A Study of Heat and Moisture Budgets in the Intense Winter Monsoon over the Warm Ocean Current

• Published in: Journal of the atmospheric sciences 1979-01, Vol.36 (10), p.1880-1894
• Main Authors: Kung, Ernest C., Siegel, Alan J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0022-4928; 1520-0469
• DOI: 10.1175/1520-0469(1979)036<1880:ASOHAM>2.0.CO;2

The large-scale, sensible and latent heat budgets in the intense winter monsoon over the Kuroshio region are studied with the AMTEX-74 and -75 observations. Energy variables involved in the sensible heat balance and latent heat balance are computed and examined from the surface to 100 mb. They are compared with the sensible and latent heat supplies from the sea surface, which are independently estimated. The large-scale vertical and horizontal transport processes are important in the local balance of sensible and latent heat. The adiabatic conversion term is also significant in the balance of sensible heat. The boundary layer of the atmosphere appears to be a persistent source of sensible and latent heat. The existence of the apparent sensible and latent heat sources above the boundary layer seems to be related to the prevailing synoptic pattern and existing mesoconvective systems. When the winter monsoon dominates over the warm sea, considerable heat energy is transferred from the sea surface. It appears that most of the heat energy supplied through microscale and mesoscale convection interacts directly with the system of the large-scale winter circulation.