Research Seminar: Wenjing Liu

A research seminar from UNC Marine Sciences graduate student, Wenjing Liu. Presented by the UNC at Chapel Hill Department of Marine Sciences. The location of this event will be in seminar room G201 on the ground floor of Murray Hall on UNC-CH campus in Chapel Hill, NC. This seminar will be streamed live online via Zoom (Meeting ID: 291 853 980). This event will be held on Monday, January 27th at 12:30 pm.

Seminar Title: The Pacific–Japan Pattern and its influences on northwestern Pacific tropical cyclones.

Abstract: Tropical cyclones (TCs) can cause severe damage via storm surge, heavy rainfall and strong winds, and are among the most destructive disasters around the world, making it crucial to better understand and predict the variations in TC activity. TCs in the northwestern Pacific (NWP), which account for more than 30% of the global TC counts, are modulated by various modes of climate variability, such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation. The influence of the Pacific-Japan (PJ) pattern, the climate mode featuring a meridional dipole pattern of anomalous circulation in the lower troposphere between tropical and mid-latitude NWP, however, has not been well understood. In this study, we fill this gap using observations and large-ensemble high-resolution atmospheric simulations. Specifically, we first characterize the PJ pattern and explore its linkage to global SST forcing and thereby its predictability. We then quantify the effects of the PJ pattern on NWP TC genesis and tracks, and investigate the underlying physical mechanisms by studying the induced changes in atmospheric circulation and thermodynamic properties. Future work includes how the PJ pattern operates on intraseasonal time scales to affect NWP TC activity, and how global warming modulates the influence of the PJ pattern on NWP TC activity.