EVOLUTION OF TROPOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE FIELDS AND CORRESPONDING THERMAL MECHANISMS BEFORE/AFTER ONSET PERIODS OF ASIAN SUMMER MONSOON

The evolution of the tropospheric temperature fields over Indian and South China Sea monsoon areas and their thermal mechanisms are compared and analyzed during the period from March to June, 1996. The results show that the onsets of the Indian and South China Sea summer monsoons are closely associated with the seasonal warming in the troposphere over the zonal belt of 10° N ～ 30° N in these areas, which leads to the inversion of meridional temperature gradient. During the pre-onset period, the warming over the South China Sea monsoon region is mainly due to the warm horizontal advection and diabatic (latent) heating processes. Meanwhile, the warming is suppressed by the vertical adiabatic process (cooling). In spring over the Indian monsoon region, the significant adiabatic heating due to the subsidence motion, which compensates the cooling due to the strong cold advection and diabatic cooling processes, results in a larger warming rate than over the South China Sea monsoon region. However, the meridional temperature gradient over the Indian monsoon region is so large during the late winter and early spring that it takes longer time to warm the troposphere to have the reversion of meridional temperature gradient than it does over the South China Sea monsoon region. It results in the phenomenon that the South China Sea summer monsoon generally breaks out earlier than the Indian summer monsoon.