertial oscillations; Atmospheric physics -- Periodicals; Geophysics -- Periodicals; 551.5
• DOI: 10.1029/2018JD028368
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2169-897X

Abstract

Abstract: Convection‐permitting simulations are used to investigate the key mechanism of Meiyu precipitation diurnal cycle over China. Six days from the 2014 Meiyu season are used to produce a "north" composite rainband over the Yangtze‐Huaihe River Basin and another 6 days used to produce a "south" composite band. Both rainbands have peak rainfall in the early morning, while the south band has a secondary peak in the afternoon. Low‐level ageostrophic winds (AGWs) are found to exhibit diurnal cycles with clockwise rotations and their directions, and magnitudes depend on the background geostrophic monsoon flows. Net moisture flux into a control volume enclosing each rainband is almost purely due to AGWs. For both rainbands, net flux reaches maximum at ~04 LST, about 3–4 hr before morning precipitation peak. For the north band, a prominent minimum occurs at ~19 LST, 4 hr before the precipitation minimum. The moisture fluxes through the southern control volume boundary make the largest contributions to the net flux and its diurnal variations. The diurnal variations of the AGWs and their relationship with the background monsoon flows agree very well with the prediction of Blackadar boundary layer inertial oscillation theory, and the convergence forcing by the AGWs resulting from the inertial oscillations plays a paramount role in modulating the diurnal cycles of Meiyu front precipitation, including the creation of early morning peak and evening minimum. Feedback of latent heat release plays only a secondary role. The commonly recognized diurnal monsoon variability can be explained by the Blackadar inertial oscillation theory. Key Points: Meiyu precipitation over China show pronounced diurnal cycles including early morning maximum and evening minimum The morning maximum and evening minimum are directly linked to maximum low‐level moisture convergence and divergence that occur 2‐3 hr earlier Diurnal variations in the boundary layer winds due to inertial oscillations are primarily responsible for the variations in low‐level convergence forcing and precipitation diurnal cycles