How to Measure the Strength of the East Asian Summer Monsoon

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (17) ◽  
pp. 4449-4463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Wang ◽  
Zhiwei Wu ◽  
Jianping Li ◽  
Jian Liu ◽  
Chih-Pei Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Thermal Contrast ◽  
Leading Mode ◽  
Asian Summer

Abstract Defining the intensity of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) has been extremely controversial. This paper elaborates on the meanings of 25 existing EASM indices in terms of two observed major modes of interannual variation in the precipitation and circulation anomalies for the 1979–2006 period. The existing indices can be classified into five categories: the east–west thermal contrast, north–south thermal contrast, shear vorticity of zonal winds, southwesterly monsoon, and South China Sea monsoon. The last four types of indices reflect various aspects of the leading mode of interannual variability of the EASM rainfall and circulations, which correspond to the decaying El Niño, while the first category reflects the second mode that corresponds to the developing El Niño. The authors recommend that the EASM strength can be represented by the principal component of the leading mode of the interannual variability, which provides a unified index for the majority of the existing indices. This new index is extremely robust, captures a large portion (50%) of the total variance of the precipitation and three-dimensional circulation, and has unique advantages over all the existing indices. The authors also recommend a simple index, the reversed Wang and Fan index, which is nearly identical to the leading principal component of the EASM and greatly facilitates real-time monitoring. The proposed index highlights the significance of the mei-yu/baiu/changma rainfall in gauging the strength of the EASM. The mei-yu, which is produced in the primary rain-bearing system, the East Asian (EA) subtropical front, better represents the variability of the EASM circulation system. This new index reverses the traditional Chinese meaning of a strong EASM, which corresponds to a deficient mei-yu that is associated with an abnormal northward extension of southerly over northern China. The new definition is consistent with the meaning used in other monsoon regions worldwide, where abundant rainfall within the major local rain-bearing monsoon system is considered to be a strong monsoon.

scholarly journals Disentangling fast and slow responses of the East Asian summer monsoon to reflecting and absorbing aerosol forcings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhili Wang ◽  
Lei Lin ◽  
Meilin Yang ◽  
Yangyang Xu ◽  
Jiangnan Li
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Slow Response ◽  
Total Response ◽  
Thermal Contrast ◽  
Response Component ◽  
Asian Summer

Abstract. We examine the roles of fast and slow responses in shaping the total equilibrium response of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) to reflecting (sulfate, SO4) and absorbing (black carbon, BC) aerosol forcings over the industrial era using the Community Earth System Model version 1. Our results show that there is a clear distinction between fast and slow responses of the EASM to aerosol forcings and the slow climate response due to aerosol-induced change in sea surface temperature plays an important role in the impacts of aerosols on the EASM. The EASM is weakened by a decrease in land-sea surface thermal contrast in the fast response component to SO4 forcing, whereas the weakening is more intensive by the changes in tropospheric thermodynamic and dynamic structures in the slow response component to SO4. The total climate adjustment caused by SO4 is a significant weakening of the EASM and a decrease in precipitation. The BC-induced fast adjustment strengthens the EASM both by increasing the local surface land-sea thermal contrast and shifting the East Asian subtropical jet northwards. BC-induced slow climate adjustment, however, weakens the EASM through altering the atmospheric temperature and circulation. Consequently, the EASM is enhanced north of 30° N but slightly reduced south of 30° N in the total response to BC. The spatial patterns of precipitation change over East Asia due to BC are similar in total response and slow response. This study highlights the importance of ocean response to aerosol forcings in driving the changes of the EASM.

Enhanced tropospheric biennial oscillation of the East Asian summer monsoon since the late-1970s

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-54
Author(s):  
Wen Chen ◽  
Kaiming Hu ◽  
Shangfeng Chen
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
East Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Tropospheric Biennial Oscillation ◽  
Asian Summer ◽  
Biennial Oscillation

Abstract The tropospheric biennial oscillation (TBO) of East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) has major impacts on East Asian climate. Here it is shown that, since the late-1970s, the TBO signal of EASM has strengthened significantly. The EASM TBO in wind anomalies undergoes a transition from a cyclone over the western North Pacific (WNPC) in preceding summer to an anticyclone over the western North Pacific (WNPAC) in following summer, with the anomalies strengthening remarkably after the late-1970s. Correspondingly, the biennial component of precipitation anomalies in eastern China show different distributions. Both observational and numerical simulation analyses demonstrate that these changes are caused by the westward shift of El Niño warming and enhanced Indo-Pacific and Atlantic-Pacific coupling. The positive sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies associated with the TBO of EASM shift toward the central Pacific after the late-1970s, which favor the strengthening of the WNPC and cause a weakened EASM. In following summer, both the north Indian Ocean and tropical north Atlantic SST warming are closely coupled with El Niño since the late-1970s, which favor the strengthening of WNPAC and cause an intensified EASM. Together, these changes provide more favorable background state for the transition of circulation anomalies over the western North Pacific, giving rise to enhanced biennial variability in EASM in the late-1970s.

scholarly journals Disentangling fast and slow responses of the East Asian summer monsoon to reflecting and absorbing aerosol forcings

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (18) ◽  
pp. 11075-11088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhili Wang ◽  
Lei Lin ◽  
Meilin Yang ◽  
Yangyang Xu ◽  
Jiangnan Li
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Slow Response ◽  
Total Response ◽  
Thermal Contrast ◽  
Asian Summer

Abstract. We examine the roles of fast and slow responses in shaping the total equilibrium response of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) to reflecting (sulfate, SO4) and absorbing (black carbon, BC) aerosol forcings over the industrial era using the Community Earth System Model version 1 (CESM1). Our results show that there is a clear distinction between fast and slow responses of the EASM to aerosol forcings and the slow climate response due to aerosol-induced change in sea surface temperature (SST) plays an important role in the impacts of aerosols on the EASM. The EASM is weakened by a decrease in land–sea surface thermal contrast in the fast response (FR) component to SO4 forcing, whereas the weakening is more intensive due to the changes in tropospheric thermodynamic and dynamic structures in the slow response (SR) component to SO4. The total climate adjustment caused by SO4 is a significant weakening of the EASM and a decrease in precipitation. The BC-induced fast adjustment strengthens the EASM both by increasing the local land–sea surface thermal contrast and shifting the East Asian subtropical jet (EASJ) northwards. The BC-induced slow climate adjustment, however, weakens the EASM through altering the atmospheric temperature and circulation. Consequently, the EASM is slightly enhanced, especially north of 30° N, in the total response (TR) to BC. The spatial patterns of precipitation change over East Asia due to BC are similar in the total response and slow response. This study highlights the importance of ocean response to aerosol forcings in driving the changes of the EASM.

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