The East Asian summer monsoon: an overview

Summary The present paper provides an overview of major problems of the East Asian summer monsoon. The summer monsoon system over East Asia (including the South China Sea (SCS)) cannot be just thought of as the eastward and northward extension of the Indian monsoon. Numerous studies have well documented that the huge Asian summer monsoon system can be divided into two subsystems: the Indian and the East Asian monsoon system which are to a greater extent independent of each other and, at the same time, interact with each other. In this context, the major findings made in recent two decades are summarized below: (1) The earliest onset of the Asian summer monsoon occurs in most of cases in the central and southern Indochina Peninsula. The onset is preceded by development of a BOB (Bay of Bengal) cyclone, the rapid acceleration of low-level westerlies and significant increase of convective activity in both areal extent and intensity in the tropical East Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. (2) The seasonal march of the East Asian summer monsoon displays a distinct stepwise northward and northeastward advance, with two abrupt northward jumps and three stationary periods. The monsoon rain commences over the region from the Indochina Peninsula-the SCS-Philippines during the period from early May to mid-May, then it extends abruptly to the Yangtze River Basin, and western and southern Japan, and the southwestern Philippine Sea in early to mid-June and finally penetrates to North China, Korea and part of Japan, and the topical western West Pacific. (3) After the onset of the Asian summer monsoon, the moisture transport coming from Indochina Peninsula and the South China Sea plays a crucial “switch” role in moisture supply for precipitation in East Asia, thus leading to a dramatic change in climate regime in East Asia and even more remote areas through teleconnection. (4) The East Asian summer monsoon and related seasonal rain belts assumes significant variability at intraseasonal, interannual and interdecadal time scales. Their interaction, i.e., phase locking and in-phase or out-phase superimposing, can to a greater extent control the behaviors of the East Asian summer monsoon and produce unique rythem and singularities. (5) Two external forcing i.e., Pacific and Indian Ocean SSTs and the snow cover in the Eurasia and the Tibetan Plateau, are believed to be primary contributing factors to the activity of the East Asian summer monsoon. However, the internal variability of the atmospheric circulation is also very important. In particular, the blocking highs in mid-and high latitudes of Eurasian continents and the subtropical high over the western North Pacific play a more important role which is quite different from the condition for the South Asian monsoon. The later is of tropical monsoon nature while the former is of hybrid nature of tropical and subtropical monsoon with intense impact from mid-and high latitudes.     

Classification of typical summer rainfall patterns in the East China monsoon region and their association with the East Asian summer monsoon

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - In this study, the summer rainfall patterns in the East China monsoon region during 1951–2015 were objectively classified into four typical categories:...     

The East Asian subtropical summer monsoon: Recent progress

The East Asian subtropical summer monsoon (EASSM) is one component of the East Asian summer monsoon system, and its evolution determines the weather and climate over East China. In the present paper, we firstly demonstrate the formation and advancement of the EASSM rainbelt and its associated circulation and precipitation patterns through reviewing recent studies and our own analysis based on JRA-55 (Japanese 55-yr Reanalysis) data and CMAP (CPC Merged Analysis of Precipitation), GPCP (Global Precipitation Climatology Project), and TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) precipitation data. The results show that the rainy season of the EASSM starts over the region to the south of the Yangtze River in early April, with the establishment of strong southerly wind in situ. The EASSM rainfall, which is composed of dominant convective and minor stratiform precipitation, is always accompanied by a frontal system and separated from the tropical summer monsoon system. It moves northward following the onset of the South China Sea summer monsoon. Moreover, the role of the land–sea thermal contrast in the formation and maintenance of the EASSM is illustrated, including in particular the effect of the seasonal transition of the zonal land–sea thermal contrast and the influences from the Tibetan Plateau and midlatitudes. In addition, we reveal a possible reason for the subtropical climate difference between East Asia and East America. Finally, the multi-scale variability of the EASSM and its influential factors are summarized to uncover possible reasons for the intraseasonal, interannual, and interdecadal variability of the EASSM and their importance in climate prediction.     

东亚夏季风异常活动的空间多模态特征

利用ERA40再分析资料,采用相关、合成、自然正交函数展开（EOF分析）等方法,探讨了东亚地区夏季风活动的多空间模态特征及其与大气环流异常的可能联系。结果表明：1）东亚夏季风活动存在3种差异明显的典型空间模态。第一模态反映了夏季风活动在我国东部沿海及以东洋面与其以西地区的反相变化,主要体现了夏季风活动主体位置的东西变动;第二模态反映了自我国华南,经长江中下游、山东半岛、渤海湾至我国东北及朝鲜半岛一带夏季风活动的一致性变化,体现了东亚夏季风活动的整体强弱;第三模态主要反映了夏季风活动在中国以东洋面、朝鲜半岛、东北亚一带与我国华南地区的反相变化,主要体现了夏季风活动主体位置的南北移动。2）东亚夏季风活动的多空间模态对应的大气环流异常存在显著差异。东亚夏季风第一空间模态与亚洲南部区域以及鄂霍次克海上空的SLP呈负相关,而与北极极区、贝加尔湖地区及日本以东洋面的SLP呈正相关;而与同期500hPa高度场的相关分布主要表现为自极地经鄂霍次克海至日本以东洋面的“＋-＋”的波列分布特征。第二模态与SLP和500hPa高度场的相关分布具有非常相似的空间分布形势,均表现为东北、朝鲜半岛、日本海一带与菲律宾洋面、鄂霍次克海地区的反位相分布,自低纬向高纬呈现“＋-＋”的波列分布特征。第三模态与SLP和500hPa高度场的相关分布,主要表现为菲律宾附近洋面、日本及以东洋面、贝加尔湖到亚洲北部的负正相间的分布形势。     

华东地区夏季不同等级降水变化特征分析

采用华东地区78个气象站点逐日降水资料,根据日降水量的5个等级划分,应用线性趋势分析、相关分析等分析了不同等级降水频率和降水量的空间分布及其变化趋势。结果表明:(1)夏季不同等级降水频率在整个华东地区具有明显的地区差异,区域平均的降水频率由大到小依次为小雨、微量降水、中雨、大雨、暴雨。(2)平均的夏季总降水量呈南多北少的分布,各等级降水对总降水量的贡献率由大到小依次为暴雨、大雨、中雨、小雨,暴雨对夏季总降水量的贡献在某些年份可达50%以上。(3)区域平均的夏季降水日数呈下降趋势,但总降水量却有明显的增大趋势。(4)区域平均的某等级降水频率正异常时,华东地区各地该等级降水频率,亦多表现为正异常,尤其中雨以上等级降水频率异常符号在整个华东地区更为一致。(5)华东区域微量降水和小雨发生频率分别与其他等级降水存在显著的反相关关系,而中雨、大雨、暴雨三者发生频率之间无显著相关。     

夏季东亚高空西风急流气候特征分析

利用NCEP/NCAR全球再分析风场资料定义了西风急流强度指数和位置指数,然后利用EOF方法对西风急流进行了进一步的分析,分析了高空西风急流的空间分布特征,从强度和位置两方面分析了西风急流与东亚环流及其与海温的关系。分析表明： EOF第一模态反映了东亚高空急流的位置指数,第二模态反映了高空急流的强度指数。东亚高空急流与对流层大气环流包括南亚高压,西太平洋副热带高压,东亚夏季风存在着密切关系,其气候变化与热带副热带东太平洋、印度洋海温密切相关。     

东亚夏季风环流对气溶胶分布的影响

用2001—2012年逐月的MODIS-TERRA卫星观测气溶胶光学厚度(AOD)资料和NCEP/NCAR风场资料,分析了5—8月东亚地区AOD的时-空分布特征,研究东亚夏季风环流对气溶胶时-空分布的影响。主要结论如下:5—8月的中国东部及邻近海洋上AOD有着显著的季节演变特征,尤其是32.5 °N附近的AOD高值区,其强度和范围在5—8月逐渐增强然后又减弱。东亚夏季风通过环流输送作用对各地的AOD产生了不同程度的影响,使中国南部AOD减少,而华北和东北地区AOD增加。在强、弱季风年背景下,7月观测的AOD差异与环流输送作用差异的分布特征有着一定的相似性,体现出东亚夏季风年际变化对气溶胶分布的影响。在东亚夏季风演变的不同阶段,季风环流对气溶胶输送大部分情况下,可解释局地气溶胶变化10%~20%的方差。     

一个新的东亚副热带夏季风指数的定义

利用1958—2014年夏季NCEP/NCAR大气环流资料和中国486站降水观测资料,通过多种统计诊断方法,从与夏季中国东部3类不同雨型分布相联系的东亚高低层风场变化特征出发,依据与雨带变化密切联系的高层200 hPa纬向风定义了一个新的东亚副热带夏季风指数。分析表明,该指数不仅能反映夏季东亚大气环流的变化特征,兼顾北方冷空气活动和南方东亚夏季风环流变化,同时还能反映夏季中国东部降水南北差异的年际特征。强东亚副热带夏季风指数年,高层中纬度西风急流位置偏北,低层西太平洋副热带高压偏强偏北,有利于冷空气活动位置偏北和东亚东部西南暖湿气流向北推进,中国东部多以Ⅰ类雨型为主;弱东亚副热带夏季风指数年的环流变化刚好相反,中国东部多以Ⅲ类雨型为主。与现有东亚夏季风指数的对比分析表明,该指数在反映中国东部南北区域降水变化的差异方面有很大改进。     

Numerical study of 1998 late summer flood in East Asia

The Purdue Regional Model (PRM) is applied to study the evolution of regional climate and weather systems during the heavy precipitation over Korea and China between 30 July and 18 August 1998. The results show that heavy rainfall along the Mei-yu and Changma front was due to the combination of: (1) an anomalous 850 hPa subtropical high, (2) a stronger baroclinicity around 40°N over eastern Asia and a low pressure located to the north of the front, and (3) an excessive evaporation from abnormal wet, warm land. The precipitation ended by 18 August when the subtropical high had retreated and the low pressure in Mongolia moved away from Asia continent. The model reproduced in great detail the observed baroclinic waves to the north, subtropical high and low-level jet to the south, and the front with heavy precipitation extending from southern China, and the Korean peninsula to Japan. High correlations are found for mass, momentum, and moisture fields between model simulation and the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) reanalysis for the 20-day means.     

Prediction of East Asian summer precipitation via independent component analysis

A new statistical postprocessing method is proposed for seasonal climate prediction. The proposed method is based on a combination of independent component analysis (ICA) and canonical correlation analysis (CCA). Since the classical CCA cannot handle high-dimensional data wherein the number of variables is larger than the number of observations, ICA is pre-performed to reduce the dimension of the data. It is well known that empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis is a popular method for dimension reduction in the climatology community; however, loss of information occurs when the data is not Gaussian distributed. To extend the scope of distribution assumption and improve the prediction ability simultaneously, we propose the ICA-based method. This study focuses on the prediction of future precipitation for the boreal summer (June?CJuly?CAugust; JJA) through 29 years (1979?C2007) on East Asia region. Results of the proposed ICA-based method show an improvement in seasonal climate prediction in terms of correlation and root mean square error as compared with those of the GCM simulation and the EOF/CCA method.     

东亚夏季风异常大气环流遥相关及其对我国降水的影响

根据夏季东亚季风区内季风环流异常所反映行星尺度扰动的强弱,来定义东亚大气遥相关指数IEA.分析表明,它能较清楚地反映夏季西太平洋副高脊线和西伸脊点位置与东亚季风系统各支季风气流的变化.并揭示当IEA偏强(弱)时,东亚季风系统内的热带季风环流出现异常加强(减弱),副热带季风环流出现异常减弱(加强),而中高纬度季风环流又出现异常加强(减弱),三者之间的关系.分析还表明,IEA异常前期,具有明显ENSO循环位相特征,冬季热带太平洋SST、OLR异常,以及对流层高层风异常,可以作为前期征兆信号.该指数变化与我国夏季降水异常分布密切相关,并清楚地反映出东亚季风系统内热带季风环流与副热带季风环流及其各支季风气流异常对我国夏季降水的影响,为该指数在气候监测与预测中的应用提供一定的物理依据.     

Northern East Asian low and its impact on the interannual variation of East Asian summer rainfall

The strength of the East Asian summer monsoon and associated rainfall has been linked to the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) and the lower-tropospheric low pressure system over continental East Asia (EA). In contrast to the large number of studies devoted to the WNPSH, little is known about the variability of the East Asian continental low. The present study delineates the East Asian continental low using 850-hPa geopotential height. Since the low is centered over northern EA (NEA), we refer to it as the NEA low (NEAL). We show that the intensity of the NEAL has large interannual variation, with a dominant period of 2–4 years. An enhanced NEAL exhibits a barotropic structure throughout the whole troposphere, which accelerates the summer-mean upper-tropospheric westerly jet and lower-tropospheric monsoon westerly to its south. We carefully identify the anomalous NEAL-induced rainfall anomalies by removal of the tropical heating effects. An enhanced NEAL not only increases rainfall locally in northern Northeast China, but also shifts the East Asian subtropical front northward, causing above-normal rainfall extending eastward from the Huai River valley across central-northern Japan and below-normal rainfall in South China. The northward shift of the East Asian subtropical front is attributed to the following processes without change in the WNPSH: an enhanced NEAL increases meridional pressure gradients and the monsoon westerly along the East Asian subtropical front, which in turn induces a cyclonic shear vorticity anomaly to its northern side. The associated Ekman pumping induces moisture flux convergence that shifts the East Asian subtropical front northward. In addition, the frequent occurrence of synoptic cut-off lows is found to be associated with an enhanced NEAL. Wave activity analysis indicates that the interannual intensity change of the NEAL is significantly associated with the extratropical Polar Eurasian teleconnection, in addition to the forcing of the tropical WNP heating.     

南亚和东亚热带夏季风强弱不同配置及其对中国夏季降水的影响北大核心

利用NOAA向外长波辐射(OLR)、NCEP/NCAR再分析资料和CN05.1降水资料,研究了南亚和东亚热带夏季风强度年际变化关系,及其强弱不同配置对中国夏季降水的影响。结果表明:南亚和东亚热带夏季风强度变化之间存在同相和反相两种配置,定义的强度同相和反相变化指数可以很好地表征该关系。同相变化模态可能与海温异常时的强El Nino(La Nina)影响有关,其反相变化模态受El Nino(La Nina)以及印度洋海盆一致模的影响,同时西太平洋副热带高压和伊朗高压位置东西偏移和强度变化也影响着不同配置的出现。两者不同配置时,对中国夏季降水的影响不同。当变化呈同相偏强时,夏季中国东部地区降水为“中间少南北多”的雨型。当变化呈反相,东亚热带夏季风偏强南亚夏季风偏弱时,夏季中国东部地区降水为“一致偏少”雨型。     

Projected change in East Asian summer monsoon precipitation under RCP scenario

Future changes in East Asian summer monsoon precipitation climatology, frequency, and intensity are analyzed using historical climate simulations and future climate simulations under the RCP4.5 scenario using the World Climate Research Programme’s (WCRP) Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) multi-model dataset. The model reproducibility is evaluated, and well performance in the present-day climate simulation can be obtained by most of the studied models. However, underestimation is obvious over the East Asian region for precipitation climatology and precipitation intensity, and overestimation is observed for precipitation frequency. The overestimation of precipitation frequency is mainly due to the large positive bias of the light precipitation (precipitation <10 mm/day) days, and the underestimation of precipitation intensity is mainly caused by the negative bias of the intense precipitation (precipitation >10 mm/day) intensity. For the future climate simulations, simple multi-model ensemble (MME) averages using all of the models show increases in precipitation and its intensity over almost all of East Asia, while the precipitation frequency is projected to decrease over eastern China and around Japan and increase in other regions. When the weighted MME is considered, no large difference can be observed compared with the simple MME. For the MME using the six best models that have good performance in simulating the present-day climate, the future climate changes over East Asia are very similar to those predicted using all of the models. Further analysis shows that the frequency and intensity of intense precipitation events are also projected to significantly increase over East Asia. Increases in precipitation frequency and intensity are the main contributors to increases in precipitation, and the contribution of frequency increases (contributed by 40.8 % in the near future and by 58.9 % by the end of the twenty-first century) is much larger than that of intensity increases (contributed by 29.9 % in the near future and by 30.1 % by the end of the twenty-first century). This finding also implies an increased risk of intense precipitation events over the East Asian region under global warming scenario. These results regarding future climate simulations show much greater reliability than those using CMIP3 simulations.     

Impacts of Coastal SST Variability on the East Asian Summer Monsoon

The impacts of the seasonal and interannual SST variability in the East Asia coastal regions （EACRSST） on the East Asian summer monsoon （EASM） have been examined using a regional climate model （PδRCM9） in this paper. The simulation results show that the correlation between the EACRSST and the EASM is strengthened after the mid-1970s and also the variability of the EACRSST forcing becomes much more important to the EASM interannual variability after the mid-1970s. The impacts of the EACRSST on the summer precipitation over each sub-region in the EASM region become weak gradually from south to north, and the temporal evolution features of the summer precipitation differences over North and Northeast China agree well with those of the index of EASM （IEASM） differences.
The mechanism analyses show that different EACRSST forcings result in the differences of sensible and latent heat flux exchanges at the air-sea interface, which alter the heating rate of the atmosphere. The heating rate differences induce low level air temperature differences over East Asia, resulting in the differences of the land-sea thermal contrast （LSTC） which lead to 850 hPa geopotential height changes. When the 850 hPa geopotential height increases over the East Asian continent and decreases over the coast of East China and the adjacent oceans during the weakening period of weakens consequently. On the contrary, the EASM enhances during the strengthening period of the LSTC.     

CMIP5/AMIP GCM simulations of East Asian summer monsoon

The East Asian summer monsoon （EASM） is a distinctive component of the Asian climate system and critically influences the economy and society of the region.To understand the ability of AGCMs in capturing the major features of EASM,10 models that participated in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project/Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project （CMIP5/AMIP）,which used observational SST and sea ice to drive AGCMs during the period 1979-2008,were evaluated by comparing with observations and AMIP Ⅱ simulations.The results indicated that the multi-model ensemble （MME） of CMIP5/AMIP captures the main characteristics of precipitation and monsoon circulation,and shows the best skill in EASM simulation,better than the AMIP Ⅱ MME.As for the Meiyu/Changma/Baiyu rainbelt,the intensity of rainfall is underestimated in all the models.The biases are caused by a weak western Pacific subtropical high （WPSH） and accompanying eastward southwesterly winds in group Ⅰ models,and by a too strong and west-extended WPSH as well as westerly winds in group Ⅱ models.Considerable systematic errors exist in the simulated seasonal migration of rainfall,and the notable northward jumps and rainfall persistence remain a challenge for all the models.However,the CMIP5/AMIP MME is skillful in simulating the western North Pacific monsoon index （WNPMI）.     

Possible linkage between East Asian summer drought and North Pacific Oscillation

The May North Pacific Oscillation Index and the summer (May and June?CJuly?CAugust??JJA) Effective Drought Index have a strong negative correlation in the East Asian region, particularly in northern China, Korea, and the southwestern regions of Japan (here termed ??Northeast Asia??); this signifies an intensification of the summer drought during positive North Pacific Index (NPI) phase in this region, and the presence of such a phenomenon has been observed in this study. The low-south/high-north anomalous pressure pattern forming in all layers of the troposphere in Northeast Asian region has been a cause of drought. This unusual pressure pattern gives rise to a cold northeasterly and intensifies downward flow and reduces relative humidity. In addition, this cold northeasterly hinders the northward movement of the western North Pacific high and reduces the frequency of tropical cyclones passing through this region, thereby further intensifying drought.     

东亚夏季风指数的分类及物理特征分析

利用1961—2010年NCEP再分析资料,分析了较有代表性的16个东亚夏季风指数,讨论了不同季风指数反映的环流及降水之间的异同,探讨了不同季风指数与东亚夏季风不同空间模态之间的可能关联。结果表明,东亚夏季风指数大致分为两类:1)第一类季风指数存在明显的年代际变化,反映了东亚夏季风强弱的整体一致型变化,与东亚夏季风环流第一模态具有很好的对应关系。高指数年,整个东亚区域夏季风活动整体偏强;贝加尔湖地区为深厚气旋性环流控制,副高位置略偏北;华北、东北地区降水显著偏多,长江流域及其以南降水偏少,降水异常型与我国夏季偶极型季风降水相似,这类指数对我国华北地区降水有较好的指示作用。2)第二类季风指数具有明显的年际变化特征,反映的是东亚夏季风强弱的南北反相变化,与东亚夏季风环流第二模态相对应。高指数年,我国东南地区夏季风偏弱,东北部夏季风偏强;西北太平洋为深厚的气旋性距平环流控制,副高偏北,该分布型与东亚—太平洋(EAP)遥相关十分相似;我国东北、内蒙古地区,华南地区降水增多,长江流域降水显著减少,降水异常型与我国夏季三极型季风降水异常型相似,这类指数对我国长江流域降水有较好的指示作用。     

增暖背景下东亚夏季风区降水演变的空间模态及其形成机制

基于CMIP5中全新世(Mid-Holocene,6 ka BP)试验及RCP8.5试验的对比,本文研究了不同增暖情景下东亚夏季风区降水演变的空间模态及其成因.结果表明,两种增暖情景下东亚夏季风区降水演变的空间模态存在显著差异.轨道辐射主导的中全新世暖期期间,东亚夏季风区降水演变的空间模态为经向"三极子"结构;而大气C...