Progress in Research of Stratosphere-Troposphere Interactions： Application of Isentropic Potential Vorticity Dynamics and the Effects of the Tibetan Plateau

This paper reviews recent progress in understanding isentropic potential vorticity (PV) dynamics during interactions between the stratosphere and troposphere, including the spatial and temporal propagation of circulation anomalies associated with the winter polar vortex oscillation and the mechanisms of stratosphere-troposphere coupling in the global mass circulation framework. The origins and mechanisms of interannual variability in the stratospheric circulation are also reviewed. Particular attention is paid to the role of the Tibetan Plateau as a PV source (via its thermal forcing) in the global and East Asian atmospheric circulation. Diagnosis of meridional isentropic PV advection over the Tibetan Plateau and East Asia indicates that the distributions of potential temperature and PV over the east flank of the Tibetan Plateau and East Asia favor a downward and southward isentropic transport of high PV from the stratosphere to the troposphere. This transport manifests the possible influence of the Tibetan Plateau on the dynamic coupling between the stratosphere and troposphere during summer, and may provide a new framework for understanding the climatic effects of the Tibetan Plateau.