Indices of the Summertime Western North Pacific Subtropical High

By averaging June-July-August (JJA) mean geopotential height anomalies at 850 hPa over the specified areas, the author proposes two innovative and succinct parameters to objectively define the zonal and meridional displacements of the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) in summer, respectively.Thus, these two indices and the present results may provide a basis for validating atmospheric general circulation models simulating the WNPSH. For the zonal index, the specified area is the west edge (110°-150°E,10°-30°N) of the WNPSH. For the meridional index, the specified area is the northwest edge (120°-150°E,30°-40°N) of the WNPSH. The interannual variations of these two indices are found to be independent. The results from a composite analysis based on the meridional index are in good agreement with previous studies based on case analyses.The two indices are compared with the existing indices announced by the National Climate Center (NCC) in China, on the interannual timescale. Despite slight differences, the interannual variations of the presented indices are basically similar to those of the NCC indices, and thus the circulation and precipitation associated with the present indices exhibit similar features to those associated with the NCC indices.Furthermore, an analysis of the differences between the associations of the present indices and the NCC indices shows that the presented indices are better than the NCC indices. An important result is that the zonal index is related to a more outstanding anomaly of precipitation, especially in East Asia and the Philippine Sea,both based on the presented indices and the NCC indices.The two indices can also be used to describe the seasonal march of the WNPSH during summer,namely, the poleward and eastward shifts. It is found that climatologically, the WNPSH shifts poleward and eastward rapidly in middle July, but the amplitudes of the poleward and eastward shifts are more remarkable in the summers when the WNPSH is located poleward and eastward in average.