In this study, trends of upper jet stream characteristics (intensity, altitude, latitude, and longitude) over the Asia-North Pacific region during the recent 30 (1979~2008) years were analyzed by using four reanalysis datasets (CFSR, ERA-Int., JRA-55, MERRA). We defined the characteristics of upper jet stream as the averages of mass weighted wind speed, mass-flux weighted altitude, latitude and longitude between 400 and 100 hPa. Due to the vertical averaging of jet stream characteristics, our results reveal a weaker spatial variabilities and trends than previous studies. In general, the four reanalysis datasets show similar jet stream properties (intensity, altitude, latitude and longitude) although the magnitude and trends are slightly different among the reanalysis datasets. The altitude of MERRA is slightly higher than that of others for all seasons. The domain averaged intensity shows a weakening trend except for winter and the altitude of jet stream shows an increasing trend for all seasons. Also, the meridional trend of jet core shows a poleward trend for all seasons but it shows a contrasting trend, poleward trend in the continental area but equatorward trend in the Western Pacific region during summer. The zonal trend of jet core is very weak but a relatively strong westward trend in jet core except for spring and winter. The trends of jet stream characteristics found in this study are thermodynamically consistent with the global warming trends observed in the Asia-Pacific region.

In this study, we analyzed the three dimensional variations (latitude, longitude, and height of Jet core) and wind speed of upper Jet stream in the East Asian region using recent 35 years (1979~2013) of four reanalysis data (NCEP-R2, MERRA, ERA-Interim. and JRA-55). Most of Jet core is located in 30.0~37.5 o N and 130.0~157.5 o E although there are slight differences among the four reanalysis data. The wind speed differences among reanalysis are about 3 m s −1 regardless of seasons, the weakest in NCEP-R2 and the strongest in JRA-55. Although significance level is not high, most of reanalysis showed that the Jet core has a tendency of southward moving during spring and winter, but moving northward during summer and fall. This amplified seasonal variation of Jet core suggests that seasonal variations of weather/climate can be increased in the East Asian region. The longitude of Jet core has a tendency of systematically westward moving and decreasing of zonal variations regardless of averaging methods and reanalysis data. In general, the Jet core shows a tendency of moving south-westward and upward, getting intensified during spring and winter regardless of the reanalysis data. However, the Jet core shows a tendency of moving westward and downward, and getting weakened during summer. In fall, there were no distinctive trends not only in wind speed but also three dimensional locations compared to other seasons. Although the significance levels are not high and variation patterns are slightly different according to the reanalysis data, our findings are more or less different from the previous results. So, more works are needed to clarify the three dimensional variation patterns of Jet core over the East Asian region as a result of global warming.