An ocean–atmosphere interaction mechanism for the active break cycle of the Asian summer monsoon

A typical active–break cycle of the Asian summer monsoon is taken as beginning with maximum SST (pentad 0) over the north Bay of Bengal when the oceans to its west and east from longitude 40°–160°E, and between latitudes 10° and 25°N (area A) also has maximum SST. During this pentad the recently found “Cold Pool” of the Bay of Bengal (between latitudes 3°N and 10°N) has its minimum SST. An area of convection takes genesis over the Bay of Bengal immediately after pentad 0 in the zone of large SST gradient north of the Cold Pool and it pulls the monsoon Low Level Jetstream (LLJ) through peninsular India. Convection and the LLJ westerlies then spread to the western Pacific Ocean during pentads 1–4 taken as the active phase of the monsoon during which convection and LLJ have grown in a positive feed back process. The cyclonic vorticity to the north of the LLJ axis is hypothesized to act as a flywheel maintaining the convection during the long active phase against the dissipating effect of atmospheric stabilization by each short spell of deep convection. By the end of pentad 4 the SST over area A has cooled and the convection weakens there, when the LLJ turns clockwise over the Arabian Sea and flows close to the equator in the Indian ocean. A band of convection develops at pentad 5 between the equator and latitude 10°S over the Indian ocean and it is nourished by the cyclonic vorticity of the LLJ now near the equator and the moisture supply through it. This is taken as the break monsoon phase lasting for about three to four pentads beginning from pentad 5 of a composite active–break cycle of 40 day duration. With reduced wind and convection over the area A during the break phase, solar radiation and light winds make the SST there warm rapidly and a new active–break cycle begins. SST, convection, LLJ and the net heat flux at the ocean surface have important roles in this new way of looking at the active–break cycle as a coupled ocean–atmosphere phenomenon.     

Land–sea heating contrast in an idealized Asian summer monsoon

Mechanisms determining the tropospheric temperature gradient that is related to the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon are examined in an intermediate atmospheric model coupled with a mixed-layer ocean and a simple land surface model with an idealized Afro–Eurasian continent and no physical topography. These include processes involving in the influence of the Eurasian continent, thermal effects of the Tibetan Plateau and effects of sea surface temperature. The mechanical effect on the large-scale flow induced by the Plateau is not included in this study. The idealized land–sea geometry without topography induces a positive meridional tropospheric temperature gradient thus a weak Asian summer monsoon circulation. Higher prescribed heating and weaker surface albedo over Eurasia and the Tibetan Plateau, which mimic effects of different land surface processes and the thermal effect of the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, strengthens the meridional temperature gradient, and so as cold tropical SST anomalies. The strengthened meridional temperature gradient enhances the Asian summer monsoon circulation and favors the strong convection. The corresponding monsoon rainbelt extends northward and northeastward and creates variations of the monsoon rainfall anomalies in different subregions. The surface albedo over the Tibetan Plateau has a relatively weak inverse relation with the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon. The longitudinal gradient of ENSO-like SST anomalies induces a more complicated pattern of the tropospheric temperature anomalies. First, the positive (negative) longitudinal gradient induced by the El Niño (La Niña)-like SST anomalies weakens (strengthens) the Walker circulation and the circulation between South Asia and northern Africa and therefore the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon, while the corresponding monsoon rainbelt extends northward (southward). The El Niño (La Niña)-like SST anomalies also induces colder (warmer) tropospheric temperature over Eurasia and warmer (colder) tropospheric temperature over the Indian Ocean. The associated negative (positive) meridional gradient of the tropospheric temperature anomalies is consistent with the existence of the weak (strong) Asian summer monsoon.     

Influence of PDO on South Asian summer monsoon and monsoon–ENSO relation

This study has investigated the possible relation between the Indian summer monsoon and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) observed in the sea surface temperature (SST) of the North Pacific Ocean. Using long records of observations and coupled model (NCAR CCSM4) simulation, this study has found that the warm (cold) phase of the PDO is associated with deficit (excess) rainfall over India. The PDO extends its influence to the tropical Pacific and modifies the relation between the monsoon rainfall and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). During the warm PDO period, the impact of El Niño (La Niña) on the monsoon rainfall is enhanced (reduced). A hypothesis put forward for the mechanism by which PDO affects the monsoon starts with the seasonal footprinting of SST from the North Pacific to the subtropical Pacific. This condition affects the trade winds, and either strengthens or weakens the Walker circulation over the Pacific and Indian Oceans depending on the phase of the PDO. The associated Hadley circulation in the monsoon region determines the impact of PDO on the monsoon rainfall. We suggest that knowing the phase of PDO may lead to better long-term prediction of the seasonal monsoon rainfall and the impact of ENSO on monsoon.     

Is an onset vortex important for monsoon onset over Kerala?

Inter-annual variability in the formation of the mini warm pool [sea-surface temperature (SST)>30°C] over the south eastern Arabian Sea (SEAS) and its role in the formation of the monsoon onset vortex (MOV) has been examined using two independent SST data sets. The role of SST, convection, integrated columnar water vapour and the low-level jet in the setting up of the monsoon onset over Kerala (MOK) is examined. It is found that the MOV which forms over the SEAS region upsets the delicate balance between convection, buildup of moisture and strengthening and deepening of the westerlies over the SEAS that is needed for the setting up of the MOK. Thus, the formation over the SEAS of an MOV is not necessarily conducive for MOK. Furthermore, it is shown that a mini warm pool over the southeastern Arabian Sea is not a sufficient condition for the formation of an MOV because such a warm pool is present over this region during most of the years, but an MOV does not necessarily form over there.     

Role of TBO and ENSO scale ocean–atmosphere interaction in the Indo-Pacific region on Asian summer monsoon variability

Interannual variability of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall has two dominant periodicities, one on the quasi-biennial (2–3 year) time scale corresponding to tropospheric biennial oscillation (TBO) and the other on low frequency (3–7 year) corresponding to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In the present study, the spatial and temporal patterns of various atmospheric and oceanic parameters associated with the Indian summer monsoon on the above two periodicities were investigated using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data sets for the period 1950–2005. Influences of Indian and Pacific Ocean SSTs on the monsoon season rainfall are different for both of the time scales. Seasonal evolution and movement of SST and Walker circulation are also different. SST and velocity potential anomalies are southeast propagating on the TBO scale, while they are stationary on the ENSO scale. Latent heat flux and relative humidity anomalies over the Indian Ocean and local Hadley circulation between the Indian monsoon region and adjacent oceans have interannual variability only on the TBO time scale. Local processes over the Indian Ocean determine the Indian Ocean SST in biennial periodicity, while the effect of equatorial east Pacific SST is significant in the ENSO periodicity. TBO scale variability is dependent on the local factors of the Indian Ocean and the Indian summer monsoon, while the ENSO scale processes are remotely controlled by the Pacific Ocean.     

Sensitivity of precipitation to sea surface temperature over the tropical summer monsoon region—and its quantification

Over the tropical oceans, higher sea surface temperatures (SST, above 26 °C) in summer are generally accompanied by increased precipitation. However, it has been argued for the last three decades that, any monotonic increase in precipitation with respect to SST is limited to an upper threshold of 28–29.5 °C, and beyond this, the relationship fails. Based on this assessment it has often been presumed that, since the mean SSTs over the Asian monsoon basins (Indian Ocean and north-west Pacific) are mostly above the threshold, SST does not play an active role on the summer monsoon variability. It also implies that increasing SSTs due to a changing climate need not result in increasing monsoon precipitation. The current study shows that the response of precipitation to SST has a time lag, that too with a spatial variability over the monsoon basins. Taking this lag into account, the results here show that enhanced convection occurs even up to the SST maxima of 31 °C averaged over these basins, challenging any claim of an upper threshold for the SST-convection variability. The study provides us with a novel method to quantify the SST-precipitation relationship. The rate of increase is similar across the basins, with precipitation increasing at ~2 mm day^?1 for an increase of 1 °C in SST. This means that even the high SSTs over the monsoon basins do play an active role on the monsoon variability, challenging previous assumptions. Since the response of precipitation to SST variability is visible in a few days, it would also imply that including realistic ocean–atmosphere coupling is crucial even for short term monsoon weather forecasts. Though recent studies suggest a weakening of the monsoon circulation over the last few decades, results here suggest an increased precipitation over the tropical monsoon regions, in a global warming environment with increased SSTs. Thus the signature of SST is found to be significant for the Asian summer monsoon, in a quantifiable manner, seamlessly through all the timescales—from short-term intraseasonal to long-term climate scales.     

Formation and evolution of anomalous tropical storm over the Bay of Bengal in April–May 2008

An evolution of the anomalous tropical storm is considered developed on April 29–May 4, 2008 over the Bay of Bengal. After the origination, it spread eastward through the Andaman Sea and reached the Myanmar coast. The analysis of formation and development of the tropical storm over the water area of the Bay of Bengal demonstrated that the sea level pressure at the center of this storm was rather high. Nevertheless, catastrophically large precipitation amount fell in Myanmar.     

Droughts near the northern fringe of the East Asian summer monsoon in China during 1470–2003

Historical annual dry–wet index for 1470–2003 combined with instrumental precipitation since 1951 were used to identify extremely dry years and events near the northern fringe of the East Asian summer monsoon in China—the Great Bend of the Yellow River (GBYR) region. In total, 49 drought years, of which 26 were severe, were identified. Composites of the dry–wet index under the drought years show an opposite wet pattern over the Southeast China. The longest drought event lasted for 6?years (1528–1533), the second longest one 4?years (1637–1640). The most severe 2-year-long drought occurred in 1928–1929, and the two driest single years were 1900 and 1965. These persistent and extreme drought events caused severe famines and huge losses of human lives. Wavelet transform applied to the dry–wet index indicates that the severe drought years are nested in several significant dry–wet variations across multiple timescales, i.e., the 65–85?year timescale during 1600– 1800, 40–55?year timescale before 1640 and 20–35?year timescale mainly from 1550 to 1640. These timescales of dry–wet variations are discussed in relation to those forcing such as cycles of solar radiation, oscillation in the thermohaline circulation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Comparing 850?hPa winds in Asia in extremely dry and wet years, it was concluded that dry–wet variability in the GBYR region strongly depends upon whether the southerly monsoon flow can reach northern China.     

Changes of Air–sea Coupling in the North Atlantic over the 20th Century

Changes of air–sea coupling in the North Atlantic Ocean over the 20 th century are investigated using reanalysis data,climate model simulations, and observational data. It is found that the ocean-to-atmosphere feedback over the North Atlantic is significantly intensified in the second half of the 20 th century. This coupled feedback is characterized by the association between the summer North Atlantic Horseshoe(NAH) SST anomalies and the following winter North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO). The intensification is likely associated with the enhancement of the North Atlantic storm tracks as well as the NAH SST anomalies. Our study also reveals that most IPCC AR4 climate models fail to capture the observed NAO/NAH coupled feedback.     

Ocean–atmosphere coupled processes in the tropical Indian Ocean region prior to Indian summer monsoon onset over Kerala

Climate Dynamics - The present study examines atmosphere–ocean interaction before MOK using various observational data sets during the last 35 years (1982–2016). The analyses...     

Statistical and Comparative Analysis of Tropical Cyclone Activity over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal (1977–2018)

A statistical comparative analysis of tropical cyclone activity over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal (BoB) has been conducted using best-track data and wind radii information from 1977 to 2018 issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Results have shown that the annual variation in the frequency and duration of tropical cyclones has a significant increasing trend over the Arabian Sea and an insignificant decreasing trend over the BoB. The monthly frequency of tropical cyclones in both the Arabian Sea and the BoB shows a notable bimodal character, with peaks occurring in May and October–November, respectively. The maximum frequency of tropical cyclones occurs in the second peak as a result of the higher moisture content at mid-levels in the autumn. However, the largest proportion of strong cyclones (H1–H5 grades) occurs in the first peak as a result of the higher sea surface temperatures in early summer. Tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea break out later during the first peak and activity ends earlier during the second peak, in contrast with those in the over BoB. This is related to the onset and drawback times of the southwest monsoon in the two basins. Tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea are mainly generated in the eastern basin, whereas in the BoB the genesis locations have a meridional (zonal) distribution in May–June (October–November) as a result of the seasonal movement of the low-level positive vorticity belt. The Arabian Sea is dominated by western and northwestern tropical cyclones by that track west and NW, accounting for about 74.6%, whereas the tropical cyclones with a NE track account for only 25.4%. The proportions of the three types of tracks are similar in the BoB, with each accounting for about 33% of the tropical cyclones. The mean intensity and size of tropical cyclones over the Arabian Sea are stronger and larger, respectively, than those over the BoB and the size of tropical cyclones over the North Indian Ocean in early summer is larger than that in autumn. The asymmetrical structure of tropical cyclones over North Indian Ocean is affected by the topography and the longest radius of the 34 kt surface wind often lies in the eastern quadrant of the tropical cyclone circulation in both sea areas. FAN Xiao-ting (樊晓婷), LI Ying (李 英), et al.     

Responses of East Asian summer monsoon to historical SST and atmospheric forcing during 1950–2000

The East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) circulation and summer rainfall over East China have experienced large decadal changes during the latter half of the 20th century. To investigate the potential causes behind these changes, a series of simulations using the national center for atmospheric research (NCAR) community atmospheric model version 3 (CAM3) and the geophysical fluid dynamics laboratory (GFDL) atmospheric model version 2.1 (AM2.1) are analyzed. These simulations are forced separately with different historical forcing, namely tropical sea surface temperature (SSTs), global SSTs, greenhouse gases plus aerosols, and a combination of global SSTs and greenhouse gases plus aerosols. This study focuses on the relative roles of these individual forcings in causing the observed monsoon and rainfall changes over East Asia during 1950–2000. The simulations from both models show that the SST forcing, primarily from the Tropics, is able to induce most of the observed weakening of the EASM circulation, while the greenhouse gas plus (direct) aerosol forcing increases the land-sea thermal contrast and thus enhances the EASM circulation. The results suggest that the recent warming in the Tropics, especially the warming associated with the tropical interdecadal variability centered over the central and eastern Pacific, is a primary cause for the weakening of the EASM since the late 1970s. However, a realistic simulation of the relatively small-scale rainfall change pattern over East China remains a challenge for the global models.     

What drives the global summer monsoon over the past millennium?

The global summer monsoon precipitation (GSMP) provides a fundamental measure for changes in the annual cycle of the climate system and hydroclimate. We investigate mechanisms governing decadal-centennial variations of the GSMP over the past millennium with a coupled climate model’s (ECHO-G) simulation forced by solar-volcanic (SV) radiative forcing and greenhouse gases (GHG) forcing. We show that the leading mode of GSMP is a forced response to external forcing on centennial time scale with a globally uniform change of precipitation across all monsoon regions, whereas the second mode represents internal variability on multi-decadal time scale with regional characteristics. The total amount of GSMP varies in phase with the global mean temperature, indicating that global warming is accompanied by amplification of the annual cycle of the climate system. The northern hemisphere summer monsoon precipitation (NHSMP) responds to GHG forcing more sensitively, while the southern hemisphere summer monsoon precipitation (SHSMP) responds to the SV radiative forcing more sensitively. The NHSMP is enhanced by increased NH land–ocean thermal contrast and NH-minus-SH thermal contrast. On the other hand, the SHSMP is strengthened by enhanced SH subtropical highs and the east–west mass contrast between Southeast Pacific and tropical Indian Ocean. The strength of the GSMP is determined by the factors controlling both the NHSMP and SHSMP. Intensification of GSMP is associated with (a) increased global land–ocean thermal contrast, (b) reinforced east–west mass contrast between Southeast Pacific and tropical Indian Ocean, and (c) enhanced circumglobal SH subtropical highs. The physical mechanisms revealed here will add understanding of future change of the global monsoon.     

The Onset of the Monsoon over the Bay of Bengal: The Observed Common Features for 2008–2011

In situ buoy observation data spanning four years(2008-2011) were collected and used to perform a composite analysis of the monsoon onset process in the Bay of Bengal(BoB).The sea surface temperature(SST) in the central BoB increases dramatically during the monsoon transition period and reaches its annual maximum just before the onset of the monsoon.This process is illustrated by the northward-propagating deep convection phase of the intraseasonal oscillation and the establishment of a steady southwest wind.It is argued that the SST peak plays a potential role in triggering the onset of the monsoon in the BoB and its vicinity.The general picture of the BoB monsoon onset summarized here reveals the possibility of regional land-ocean-atmosphere interaction.This possibility deserves further examination.     

Characteristic Study of the Boundary Layer Parameters over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal Using the QuikSCAT Dataset

The marine atmospheric boundary layer （MABL） plays a vital role in the transport of momentum and heat from the surface of the ocean into the atmosphere. A detailed study on the MABL characteristics was carried out using high-resolution surface-wind data as measured by the QuikSCAT （Quick scatterometer） satellite. Spatial variations in the surface wind, frictional velocity, roughness parameter and drag coefficient for the different seasons were studied. The surface wind was strong during the southwest monsoon season due to the modulation induced by the Low Level Jetstream. The drag coefficient was larger during this season, due to the strong winds and was lower during the winter months. The spatial variations in the frictional velocity over the seas was small during the post-monsoon season （-0.2 m s^-1）. The maximum spatial variation in the frictional velocity was found over the south Arabian Sea （0.3 to 0.5 m s^-1） during the southwest monsoon period, followed by the pre-monsoon over the Bay of Bengal （0.1 to 0.25 m s^-1）. The mean wind-stress curl during the winter was positive over the equatorial region, with a maximum value of 1.5×10^-7 N m^-3, but on either side of the equatorial belt, a negative wind-stress curl dominated. The area average of the frictional velocity and drag coefficient over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal were also studied. The values of frictional velocity shows a variability that is similar to the intraseasonal oscillation （ISO） and this was confirmed via wavelet analysis. In the case of the drag coefficient, the prominent oscillations were ISO and quasi-biweekly mode （QBM）. The interrelationship between the drag coefficient and the frictional velocity with wind speed in both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal was also studied.     

Retrieval the statistical–dynamical model of western Pacific subtropical high ridge line index and key members of Asian summer monsoon system

The western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) is closely correlated with the East Asian climate. To date, the underlying mechanisms and sustaining factors have not been positively elucidated. Based on the concept of dynamical system model reconstruction, this paper presents a nonlinear statistical–dynamical model of the subtropical high ridge line (SHRL) in concurrence with four summer monsoon factors. SHRL variations from 1990 to 2011 are subdivided into three categories, while parameter differences relating to three differing models are examined. Dynamical characteristics of SHRL are analyzed and an aberrance mechanism subsequently developed. Modeling suggests that different parameters may lead to significant variance pertaining to monsoon variables corresponding with numerous WPSH activities. Dynamical system bifurcation and mutation indicates that the South China Sea monsoon trough is a significant factor with respect to the occurrence and maintenance of the ‘double-ridge’ phenomenon. Moreover, the occurrence of the Mascarene cold high is predicted to cause an abnormal northward location of WPSH, resulting in the “empty plum” phenomenon.