Tropical Cyclone Footprints in Long-Term Mean State and Multiscale Climate Variability in the Western North Pacific as Seen in the JRA-55 Reanalysis

• Published in: Journal of climate 2021-09, Vol.34 (18), p.7443-7460
• Main Authors: Arakane, Sho, Hsu, Huang-Hsiung
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anticyclonic circulation; Climate; Climate change; Climate system; Climate variability; Cyclones; Datasets; Heat; Hurricanes; Lower troposphere; Monsoon circulation; Monsoon trough; Monsoons; Rain; Seasons; Subtropical circulation; Summer monsoon; Tropical climate; Tropical cyclones; Troposphere; Upper troposphere; Variability; Vortices
• ISSN: 0894-8755; 1520-0442
• DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0887.1

The monsoon trough and subtropical high have long been acknowledged to exert a substantial modulating effect on the genesis and development of tropical cyclones (TCs) in the western North Pacific (WNP). However, the potential upscaling effect of TCs on large-scale circulation remains poorly understood. This study revealed the considerable contributions of TCs to the climate mean state and variability in the WNP between 1958 and 2019, characterized by a strengthened monsoon trough and weakened subtropical anticyclonic circulation in the lower troposphere, enhanced anticyclonic circulation in the upper troposphere, and warming throughout the troposphere. TCs constituted distinct footprints in the long-term mean states of the WNP summer monsoon, and their contributions increased intraseasonal and interannual variance by 50%–70%. The interdecadal variations and long-term trends in intraseasonal variance were mainly due to the year-to-year fluctuations in TC activity. The size of TC footprints was positively correlated with the magnitude of TC activity. Our findings suggest that the full understanding of climate variability and changes cannot be achieved simply on the basis of low-frequency, large-scale circulations. Rather, TCs must be regarded as a crucial component in the climate system, and their interactions with large-scale circulations require thorough exploration. The long-term dataset created in this study provides an opportunity to study the interaction between TCs and TC-free large-scale circulations to advance our understanding of climate variability in the WNP. Our findings also indicate that realistic climate projections must involve the accurate simulations of TCs.