Review and Prospect of the Study on the Subtropical Anticyclone
副热带高压研究进展及展望

The studies of a Key Project, entitled "Formation and variation of subtropical anticyclone , supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China from 1997 to 2000 are reviewed. The results deri ved from this project have irnproved some traditional understandings on the mechanism of the forma-tion and variation of the subtropical anticyclones. Some new facts of the interannual variability of subtropical high ridge have been revealed. A dynamic modei of the ridge surface that is defined by the boundary surface between easterlies and westerlies has been developed. The complete vorticity equation was developed; the thermal adaptation theory and a modei of two-stage thermal adaptation in the atmos-phere have been constructed. Moreover, the mechanism of the formation of the subtropical anticyclone, as well as its seasonal and interannual variability have been explored by data diagnosis and numerical sim-ulation. New insights obtained on the variation mechanism of the subtropical anticyclone over the west-ern Pacific.