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By using multiple sets of assimilation and reanalysis data, the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of the precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) in boreal summer are investigated. The results show that, the climatological precipitation tends to increase towards the southeast, while it increases in the morning, reaches a peak around 21 Beijing Time Coordinate (BTC), and tends to decay after midnight in the diurnal time scale. To understand the roles of atmospheric dynamic and thermodynamic processes in causing the diurnal variation of summer precipitation over the southeastern TP, the atmospheric precipitation and moisture budget are conducted. The budget result shows that, there is a good corresponding relationship between the precipitation and moisture tendency in the night, and the anomalous vertical motion has a key effect on the diurnal variation of the precipitation. In the developing phase of the anomalous ascending motion (17-20 BTC), the anomalous linear vorticity (temperature) advections over the southeastern TP contribute to the anomalous ascending motion, and the major contribution arises from the anomalous vorticity (temperature) field over the western TP. Due to the negative zonal vorticity (temperature) gradient, the mean westerly winds induce positive advection that support the ascending motion.

Based on the ERA5 reanalysis datasets during 1980–2019, a total of eleven zonal shear lines (ZSLs) that caused heavy precipitation and lasted more than 60 hours over the Tibetan Plateau in summer are selected for composite analysis. By decomposing the kinetic energy (K) near the ZSL into divergent and rotational kinetic energies (KD and KR) and the kinetic energy of interaction between the divergent wind and the rotational wind (KRD), the influence of the rotational and divergent winds on the evolution of the ZSL intensity is investigated from the perspective of KD and KR. The main results are as follows. The ZSL is a comprehensive reflection of rotation and convergence. The intensity evolution of ZSL is essentially synchronized with those of K, KR, and KRD but lags behind KD by about three hours. The enhancement of K is mainly contributed by KR, which is governed by the conversion from KD to KR. Furthermore, the increase in the conversion from KD to KR is controlled by the geostrophic effect term Af, which is determined by the joint enhancement of the zonal rotational and meridional divergent wind components (uR and vD). Therefore, the joint enhancement of uR and vD controls the increase of the ZSL intensity, leading to increased precipitation.

The Tibetan Plateau vortex (TPV) is a major rain-producing system over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) in summer. The vertical structure of TPV is critical in understanding the generation and development of TPV. In this paper, the ERA-Interim reanalysis data and an objective TPV detection and vertical tracing method are used to investigate the vertical structure of TPV in boreal summer (June–August). Most TPVs are shallow, with only 1/5 of them can reach 400 hPa. Among the TPVs that move off the TP, more than half are deep vortices. The tilting direction of TPV is related to its baroclinic structure. In general, TPVs tilt to the direction of the cold air from low to high isobaric levels, and the tilting direction depends on the relative positions of the warm pool and the cold air intruding into TPV. Deep TPVs inside the TP and those moving off the TP have different vertical structures. On the plateau, TPVs have convergence at the low levels (400–500 hPa) and divergence at the high levels (above 400 hPa), which can cause updrafts in the vortex and a tropical cyclone-like structure. For the TPVs moving off the TP, the updrafts are significantly weak due to the relatively low low-level convergence and the relatively low high-level divergence. These TPVs almost have positive vertical vorticity and present an extratropical cyclone-like structure. The vertical thickness of TPV is important in determining whether the TPV could move off the TP. The results show that the deep TPVs are more likely to move out than the shallow ones. Therefore, the vertical structure is a better predictor on the movement of TPV than its other properties.

By employing NCEP-NCAR 1°×1° reanalysis datasets, the mechanism of the easterlies vortex (EV) affecting the short-term movement of the subtropical anticyclone over the western Pacific (WPSA) in the mei-yu period is examined using potential vorticity(PV) theory. The results show that when the EV and the westerlies vortex (WV) travel west/east to the same longitude of 120°E, the WPSA suddenly retreats. The EV and WV manifest as the downward transport of PV in the upper troposphere, and the variation of the corresponding high-value regions of PV significantly reflects the intensity changes of the EV and WV. The meridional propagation of PV causes the intensity change of the EV. The vertical movement on both sides of the EV is related to the position of the EV relative to the WPSA and the South Asian high (SAH). When the high PV in the easterlies and westerlies arrive at the same longitude in the meridional direction, the special circulation pattern will lower the position of PV isolines at the ridge line of the WPSA. Thus, the cyclonic circulation at the lower level will be strengthened, causing the abnormally eastward retreat of the WPSA. Analysis of the PV equation at the isentropic surface indicates that when the positive PV variation west of the EV intensifies, it connects with the positive PV variation east of the WV, forming a positive PV band and making the WPSA retreat abnormally. The horizontal advection of the PV has the greatest effect. The contribution of the vertical advection of PV and the vertical differential of heating is also positive, but the values are relatively small. The contribution of the residual was negative and it becomes smaller before and after the WPSA retreats.

The Tibetan Plateau vortex (TPV) is a mesoscale weather system active in the near-surface layer, which is one of the major systems for the generation of precipitation in the Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, no long-term observations of the TPVs are available due to the scarcity of observations in the TP. Thereby, long-term, high-accuracy reanalysis products are a reliable source for the analysis of characteristic TPV activities and possible mechanisms behind. In the present study, an objective analysis method is implemented to obtain a complete dataset of TPV based on several reanalysis products, including the ERA-Interim, ERA40, JRA55, NCEP CFSR, and NASA MERRA2. The TPVs are detected and tracked by the minima in geopotential height at 500 hPa. Results indicate that the TPVs derived from multiple reanalysis products have quite similar spatial patterns and temporal variability. The characteristic parameters of the TPVs derived from a given reanalysis data are related to the resolution of this reanalysis product. Higher-resolution reanalysis products can yield more low-pressure systems, which explains why the TPVs derived from high-resolution reanalysis datasets generally have longer lifetime, stronger and larger vortex scale than those from low-resolution reanalysis products, although the total number of TPVs are similar. The annual average number of TPVs generated in the TP is 63.5, and these TPVs largely originate in the mountainous area of the central western TP around (34° N, 78–95° E) and a belt zone (30° N, 80–84° E) in the southern TP, where the elevation is around 5500 m. The TPVs often dissipate in low valleys and the lee side of mountains. They mainly occur in the warm season during May–September, most active in the summer and least active in the winter. More TPVs form in the daytime than in the nighttime. Those TPVs that move out of the TP account for less than 10–14% of all TPVs, and they usually follow three moving paths: eastward (6.9–7.8%), northeastward (2.3–3.4%) and southward (2.3–3.5%).

A 33-yr climatology of shear lines occurring over the Yangtze–Huai River basin (YHSLs) of eastern China during the mei-yu season (i.e., June and July) of 1981–2013 is examined using the daily ERA-Interim reanalysis data and daily rain gauge observations. Results show that (i) nearly 75% of the heavy-rainfall days (i.e., >50 mm day−1) are accompanied by YHSLs, (ii) about 66% of YHSLs can produce heavy rainfall over the Yangtze–Huai River basin, and (iii) YHSL-related heavy rainfall occurs frequently in the south-central basin. The statistical properties of YHSLs are investigated by classifying them into warm, cold, quasi-stationary, and vortex types based on their distinct flow and thermal patterns as well as orientations and movements. Although the warm-type rainfall intensity is the weakest among the four, it has the highest number of heavy-rainfall days, making it the largest contributor (33%) to the total mei-yu rainfall amounts associated with YHSLs. By comparison, the quasi-stationary type has the smallest number of heavy-rainfall days, contributing about 19% to the total rainfall, whereas the vortex type is the more frequent extreme-rain producer (i.e., >100 mm day−1). The four types of YHSLs are closely related to various synoptic-scale low-to-midtropospheric disturbances—such as the southwest vortex, low-level jets, and midlatitude traveling perturbations that interact with mei-yu fronts over the basin and a subtropical high to the south—that provide favorable lifting and the needed moisture supply for heavy-rainfall production. The results have important implications for the operational rainfall forecasts associated with YHSLs through analog pattern recognition.

We used tropical cyclone (TC) best track data for 1949–2016, provided by the Shanghai Typhoon Institute, China Meteorological Administration (CMA-STI), and a TC size dataset (1980-2016) derived from geostationary satellite infrared images to analyze the statistical characteristics of autumn TCs over the western North Pacific (WNP). We investigated TC genesis frequency, location, track density, intensity, outer size, and landfalling features, as well as their temporal and spatial evolution characteristics. On average, the number of autumn TCs accounted for 42.1% of the annual total, slightly less than that of summer TCs (42.7%). However, TCs classified as strong typhoons or super typhoons were more frequent in autumn than in summer. In most years of the 68-yr study period, there was an inverse relationship between the number of autumn TCs and that of summer TCs. The genesis of autumn TCs was concentrated at three centers over the WNP: the first is located near (14°N, 115°E) over the northeastern South China Sea and the other two are located in the vast oceanic area east of the Philippines around (14°N, 135°E) and (14°N, 145°E), respectively. In terms of intensity, the eight strongest TCs during the study period all occurred in autumn. It is revealed that autumn TCs were featured with strong typhoons and super typhoons, with the latter accounting for 28.1% of the total number of autumn TCs. Statistically, the average 34-knot radius (R34) of autumn TCs increased with TC intensity. From 1949 to 2016, 164 autumn TCs made landfall in China, with an average annual number of 2.4. Autumn TCs were most likely to make landfall in Guangdong Province, followed by Hainan Province and Taiwan Island.

Previous studies have examined the effects of service-learning on student outcomes, but the dynamics and the mechanism of student development have received little attention. The present study aims to investigate how students construct their understanding of course content through service-learning, as well as the role of varied experiences. Eighty-four students were randomly assigned to two different conditions: the low-varied experiences condition (n = 36), in which students served the same child with autism throughout the programme, and the highly-varied experiences condition (n = 48), in which students served two children with autism successively. A total of 483 reflective journals written by students in a 6-week timeframe were analysed. The results indicated that students gained benefits from service-learning in terms of knowledge construction, and the overall change in students’ knowledge construction fluctuated throughout the service-learning process. In addition, students in the highly-varied experiences condition also demonstrated some differences in knowledge construction changes, indicating that varied service experiences might interfere with students’ knowledge construction at the turning point of task changing. The implications for service-learning and instruction are also discussed.

The Tibetan Plateau vortices (TPVs) are mesoscale weather systems active at the near-surface of the Tibetan Plateau (TP), which are one of the major precipitation-producing systems over the TP and its surrounding areas. TPVs mainly occur in the warm season from May to September. In this paper, we investigate the inter-decadal change of TPVs in the warm seasons of 1979–2017 by analyzing five widely used reanalysis datasets. A significant change of the TPVs’ frequency appears around the mid-1990s, associated with less TPVs during 1979–1996 and more TPVs during 1997–2017. The abrupt change is caused by a transition of the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) from a cold phase to a warm phase in the mid-1990s. The shift of AMO leads to a silk-road pattern wave train and a spatially asymmetric change of tropospheric temperature. It modifies the intensity of the subtropical westerly jet and the TP heating, leading to the inter-decadal change of TPV activities.

Based on the 4 times daily 0.75° × 0.75° ERA-Interim data, the structural evolution of a Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau horizontal (east–west-oriented) shear line (TSL) during 15–19 August 2015 and the effect of diabatic heating on its evolution were analyzed. The results show that the TSL possessed a vertical thickness of up to 1.5 km (approximately 600–450 hPa), and was baroclinic in nature. Weak ascending motions occurred near the TSL, accompanied with more significant gradients in dew point temperature than in temperature. The TSL was characterized by diurnal variations in its appearance and structure. It was relatively full in shape (broken) and was the lowest (highest) in vertical extent at 0000 (1800) UTC, and veered clockwise (anticlockwise) during 0000–0600 (1200–1800) UTC. When the north–south span of the TSL increased, it was prone to fracturing; and it disappeared when the dew point temperature gradients to its either side decreased. When the TSL moved northward (southward), its western (eastern) section broke up, while the eastern (western) section inclined to regenerate or merge. The TSL tended to move towards the positive vorticity areas with significant increases in vorticity. When the positive vorticity center moved down, the height of TSL decreased. Further analysis shows that the plateau surface heating dominated the vorticity attribute of the TSL and its movement, with different contributions from local variation, horizontal advection, and vertical advection of the diabatic heating to the TSL at different heights.

Background : For the shortage of high-quality general practitioners (GPs) in China’s rural areas, Chinese government has taken steps to encourage rural specialists to participate in transition training for future GPs. Specialists’ initial participation motivations and their perceived deterrents during training may play important roles for their learning engagement in the transition training. This study aimed at revealing the relationships among the variables of initial participation motivations, perceived deterrents in training, and learning engagement. Methods : A questionnaire survey was used in this study. A total of 156 rural specialists who participated in transition training for future GPs filled out the questionnaire, which consisted of the measurements of initial participation motivations, perceived deterrents, and learning engagement in training. The data about specialists’ demographic variables were collected at the same time. Results : The variance of initial escape/stimulations motivation significantly predicted the variance of learning engagement through the full mediating role of perceived deterrents in training. In addition, initial educational preparation motivations predicted the variance of learning engagement directly. Conclusions : Specialists’ initial participation motivations and perceived deterrents in training played important roles for learning engagement in the transition training. Keywords: transition training; general practice; initial participation motivations; perceived deterrents in training; learning engagement (Published: 21 June 2016) Citation: Med Educ Online 2016, 21: 30998 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/meo.v21.30998

With the increasing integration of wind farms and electric vehicles (EVs) in power systems, voltage stability is becoming more and more serious. Based on vehicle-to-grid (V2G), an efficient power plant model of EVs (E-EPP) was developed to estimate EV charging load with available corresponding response capacity under different charging strategies. A preventive control strategy based on E-EPP was proposed to maintain the static voltage stability margin (VSM) of power system above a predefined security level. Two control modes were used including the disconnection of EV charging load (‘V1G’ mode) and the discharge of stored battery energy back to power grid (‘V2G’ mode). A modified IEEE 14-bus system with high penetration of wind power and EVs was used to verify the effectiveness of preventive control strategy. Simulation results showed that the proposed strategy can not only improve the static voltage stability of power system with considerable wind generation, but also guarantee the travelling comfort for EV owners.

In order to investigate the different thermodynamic mechanisms between rapid intensifying (RI) and rapid weakening (RW) tropical cyclones (TCs), the thermodynamic structures of two sets of composite TCs are analyzed based on the complete-form vertical vorticity tendency equation and the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. Each composite is composed of five TCs, whose intensities change rapidly over the coastal waters of China. The results show that the maximum apparent heating source Q1 exists in both the upper and lower troposphere near the RI TC center, and Q1 gets stronger at the lower level during the TC intensification period. But for the RW TC, the maximum Q1 exists at the middle level near the TC center, and Q1 gets weaker while the TC weakens. The maximum apparent moisture sink Q2 lies in the mid troposphere. Q2 becomes stronger and its peak-value height rises while TC intensifies, and vice versa. The increase of diabatic heating with height near the TC center in the mid-upper troposphere and the increase of vertical inhomogeneous heating near the TC center in the lower troposphere are both favorable to the TCs’ rapid intensification; otherwise, the intensity of the TC decreases rapidly.

By employing the 6.7 μm satellite vapor cloud images and NCEP/NCAR 1°×1° reanalysis datasets, the characteristics and mechanism of the dry intrusion, as well as its impacts on the low vortex precipitation at the Meiyu front are explored in this paper. It is found that the formation, development and maintenance of the low vortex precipitation at the Meiyu front are closely related to the evolution of the dry intrusion. The dry intrusion is characterized by high potential vorticity (PV), low humidity and cold air. The dry intrusion exhibits as an obvious dark zone on vapor cloud images, an area in which atmospheric relative humidity is lower than 60%. However, the features of the dry intrusion on the vapor images are clearer than that of the humidity field, for the former is the digital vapor cloud images with high temporal and spatial resolution, and it can be used to explore the finer characteristics of the development, evolution and supplement of the intrusion during the development of the low vortex. The dry intrusion impacts accompanying the low vortex precipitation at the Meiyu front come from all levels of the troposphere, with the strongest intrusion located at the upper troposphere. The dry and cold air intrudes the vicinity of the low vortex from the upper isentropic surface to the lower one, slanting eastward from lower to higher level. The low vortex precipitation region is usually situated in front of the dry intrusion where the relative humidity gradient is higher. The research also reveals that the mechanism of the dry intrusion is that the high potential vorticity descends from the upper troposphere to the lower level, therefore, the dry intrusion can be used as an important index of the high PV forcing. To the west of the low vortex precipitation, the upper level northerlies descend across the isentropic surface, then the dry cold advection can trigger the instable development in the mid-low troposphere. The dry intrusion enhances the low vortex precipitation. Meanwhile, because of the good agreement between the high PV at the upper level and the dry intrusion illustrated by the vapor cloud images, the dry intrusion in the vapor cloud images is the direct and clear description of the high PV forcing which provides a new insight in understanding the evolution and development of the practical weather systems. Besides, both the skills of isentropic analysis and potential temperature coordinates system analysis are important to revealing the three-dimension structure of the dry intrusion.

A reactive power evaluation model is proposed to estimate the available V2G capacity of reactive power provided by EV chargers during a day considering the travelling behaviors of EV users. Firstly, a generic EV charger model (GECM) is developed to describe the reactive power response characteristic of EV charger. Then, considering the travelling behaviors of EV users, a Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) method is implemented to build the reactive power evaluation model. Finally, the available reactive power from EV chargers is analyzed and compared under two different charging strategies (dumb charging and smart charging). Simulation results show that the reactive power evaluation model can determine the available reactive power capacity for V2G along a day, which can support the operation of the power system.

Considering the main thermal forcing factor, which is critical for the development of synoptic systems, the concept of the moist ageostrophic vectorQ is introduced. A formula of the moist ageostrophicQ and the ageostrophic diabatic equation, in which the divergence of the moist ageostrophicQ is taken as a single forcing term, is derived. Meanwhile, the moist ageostrophicQ is applied to diagnose a torrential rain process in North China. The results suggest that the moist ageostrophicQ can clearly reveal the system development during the torrential rain process; the corresponding relationship between the divergence of the moist ageostrophicQ and the rainfall area is better than that of the vertical velocity (ω) and the divergence of the dryQ; the 6-h rainfall region can be correctly drawn according to the negative area of the divergence of the moist ageostrophicQ, and its precipitation is positively correlated to the magnitude of the divergence of the moist ageostrophicQ. The research provides valuable information for improving short-term weather forecast.

A heavy rain process of the Changjiang-Huaihe Meiyu front (MYF) is diagnosed by the agency of the traditional Q vector partitioning (QVP) method to decompose the wet Q vector (Q) in a natural coordinate system that follows the isoentropes and by using the numerical simulation results of the revised MM4 meso-scale model. The technique shows that the partitioned wet Q vectors can lead to a significant scale separation of vertical motion related to the torrential rain. The results not only verify the existing conclusion that different scales interact throughout the rainstorm but also indicate the largely different roles of these scales during differing phases of the heavy ramfall on a quantitative basis. Specifically, during the developing stage, the large-scale plays a predominant role in forcing vertical motion, while frontal-scale forcing is secondary; during the intense stage, the frontal-scale evolves into the primary factor of forcing vertical motion, whereas the large-scale forcing is minor and plays a diminishing role and can even be ignored; and during the decaying stage, the large-scale once again serves as the main forcing of vertical motion in such a way that the forcing of the frontal-scale decays quickly and is of secondary importance. Furthermore, the partitioned wet Q vectors are suggested to be more suitable than the total wet Q vector for evaluating the potential physical mechanism of rainstorm genesis. The first step is that the forcing of large-scale $2⊊bla cdot {⊼ Q}_s^*$ gives rise to the genesis of meso-scale $2⊊bla cdot {⊼ Q}_n^*$ forcing; and then, accordingly as $2⊊bla cdot {⊼ Q}_n^*$ forcing increases, whereby the secondary circulation is reinforced, the intensity of the rainfall is strengthened; and at last, the secondary circulation caused by $2⊊bla cdot {⊼ Q}_n^*$ forcing is directly responsible for generation of the MYF heavy rainfall.