Quantifying recent precipitation change and predicting lake expansion in the Inner Tibetan Plateau

Lake expansion since the middle of the 1990s is one of the most outstanding environmental change events in the Tibetan Plateau (TP). This expansion has mainly occurred in the Inner TP, a vast endorheic basin with an area of about 708,000 km² and containing about 780 lakes larger than 1 km². The total lake area of the Inner TP has increased from 24,930 km² in 1995 to 33,741 km² in 2015. The variability of the lake area in the coming decades is crucial for infrastructure planning and ecology policy for this remote region. In this study, a lake mass balance model was developed to describe the lake area response to climate change. First, the model was used to inversely estimate the change in precipitation from the change in lake volume. The result shows that precipitation has increased by about 21?±?7% since the middle of the 1990s, as seen in GPCC global data set. Then, the lake size in the coming two decades was predicted by the model driven with either current climate or a projected future climate, showing the lake area would expand continuously, but at a lower rate than before. Both predictions yield a total lake area of 36150?±?500 km² in 2025 and a rise of average lake level by about 6.6?±?0.3 m from 1995 to 2025. However, the two predictions become disparate in the second decade (2026–2035), as the future climate is more warming and wetting than the current climate. It is noted that the prediction of lake expansion is robust for the entire inner TP lake system but not always applicable to individual subregions or specific lakes due to their spatiotemporal heterogeneity.     

Simulations of the Impact of Lakes on Local and Regional Climate Over the Tibetan Plateau

ABSTRACT

Because of the high elevation and complex topography of the Tibetan Plateau (TP), the role of lakes in the climate system over the Tibetan Plateau is not well understood. For this study, we investigated the impact of lake processes on local and regional climate using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, which includes a one-dimensional physically based lake model. The first simulation with the WRF model was performed for the TP over the 2000–2010 period, and the second was carried out during the same period but with the lakes filled with nearby land-use types. Results with the lake simulation show that the model captures the spatial and temporal patterns of annual mean precipitation and temperature well over the TP. Through comparison of the two simulations, we found that the TP lakes mainly cool the near-surface air, inducing a decreasing sensible heat flux for the entire year. Meanwhile, stronger evaporation produced by the lakes is found in the fall. During the summer, the cooling effect of the lakes decreases precipitation in the surrounding area and generates anomalous circulation patterns. In conclusion, the TP lakes cool the near-surface atmosphere most of the time, weaken the sensible heat flux, and strengthen the latent heat flux, resulting in changes in mesoscale precipitation and regional-scale circulation.     

Changing inland lakes responding to climate warming in Northeastern Tibetan Plateau

The main portion of Tibetan Plateau has experienced statistically significant warming over the past 50 years, especially in cold seasons. This paper aims to identify and characterize the dynamics of inland lakes that located in the hinterland of Tibetan Plateau responding to climate change. We compared satellite imageries in late 1970s and early 1990s with recent to inventory and track changes in lakes after three decades of rising temperatures in the region. It showed warm and dry trend in climate with significant accelerated increasing annual mean temperature over the last 30 years, however, decreasing periodically annual precipitation and no obvious trend in potential evapotranspiration during the same period. Our analysis indicated widespread declines in inland lake??s abundance and area in the whole origin of the Yellow River and southeastern origin of the Yangtze River. In contrast, the western and northern origin of the Yangtze River revealed completely reverse change. The regional lake surface area decreased by 11,499 ha or 1.72% from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, and increased by 6,866 ha or 1.04% from the early 1990s to 2004. Shrinking inland lakes may become a common feature in the discontinuous permafrost regions as a consequence of warming climate and thawing permafrost. Furthermore, obvious expanding were found in continuous permafrost regions due to climate warming and glacier retreating. The results may provide information for the scientific recognition of the responding events to the climate change recorded by the inland lakes.     

Dataset of Comparative Observations for Land Surface Processes over the Semi-Arid Alpine Grassland against Alpine Lakes in the Source Region of the Yellow River

Thousands of lakes on the Tibetan Plateau(TP) play a critical role in the regional water cycle, weather, and climate. In recent years, the areas of TP lakes underwent drastic changes and have become a research hotspot. However, the characteristics of the lake-atmosphere interaction over the high-altitude lakes are still unclear, which inhibits model development and the accurate simulation of lake climate effects. The source region of the Yellow River(SRYR) has the largest outflow lake and freshw...     

A tripole winter precipitation change pattern around the Tibetan Plateau in the late 1990s

Classical monsoon dynamics considers the winter/spring snow amount on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) as a major factor driving the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) for its direct influence on the land–sea thermal contrast. Actually, the TP snow increased and decreased after the late 1970s and 1990s, respectively, accompanying the two major interdecadal changes in the EASM. Although studies have explored the possible mechanisms of the EASM interdecadal variations, and change in TP snow is considered as one of the major drivers, few studies have illustrated the underlying mechanisms of the interdecadal changes in the winter TP snow. This study reveals a tripole pattern of change, with decreased winter precipitation over the TP and an increase to its north and south after the late 1990s. Further analyses through numerical experiments demonstrate that the tropical Pacific SST changes in the late 1990s can robustly affect the winter TP precipitation through regulating the Walker and regional Hadley circulation. The cooling over the tropical central-eastern Pacific can enhance the Walker circulation cell over the Pacific and induce ascending motion anomalies over the Indo-Pacific region. These anomalies further drive descending motion anomalies over the TP and ascending motion anomalies to the north through regulating the regional Hadley circulation. Therefore, the positive–negative–positive winter precipitation anomalies around the TP are formed. This study improves the previously poor understanding of TP climate variation at interdecadal timescales.摘要在20世纪70年代和90年代末, 伴随着东亚夏季风的两次主要年代际变化, 高原积雪分别显著增加和减少. 尽管很多学者研究了东亚夏季风年代际变化的可能机制, 高原积雪变化也被认为是主要因素之一, 但是关于高原冬季积雪本身发生年代际变化的潜在机制尚鲜有研究. 本文揭示了20世纪90年代末高原及周边冬季降水的三极子变化特征: 高原主体上空主要为降水减少, 其南北两侧区域降水增加. 数值试验结果表明, 热带太平洋海温变化可以通过调节沃克环流和局地哈德莱环流, 对上述三极子降水变化型态产生显著影响.     

Changes in atmospheric circulation over Europe detected by objective and subjective methods

Summary Changes in atmospheric circulation over Europe since 1958 were examined using both objective (modes of low-frequency variability and objective classification of circulation types) and subjective (Hess-Brezowsky classification of weather types) methods. The analysis was performed with an emphasis on the differences between the winter (DJF) and summer (JJA) seasons, and between objectively and subjectively based results. Majority of the most important changes in atmospheric circulation are same or similar for the objective and subjective methods: they include the strengthening of the zonal flow in winter since the 1960s to the early 1990s; the increase (decrease) in frequency of anticyclonic (cyclonic) types in winter from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, with a subsequent decline (rise); and the sharp increase in the persistence (measured by the mean residence time) of all groups of circulation types in winter around 1990 and of anticyclonic types in summer during the 1990s. Differences between the findings obtained using the objective and subjective methods may result from the intrinsically different approach to the classification (e.g. the Hess-Brezowsky weather types have a typical duration of at least 3 days while objective types typically last 1–3 days). Generally, changes in atmospheric circulation which have taken place since the 1960s were more pronounced in winter than in summer. The most conspicuous change seems to be the considerable increase in the persistence of circulation types during the 1990s, which may be also reflected in the increase in the occurrence of climatic extremes observed in Europe during recent years.     

A possible abrupt change in summer precipitation over eastern China around 2009

Historical studies have shown that summer rainfall in eastern China undergoes decadal variations, with three apparent changes in the late 1970s, 1992, and the late 1990s. The present observational study indicates that summer precipitation over eastern China likely underwent a change in the late 2000s, during which the main spatial pattern changed from negative–positive–negative to positive–negative in the meridional direction. This change in summer precipitation over eastern China may have been associated with circulation anomalies in the middle/upper troposphere. A strong trough over Lake Baikal created a southward flow of cold air during 2009–15, compared with 1999–2008, while the westward recession of the western Pacific subtropical high strengthened the moisture transport to the north, creating conditions that were conducive for more rainfall in the north during this period. The phase shift of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation in the late 2000s led to the Pacific–Japan-type teleconnection wave train shifting from negative to positive phases, resulting in varied summer precipitation over eastern China.     

Understanding the spatial differences in terrestrial water storage variations in the Tibetan Plateau from 2002 to 2016

Climate change has been driving terrestrial water storage variations in the high mountains of Asia in the recent decades. This study is based on Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data to analyse spatial and temporal variations in terrestrial water storage (TWS) across the Tibetan Plateau (TP) from April 2002 to December 2016. Regional averaged TWS anomaly has increased by 0.20 mm/month (p?<?0.01) during the 2002–2012 period, but decreased by ??0.68 mm/month (p?<?0.01) since 2012. The seasonal variations in TWS anomalies also showed a decreasing trend from May 2012 to December 2016. TWS variations in the TP also showed significant spatial differences, which were decreasing in southern TP but increasing in the Inner TP. And a declining trend was clearly evident in the seasonal variability of TWS anomalies in the south TP (about ??30 to ??55 mm/a), but increasing in the inner TP (about 10–35 mm/a). Meanwhile, this study links temperature/precipitation changes, glacial retreat and lake area expansion to explain the spatial differences in TWS. Results indicated that precipitation increases and lake area expansion drove increasing TWS in the Inner TP during the 2002–2016 period, but temperature increases and glacial retreat drove decreasing TWS in southern TP.     

1990年代末东亚北部地区夏季水汽输送年代际变化特征及其影响机制

利用1983～2011年降水量、环流和海温的再分析资料,探讨了东亚北部地区夏季水汽输送的年代际变化特征,并分析了前冬北大西洋海温对东亚北部地区夏季水汽输送与大气环流的可能影响。研究结果表明,20世纪90年代末期东亚北部地区夏季整层水汽与降水年代际的变化特征相一致,整层水汽通量的年代际变化主要是由于纬向水汽输送异常作用的结果。东亚北部地区（35°～55°N,90°～145°E）西边界的水汽输送通量由多变少,东边界的水汽输送通量由少变多特征则直接导致了该地区降水由偏多转为偏少的年代际变化。就外强迫海温角度来说,前冬北大西洋海温跟东亚北部地区夏季500 hPa高度场、850 hPa风场和850 hPa比湿均显著相关。同时,在20世纪90年代中后期前冬北大西洋海温也表现出由偏低向偏高转变的年代际变化特征,且由于海温自身的记忆性前冬的海温异常一直延续到夏季。并在夏季激发出横跨北大西洋和欧亚大陆中高纬度地区的大西洋-欧亚（AEA）遥相关结构,并进一步影响东亚北部地区夏季水汽输送。     

近46年京津冀地区“夏雨秋下”现象及其成因初探

基于京津冀地区逐日和逐时降水资料,对1970年以来变暖背景下该地区盛夏（7月和8月）和初秋（9月）降水的变化特征分析后:近46年京津冀地区盛夏降水显著减少,在1990年代末由多雨转为少雨位相,降水日变化上,不同时段的降水皆明显减少,其中持续性降水事件的变化对总降水量减少的贡献更大。而初秋降水明显增加,且在2000年代初发生跃变,由少雨转为多雨位相,夜间降水明显增加,并且持续性降水的增加和跃变是初秋降水增加的主要原因。进一步分析发现,日最高气温的变化与短时降水有较好的时间关系,盛夏时最高气温在1997年发生跃变,从较低位相跃变为较高位相,对应的,盛夏短时降水也同年发生跃变,由多雨转为少雨位相。而初秋的最高气温变化不明显,短时降水也没有发生跃变,无明显的变化趋势。此外,在环流场上,2000年代后,盛夏时欧亚中高纬阻高活动加强,阻碍了中纬度西风扰动输送水汽到京津冀地区,东亚急流偏南,京津冀地区上升气流受到抑制,不利于降水产生;而初秋时,输送至京津冀地区的水汽增加,东亚急流偏北,京津冀地区上升气流加强,贝加尔湖地区低槽受到东部高压阻挡,经向环流加强,有利于冷空气的活动,同时,西太平洋副高强度增强位置偏北,有利于降水的形成。东亚海陆热力差指数在初秋的增强反映出东亚夏季风在夏末秋初的南撤过程发生延迟,形成了以上有利于初秋降水的环流形势,导致了“夏雨秋下”的现象的出现。     

Climate change drives coherent trends in physics and oxygen content in North American lakes

Using a 25-year record of monitoring data, we show that recent climate change has affected the thermal properties and oxygen content of seven lakes in south-central Ontario, Canada, and five lakes in north-central Wisconsin, USA. Coherent patterns in autumnal lake warming were driven by increased autumn air temperature in both lake districts. Temperature increases were restricted to the epilimnion and metalimnion of the lakes, resulting in increased thermal stability of the water column. Mixing depths also decreased over the study period. Shallower mixing depths in the Ontario lakes were due to climate-driven increases in lake-water dissolved organic carbon concentrations. Collectively, changes in the thermal regime of the lakes suggest autumn mixing of the water column may be delayed. Metalimnetic oxygen also increased in the Wisconsin lakes, perhaps in response to increased algal production as lake thermal regimes changed. The response of individual lakes to climate change was modified by lake chemistry in the Ontario lake district and by lake chemistry and morphometry in the Wisconsin lake district. Our results demonstrate coherent lake response to climate change and highlight the importance of both regional and local factors in regulating individual lake response to global climate change.     

Interannual variability in the 1990s in the northern Atlantic and Nordic Seas

A global fine resolution curvilinear ocean model, forced by NCEP Re-Analysis fluxes, is used to study changes in the circulation of the Nordic Seas and surrounding ocean basins during 1994-2001. The model fields exhibit regionally distinct temporal variability, mostly determined by atmospheric forcing but in regions of significant sea-ice longer timescale variability is found. Some abrupt circulation changes accompany the relaxation of the westerlies following the peak North Atlantic Oscillation Index phase of the mid 1990s. The Greenland gyre spins up over the following years, with the increased circulation partially exiting through the Denmark Strait into the northern Atlantic as well as re-circulating within the Nordic Seas. This resulted in a distinct freshening around northern Iceland and an increase in the East Icelandic Current. However, these latter increases steadied after 1998, as the increased Greenland Sea gyre circulation led to a greater proportion of water leaving through the Denmark Strait, rather than re-circulating. The model Denmark Strait Outflow therefore doubles during the latter half of the 1990s. Increased convection in the Icelandic Sea in the model in 1998-2001 acted to obliterate the anomalies that would otherwise have fed into the East Icelandic Current. A fresh, cold anomaly from the Arctic during 1998/1999 is shown to propagate through the system. Model and observations show good agreement generally, but diverge at depth more in the last few years of the simulation. The model shows that density anomalies within the East Greenland Current do not exclusively derive from the Arctic but may also arise from air-sea interaction within the Greenland Sea. Convection is a major means of limiting anomaly propagation within the model. The contrast of climatological with daily forcing shows the inherent strength of the variability in the ocean circulation on sub-decadal timescales.     

Lake levels and climatic change in eastern North America

Changes in lake levels during the last 12000 years in eastern North America show spatially coherent patterns, implying climatic control. Conditions were generally wetter than today during the late glacial, becoming more arid towards 6000 years BP when most lakes were low. Lakes rose after 6000 years BP, reaching modern levels by about 3000 years BP. These palaeohydrological changes broadly agree with simulated changes in moisture balance derived from experiments with the NCAR Community Climate Model (Kutzbach and Guetter 1986) with changing orbital parameters and lower boundary conditions (sea-surface temperature and ice extent). However, the model simulates maximum aridity at 9000 years BP. Data and model show broadly similar spatial patterns, implying that the lake-level changes can be explained by the changing boundary conditions and their effects on atmospheric circulation. At 12000 years BP most lakes were high because of increased precipitation along the jet-stream storm-track south of the ice sheet. By 9000 years BP, with the much reduced ice sheet, many lakes along the eastern seaboard and in the southeast were lower than present because of greater evaporation due to high summer insolation. The warming of the continental interior generated an enhanced monsoon low in the southwest, causing increased southerly flow which helped to maintain higher lakes in the Midwest. Dry conditions spread eastwards across the Midwest between 9000 and 6000 years BP. This effect is not shown by the model, which continues to bring monsoonal precipitation into the Midwest while simulating enhanced westerly flow and drier conditions further to the west. Such displacements of circulation features are unimportant at the continental scale, but could be significant if general circulation models are used for regionalscale predictions of changes in the moisture balance.     

A Numerical Simulation of the Impact of Tropical Western Pacific SST Anomalies on the Decadal Shift of the Meiyu Belt

The sea surface temperature (SST) of the tropical western Pacific Ocean (TWPO) showed a pronounced warming in the late 1990s. Using numerical experiments of a regional climate model (RegCM), we analyzed the impact of this warming on rainfall over the Yangtze-Huaihe River valley of China during the Meiyu period (June-July). The model results revealed that the observed decadal changes in Meiyu rainfall since the late 1990s can be reproduced by a control experiment forced by the observed SST. Additionally, the sensitivity experiments suggested that the warming trend in the TWPO played a substantial role in the northward shift of the Meiyu belt in the late 1990s.     

南印度洋大气垂直环流与江西6月降水的关系

使用江西省82站1959—2016年6月降水资料和NCEP/NCAR逐月再分析资料,研究了南印度洋大气垂直环流与江西6月降水的关系,并运用大尺度局地涡度倾向变化方程诊断了年际、年代际变化引起的局地涡度倾向异常对江西6月降水的贡献,解释了南印度洋大气垂直环流与江西6月降水年际关系发生年代际改变的原因。结果表明南印度洋大气垂直环流与江西6月降水有密切的关系,且两者的年际关系存在年代际变化:（1）二者关系在1960年代末和1990年代初发生了两次转变,1969年前为显著正相关,1969—1989年相关性不明显,1990年后又转变为显著正相关。（2）江西6月降水偏多年,500 hPa上东亚地区从中高纬到低纬为“+ - +”距平符号分布,江西区域异常正涡度,低层南北风距平在江西上空交汇;降水偏少年环流异常则相反。（3）南印度洋大气垂直环流可引起东亚环流异常,使江西区域涡度正异常;但其影响与背景场的变化有关。动力诊断表明,1969—1989年南印度洋大气垂直环流年际异常对江西局地涡度为正贡献,但年代际异常为负贡献,削弱了年际异常的作用;1990—2016年阶段年际异常为正贡献,同时年代际异常也为正贡献,加强了年际异常的作用,使得其与江西6月降水的正相关显著。      

Diurnal and Seasonal Variations of Thermal Stratification and Vertical Mixing in a Shallow Fresh Water Lake

Among several influential factors, the geographical position and depth of a lake determine its thermal structure. In temperate zones, shallow lakes show significant differences in thermal stratification compared to deep lakes. Here, the variation in thermal stratification in Lake Taihu, a shallow fresh water lake, is studied systematically. Lake Taihu is a warm polymictic lake whose thermal stratification varies in short cycles of one day to a few days. The thermal stratification in Lake Taihu has shallow depths in the upper region and a large amplitude in the temperature gradient, the maximum of which exceeds 5°C m^–1. The water temperature in the entire layer changes in a relatively consistent manner. Therefore, compared to a deep lake at similar latitude, the thermal stratification in Lake Taihu exhibits small seasonal differences, but the wide variation in the short term becomes important. Shallow polymictic lakes share the characteristic of diurnal mixing. Prominent differences on the duration and frequency of long-lasting thermal stratification are found in these lakes, which may result from the differences of local climate, lake depth, and fetch. A prominent response of thermal stratification to weather conditions is found, being controlled by the stratifying effect of solar radiation and the mixing effect of wind disturbance. Other than the diurnal stratification and convection, the representative responses of thermal stratification to these two factors with contrary effects are also discussed. When solar radiation increases, stronger wind is required to prevent the lake from becoming stratified. A daily average wind speed greater than 6 m s^–1 can maintain the mixed state in Lake Taihu. Moreover, wind-induced convection is detected during thermal stratification. Due to lack of solar radiation, convection occurs more easily in nighttime than in daytime. Convection occurs frequently in fall and winter, whereas long-lasting and stable stratification causes less convection in summer.     

Oceanic Origin of A Recent La Nina-Like Trend in the Tropical Pacific

Global ocean temperature has been rising since the late 1970s at a speed unprecedented during the past century of recordkeeping.This accelerated warming has profound impacts not only on the marine ecosystem and oceanic carbon uptake but also on the global water cycle and climate.During this rapid warming period,the tropical Pacific displays a pronounced La Nin a-like trend,characterized by an intensification of west-east SST gradient and of atmospheric zonal overturning circulation,namely the Walker circulation.This La Nin a-like trend differs from the El Nin o-like trend in warm climate projected by most climate models,and cannot be explained by responses of the global water cycle to warm climate.The results of this study indicate that the intensification of the zonal SST gradient and the Walker circulation are associated with recent strengthening of the upper-ocean meridional overturning circulation.     

Precipitation variability during the past 400?years in the Xiaolong Mountain (central China) inferred from tree rings

We developed the first tree-ring chronology, based on 73 cores from 29 Pinus tabulaeformis trees, for the Xiaolong Mountain area of central China, a region at the boundary of the Asian summer monsoon. This chronology exhibits significant (at 0.01 level) positive correlations with precipitation in May and June, and negative correlations with temperature in May, June and July. Highest linear correlation is observed between tree growth and the seasonalized (April–July) precipitation, suggesting that tree rings tend to integrate the monthly precipitation signals. Accordingly, the April–July total precipitation was reconstructed back to 1629 using these tree rings, explaining 44.7?% of the instrumental variance. A severe drought occurred in the area during the 1630s–1640s, which may be related to the weakened Asian summer monsoon caused by a low land-sea thermal gradient. The dry epoch during the 1920s–1930s and since the late 1970s may be explained by the strengthened Hadley circulation in a warmer climate. The dry (wet) epochs of the 1920s–1930s (the 1750s and 1950s) occurred during the warm (cold) phases of the El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation that are often associated with weakened (strengthened) East Asian summer monsoon. These relationships indicate significant teleconnections operating over the past centuries in central China related to large-scale synoptic features.     

An update on dynamical changes in the Arctic and Antarctic stratospheric polar vortices

Dynamical changes in the Arctic and Antarctic lower stratosphere from autumn to spring were analysed using the NCEP/NCAR, ERA40 and FUB stratospheric analyses for three periods: 1979–1999, 1979–2005, and 1965–2005. We found a weakening of the Arctic vortex in winter and a strengthening in spring between 1979/1980 and 1998/1999, with corresponding changes in the zonal mean circulation. The vortex formed earlier in autumn and broke down later in spring. These changes however were statistically not significant due to the high interannual dynamical variability in northern hemisphere (NH) winter and spring and the relatively short time series. In the Antarctic, the vortex formed earlier in autumn, intensified in late spring, and broke down later. The changes of the Antarctic vortex were at all levels and for both autumn and spring transitions larger and more significant than the changes of the Arctic vortex. These changes of the 1980s and early to mid 1990s were however not representative of a long-term change. The dynamically more active winters in the Arctic and Antarctic since 1998/1999 led to an enhanced weakening of the polar vortex in winter, and to a reduction of the polar vortex intensification in spring. As two of the recent Arctic major warmings occurred rather early in winter the polar vortex could recover in late winter and the delay in spring breakdown further increased. In contrast, the increase in Antarctic vortex persistence did no longer appear when including the recent winters due to the dominant impact of the three recent dynamically active Antarctic winters in 2000, 2002, and 2004. The long-term changes of 1965/1966–2005 were smaller in amplitude and partly opposite to the trends since the 1980s. There is no significant long-term change in the Arctic vortex lifetime or spring persistence, while the Antarctic vortex shows a long-term deepening and shift towards later spring transitions. The changes in the stratospheric dynamical situation could be attributed in both hemispheres to changes in the dynamical forcing from the troposphere.     

Differences in atmospheric heat source between the Tibetan Plateau–South Asia region and the southern Indian Ocean and their impacts on the Indian summer monsoon outbreak

In this paper, the NCEP–NCAR daily reanalysis data are used to investigate the characteristics of the atmospheric heat source/sink (AHSS) over South Asia (SA) and southern Indian Ocean (SIO). The thermal differences between these two regions and their influence on the outbreak of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) are explored. Composite analysis and correlation analysis are applied. The results indicate that the intraseasonal variability of AHSS is significant in SA but insignificant in the SIO. Large inland areas in the Northern Hemisphere still behave as a heat sink in March, similar to the situation in winter. Significant differences are found in the distribution of AHSS between the ocean and land, with distinct land–ocean thermal contrast in April, and the pattern presents in the transitional period right before the ISM onset. In May, strong heat centers appear over the areas from the Indochina Peninsula to the Bay of Bengal and south of the Tibetan Plateau (TP), which is a typical pattern of AHSS distribution during the monsoon season. The timing of SA–SIO thermal difference turning positive is about 15 pentads in advance of the onset of the ISM. Then, after the thermal differences have turned positive, a pre-monsoon meridional circulation cell develops due to the near-surface heat center and the negative thermal contrast center, after which the meridional circulation of the ISM gradually establishes. In years of early (late) conversion of the SA–SIO thermal difference turning from negative to positive, the AHSS at all levels over the TP and SIO converts later (earlier) than normal and the establishment of the ascending and descending branches of the ISM’s meridional circulation is later (earlier) too. Meanwhile, the establishment of the South Asian high over the TP is later (earlier) than normal and the conversion of the Mascarene high from winter to summer mode occurs anomalously late (early). As a result, the onset of the ISM is later (earlier) than normal. However, the difference in vorticity between early and late conversion only shows in the changes of strong vorticity centers’ location in the upper and lower troposphere.