THE DYNAMIC EFFECT OF THE TIBETAN PLATEAU ON THE FORMATION OF ZONAL TYPE CIRCULATION OVER EAST ASIA

From a statistical study of the atmospheric circulation types over the Northern Hemisphere it is found that the zonal type circulation predominates in East Asia. From a three-layer primitive equation model in σ-coordinate, the orographic effect on a westerly current over the Northern Hemisphere is studied. A distinguished deepening trough is observed in the lee-side slope of the Rocky Mountains. But a pronounced trough is over the East Asia coast far from the Tibetan Plateau. In a case of 48 h numerical forecast, it is found that the effect of the Tibetan Plateau tends to build up a rather zonal type circulation, which is con-sistent with the observations. These may be partly explained by the topographic effect of the north slope of the Tibetan Plateau in a simple geostrophic theory.