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Chin. Phys. B, 2017, Vol. 26(11): 119201    DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/26/11/119201
GEOPHYSICS, ASTRONOMY, AND ASTROPHYSICS Prev  

Image of local energy anomaly during a heavy rainfall event

Shuai Yang(杨帅)1, Qunjie Zuo(左群杰)1, Shouting Gao(高守亭)1,2
1. Laboratory of Cloud-Precipitation Physics and Severe Storms(LACS), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China;
2. State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Abstract  A clear and interesting image of local total energy anomaly (EA) is depicted for a heavy rainfall event in this study. Before the convection development, it exhibits a positive local EA, implying local total energy (TE) experiences heaping up to prepare for the future system development. As the convection grows, it transforms into an opposite spatial modality with negative EA dominant, which means that the local TE is consumed to feed the convection growth in the middle and lower levels. The local total EA has consistent variation regular in intensity with severe weather system evolution. By utilizing the local TE budget equation in variable density fluid, the flux divergence of energy and its components are investigated, which could account for the local TE variation better. To relax the restriction and complexity introduced by identifying sporadic and alternative positive/negative signals of EA, the method taking the absolute-value operator on energy flux divergence is used to further simplify analyses. The derived characteristic signal of absolute EA is clearer and cleaner than before. Thus, the EA could be illustrated based on the active degree of energy supply/consumption in a generalized sense whatever positive or negative anomaly should be it, which could be used easily to identify and even predict the system development for operational application. Note that, although two sets of methodologies are used to define EA herein, they play absolutely different roles in nature throughout the whole context. For example, the taking-perturbation method provides a diagnostic tool to portray a preliminary sketch and to give sufficient necessity of this research, while tendency equation of local TE illuminates more predictive sense and accounts for future local EA related to following system evolution. Therefore, the latter could be a more effective tool to routine usage.
Keywords:  local energy anomaly      energy budget equation      heavy rainfall  
Received:  16 June 2017      Revised:  31 July 2017      Accepted manuscript online: 
PACS:  92.70.Gt (Climate dynamics)  
  92.70.Cp (Atmosphere)  
  92.60.Qx (Storms)  
Fund: Project supported by the Special Scientific Research Fund of the Meteorological Public Welfare of the Ministry of Sciences and Technology, China (Grant Nos. GYHY201406003 and GYHY201406001), the Opening Foundation of the State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences (Grant Nos. 2015LASW-B01 and 2015LASW-A02), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41375054, 41575064, 91437215, and 41405055).
Corresponding Authors:  Qunjie Zuo     E-mail:  zqj@mail.iap.ac.cn

Cite this article: 

Shuai Yang(杨帅), Qunjie Zuo(左群杰), Shouting Gao(高守亭) Image of local energy anomaly during a heavy rainfall event 2017 Chin. Phys. B 26 119201

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