Increasing energy transfer over Eurasia and the North Atlantic enhancing the Eurasian low‐frequency wave and boreal summer droughts in China

• Published in: International Journal of Climatology
• Main Authors: Zhang, Jie, Zhao, Siwen, Chen, Zhiheng
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2020
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joc.6905; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/joc.6905; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/joc.6905; https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/joc.6905

Abstract The prolonged droughts that frequently occur in northern China are related to persistent anomalies of circulation and the low‐frequency waves. To explore the formation of the low‐frequency waves and the related internal variability and external forcing, the intra‐seasonal kinetic energy (KE) and the corresponding energy transfer terms are investigated algorithmically with multiscale energy and vorticity analysis. The results show two major energy sources located over the central North Atlantic (NA) and Europe, with increasing baroclinicity and energy conversion. The major energy conversion is from basic flow to intra‐seasonal KE, which corresponds to a southeastern extension of NA jet stream (JS) exit and the northward shift in the entrance of Afro Asian JS. JS shifts are helpful to the conjunction of both JS, and thereby enhance JS waveguide and wave energy dispersion. In addition, with increasing surface temperature and diabatic heating over Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, there are increase baroclinicity that facilitates the buoyancy energy conversion, ascending KE flux and positive pressure flux in the lower troposphere, those result in higher mid‐upper‐troposphere KE. The divergent energy contributes to the development and enhancement of the low‐frequency waves, favouring the extratropical eddy, wave structure, and quasi‐stationary waves amplitude, which is thereby conducive to magnified wave amplitude and extreme droughts in northern China. The results emphasize the internal dynamics and local forcing and provide prediction reference for extratropical extremes.