Branches of the Summer Asian Lower-Level Jet Stream and Its Influence on the Rain Belt in China

Based on the analysis of the Asian lower-level jet stream, this paper indicates that having shifted to the Bay of Bengal, this large-scale lower-level jet (LLJ) develops into two branches: the northern branch (NB) which is a strong southwest flow moving into the inland of China along the southeast side of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateuu and then moving eastward to Japan along the north side of the subtropical high, and the southern branch (SB) which continues to he a west flow and travels into the West Pacific across the Indo-China Peninsula along the south side of the mon-soon trough. Above the two branches are two synoptic-scale transient tubular monsoon circulation systems, the northern branch being a subtropical monsoon stream tube (SMST) and the southern branch a tropical monsoon stream tube (TMST). Their ascending branches, corresponding to a subtropical monsoon rain belt and a tropical monsoon rain bell respectively, bear considerable influence on the weather over China.