Seasonal persistence and propagation of intraseasonal patterns over the Indian monsoon region

The space-time evolution of convection over the monsoon region containing the Indian subcontinent, the Indian Ocean and the West Pacific has been studied. A multi-channel singular spectrum analysis of the daily outgoing longwave radiation has yielded two intraseasonal oscillatory patterns and two large-scale standing patterns as the most dominant modes of intraseasonal variability. The oscillatory modes vary on time scales of about 45 and 28 days and their average cycles of variability are shown to correspond to the life cycles of active and break periods of monsoon rainfall over India. During an active (break) cycle, a convection (dry) anomaly zone first appears in the equatorial Indian Ocean, subsequently expands to cover the Indian subcontinent and finally contracts to disappear in the northern part of India. Some eastward and northward movements are found to be associated with both oscillatory modes, while westward movement may also be associated with the 28-day mode. The oscillatory modes are shown to have a large spatial scale extending to the West Pacific. One of the standing modes has anomalies of uniform sign covering the entire region and is related to El Niño and southern oscillation (ENSO) pattern. The other standing mode has a dipole structure in the equatorial Indian Ocean associated with large-scale anomalies over India with the same sign as those over the western part of the dipole. These two standing modes persist throughout the monsoon season, each maintaining its respective pattern. The seasonal mean monsoon is mainly determined by the two standing patterns, without much contribution from the oscillatory modes. The relative role of the standing patterns (ENSO mode and dipole mode) seems to be important in determining the seasonal mean during certain years.     

Mechanism of high rainfall over the Indian west coast region during the monsoon season

The mechanism responsible for high rainfall over the Indian west coast region has been investigated by studying dynamical, thermodynamical and microphysical processes over the region for the monsoon season of 2009. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts wind and NCEP flux data have been used to study the large scale dynamical parameters. The moist adiabatic and multi-level inversion stratifications are found to exist during the high and low rainfall spells, respectively. In the moist adiabatic stratification regime, shallow and deep convective clouds are found coexisting. The Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement EXperiment aircraft data showed cloud updraft spectrum ranging from 1 to 10 m s^?1 having modal speed 1–2.5 m s^?1. The low updrafts rates provide sufficient time required for warm rain processes to produce rainfall from shallow clouds. The low cloud liquid water is observed above the freezing level indicating efficient warm rain process. The updrafts at the high spectrum end go above freezing level to generate ice particles produced due to mixed-phase rainfall process from deep convective clouds. With aging, deep convection gets transformed into stratiform type, which has been inferred through the vertical distribution of the large scale omega and heating fields. The stratiform heating, high latent heat flux, strong wind shear in the lower and middle tropospheric levels and low level convergence support the sustenance of convection for longer time to produce high rainfall spell. The advection of warm dry air in the middle tropospheric regions inhibits the convection and produce low rainfall spell. The mechanisms producing these spells have been summarized with the block diagram.     

Relationship between rainfall and lightning over central Indian region in monsoon and premonsoon seasons

Lightning activity and rainfall over the central Indian region (lat, 15.5° N to 25.5° N and lon, 75° E to 85° E) from the TRMM satellite have been analyzed. Ten years' data of monthly lightning and hourly averaged monthly rainfall from 1998 to 2007 have been used for analysis, which shows quite different relationships between lightning and rainfall in monsoon and premonsoon seasons in this region. Very good positive correlation is observed between rainfall and lightning during the premonsoon period, however, in the monsoon period a correlation between them is not so good. The different relationship between lightning and rainfall in the monsoon and premonsoon has been attributed to the low updraft during the monsoon period due to low cloud base height and low aerosol concentration during this period. This analysis shows that deep electrified convective systems do form over the central Indian region during active monsoon periods; however the relationship between convective rainfall and lightning frequency during this period is not as consistent as during the premonsoon period.     

Multivariate ENSO index and Indian monsoon rainfall: relationships on monthly and subdivisional scales

Summary El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is known to cause world-wide weather anomalies. It influences the Indian Monsoon Rainfall (IMR) also. But due to large spatial and temporal variability of monsoon rains, it becomes difficult to state any single uniform relationship between the ENSO and IMR that holds good over different subdivisions of India, though the general type of relationship between all India monsoon rainfall and ENSO is known since long. The selection of the most suitable ENSO index to correlate with the IMR is another problem. The purpose of the present study is twofold, namely, to examine the relationship between the ENSO and IMR for entire monsoon season by using an ENSO index which represents the ENSO phenomenon in a comprehensive way, namely, the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) and to establish the relationships between MEI and IMR for every meteorological subdivision of India for each monsoon month; i.e. June, July, August and September. A comparison of MEI/IMR correlations has been made with Southern Oscillation Index (SOI)/IMR correlations. The result may find applications in the long range forecasting of IMR on monthly and subdivisional scales, especially over the high monsoon rainfall variability regions of Northwestern and the Peninsular India. Received October 27, 2000     

Observational evidence for the relationship between spring soil moisture and June rainfall over the Indian region

Understanding the relationship between gradually varying soil moisture (SM) conditions and monsoon rainfall anomalies is crucial for seasonal prediction. Though it is an important issue, very few studies in the past attempted to diagnose the linkages between the antecedent SM and Indian summer monsoon rainfall. This study examined the relationship between spring (April–May) SM and June rainfall using observed data during the period 1979–2010. The Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analyses showed that the spring SM plays a significant role in June rainfall over the Central India (CI), South India (SI), and North East India (NEI) regions. The composite anomaly of the spring SM and June rainfall showed that excess (deficit) June rainfall over the CI was preceded by wet (dry) spring SM. The anomalies in surface-specific humidity, air temperature, and surface radiation fluxes also supported the existence of a positive SM-precipitation feedback over the CI. On the contrary, excess (deficit) June rainfall over the SI and NEI region were preceded by dry (wet) spring SM. The abnormal wet (dry) SM over the SI and NEI decreased (increased) the 2-m air temperature and increased (decreased) the surface pressure compared to the surrounding oceans which resulted in less (more) moisture transport from oceans to land (negative SM-precipitation feedback over the Indian monsoon region).     

Convective activity over heat-low region and Indian summer monsoon rainfall during contrasting phases of ESI tendency

In this paper, the changes in convective activity over heat-low region over northwest India during contrasting phases of effective strength index (ESI) tendency have been examined. During contrasting phases of ESI tendency, evolution of surface pressure and temperature field over India from winter to spring is exactly opposite, and hence, the heat-low over northwest India depicts temporal and spatial variations in magnitude and location. During positive ESI tendency, the evolution of surface cooling and high surface pressure from winter to spring suggests reduced convective activity over heat-low region, while during the negative phase of ESI tendency, anomalously warm surface temperatures and low surface pressure evolve from winter to spring suggesting enhanced convective activity over the heat low region. The temporal variability in the relationship between surface temperature/pressure over heat-low region and Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) is also examined in this paper. During positive ESI tendency, heat-low temperature anomaly in February is significantly associated with ISMR, whereas during negative ESI tendency, both temperature/pressure over heat-low region in May are significantly associated with ISMR. These parameters may help in long range forecasting of ISMR.     

Temperature variability over the Indian Ocean and its relationship with Indian summer monsoon rainfall

Summary The present study examines the long term trend in sea surface temperatures (SSTs) of the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Equatorial South India Ocean in the context of global warming for the period 1901–2002 and for a subset period 1971–2002. An attempt has also been made to identify the relationship between SST variations over three different ocean areas, and All-India and homogeneous region summer monsoon rainfall variability, including the role of El-Ni?o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Annual sea surface temperatures of the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Equatorial South India Ocean show a significant warming trend of 0.7 °C, 0.6 °C and 0.5 °C per hundred years, respectively, and a relatively accelerated warming of 0.16 °C, 0.14 °C and 0.14 °C per decade during the 1971–2002 period. There is a positive and statistically significant relationship between SSTs over the Arabian Sea from the preceding November to the current February, and Indian monsoon rainfall during the period 1901–2002. The correlation coefficient increases from October and peaks in December, decreasing from February to September. This significant relationship is also found in the recent period 1971–2002, whereas, during 1901–70, the relationship is not significant. On the seasonal scale, Arabian Sea winter SSTs are positively and significantly correlated with Indian monsoon rainfall, while spring SSTs have no significant positive relationship. Nino3 spring SSTs have a negative significant relationship with Indian monsoon rainfall and it is postulated that there is a combined effect of Nino3 and Arabian Sea SSTs on Indian monsoon. If the Nino3 SST effect is removed, the spring SSTs over the Arabian Sea also have a significant relationship with monsoon rainfall. Similarly, the Bay of Bengal and Equatorial South Indian Ocean spring SSTs are significantly and positively correlated with Indian monsoon rainfall after removing the Nino3 effect, and correlation values are more pronounced than for the Arabian Sea. Authors’ address: Dr. D. R. Kothawale, A. A. Munot, H. P. Borgaonkar, Climatology and Hydrometeorology divisions, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune 411008, India.     

Simulation of heavy rainfall events over Indian monsoon region using WRF-3DVAR data assimilation system

We present the results of the impact of the 3D variational data assimilation (3DVAR) system within the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate three heavy rainfall events (25–28 June 2005, 29–31 July 2004, and 7–9 August 2002) over the Indian monsoon region. For each event, two numerical experiments were performed. In the first experiment, namely the control simulation (CNTL), the low-resolution global analyses are used as the initial and boundary conditions of the model. In the second experiment (3DV-ANA), the model integration was carried out by inserting additional observations in the model’s initial conditions using the 3DVAR scheme. The 3DVAR used surface weather stations, buoy, ship, radiosonde/rawinsonde, and satellite (oceanic surface wind, cloud motion wind, and cloud top temperature) observations obtained from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). After the successful inclusion of additional observational data using the 3DVAR data assimilation technique, the resulting reanalysis was able to successfully reproduce the structure of convective organization as well as prominent synoptic features associated with the mid-tropospheric cyclones (MTC). The location and intensity of the MTC were better simulated in the 3DV-ANA as compared to the CNTL. The results demonstrate that the improved initial conditions of the mesoscale model using 3DVAR enhanced the location and amount of rainfall over the Indian monsoon region. Model verification and statistical skill were assessed with the help of available upper-air sounding data. The objective verification further highlighted the efficiency of the data assimilation system. The improvements in the 3DVAR run are uniformly better as compared to the CNTL run for all the three cases. The mesoscale 3DVAR data assimilation system is not operational in the weather forecasting centers in India and a significant finding in this study is that the assimilation of Indian conventional and non-conventional observation datasets into numerical weather forecast models can help improve the simulation accuracy of meso-convective activities over the Indian monsoon region. Results from the control experiments also highlight that weather and regional climate model simulations with coarse analysis have high uncertainty in simulating heavy rain events over the Indian monsoon region and assimilation approaches, such as the 3DVAR can help reduce this uncertainty.     

Changing pattern of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall: an objective analysis

In a climate change scenario, the present work deals with the possibility of the changes in the rainfall pattern during the principal monsoon season (June 1–September 30) of the Indian summer monsoon. For this purpose three attributes are defined as DTMR, DHMR and DNMR representing the day when 10, 50 and 90 % of the accumulated summer monsoon rainfall is achieved respectively. Using a high resolution (1° × 1°) gridded rainfall data set for the last 50 years prepared by India Meteorological Department (Rajeevan et al. 2005, in Curr Sci 91:296–306, 2006), the analysis has been carried out over the different parts of the Indian subcontinent. Using statistically robust significance tests, it is observed that the distribution of the three variables have changed significantly at 1 % (or 5 %) significance level in the last 50-year of period. The DTMR and DNMR arrive 2 days early over central India, whereas DHMR appears to arrive 6 days early over west India in the recent decades. The results presented in this paper are supported by the statistically robust significance tests; suggest an apparent change in terms of the arrival of the rainfall attributes during the last half century.     

Seasonal Transition Features of Large-Scale Moisture Transport in the Asian-Australian Monsoon Region

Using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data for the period of 1957-2001, the climatological seasonal transition features of large-scale vertically integrated moisture transport （VIMT） in the Asian-Australian monsoon region are investigated in this paper. The basic features of the seasonal transition of VIMT from winter to summer are the establishment of the summertime ＂great moisture river＂ pattern （named the GMR pattern） and its eastward expansion, associated with a series of climatological events which occurred in some ＂key periods＂, which include the occurrence of the notable southerly VIMT over the Indochina Peninsula in mid March, the activity of the low VIMT vortex around Sri Lanka in late April, and the onset of the South China Sea summer monsoon in mid May, among others. However, during the transition from summer to winter, the characteristics are mainly exhibited by the establishment of the easterly VIMT belt located in the tropical area, accompanied by some events occurring in ＂key periods＂. Further analyses disclose a great difference between the Indian and East Asian monsoon regions when viewed from the meridional migration of the westerly VIMT during the seasonal change process, according to which the Asian monsoon region can be easily divided into two parts along the western side of the Indochina Peninsula and it may also denote different formation mechanisms between the two regions.     

Detecting the origins of moisture over southeast China: Seasonal variation and heavy rainfall

To examine the ability of the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory(HYSPLIT) model to detect the origins and paths of moisture supplied to Southeast China, trajectories of air particles released over Southeast China were traced backward during 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 and three typical regional persistent heavy rainfall events. The HYSPLIT model provides more insightful information than water vapor flux. Analysis of the specific humidity along the trajectories revealed the origins of moisture and their contributions to the moisture supply in Southeast China. In the boreal summer half year, four key moisture transport paths from the eastern Indian Ocean, central Indian Ocean, South China Sea(SCS), and western North Pacific(WNP) contribute 10%, 20%, 31%, and 16% of the moisture to Southeast China,respectively. In the winter half year, the contributions of the paths from the WNP and North China double. Examination of heavy rainfall events showed that under tropical storm conditions, all moisture transport routines are rotated cyclonically before reaching Southeast China. The invasion of cold air can trigger heavy rainfall in both the summer and winter half years but plays different roles: it does not contribute to the moisture supply but plays a key role in converging and uplifting the moisture in the summer half year, while it supplies a great amount of moisture in the winter half year as it absorbs abundant moisture in crossing the WNP.     

On the recent strengthening of the relationship between ENSO and northeast monsoon rainfall over South Asia

The southeastern parts of India and Sri Lanka receive substantial rainfall from the northeast monsoon (NEM) during October through December. The interannual variability in NEM rainfall is known to be significantly influenced by the El-Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Unlike the southwest monsoon (SWM), the NEM rainfall is enhanced during the warm ENSO events, and vice versa. In the context of the recent weakening of the inverse relationship between Southwest Monsoon (SWM) and ENSO, we examine the secular variations in the positive relationship between ENSO and NEM rainfall over South Asia, showing that their relationship has strengthened over the recent years. Based on the analysis of GISST, IMD/CRU precipitation and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, we suggest that this secular variation of the relationship is due to epochal changes in the tropospheric circulation associated with ENSO over the region.     

Response of the Indian summer monsoon circulation and rainfall to seasonal snow depth anomaly over Eurasia

Several observational and modeling studies indicate that the Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) is inversely related to the Eurasian snow extent and depth. The other two important surface boundary conditions which influence the ISMR are the Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) to a large extent and the Indian Ocean SST to some extent. In the present study, observed Soviet snow depth data and Indian rainfall data for the period 1951–1994 have been statistically analyzed and results show that 57% of heavy snow events and 24% of light snow events over west Eurasia are followed by deficient and excess ISMR respectively. Out of all the extreme monsoon years, care has been taken to identify those when Eurasian snow was the most dominant surface forcing to influence ISMR. During the years of high(low) Eurasian snow amounts in spring/winter followed by deficient(excess) ISMR, atmospheric fields such as temperature, wind, geopotential height, velocity potential and stream function based on NCEP/NCAR reanalyses have been examined in detail to study the influence of Eurasian snow on the midlatitude circulation regime and hence on the monsoon circulation. Results show that because of the west Eurasian snow anomalies, the midlatitude circulations in winter through spring show significant changes in the upper and lower level wind, geopotential height, velocity potential and stream function fields. Such changes in the large-scale circulation pattern may be interpreted as precursors to weak/strong monsoon circulation and deficient/excess ISMR. The upper level velocity potential difference fields between the high and low snow years indicate that with the advent of spring, the winter anomalous convergence over the Indian region gradually becomes weaker and gives way to anomalous divergence that persists through the summer monsoon season. Also the upper level anomalous divergence centre shifts from over the Northern Hemisphere and equator to the Southern Hemisphere over the Indian Ocean and Australia.     

Increasing trend of northeast monsoon rainfall over the equatorial Indian Ocean and peninsular India

Peninsular India and Sri Lanka receive major part of their annual rainfall during the northeast monsoon season (October–December). The long-term trend in the northeast monsoon rainfall over the Indian Ocean and peninsular India is examined in the vicinity of global warming scenario using the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) dataset available for the period 1979–2010. The result shows a significant increasing trend in rainfall rate of about 0.5 mm day^?1 decade^?1 over a large region bounded by 10 °S–10 °N and 55 °E–100 °E. The interannual variability of seasonal rainfall rate over peninsular India using conventional rain gauge data is also investigated in conjunction to the Indian Ocean dipole. The homogeneous rain gauge data developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology over peninsular India also exhibit the considerable upward rainfall trend of about 0.4 mm day^?1 decade^?1 during this period. The associated outgoing longwave radiation shows coherent decrease in the order of 2 W?m^?2 decade^?1 over the rainfall increase region.