Air-Sea Interaction over the Indian Ocean During the Two Contrasting Monsoon Years 1987 and 1988 Studied with Satellite Data

Summary The air-sea interaction processes over the tropical Indian Ocean region are studied using sea surface temperature data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer sensor onboard the NOAA series of satellites. The columnar water-vapour content, low-level atmospheric humidity, precipitation, wind speed, and back radiation from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager on board the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program are all examined for two contrasting monsoon years, namely 1987 (deficit rainfall) and 1988 (excess rainfall). From these parameters the longwave radiative net flux at the sea surface and the ocean-air moisture flux are derived for further analysis of the air-sea interaction in the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, the south China Sea and the southern Indian Ocean. An analysis of ten-day and monthly mean evaporation rates over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal shows that the evaporation was higher in these areas during the low rainfall year (1987) indicating little or no influence of this parameter on the ensuing monsoon activity over the Indian subcontinent. On the other hand, the evaporation in the southern Indian Ocean was higher during July and September 1988 when compared with the same months of 1987. The evaporation rate over the south Indian Ocean and the low-level cross-equatorial moisture flux seem to play a major role on the ensuing monsoon activity over India while the evaporation over the Arabian Sea is less important. Since we have only analysed one deficit/ excess monsoon cycle the results presented here are of preliminary nature. Received November 5, 1997 Revised March 20, 1998     

Moisture transport over the Arabian Sea associated with summer rainfall over Pakistan in 1994 and 2002

In this study,we aimed to elucidate the critical role of moisture transport affecting monsoon activity in two contrasting summers over the Arabian Sea during the years 1994,a relatively wet year,and 2002,a relatively dry year.A comprehensive diagnostic evaluation and comparisons of the moisture fields were conducted;we focused on the precipitation and evaporation as well as the moisture transport and its divergence or convergence in the atmosphere.Monthly mean reanalysis data were obtained from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP-I and-II).A detailed evaluation of the moisture budgets over Pakistan during these two years was made by calculating the latent energy flux at the surface(E P) from the divergence of the total moisture transport.Our results confirm the moisture supply over the Arabian Sea to be the major source of rainfall in Pakistan and neighboring regions.In 1994,Pakistan received more rainfall compared to 2002 during the summer monsoon.Moisture flow deepens and strengthens over Arabian Sea during the peak summer monsoon months of July and August.Our analysis shows that vertically integrated moisture transport flux have a significant role in supplying moisture to the convective centers over Pakistan and neighboring regions from the divergent regions of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.Moreover,in 1994,a deeper vertically integrated moisture convergence progression occurred over Pakistan compared to that in 2002.Perhaps that deeper convergence resulted in a more intense moisture depression over Pakistan and also caused more rainfall in 1994 during the summer monsoon.Finally,from the water budget analysis,it has been surmised that the water budget was larger in 1994 than in 2002 during the summer monsoon.     

THE WARMING MECHANISM IN THE SOUTHERN ARABIAN SEA DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIAN OCEAN DIPOLE EVENTS

This study aims to explore the relative role of oceanic dynamics and surface heat fluxes in the warming of southern Arabian Sea and southwest Indian Ocean during the development of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) events by using National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) daily reanalysis data and Global Ocean Data Assimilation System (GODAS) monthly mean ocean reanalysis data from 1982 to 2013, based on regression analysis, Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis and combined with a 2? layer dynamic upper-ocean model. The results show that during the initial stage of IOD events, warm downwelling Rossby waves excited by an anomalous anticyclone over the west Indian Peninsula, southwest Indian Ocean and southeast Indian Ocean lead to the warming of the mixed layer by reducing entrainment cooling. An anomalous anticyclone over the west Indian Peninsula weakens the wind over the Arabian Sea and Somali coast, which helps decrease the sea surface heat loss and shallow the surface mixed layer, and also contributes to the sea surface temperature (SST) warming in the southern Arabian Sea by inhibiting entrainment. The weakened winds increase the SST along the Somali coast by inhibiting upwelling and zonal advection. The wind and net sea surface heat flux anomalies are not significant over the southwest Indian Ocean. During the antecedent stage of IOD events, the warming of the southern Arabian Sea is closely connected with the reduction of entrainment cooling caused by the Rossby waves and the weakened wind. With the appearance of an equatorial easterly wind anomaly, the warming of the southwest Indian Ocean is not only driven by weaker entrainment cooling caused by the Rossby waves, but also by the meridional heat transport carried by Ekman flow. The anomalous sea surface heat flux plays a key role to damp the warming of the west pole of the IOD.     

Evaporation over the Arabian Sea during two contrasting monsoons

Summary Monthly mean surface fields of different meteorological parameters and evaporation are studied for the 1979 (poor monsoon) and 1983 (good monsoon) monsoon seasons over the Arabian Sea, in order to understand the role of evaporation on the Indian monsoon rainfall. It is noticed that in general, the sea surface temperatures are higher in 1983 throughout the monsoon season than in 1979 in the Arabian Sea excepting western region. The mean rates of evaporation on a seasonal scale are found to be equal in both years (3.66×10¹⁰ and 3.59×10¹⁰ tons/day in 1979 and 1983, respectively). No coherence is observed between the evaporation and the west coast rainfall within a season. It is also noted that the pressure distribution over the Arabian Sea is even important to advect the moisture towards the west coast of India, through winds.With 10 Figures     

Kinetic energy budget and moisture flux convergence analysis during interaction between two cyclonic systems: Case study

An analysis of the kinetic energy budget during a case of interaction between middle latitude and extratropical cyclones has been made in this work. Horizontal flux convergence constitutes a major energy sink. Generation of kinetic energy via cross-contour flow is a persistent source throughout the growth and decay periods. Dissipation of kinetic energy from subgrid to grid scales is an important source during the pre-storm period; it acts as a sink during the growth and decay periods. The major contribution to kinetic energy comes from a persistent upper tropospheric jet stream activity throughout the period of the cyclone development. The characteristics of moisture-flux components (divergent and rotational) along with precipitable water content for different tropospheric layers throughout the life cycle of our cyclone are also studied in this work. It is found that most of required humidity for our cyclone are initiated from Arabian Sea and then to some extent are reinforced over Gulf of Aden and east of central Africa and then by passing over Red sea enter to the south and south east of Mediterranean Sea. The rotational component of the moisture transport brings moisture from two regions; the first which is considered the main region is the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden and north east of Sudan. The second source region is the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. In the middle troposphere, the primary moisture source is found over central Africa, which in turn is traced to the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea. The upper-level moisture fluxes are weak and play a minor role over the area of interaction between two cyclones.     

The interannual precipitation variability in the southern part of Iran as linked to large-scale climate modes

The interannual variation of precipitation in the southern part of Iran and its link with the large-scale climate modes are examined using monthly data from 183 meteorological stations during 1974–2005. The majority of precipitation occurs during the rainy season from October to May. The interannual variation in fall and early winter during the first part of the rainy season shows apparently a significant positive correlation with the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However, a partial correlation analysis used to extract the respective influence of IOD and ENSO shows a significant positive correlation only with the IOD and not with ENSO. The southeasterly moisture flux anomaly over the Arabian Sea turns anti-cyclonically and transport more moisture to the southern part of Iran from the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf during the positive IOD. On the other hand, the moisture flux has northerly anomaly over Iran during the negative IOD, which results in reduced moisture supply from the south. During the latter part of the rainy season in late winter and spring, the interannual variation of precipitation is more strongly influenced by modes of variability over the Mediterranean Sea. The induced large-scale atmospheric circulation anomaly controls moisture supply from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.     

Water vapour flux divergence over the Arabian Sea during 1987 summer monsoon using satellite data

The evaporation rates over the Arabian Sea (AS) for the summer monsoon months (June to September) of 1987 have been computed using the bulk-aerodynamic formula. The satellite derived precipitation from the INSAT-1B VHRR (Very High Resolution Radiometer) sensor operating in the wavelength 10.5–12.5 m has been used for computing the precipitation over the AS. The net water vapour flux divergence (NFD) over AS has been computed as the difference between evaporation and precipitation. The estimates being -0.02 × 10¹⁰, 2.55 × 10¹⁰, 0.70 × 10¹⁰ and 0.44 × 10¹⁰ tons/day respectively for the months June, July, August and September. The NFD over AS was found to be positively and significantly correlated with the mean monsoon rainfall along the west coast of India.     

夏季区域西风指数对中国西北地区水汽场特征影响的对比分析

利用1970—1997年NCEP／NCAR冉分析月平均资料,设计了区域西风指数。通过分析西北地区夏季的水汽输送通量散度,发现该地区水汽平流引起的水汽输送通量散度项年际变化极小,而风场辐合(辐散)引起的水汽输送通量散度项年际变化却很大,在西北地区区域西风指数较强年份风场辐合比区域西风指数较弱年份强。由此可知．两风年际变化对西北地区的风场辐合(辐散)的影响是我国西北地区水汽场年际变化的主要原因。中国西北地区;区域西风指数;水汽输送通量散度;降水     

热带印度洋夏季水汽输送特征及对南亚季风区降水的影响

利用NCEP/NCAR再分析环流资料、CMAP降水量和NOAA海温资料研究了热带印度洋夏季水汽输送的时空变化特征,并考察其对南亚季风区夏季降水的影响.热带印度洋夏季异常水汽输送第一模态表现为异常水汽从南海向西到达孟加拉湾后分成两支,其中一支继续往西到达印度次大陆和阿拉伯海,对应印度半岛南端和中南半岛的西风水汽输送减弱,导致这些区域降水减少;第二模态表现为异常水汽从赤道东印度洋沿赤道西印度洋、阿拉伯海、印度半岛、中南半岛的反气旋输送,印度和孟加拉湾南部为反气旋异常水汽输送,水汽辐散、降水减少,而印度东北部为气旋性水汽输送,水汽辐合、降水增多.就水汽输送与局地海温的关系而言,水汽输送第一模态与热带印度洋海温整体增暖关系密切,而第二模态与同期印度洋偶极子关系密切.     

Evolution of geophysical parameters over the Indian Ocean region during contrasting monsoon years of 2002 and 2003 using TRMM/TMI data

Summary The evolution of geophysical parameters over Indian Ocean during two contrasting monsoon years 2002 (drought) and 2003 (normal) were studied using TRMM/TMI satellite data. Analysis indicates that there was a lack of total water vapour (TWV) build up over Western Indian Ocean (WIO) during May 2002 (drought) when compared to 2003 (normal). Negative (positive) TWV anomalies were found over the WIO in May 2002 (2003). In 2002, negative SST anomaly of ∼1.5 °C is found over entire WIO when compared to 2003. Anomalously high sea surface wind speed (SWS) anomaly over the South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) and WIO would have resulted in cooling of the sea surface in May 2002 in comparison to 2003. In 2003 the wind speed anomaly over entire WIO and Arabian Sea (AS) was negative, whereas sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly was positive over the same region, which would have resulted in higher moisture availability over these regions. A negative (positive) TWV anomaly over Eastern Arabian Sea (EAS) and positive (negative) anomaly over WIO forms a dipole structure. In the month of June no major difference is seen in all these parameters over the Indian Ocean. In July 2002 the entire WIO and AS was drier by 10–15 mm as compared to 2003. The pentad (5 day) average TWV values shows high (>55 mm) TWV convergence over EAS and Bay of Bengal (BoB) during active periods of 2003, which gives high rainfall over these regions. However, during 2002 although TWV over BoB was >55 mm but it was ∼45–55 mm over EAS during entire July and hence less rainfall. The evaporation has been calculated from the bulk aerodynamic formula using TRMM/TMI geophysical products. It has been seen that the major portion of evaporative moisture flux is coming from southern Indian Ocean (SIO) between 15 and 25° S. Evaporation in June was more over AS and SIO in 2003 when compared to 2002 which may lead to reduce moisture supply in July 2002 and hence less rainfall compared to July 2003.     

Relationships between interannual variability in the Arabian Sea and Indian summer monsoon rainfall

Summary The interannual variability of the monthly mean upper layer thickness for the central Arabian Sea (5°N-15° N and 60° E-70° E) from a numerical model of the Indian Ocean during the period 1954–1976 is investigated in relation to Indian monsoon rainfall variability. The variability in the surface structure of the Somali Current in the western Arabian Sea is also briefly discussed. It is found that these fields show a great deal of interannual variability that is correlated with variability in Indian monsoon rainfall. Model upper layer thickness (H) is taken as a surrogate variable for thermocline depth, which is assumed to be correlated with sea surface temperature. In general, during the period 1967 to 1974, which is a period of lower than normal monsoon rainfall, the upper ocean warm water sphere is thicker (deeper thermocline which implies warmer surface water); in contrast, during the period 1954–1966, which is a period of higher than normal monsoon rainfall, the upper warm water sphere is thinner (shallower thermocline which implies cooler surface water). The filtered time series of uppper layer thickness indieates the presence of a quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) during the wet monsoon period, but this QBO signal is conspicuously absent during the dry monsoon period.Since model H primarily responds to wind stress curl, the interannual variability of the stress curl is investigated by means of an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. The first three EOF modes represent more than 72% of the curl variance. The spatial patterns for these modes exhibit many elements of central Arabian Sea climatology. Features observed include the annual variation in the intensity of the summer monsoon ridge in the Arabian Sea and the annual zonal oscillation of the ridge during pre- and post-monsoon seasons. The time coefficients for the first EOF amplitude indicate the presence of a QBO during the wet monsoon period only, as seen in the ocean upper layer thickness.The variability in the model upper layer thickness is a passive response to variability in the wind field, or more specifically to variability in the Findlater Jet. When the winds are stronger, they drive stronger currents in the ocean and have stronger curl fields associated with them, driving stronger Ekman pumping. They transport more moisture from the southern hemisphere toward the Indian subcontinent, and they also drive a greater evaporative heat flux beneath the Findlater Jet in the Arabian Sea. It has been suggested that variability in the heat content of the Arabian Sea drives variability in Indian monsoon rainfall. The results of this study suggest that the opposite is true, that the northern Arabian Sea responds passively to variability in the monsoon system.With 10 Figures     

Atmospheric Moisture Distribution and Transport over the Tibetan Plateau and the Impacts of the South Asian Summer Monsoon

In this study, by using the ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis data from 1979 to 2010, the spatial distribution and transport of total atmospheric moisture over the Tibetan Plateau（TP） are analyzed, together with the associated impacts of the South Asian summer monsoon（SASM）. Acting as a moisture sink in summer, the TP has a net moisture flux of 2.59× 107kg s 1during 1979–2010, with moisture supplies mainly from the southern boundary along the latitude belts over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The total atmospheric moisture over the TP exhibits significant diferences in both spatial distribution and transport between the monsoon active and break periods and between strong and weak monsoon years. Large positive（negative） moisture anomalies occur over the southwest edge of the TP and the Arabian Sea, mainly due to transport of easterly（westerly） anomalies during the monsoon active（break） period. For the whole TP region, the total moisture supply is more strengthened than the climatological mean during the monsoon active period, which is mainly contributed by the transport of moisture from the south edge of the TP. During the monsoon break period, however, the total moisture supply to the TP is slightly weakened. In addition, the TP moisture sink is also strengthened（weakened） in the strong（weak） monsoon years, mainly attributed by the moisture transport in the west-east directions. Our results suggest that the SASM has exerted great impacts on the total atmospheric moisture and its transport over the TP through adjusting the moisture spatial distribution.     

Role of unusual moisture transport across Equatorial Indian Ocean on the extreme rainfall event during Kerala flood 2018

Southwestern Indian state, Kerala experienced extreme devastating statewide flood event of the century during 2018 monsoon season. In this study, an attempt has been made to bring out the salient dynamical factors contributed to the Kerala flood. There were 3 active spells over Kerala during 2018 Monsoon season. All the three spells were accustomed with the intrinsic factors of low frequency components of the active spells such as strength of monsoon Low Level Jet (LLJ), Monsoon depressions in the Bay of Bengal, favorable Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) phases and Western Pacific systems. Though all the common ingredients remain same, the third spell is distinct with the less evaporation flux over Western and Central Arabian Sea and unusual moisture transport from maritime continent through South Equatorial Indian ocean (SEIO) towards the Kerala coast across Equator. Strong meridional pressure gradient force created by the combined effect of high pressure anomaly oriented Northwest-Southeast direction across tropical Indian ocean and anomalous low pressure along monsoon trough might have contributed to this unusual moisture transport across SEIO originating from west of Australia. The anomalous high pressure in South Indian ocean was greatly influenced by the position of the Mascarene high. Subtropical Indian ocean dipole (SIOD) also exhibits an influential role by altering tropical Southern Indian ocean dynamics in favor of the unusual moisture transport. The position of the monsoon depression and presence of typhoons in Western Pacific might have aided to this moisture transport. However, the normal moisture transport from Central Arabian sea towards Kerala coast by virtue of the strong LLJ along with additional moisture transport directly from South of maritime continent through SEIO across the Equator towards Kerala coast might have played a dominant role in the historical flood event over entire Kerala state.     

冬季北大西洋涛动对热带印度洋海表热通量的影响

利用1979—2017年TropFlux海气热通量资料、ERA5再分析资料及HadISST资料,分析了冬季北大西洋涛动（North Atlantic Oscillation,NAO）与同期热带印度洋海气热通量的关系。结果表明,NAO指数与热带印度洋海气净热通量整体上呈负相关,意味着NAO为正位相时,海洋向大气输送热量,其显著区域主要位于热带西印度洋（50°～70°E,10°S～10°N）。净热通量的变化主要依赖于潜热通量和短波辐射的变化;潜热通量和短波辐射在NAO正（负）位相事件期间的贡献率分别为72.96％和61.48％（71.72％和57.06％）。NAO可通过Rossby波列影响印度洋地区局地大气环流,进而影响海气热通量;当NAO为正位相时,波列沿中低纬路径传播至印度洋地区,在阿拉伯海北部对流层高层触发异常反气旋环流。该异常反气旋性环流加强了阿拉伯高压,使得北印度洋偏北风及越赤道气流加强。伴随风速的加强,海面蒸发增强,同时加强的越赤道气流导致热带辐合带强度偏强,深对流加强引起对流层水汽和云量增多,进而引起海表下行短波辐射减少。     

On the Spatio-Temporal Variations of the Tropopause Height over India and Indian Summer Monsoon Activity

The spatio-temporal variation of the tropopause height (TH) over the Indian region (5°N-35°N, 70°E-95°E) has been studied using monthly mean TH data, for 22-year period, 1965 to 1986. The study revealed that the stations south of 20° showed maximum TH in April / May and minimum in September. This variation in TH has been attributed to the corresponding variation of average sea surface temperature (SST) over ± 20° latitudinal belt over Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. Further the stations north of 20°N showed maximum in June and minimum in October/ November. This maximum in TH has primarily been attributed to the increased insolation and convection. Furthermore it is noticed that the anomaly of TH moved northwards during the period April to July.The interannual variability of the Indian Summer Monsoon Activity (ISMA) has been studied in relation to all India mean TH (at 12 GMT) for six months April through September. The composites of mean TH for good and bad monsoon years showed that     

Moisture Sources and Their Contributions to Summer Precipitation in the East of Southwest China

Complex topography, special geographical location and sea-land-air interactions lead to high interannual variability of summer precipitation in the east of Southwest China (ESWC). However, the contributions, influencing factors and mechanisms of remote and local evaporation remain to be further investigated. Using clustering analysis and Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory version 5 model, we analyze the contributions of remote moisture transport and local evaporation to summer precipitation in the ESWC and their causes. There are mainly five remote moisture channels in the ESWC, namely the Arabian Sea channel, Bay of Bengal channel, western Pacific channel, Northwest channel 1 and Northwest channel 2. Among the five channels, the western Pacific channel has the largest number of trajectories, while the Bay of Bengal channel has the largest contribution rate of specific humidity (33.33%) and moisture flux (33.14%). The amount of regional average precipitation is close to that of the precipitation caused by remote moisture transport, and both are considerably greater than the rainfall amount caused by local evaporation. However, on interannual time scales, precipitation recirculation rates are negatively correlated to regional average precipitation and precipitation caused by remote moisture transport but are consistent with that caused by local evaporation. An apparent "+ ? +" wave train can be found on the height anomaly field in East Asia, and the sea surface temperature anomalies are positive in the equatorial Middle-East Pacific, the South China Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. These phenomena cause southwest-northeast moisture transport with strong updrafts, thereby resulting in more precipitation in the ESWC.     

Secular spring rainfall variability at local scale over Ethiopia: trend and associated dynamics

Spring rainfall secular variability is studied using observations, reanalysis, and model simulations. The joint coherent spatio-temporal secular variability of gridded monthly gauge rainfall over Ethiopia, ERA-Interim atmospheric variables and sea surface temperature (SST) from Hadley Centre Sea Ice and SST (HadISST) data set is extracted using multi-taper method singular value decomposition (MTM-SVD). The contemporaneous associations are further examined using partial Granger causality to determine presence of causal linkage between any of the climate variables. This analysis reveals that only the northwestern Indian Ocean secular SST anomaly has direct causal links with spring rainfall over Ethiopia and mean sea level pressure (MSLP) over Africa inspite of the strong secular covariance of spring rainfall, SST in parts of subtropical Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean and MSLP. High secular rainfall variance and statistically significant linear trend show consistently that there is a massive decline in spring rain over southern Ethiopia. This happened concurrently with significant buildup of MSLP over East Africa, northeastern Africa including parts of the Arabian Peninsula, some parts of central Africa and SST warming over all ocean basins with the exception of the ENSO regions. The east-west pressure gradient in response to the Indian Ocean warming led to secular southeasterly winds over the Arabian Sea, easterly over central Africa and equatorial Atlantic. These flows weakened climatological northeasterly flow over the Arabian Sea and southwesterly flow over equatorial Atlantic and Congo basins which supply moisture into the eastern Africa regions in spring. The secular divergent flow at low level is concurrent with upper level convergence due to the easterly secular anomalous flow. The mechanisms through which the northwestern Indian Ocean secular SST anomaly modulates rainfall are further explored in the context of East Africa using a simplified atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) coupled to mixed-layer oceanic model. The rainfall anomaly (with respect to control simulation), forced by the northwestern Indian Ocean secular SST anomaly and averaged over the 30-year period, exhibits prevalence of dry conditions over East and equatorial Africa in agreement with observation. The atmospheric response to secular SST warming anomaly led to divergent flow at low levels and subsidence at the upper troposphere over regions north of 5^° S on the continent and vice versa over the Indian Ocean. This surface difluence over East Africa, in addition to its role in suppressing convective activity, deprives the region of moisture supply from the Indian Ocean as well as the Atlantic and Congo basins.     

A study on the variability of atmospheric and oceanic processes over the Arabian Sea during contrasting monsoons

Summary The atmospheric and oceanic conditions associated with the southwest monsoon during the contrasting monsoon years of 2002 and 2003 over the Arabian Sea have been analyzed in the present study. Early onset of southwesterlies and reduced net heat gain due to low solar radiation were responsible for low sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) over the Arabian Sea during 2002 pre-monsoon (particularly in May). Conversely, light winds and an increased net heat gain set up the pre-monsoon warming in 2003. The development and intensification of deep convection over a large area of the Arabian Sea prior to the onset of the monsoon was observed during 2003, but was absent in 2002. Weak cross equatorial flow and a weak low level jet over the Arabian Sea reduced moisture transport towards the Indian subcontinent in July 2002. This scenario helped to contribute to a prolonged break in monsoon conditions during July. However, no such break in conditions occurred during July 2003. In 2002, the summer monsoon cooling of the Arabian Sea occurred well before July, whereas in 2003 cooling occurred during July. Estimates of wind driven Ekman (horizontal) and vertical transports showed maximum values in the month of June (July) in 2002 (2003). These estimates clearly show the importance of horizontal and vertical advection in the summer cooling of the Arabian Sea. During the southwest monsoon period, the Arabian Sea was warmer in 2003 than in 2002. Late onset of the southwesterlies in June, late cooling of the Arabian Sea in July, and downwelling Rossby wave propagation were responsible for the warm SSTs in 2003. Weak wind stress curl in July dampened the westward propagating sea surface height anomaly signals (Rossby waves) before they reached the western Arabian Sea in 2002, whereas, in 2003 strong wind stress curl enhanced Rossby wave propagation. During the summer monsoon period, subsurface temperatures in the south central Arabian Sea were warmer in 2003 than in 2002, particularly in July and August. Strong Ekman convergence, solar penetration, and downwelling (downward velocities) are responsible for the enhanced subsurface warming in 2003.     

The Recent Interdecadal and Interannual Variation of Water Vapor Transport over Eastern China

The climatological characteristics and interdecadal variability of the water vapor transport and budget over the Yellow River-Huaihe River valleys (YH1) and the Yangtze River-Huaihe River valleys (YH2) of East China were investigated in this study,using the NCEP/NCAR monthly mean reanalysis datasets from 1979 to 2009.Changes in the water vapor transport pattern occurred during the late 1990s over YH1 (YH2) that corresponded with the recent interdecadal changes in the eastern China summer precipitation pattern.The net moisture influx in the YH1 increased and the net moisture influx in the YH2 decreased during 2000-2009 in comparison to 1979-1999.Detailed features in the moisture flux and transport changes across the four boundaries were explored.The altered water vapor transport over the two domains can be principally attributed to the additive effects of the changes in the confluent southwesterly moisture flow by the Indian summer monsoon and East Asian summer monsoon (related with the eastward recession of the western Pacific subtropical high).The altered water vapor transport over YH1 was also partly caused by the weakened midlatitude westerlies.     

Dependence of Indian monsoon rainfall on moisture fluxes across the Arabian Sea and the impact of coupled model sea surface temperature biases

The Arabian Sea is an important moisture source for Indian monsoon rainfall. The skill of climate models in simulating the monsoon and its variability varies widely, while Arabian Sea cold sea surface temperature (SST) biases are common in coupled models and may therefore influence the monsoon and its sensitivity to climate change. We examine the relationship between monsoon rainfall, moisture fluxes and Arabian Sea SST in observations and climate model simulations. Observational analysis shows strong monsoons depend on moisture fluxes across the Arabian Sea, however detecting consistent signals with contemporaneous summer SST anomalies is complicated in the observed system by air/sea coupling and large-scale induced variability such as the El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation feeding back onto the monsoon through development of the Somali Jet. Comparison of HadGEM3 coupled and atmosphere-only configurations suggests coupled model cold SST biases significantly reduce monsoon rainfall. Idealised atmosphere-only experiments show that the weakened monsoon can be mainly attributed to systematic Arabian Sea cold SST biases during summer and their impact on the monsoon-moisture relationship. The impact of large cold SST biases on atmospheric moisture content over the Arabian Sea, and also the subsequent reduced latent heat release over India, dominates over any enhancement in the land-sea temperature gradient and results in changes to the mean state. We hypothesize that a cold base state will result in underestimation of the impact of larger projected Arabian Sea SST changes in future climate, suggesting that Arabian Sea biases should be a clear target for model development.