Spatial trends of dry spells over Peninsular Malaysia during monsoon seasons

This study aims to trace changes in the dry spells over Peninsular Malaysia based on the daily rainfall data from 36 selected rainfall stations which include four subregions, namely northwest, west, southwest, and east for the periods of 1975 to 2004. Six dry spell indices comprising of the main characteristics of dry spells, the persistency of dry events, and the frequency of the short and long duration of dry spells will be used to identify whether or not these indices have increased or decreased over Peninsular Malaysia during the monsoon seasons. The findings of this study indicate that the northwestern areas of the Peninsular could be considered as the driest area since almost all the indices of dry spells over these areas are higher than in the other regions during the northeast (NE) monsoon. Based on the individual and the field significant trends, the results of the Mann–Kendall test indicate that as the total number of dry days, the maximum duration, the mean, and the persistency of dry days are decreased, the trend of the frequency of long dry spells of at least 4 days is also found to decrease in almost all the stations over the Peninsula; however, an increasing trend is observed in the frequency of short spells in these stations during the NE monsoon season. On the other hand, during the southwest monsoon, a positive trend is observed in the characteristics of dry spells including the persistency of two dry days in many stations over the Peninsula. The frequency of longer dry periods exhibits a decreasing trend in most stations over the western areas during both monsoon seasons for the periods of 1975 to 2004.     

Absorbing aerosols facilitate transition of Indian monsoon breaks to active spells

While some long breaks of monsoon intraseasonal oscillations (MISOs) are followed by active spells (BFA), some others are not (BNFA). The circulation during BFA (BNFA) cases helps (prevents) accumulation of absorbing aerosols over central India (CI) resulting in almost three times larger Aerosol Index (AI) over CI, during BFA cases compared to BNFA cases. A seminal role played by the absorbing aerosols in the transition from break to active spells is unraveled through modification of the north?Csouth temperature gradient at lower levels. The meridional gradient of temperature at low level (?T) between aerosol-rich CI and pristine equatorial Indian Ocean is large (>6°C) and sustains for long time (>10?days) during BFA leading to significant moisture convergence to CI. The stability effect arising from surface cooling by the aerosols is overcome by the enhanced moisture convergence creating a moist static unstable atmosphere conducive for the large-scale organized convection over the CI region leading to the resurgence of active spells. The moisture convergence induced by ?T was also able to overcome possible aerosol indirect effect (Twomey effect) and initiate deep convection and transition to active condition. During BNFA cases, however the maximum ?T, which was weaker than the BFA cases by more than 1.5°C, could not sustain required moisture convergence and failed to lead to a sustained active spell. Using data from MODIS (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) onboard Terra and several other input parameters from various satellites for the period 2000?C2009, the aerosol induced radiative forcing representative of two regions??the CI to the north and the pristine ocean to the south??were estimated and support the differences in observed ?T during the two cases. Our results highlight the need for proper inclusion of absorbing aerosols in dynamical models for simulation of the observed variability of MISOs and their extended range prediction.     

Boundary-layer heights over the monsoon trough region during active and break phases

The thermodynamic structure and the heights of the boundary layer over the monsoon trough region of the Indian southwest monsoon are presented for the active and break phases of the monsoon. Results indicate significant and consistent variation in boundary-layer heights between the active and break phases.     

Sensible heat fluxes during the active and break phases of the southwest monsoon over the Indian region

Based on the theory given by Saltzman and Ashe (1976), sensible heat fluxes are calculated for the active and break phases of the southwest monsoon over the Indian region. The conclusion drawn is that the sensible heat flux is generally larger during the break monsoon situation when compared with that for the active monsoon situation. The synoptic heat flux is negligible when compared with mean and diurnal heat fluxes over the Indian region even during the monsoon season.     

Insolation over the Arabian Sea during the southwest monsoon

The relationship between monsoon cloud cover and incoming solar radiation in the Arabian Sea is examined utilising the available observations of daily mean total cloud amount and solar radiation collected during the summer monsoon. With these data sets, various cloud correction formulae are evaluated. For the estimation of solar radiation, the formulation of Laevastu (1960) is best, with a minimum error of -4%. A multiple polynomial regression equation based on cloud cover and noon altitude of the sun is developed for estimation of daily radiation. The error between estimated and observed radiation is -2%.     

Diabatic heating and the low frequency dynamics in the tropics

Summary Using a General Circulation Model developed at FSU (FSUGCM), the role of the diabatic heating on the 30–60-day oscillation is investigated. To concentrate on the radiation and the moist convection processes, an aqua planet model is employed in this paper. We have obtained a 40-day oscillation with relatively lower frequency than other GCMs without strong heating in the lower troposphere. Unlike some GCMs and simple models, the convective area does not move eastward along with the oscillation. Adiabatic cooling due to the upward motion is mostly compensated by diabatic heating. This implies that Kelvin CISK theory might not explain our 40-day oscillation. We have also examined the impact of radiative heating on the low frequency oscillation. When we reduce the radiative cooling rate, our 40-day mode does not appear and a Kelvin CISK mode appears with a faster phase speed. The impact of the different convection schemes is also investigated. With an enhanced convection scheme, zonal wave number two with a 40-day period is generated.With 12 FiguresOn leave from Japan Meteorological Agency.     

Active, weak and break spells in the Indian summer monsoon

Summary Active weak and break phases of the Indian summer monsoon for the period 1958–2002 are studied using ERA-40 data. The criteria for identifying the break are proposed and tested using the 850 hPa level horizontal wind shear. Independent datasets such as All-India Rainfall, NOAA Outgoing Long-wave Radiation and CMAP rainfall datasets are used for the verification of the proposed criteria. On leave from the National Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, A-50 Institutional Area, Phase-II, Sector 62, Noida, U.P., India.     

季风汇合带与淮河流域的大暴雨

1980年8月23—24日,淮河流域连续两天出现大范围大暴雨。本文指出,由于从孟加拉湾—南海—西太平洋出现大尺度热带季风西南—南—东南气流汇合带,在交汇点下游的北方有西南涡生成,并强烈发展,具有7—8条螺旋状云带。低空西南急流的加强和推进,一方面在江淮之间形成能量锋区,一方面引导西南涡东移。在低涡中心南侧的淮河流域产生了暖区大暴雨。     

夏季风过渡区的陆-气相互作用：述评与展望

夏季风过渡区是受夏季风影响最敏感的区域之一,其陆-气相互作用对夏季风气候动力学过程响应明显,该区域的陆-气相互作用及其对夏季风活动的响应是一个值得关注的重要科学问题。分析了中国夏季风过渡区的形成及其基本特征,讨论了夏季风过渡区陆-气相互作用过程研究的主要关注点,初步推测了该地区陆-气相互作用对夏季风变化的响应机制。指出该地区陆-气相互作用研究包含了多重互馈机制、陆面水-热-生过程耦合、近地层到自由大气的多界面交换、季风多尺度作用和特殊的陆面水分循环等一系列重要科学问题。同时,总结归纳了该领域的主要研究进展和关键科学问题,提出了未来应该重点研究的7个方面,并初步给出了研究试验的基本思路。为未来系统深入研究夏季风过渡区陆-气相互作用及其对夏季风活动响应问题提供了科学指导。      

On the anomalous precipitation enhancement over the Himalayan foothills during monsoon breaks

An intriguing feature associated with ‘breaks’ in the Indian summer monsoon is the occurrence of intense/flood-producing precipitation confined to central-eastern parts of the Himalayan (CEH) foothills and north-eastern parts of India. Past studies have documented various large-scale circulation aspects associated with monsoon-breaks, however the dynamical mechanisms responsible for anomalous precipitation enhancement over CEH foothills remain unclear. This problem is investigated using diagnostic analyses of observed and reanalysis products and high-resolution model simulations. The present findings show that the anomalous precipitation enhancement over the CEH foothills during monsoon-breaks emerges as a consequence of interactions between southward intruding mid-latitude westerly troughs and the South Asian monsoon circulation in its weak phase. These interactions facilitate intensification of mid-tropospheric cyclonic vorticity and strong ascending motion over the CEH foothills, so as to promote deep convection and concentrated rainfall activity over the region during monsoon-breaks. Mesoscale orographic effects additionally tend to amplify the vertical motions and precipitation over the CEH foothills as evidenced from the high-resolution model simulations. It is further noted from the model simulations that the coupling between precipitation and circulation during monsoon-breaks can produce nearly a threefold increase of total precipitation over the CEH foothills and neighborhood as opposed to active-monsoon conditions.     

A study of mean boundary-layer structures over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal during active and break monsoon periods

Observations from research ships which took part in the Indo-Soviet Monsoon Experiment of 1977 (MONSOON 77) and the International Monsoon Experiments (MONEX 79) over the central Arabian Sea and the north central Bay of Bengal were analyzed to study the mean wind and temperature structure of the monsoon boundary layer during active and break conditions. Mean profiles of wind speed and direction along with virtual potential temperature obtained by averaging data from several research ships during 1977 and 1979 indicate that onset conditions were associated with substantial increases in wind speed over the Arabian Sea and a shift to strong southwest flow. Monsoon onset was also characterized by near-neutral to slightly unstable temperature profiles in the lowest kilometer. Break conditions in 1977 in which the monsoon trough moved northward and substantial (5 mb) pressure rises were noted over the Arabian Sea show wind speeds typically decreasing from approximately 18 m s^–1 during active conditions to roughly 8 m s ^–1. Temperature profiles during break conditions are similar to those observed in pre-monsoon conditions in that the boundary layer is observed to be generally much more stable up to 900 mb. Above 900 mb, profiles of virtual potential temperature show little variation.Analysis of latent and sensible heat fluxes during June 1977 calculated by the bulk aerodynamic method indicates values of latent heat flux during active conditions to be roughly two to three times larger than those during break conditions. Sensible heat flux shows an increase from approximately 20 to 80 W m ^–1 during the onset of the monsoon. Surface fluxes of water vapor indicate the importance of water vapor transport over the ship observation region in the central Arabian Sea during active conditions. Onset of the monsoon over the Arabian Sea is accompanied by an increase in the surface moisture flux by a factor of about two. Time histories of precipitable water show decreases of approximately 15% from active to break periods.     

Some characteristics of the PBL over the ocean during the Indian summer monsoon

Data collected during the Indo-Soviet Monsoon-77 expedition are used to determine quadratic expressions for the universal constants A and B, as functions of the stability parameter, . A quadratic expression has also been obtained for u _*, in terms of the surface wind u _s. It is shown, from the mean values of q and _E , that the entire area covered by the expedition could be divided into four regions around the point 13° N, 78° E. The mean thermal characteristic of each region differs. It is shown that the northeastern quadrant is most favourable for the sustenance of a tropical storm once it has formed.     

Sources of continental dust over Antarctica during the last glacial cycle

The soluble and insoluble parts of 4 major components (Al, Ca, K and Mg) of the continental dust input over East Antarctica, as well as size, distribution parameters of the insoluble part of this dust, have been studied along an ice core which spanns the last climatic cycle (160 kyr). These results provide a better understanding of the respective impact of the different potential dust sources. While Al and K were probably entrapped in illite originating from arid areas and in a lesser extent from shallow marine sediments, Ca and Mg inputs were dominated by marine carbonate of exposed continental shelves emissions.     

A study on the distinct features of the Asian summer monsoon during the years of extreme monsoon activity over India

Summary In this paper, interseasonal characteristics of the Asian summer monsoon in the years of 1987 and 1988 are studied as 1987 is characterized by a large deficiency of monsoon rainfall (drought) and that of 1988 by a large excess monsoon rainfall (flood) over India. In order to compare the similarities and differences seen in the large scale dynamics and energetics of the Asian summer monsoon during the years of extreme monsoon activity, uninitialized analyses (12 Z) of the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), U.K. are utilized in this study for the summer monsoon seasons of 1987 and 1988.It is found that the excess rainfall season (1988) is characterized by much stronger tropical easterly jet (TEJ) associated with the upper tropospheric easterlies and the East African low level jet (Somali Jet) associated with lower tropospheric westerlies. Such a feature mainly determines the strength of the reverse Hadley circulation which normally covers the South Asian continent during the northern summer. Further, the energetics of the TEJ show that the monsoon of 1988 has comparatively stronger zones of kinetic energy flux divergence (convergence) at its entrance (exit) regions. These zones of kinetic energy flux divergence are largely maintained by the adiabatic processes over the strong kinetic energy flux divergence zones over the Bay of Bengal and east central Arabian Sea as compared to that of 1987. Apart from this, both the zonal and meridional components of the ageostrophic flows are found to be stronger during 1988 monsoon season. Analysis of the vertically integrated thermodynamical features of the monsoon indicate that the monsoon of 1988 was characterized by an excess import of heat and moisture into the monsoon atmosphere as compared to that of 1987. Further, from the quantitative estimation of certain significant heat and moisture budget parameters during the contrasting monsoon seasons of 1987 and 1988, it becomes evident that considerable differences exist in the quantities of adiabatic production of heat energy, diabatic heating and the moisture source/sink.With 13 Figures     

CO2浓度增加背景下季风区大气辐射加热响应的差异

大气CO2浓度增加,大气辐射平衡调整,将影响到大气的辐射加热,对季风环流的产生影响.CMIP6结果显示,大气CO2浓度增加,可减弱季风区主雨季对流层高,低层的辐射加热,加强对流层中层的辐射加热.各季风区加热响应的峰值层次不同:亚洲季风区平均层次最高(500-775 hPa),北非,南美,澳洲季风区次之(550-600 ...     

Meteorological subdivisional-level extended range forecast over India during southwest monsoon 2012

The real-time multi-model ensemble (MME)-based extended range (up to 3 weeks) forecast of monsoon rainfall over India during the 2012 monsoon season is analyzed using the outputs of European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) monthly forecast coupled model, National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Climate Forecast System version 2 coupled model and Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)’ ensemble prediction system. Although the individual models show useful skill in predicting the extended range forecast of monsoon, the MME forecast is found to be superior compared to these. For the country as a whole, the correlation coefficient (CC) between the observed and MME forecast rainfall departure is found to be statistically significant (99 % level) at least for 2 weeks (up to 18 days). Over the four homogeneous regions of India, the CC is found to be significant (above 95 % level) up to 2 weeks except in case of northeast India, which shows significant CC for week 1 (days 5–11) only. On the meteorological subdivision level (India is divided into 36 meteorological subdivisions) the mean percentage of correct forecast is found to be much higher than the climatology forecast. Considering the complex problem of forecasting of monsoon in the extended range timescales, the MME-based predictions for 2–3 weeks provide skillful results and useful guidance for application in agriculture and other sectors in India.