Collaborative Research: The Southern Subtropical Anticyclones

本项目研究了在南半球副热带陆块西侧海洋上发现的大型反气旋高压系统。这些特征通常被认为是南半球的百慕大高压和北半球的太平洋高压，但本研究将考察南半球反气旋与北半球反气旋的不同程度，以及受南半球地理和气候影响的程度。本文提出了三个主要问题：1)南部冬季的南大西洋反气旋与西非和亚洲季风有何联系？2)大西洋暖池对东南太平洋的半球间影响有多显著？3)在南半球，大气-海洋相互作用是否对季风和热带高压之间的联系有显著贡献？这些研究问题主要是通过大气环流模式和大气-海洋-陆地耦合气候模式的数值实验来解决的。南亚热带反气旋是地球气候的重要特征，对其起源的深入研究可以改善其在气候模式中的表现。与反气旋一起发现的层云对地球的能量收支非常重要，在气候模式中更好地代表反气旋可能有助于我们对未来气候变化做出更好的气候模式预测。此外，这项工作将为一名研究生和两名博士后研究人员提供教育和培训。

This project examines the large anticyclonic high pressure systems found over the oceans on the western sides of the Southern Hemisphere subtropical landmasses. These features are generally regarded as the Southern Hemisphere equivalents of the Bermuda High and the Pacific High in the Northern Hemisphere, but this research will examine the extent to which the Southern Hemisphere anticyclones are different from their northern counterparts and are affected by the geography and climatology of the Southern Hemisphere. Three broad questions are addressed: 1) How is the South Atlantic anticyclone during the southern winter connected with the West African and Asian monsoons? 2) How significant are the interhemispheric influences of the Atlantic Warm Pool on the southeastern Pacific? 3) In the Southern Hemisphere, do atmospheric-ocean interactions contribute significantly to the links between monsoons and tropical highs? These research questions are addressed primarily through numerical experiments with atmospheric general circulation models and coupled atmosphere-ocean-land climate models.The southern subtropical anticyclones are important features of the earth's climate, and research leading to a better understanding their origins could lead to improvements in their representation in climate models. The stratus clouds found in conjunction with the anticyclones are quite important for the Earth's energy budget, and better representation of the anticyclones in climate models may help us to produce better climate model projections of future climate change. In addition, the work will provide education and training to a graduate student and two postdoctoral researchers.