Editorial

As we begin a new year, I am pleased to present some of the highlights of the Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan (JMSJ) in 2020.

J-Stage DATA

In 2020, JMSJ created a channel on J-STAGE Data (https://jstagedata.jst.go.jp/jmsj) to enable authors to deposit, share and link to the data within their articles.

J-STAGE Data is a repository provided by Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). JMSJ introduced its channel on J-STAGE Data to contribute to and help promote Open Science. Data sharing and availability underpin Open Science. They allow for the innovative reuse of data and thus enhance research collaboration. Open Science drives progress in reproducibility, transparency and accessibility – and therefore science itself. JMSJ encourages authors to deposit the data underlying their JMSJ articles to the JMSJ channel on J-STAGE Data.

J-STAGE Data is free to use, and user registration is not required to download data. Each JMSJ dataset on J-STAGE Data has a full description of the dataset and the associated JMSJ article, links to view or download data files, a link to the full article on J-STAGE, and an up-to-date count of the total views, downloads, citations and Altmetric score. Each dataset is assigned a DOI, allowing it to be more easily located, cited and used – and therefore better integrated into the publishing ecosystem.

Datasets are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Users are free to share the data in any medium and format, and can adapt, transform or build upon the data for any purpose, with appropriate attribution.

Authors who plan to deposit their data to the JMSJ channel on J-STAGE Data should contact the JMSJ Editorial Office ([e-mail]) for instructions. After review by a JMSJ Editor, data is quickly released to J-STAGE Data.

JMSJ Award 2020

In 2020, the JMSJ Editorial Committee was honored to present the JMSJ Award to the authors of three articles that presented high-quality research with novel findings on important topics.

Takemura and Mukougawa (2020): This study conducted a lag composite analysis of the past 44 Rossby wave breaking (RWB) events. It revealed the possibility of a new process linking the quasi-stationary Rossby wave propagation over Eurasia along the Asian jet with the Pacific-Japan (PJ) pattern through the RWB east of Japan during boreal summer. The results of this study show that the quasi-stationary Rossby wave propagation along the Asian jet can excite the PJ pattern through high potential vorticity intrusion toward the subtropical western North Pacific associated with the RWB and the resulting enhanced convection over the region.

Stevens et al. (2020): This study investigated whether atmospheric models with horizontal resolutions of 100 m to 2 km are able to simulate key features like clouds and precipitation of the climate system better than currently used models that employ much coarser resolution and parameterized convection. Precipitation characteristics were much more realistic in the simulations with explicit convection at kilometer resolution. Increasing resolution to hectometer scale improved the simulation of precipitation only modestly, but substantially improved the simulation of clouds. The results suggest that new climate models that explicitly resolve convection and the interaction with its environment offer exciting opportunities to learn about the climate system.

Kawabata and Yamaguchi (2020): This study investigated the effectiveness of the probability ellipse for tropical cyclone (TC) track forecasts with multiple ensembles from the Japan Meteorological Agency, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction, and the United Kingdom Met Office, for all TCs from 2016 to 2018. The multiple ensembles composed of these four global datasets are capable of predicting the situation-dependent uncertainties of TC track forecasts appropriately in both the along-track and cross-track directions.

Most accessed papers in 2020

The two most accessed papers in 2020 were Bessho et al. (2016), which provides a comprehensive introduction to the new Himawari-8/9 geostationary meteorological satellites, and Kobayashi et al. (2015), which describes the general specifications and basic characteristics of the JRA-55 Reanalysis. Three articles published in 2020 appeared in the top 10 most accessed papers in 2020: Stevens et al. (2020), Li et al. (2020), and Kato (2020). For the full list, see https://jmsj.metsoc.jp/most_accessed/2020.html.

Invited review articles and special editions

Six invited review articles were published in 2020: Ito et al. (2020) on recent progress in the fundamental understanding of tropical cyclone motion; Luo et al. (2020) on characteristics, physical mechanisms, and prediction of pre-summer rainfall over South China; Sui et al. (2020) on precipitation efficiency and its role in the influence of cloud-radiative feedbacks on climate variability; Kato (2020) on quasi-stationary band-shaped precipitation systems, called “senjo-kousuitai”, causing localized heavy rainfall in Japan; Mesinger and Veljovic (2020) on topography in weather and climate models; and Kawai and Shige (2020) on marine low clouds and their parameterization in climate models.

Five JMSJ special editions were organized and/or published in 2020:

• ・The Special Edition on Extreme Rainfall Events in 2017 and 2018, edited by Prof. Tetsuya Takemi
• ・The Special Edition on DYAMOND: The DYnamics of the Atmospheric general circulation Modeled On Non-hydrostatic Domains, guest edited by Prof. Bjorn Stevens
• ・The Special Edition on Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM): 5th Anniversary, guest edited by Prof. Shoichi Shige
• ・The Special Edition on Years of the Maritime Continent (YMC), guest edited by Dr. Kunio Yoneyama
• ・The Special Edition on Typhoons in 2018–2019, guest edited by Dr. Akiyoshi Wada.

Submissions for the special edition on typhoons in 2018–2019 is open, and we welcome further contributions to this special edition. The special editions on extreme rainfall events in 2017 and 2018, on YMC, and on typhoons in 2018–2019 are jointly organized by JMSJ and SOLA, the Meteorological Society of Japan's international letters journal. Authors of articles in these special editions receive a discount on the article processing charge.

On behalf of JMSJ, I would like to extend thanks to the meteorological research community for its support of JMSJ in 2020. The journal's success relies on the considerable efforts of authors, reviewers, readers and editors. We deeply appreciate these contributions, particularly during such a challenging year. We look forward to working with you to continue JMSJ's development in 2021.

References

•  Bessho,  K.,  K.  Date,  M.  Hayashi,  A.  Ikeda,  T.  Imai,  H.  Inoue,  Y.  Kumagai,  T.  Miyakawa,  H.  Murata,  T.  Ohno,  A.  Okuyama,  R.  Oyama,  Y.  Sasaki,  Y.  Shimazu,  K.  Shimoji,  Y.  Sumida,  M.  Suzuki,  H.  Taniguchi,  H.  Tsuchiyama,  D.  Uesawa,  H.  Yokota, and  R.  Yoshida, 2016: An introduction to Himawari-8/9 – Japan's new-generation geostationary meteorological satellites. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 94, 151-183.
•  Ito,  K.,  C.-C.  Wu,  K. T. F.  Chan,  R.  Toumi, and  C.  Davis, 2020: Recent progress in the fundamental understanding of tropical cyclone motion. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 98, 5-17.
•  Kato,  T., 2020: Quasi-stationary band-shaped precipitation systems, named “senjo-kousuitai”, causing localized heavy rainfall in Japan. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 98, 485-509.
•  Kawabata,  Y., and  M.  Yamaguchi, 2020: Probability ellipse for tropical cyclone track forecasts with multiple ensembles. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 98, 821-833.
•  Kawai,  H., and  S.  Shige, 2020: Marine low clouds and their parameterization in climate models. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 98, 1097-1127.
•  Kobayashi,  S.,  Y.  Ota,  Y.  Harada,  A.  Ebita,  M.  Moriya,  H.  Onoda,  K.  Onogi,  H.  Kamahori,  C.  Kobayashi,  H.  Endo,  K.  Miyaoka, and  K.  Takahashi, 2015: The JRA-55 Reanalysis: General specifications and basic characteristics. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 93, 5-48.
•  Li,  Z.,  Y.  Luo,  Y.  Du, and  J. C. L.  Chan, 2020: Statistical characteristics of pre-summer rainfall over South China and associated synoptic conditions. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 98, 213-233.
•  Luo,  Y.,  R.  Xia, and  J. C. L.  Chan, 2020: Characteristics, physical mechanisms, and prediction of pre-summer rainfall over South China: Research progress during 2008–2019. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 98, 19-42.
•  Mesinger,  F., and  K.  Veljovic, 2020: Topography in weather and climate models: Lessons from cut-cell Eta vs. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts experiments. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 98, 881-900.
•  Stevens,  B.,  C.  Acquistapace,  A.  Hansen,  R.  Heinze,  C.  Klinger,  D.  Klocke,  H.  Rybka,  W.  Schubotz,  J.  Windmiller,  P.  Adamidis,  I.  Arka,  V.  Barlakas,  J.  Biercamp,  M.  Brueck,  S.  Brune,  S. A.  Buehler,  U.  Burkhardt,  G.  Cioni,  M.  Costa-Suròs,  S.  Crewell,  T.  Crüger,  H.  Deneke,  P.  Friederichs,  C. C.  Henken,  C.  Hohenegger,  M.  Jacob,  F.  Jakub,  N.  Kalthoff,  M.  Köhler,  T. W.  van Laar,  P.  Li,  U.  Löhnert,  A.  Macke,  N.  Madenach,  B.  Mayer,  C.  Nam,  A. K.  Naumann,  K.  Peters,  S.  Poll,  J.  Quaas,  N.  Röber,  N.  Rochetin,  L.  Scheck,  V.  Schemann,  S.  Schnitt,  A.  Seifert,  F.  Senf,  M.  Shapkalijevski,  C.  Simmer,  S.  Singh,  O.  Sourdeval,  D.  Spickermann,  J.  Strandgren,  O.  Tessiot,  N.  Vercauteren,  J.  Vial,  A.  Voigt, and  G.  Zängl, 2020: The added value of large-eddy and storm-resolving models for simulating clouds and precipitation. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 98, 395-435.
•  Sui,  C.-H.,  M.  Satoh, and  K.  Suzuki, 2020: Precipitation efficiency and its role in cloud-radiative feedbacks to climate variability. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 98, 261-282.
•  Takemura,  K., and  H.  Mukougawa, 2020: Dynamical relationship between quasi-stationary Rossby wave propagation along the Asian jet and Pacific-Japan pattern in boreal summer. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 98, 169-187.