STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF THE MEIYU FRONT SYSTEM

A new subtropical front near the periphery of the West Pacific subtropical anticyclone isfound,which is never revealed in previous studies.The coupling of the subtropical front andMeiyu front forms a Meiyu front system (MFS) and is the most direct synoptic system for theMeiyu precipitation along the Mid-lower Reaches of Yangtze River (MRYR) in China.In thispaper.The detailed structural features and cloud features of the MFS in 1998 and 1999 areanalyzed,which manifests that the MFS is an objective phenomenon over the period of Meiyu alongMRYR and the Southwest Japan.Generally.the subtropical front is mainly located between 850hPa and 500 hPa.The moist southwest monsoon is transported in the passageway between theMeiyu front and the subtropical front.The vertical motion ascends in the passageway and descendson both sides of the MFS.forming the MFS’s secondary circulation.A lower TBB band indicatedthat obvious convective activities are also located in the passageway of MFS.The horizontal windof MFS is vertically asymmetric.