Abstract
This paper reviews the three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation (3P-DGAC) developed in recent years, including the decomposition model and the dynamical equations of global horizontal, meridional, and zonal circulations. Compared with the traditional two-dimensional (2D) circulation decomposition method, the 3P-DGAC can effectively decompose the actual vertical vorticity into two components that are caused by the horizontal circulation and convergent/divergent movement (associated with the meridional and zonal circulations). It also decomposes the vertical velocity into the components of the meridional vertical circulation and the zonal vertical circulation, thus providing a new method to study the dynamical influences of convergent/divergent motions on the evolution of actual vertical vorticity and an accurate description of local vertical circulations. The 3P-DGAC is a three-dimensional (3D) circulation decomposition method based on the main characteristics of the actual atmospheric movements. The horizontal, meridional, and zonal circulations after the 3P-DGAC are the global generalization of Rossby waves in the middle-high latitudes and Hadley and Walker circulations in low latitudes. Therefore, the three-pattern decomposition model and its dynamical equations provide novel theoretical tools for studying complex interactions between middle-high and low latitude circulations as well as the physical mechanisms of the abnormal evolution of large-scale atmospheric circulations under the background of global warming.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bayr T, Dommenget D, Martin T, Power S B. 2014. The eastward shift of the Walker Circulation in response to global warming and its relationship to ENSO variability. Clim Dyn, 43: 2747–2763
Charney J, Halem M, Jastrow R. 1969. Use of incomplete historical data to infer the present state of the atmosphere. J Atmos Sci, 26: 1160–1163
Chelton D B, Schlax M G. 1996. Global observations of oceanic Rossby waves. Science, 272: 234–238
Cheng J B. 2019. Changes of the Hadley circulation and the influence of orography on them derived from the three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation (in Chinese). Dissertation for Doctoral Degree. Lanzhou: Lanzhou University
Cheng J B, Gao C B, Hu S J, Feng G L. 2018a. High-stability algorithm for the three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation. Theor Appl Climatol, 133: 851–866
Cheng J B, Hu S J, Chou J F. 2018b. The double-layer structure of the Hadley circulation and its interdecadal evolution characteristcs. J Trop Meteorol, 24: 220–231
Chou J F. 1974. A problem of using past data in numerical weather forecasting (in Chinese). Sci China Ser A, 6: 635–644
Chou J F. 1983. Some properties of operators and the effect of initial condition (in Chinese). Acta Meteorol Sin, 41: 385–392
Deng B S, Liu H T, Chou J F. 2010. An analysis on large-scale air-sea interactive linkages between the tropical Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean during ENSO events. J Trop Meteorol, 16: 305–312
DiNezio P N, Vecchi G A, Clement A C. 2013. Detectability of changes in the Walker circulation in response to global warming. J Clim, 26: 4038–4048
England M H, McGregor S, Spence P, Meehl G A, Timmermann A, Cai W, Gupta A S, McPhaden M J, Purich A, Santoso A. 2014. Recent intensification of wind-driven circulation in the Pacific and the ongoing warming hiatus. Nat Clim Change, 4: 222–227
Guan X, Ma J, Huang J, Huang R, Zhang L, Ma Z. 2019. Impact of oceans on climate change in drylands. Sci China Earth Sci, 62: 891–908
Hartmann D L. 1994. Global Physical Climatology. San Diego: Academic Press. 155
Holton J R, Staley D O. 1973. An introduction to dynamic meteorology. Am J Phys, 41: 752–754
Hou X Y, Cheng J B, Hu S J, Feng G L. 2018. Interdecadal variations in the Walker circulation and its connection to inhomogeneous air temperature changes from 1961–2012. Atmosphere, 9: 469
Hu S J. 2006. Three-dimensional circulation expansion of global atmospheric circumfluence and characteristics analyze of atmospheric vertical motion (in Chinese). Dissertation for Doctoral Degree. Lanzhou: Lanzhou University
Hu S J. 2008. Connection between the short period evolution structure and vertical motion of the subtropical high pressure in July 1998 (in Chinese). J Lanzhou Univ, 44: 28–32
Hu S J, Cheng J B, Chou J F. 2017. Novel three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation: Generalization of traditional two-dimensional decomposition. Clim Dyn, 49: 3573–3586
Hu S J, Chou J F, Cheng J B. 2018a. Three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation: Part I—Decomposition model and theorems. Clim Dyn, 50: 2355–2368
Hu S J, Cheng J B, Xu M, Chou J F. 2018b. Three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation: Part II—Dynamical equations of horizontal, meridional and zonal circulations. Clim Dyn, 50: 2673–2686
Hu Y Y, Tung K K, Liu J P. 2005. A closer comparison of early and late-winter atmospheric trends in the northern hemisphere. J Clim, 18: 3204–3216
Hu Y Y, Fu Q. 2007. Observed poleward expansion of the Hadley circulation since 1979. Atmos Chem Phys, 7: 5229–5236
Hu Y Y, Huang H, Zhou C. 2018. Widening and weakening of the Hadley circulation under global warming. Sci Bull, 63: 640–644
Kiladis G N, Weickmann K M. 1992a. Circulation anomalies associated with tropical convection during northern winter. Mon Weather Rev, 120: 1900–1923
Kiladis G N, Weickmann K M. 1992b. Extratropical forcing of tropical Pacific convection during northern winter. Mon Weather Rev, 120: 1924–1939
Kiladis G N, Feldstein S B. 1994. Rossby wave propagation into the tropics in two GFDL general circulation models. Clim Dyn, 9: 245–252
Kiladis G N, Wheeler M. 1995. Horizontal and vertical structure of observed tropospheric equatorial Rossby waves. J Geophys Res, 100: 22981–22997
Kiladis G N, Weickmann K M. 1997. Horizontal structure and seasonality of large-scale circulations associated with submonthly tropical convection. Mon Weather Rev, 125: 1997–2013
Kosaka Y, Xie S P. 2013. Recent global-warming hiatus tied to equatorial Pacific surface cooling. Nature, 501: 403–407
Liu H T, Hu S J, Xu M, Chou J F. 2008. Three-dimensional decomposition method of global atmospheric circulation. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 51: 386–402
Mitas C M, Clement A. 2005. Has the Hadley cell been strengthening in recent decades? Geophys Res Lett, 32: L03809
Oort A H, Yienger J J. 1996. Observed interannual variability in the Hadley circulation and its connection to ENSO. J Clim, 9: 2751–2767
Qian W H, Wu K J, Chen D L. 2015. The Arctic and Polar cells act on the Arctic sea ice variation. Tellus Ser A-Dyn Meteorol Oceanol, 67: 27692
Qian W H, Wu K J, Liang H Y. 2016. Arctic and Antarctic cells in the troposphere. Theor Appl Climatol, 125: 1–12
Qian W H, Wu K J, Leung J C H. 2017. Climatic anomalous patterns associated with the Arctic and Polar cell strength variations. Clim Dyn, 48: 169–189
Rossby C G. 1939. Relation between variations in the intensity of the zonal circulation of the atmosphere and the displacements of the semi-permanent centers of action. J Mar Res, 2: 38–55
Schwendike J, Govekar P, Reeder M J, Wardle R, Berry G J, Jakob C. 2014. Local partitioning of the overturning circulation in the tropics and the connection to the Hadley and Walker circulations. J Geophys Res-Atmos, 119: 1322–1339
Schwendike J, Berry G J, Reeder M J, Jakob C, Govekar P, Wardle R. 2015. Trends in the local Hadley and local Walker circulations. J Geophys Res-Atmos, 120: 7599–7618
Tao Z Y, Zhou X G, Zheng Y G. 2012. Theoretical basis of weather forecasting: Quasi-geostrophic theory summary and operational applications (in Chinese). Adv Meteorol Sci Technol, 2: 6–16
Trenberth K E, Stepaniak D P. 2003. Seamless poleward atmospheric energy transports and implications for the Hadley circulation. J Clim, 16: 3706–3722
Trenberth K E, Caron J M. 2001. Estimates of meridional atmosphere and ocean heat transports. J Clim, 14: 3433–3443
Wu G X, Stefano T. 1988. A scheme for calculating the mean meridional circulation of the atmosphere (in Chinese). Sci China Ser B, 18: 106–114
Xu M. 2001. Study on the three dimensional decomposition of large scale circulation and its dynamical feature (in Chinese). Dissertation for Doctoral Degree. Lanzhou: Lanzhou University
Zhang C, Webster P J. 1992. Laterally forced equatorial perturbations in a linear model. Part I: Stationary transient forcing. J Atmos Sci, 49: 585–607
Zhou X G, Wang X M, Tao Z Y. 2013. Review and discussion of some basic problems of the quasi-geostrophic theory (in Chinese). Meteorol Mon, 39: 401–409
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank reviewers for their valuable comments and constructive suggestions, which significantly improved the paper. This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC1502305) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41775069 & 41975076).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hu, S., Zhou, B., Gao, C. et al. Theory of three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation. Sci. China Earth Sci. 63, 1248–1267 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-019-9614-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-019-9614-y