Using the monthly mean data from NCEP-NCAR reanalysis, through building tropopause pressure index, we investigated the mechanisms of anomalous variations of tropopause pressure over the Tibetan Plateau during summer in Northem Hemisphere. For comparative analysis we selected representative years of 1992 and 1998 to study, and they were respectively the highest and the lowest year oftropopause pressure anomaly over the Tibetan Plateau. The results are summarized as follows： （1） Over the Tibetan Plateau, the variations of tropopause pressure are well correlated respectively with anomalous temperature and geopotential height in both troposphere and stratosphere. Besides, the anomalous tropopause pressure has also close relation with anomalous surface temperature in the Tibetan Plateau. In 1992, the surface temperature was anomalously low, correspondingly, the tropopause pressure over the Tibetan Plateau was anomalously high; but in 1998, the opposite was the case. （2） Over the Tibetan Plateau, the correlation of tropopause pressure and OLR （Outgoing Longwave Radiation） is found to be positive. Furthermore, by further diagnosing the circulation fields between 850 hPa and 200 hPa levels and the whole troposphere vapour field, we found out that the anomalously high tropopause pressure in 1992 corresponded to the anticyclonic divergence of low level wind fields and the cyclonic convergence of high level wind fields, and coupled with divergence of the whole troposphere vapour fields along with the South Asian High weakened at the same time. While in 1998, the case was opposite to that in 1992. These facts indicated that the anomalous convection resulted in the significant difference oftropopause pressure in 1992 and 1998 over the Tibetan Plateau. （3） The vertically integrated heat budget anomalies were responsible for explaining tropopause pressure anomalies in 1992 and 1998 over the Tibetan Plateau.
BaoLin ZhuChuHan LuZhaoYong GuanZhi ChengWenJun Liu
The consistency of global atmospheric mass and water budget performance in 20 state-of-the-art ocean-atmosphere Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5(CMIP5) coupled models has been assessed in a historical experiment. All the models realistically reproduce a climatological annual mean of global air mass(AM) close to the ERA-Interim AM during 1989-2005. Surprisingly, the global AM in half of the models shows nearly no seasonal variation,which does not agree with the seasonal processes of global precipitable water or water vapor, given the mass conservation constraint. To better understand the inconsistencies, we evaluated the seasonal cycles of global AM tendency and water vapor source(evaporation minus precipitation). The results suggest that the inconsistencies result from the poor balance between global AM tendency and water vapor source based on the global AM budget equation. Moreover, the cross-equatorial dry air mass flux, or hemispheric dry mass divergence, is not well represented in any of the 20 CMIP5 models, which show a poorly matched seasonal cycle and notably larger amplitude, compared with the hemispheric tendencies of dry AM in both the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere. Pronounced erroneous estimations of tropical precipitation also occur in these models. We speculate that the large inaccuracy of precipitation and possibly evaporation in the tropics is one of the key factors for the inconsistent cross-equatorial mass flux. A reasonable cross-equatorial mass flux in well-balanced hemispheric air mass and moisture budgets remains a challenge for both reanalysis assimilation systems and climate modeling.
