Simple metrics for representing East Asian winter monsoon variability: Urals blocking and western Pacific teleconnection patterns

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 695-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoffman H. N. Cheung ◽  
Wen Zhou
2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 4229-4261
Author(s):  
M. Yamamoto ◽  
H. Sai ◽  
M.-T. Chen ◽  
M. Zhao

Abstract. The response of Asian monsoon variability to orbital forcing is still unclear, and all hypotheses are controversial. We present a record of the sea surface temperature difference (ΔSST) between the South China Sea and the other Western Pacific Warm Pool regions as a proxy for the intensity of the Asian winter monsoon, because the winter cooling of the South China Sea is caused by the cooling of surface water at the northern margin and the southward advection of cooled water due to winter monsoon winds. The ΔSST showed significant precession cycles during the last 150 kyr. In the precession cycle, the maximum winter monsoon intensity shown by the ΔSST corresponded to the May perihelion and was delayed behind the maximum ice volume. The East Asian winter monsoon was anti-phase with the Indian summer monsoon and the summer monsoon precipitation in central Japan. The timing of the maximum phase of the East Asian winter monsoon was different from previous results in terms of the March perihelion (ice volume maxima) and June perihelion (minimum of Northern Hemisphere winter insolation). We infer that the variation of the East Asian winter monsoon was caused by a physical mechanism of inter-hemispheric heat balance. The East Asian winter monsoon was intensified by the Northern Hemisphere cooling, which was caused by the combined effect of cooling by the ice volume forcing and the decrease in winter insolation, or by decreased heat transfer from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere owing to the weak Indian summer monsoon at the May perihelion.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 2777-2788 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Yamamoto ◽  
H. Sai ◽  
M.-T. Chen ◽  
M. Zhao

Abstract. The response of the East Asian winter monsoon variability to orbital forcing is still unclear, and hypotheses are controversial. We present a 150 000 yr record of sea surface temperature difference (ΔSST) between the South China Sea and other Western Pacific Warm Pool regions as a proxy for the intensity of the Asian winter monsoon, because the winter cooling of the South China Sea is caused by the cooling of surface water at the northern margin and the southward advection of cooled water due to winter monsoon winds. The ΔSST showed dominant precession cycles during the past 150 000 yr. The ΔSST varies at precessional band and supports the hypothesis that monsoon is regulated by insolation changes at low-latitudes (Kutzbach, 1981), but contradicts previous suggestions based on marine and loess records that eccentricity controls variability on glacial–interglacial timescales. Maximum winter monsoon intensity corresponds to the May perihelion at precessional band, which is not fully consistent with the Kutzbach model of maximum winter monsoon at the June perihelion. Variation in the East Asian winter monsoon was anti-phased with the Indian summer monsoon, suggesting a linkage of dynamics between these two monsoon systems on an orbital timescale.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenping Jiang ◽  
Hainan Gong ◽  
Ping Huang ◽  
Lin Wang ◽  
Gang Huang ◽  
...  

Abstract The influence of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) is investigated based on the outputs of phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) models and compared to that in phase 5 (CMIP5). Results show that the CMIP6 models generally reproduce the ENSO-EAWM teleconnection more realistically than the CMIP5 models, although they still somewhat underestimate the ENSO-EAWM teleconnection than observed. Based on the inter-model spread of ENSO-EAWM teleconnection simulated in the CMIP5/CMIP6 models, we reveal that the commonly underestimated ENSO-EAWM teleconnection among the models can be traced back to the excessive cold tongue bias in the equatorial western Pacific. A model with a stronger climatological cold tongue favors generating a more westward extension of the ENSO-related SST anomaly pattern, which in turn forces an anomalous cyclonic circulation over the Northwest Pacific (NWP). It offsets the anticyclonic anomalies in the NWP triggered by the warm ENSO-related SST anomalies in the tropical Indian Ocean and the central-eastern Pacific and weakens the ENSO-EAWM teleconnection. Compared with the CMIP5 models, CMIP6 models better simulate SST mean state and the resultant ENSO-EAWM teleconnection. The present results suggest that substantial efforts should be made to reduce the bias in the mean-state SST for further improving the simulation and projection of the East Asian-western Pacific winter climate.


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