• Atmosphere
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.331-344
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• 2012

The changes in the Hadley circulation during the second half of the 20th century were examined using observations and the 20C3M (Twentieth Century Climate in Coupled Models) simulations by the 21 IPCC AR4 models. Multi-model ensemble (MME) mean shows that the mean features of the Hadley circulation, such as the intensity, magnitude, and the seasonal variations, are very realistically reproduced, compared to the ERA40 reanalysis. But the long-term trends of the Hadley circulation in 20C3M MME are quite different to those of observations. The observed intensity of the Hadley cell is persistently enhanced, particularly during boreal winter. In comparison, the meridional overturning circulations reproduced in the MME mean remains invariant in time, and even weakened in boreal summer. This discrepancy between the ERA40 and 20C3M MME is consistently shown in the overall structure of the Hadley circulations, such as mass streamfunction, the velocity potential, the vertical shear of meridional wind, and the vertical velocity in the tropical region. This results indicate that the current climate models are skill-less to capture the long-term trend of Hadley circulation yet, and should be improved in simulation of the large-scale features to enhance the confidence level of future climate change projection.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.665-672
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• 2016

In this study, we examine future changes in the Hadley cell (HC) strength using CMIP5 climate change simulations. The current study is an extension of a previous study by Seo et al. that used all 30 available models. Here, we select 18-23 well-performing models based on their significant internal sensitivity of the interannual HC strength variation to the latitudinal temperature gradient variation. The model projections along with simple scaling analysis show that the inter-model variability in the HC strength change is a result of the inter-model spread in the meridional temperature gradient across the subtropics for both DJF and JJA, not by the tropopause height or gross static stability change. The HC strength is expected to weaken significantly during DJF, while little change is expected in the JJA HC strength. Compared to the calculations with all model members, selected model statistics increase the linear correlation between the changes in HC strength and meridional temperature gradient by 13~23%, confirming the robust sensitivity of the HC strength to the meridional temperature gradient. Two scaling equations for the selected models predict changes in HC strength better than all-member predictions. In particular, the prediction improvement in DJF is as high as 30%. The simple scaling relations successfully predict both the ensemble-mean changes and model-to-model variations in the HC strength for both seasons.

• Atmosphere
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.377-387
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• 2013

Projections of changes in the low latitude atmospheric circulation under global warming are investigated using the results of the CMIP5 ensemble mean. For this purpose, 30-yr periods for the present day (1971~2000) and the end of the $21^{st}$ century (2071~2100) according to the RCP emission scenarios are compared. The wintertime subtropical jet is projected to strengthen on the upper side of the jet due to increase in meridional temperature gradient induced by warming in the tropical upper-troposphere and cooling in the stratosphere except for the RCP2.6. It is also found that a strengthening of the upper side of the wintertime subtropical jet in the RCP2.6 due to tropical upper-tropospheric warmings. Model-based projection shows a weakening of the mean intensity of the Hadley cell, an upward shift of cell, and poleward shift of the Hadley circulation for the winter cell in both hemispheres. A weakening of the Walker circulation, which is one of the most robust atmospheric responses to global warming, is also projected. These results are consistent with findings in the previous studies based on CMIP3 data sets. A weakening of the Walker circulation is accompanied with decrease (increase) in precipitation over the Indo-Pacific warm pool region (the equatorial central and east Pacific). In addition, model simulation shows a decrease in precipitation over subtropical regions where the descending branch of the winter Hadley cell in both hemispheres is strengthened.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.203-211
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• 2019

The two key factors controlling the atmospheric general circulation are the equator-to-pole temperature difference and the Coriolis force driven by Earth's rotation. Although the former's role has been extensively examined, little has been reported about the latter's effect. To better understand the atmospheric general circulation, this study investigates the responses of Hadley Cell (HC) and westerly jet to the rotation faster or slower than the present Earth's rotation rate. It turns out that the HC edge and jet position tend to move equatorward and become weaker with increasing rotation rate. In most cases, the HC edge is quasi-linearly related with the jet position except for the extremely slow or fast rotating cases. The HC edge is more inversely proportional to the root of rotation rate than the rotation rate in the range of 1/8 to 8 times of the current Earth's rotation rate. However, such a relationship does not appear in the relationship between HC strength and jet intensity. This result highlights that while the latitudinal structure of atmospheric general circulation can be, to some extent, scaled with the Earth's rotation rate, overall intensity cannot be simply explained by the Earth's rotation rate.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.523-540
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• 2016

The effects of satellite observations on large-scale atmospheric circulations in the reanalysis data are investigated by comparing the latest Japanese Meteorological Association's reanalysis data (JRA-55) and its family data, JRA-55 Conventional (JRA-55C). The latter is identical to the former except that satellite observations are excluded during the data assimilation process. Only conventional datasets are assimilated in JRA-55C. A simple comparison revealed a considerable difference in temperature and zonal wind fields in both the stratosphere and troposphere. Such differences are particularly large in the Southern Hemisphere and whole stratosphere where conventional ground-based measurements are limited. The effects of satellite observations on the zonal-mean tropospheric circulations are further examined in terms of the Hadley cell, eddy-driven jet, and mid-latitude storm tracks. In both hemispheres, JRA-55C exhibits slightly weaker and narrower Hadley cell than JRA-55. This is consistent with a weaker diabatic heating in JRA-55C. The eddy-driven jet shows a small difference in its latitudinal location only in the Southern Hemisphere. Likewise, while the Northern-Hemisphere storm tracks are quantitatively similar in the two datasets, Southern-Hemisphere storm tracks are relatively weaker in JRA-55C than in JRA-55. Their difference is comparable to the uncertainty between reanalysis datasets, indicating that satellite data assimilation could yield significant corrections in the zonal-mean circulation in the Southern Hemisphere.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.177-187
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• 2006

Due to a lack of reproducibility and visibility of the conventional equipment for westerly wave simulation, it is difficult to have indoor experiments at high school that show the stream of Hadley cell. A modified improvement of the old one improves the problem. The side wall and bottom of the new equipment is made by copper and acrylic resin, respectively, in order to clarify the difference between the water temperature inside and outside of the water tank. The equipment also has a high quality digital record for generating exact analysis of the results. And we also carried out several experiments that relate theoretical and experimental aspection of westerly wave. Temperature Detected Sheet (TDS) in flow visualization unit provides not only visual information of liquid flow, but also clear understanding of the relation between upper and lower wind flow structure. And the liquid stream simulated in indoor experiment using proposed equipment is commensurate with westerly wave in real atmosphere. The efficiency of educational properties of the proposed equipment is verified indirectly by Likert Scales survey of high school teachers.