scholarly journals Impact of Northward-Propagating Intraseasonal Variability on the Onset of Indian Summer Monsoon

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Zhou ◽  
Raghu Murtugudde

Abstract The onset of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) has a pronounced interannual variability, part of which originates from the large-scale circulation and its thermodynamic properties. While the northward-propagating intraseasonal variabilities (ISVs) are a prominent characteristic of the ISM, they tend to initiate an early onset by transferring moisture and momentum from the deep tropics to the Indian subcontinent. However, not all early onsets of ISM are attributable to strong ISVs and not all strong ISVs can lead to early ISM onsets. With a daily Indian monsoon index and a simple regression model, the onsets of ISM from 1982 to 2011 are separated into two groups. The years in which the early onsets of ISM are closely related to the northward-propagating ISVs are categorized as the ISVO years, and the other years in which the ISM onsets are not closely related to ISVs are categorized as non-ISVO years. The former category is the focus of this study. Before the onset of ISM in the ISVO years, the convective features are prominent, such as a cyclone over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and the associated strong convection. The ocean–atmosphere interaction is found to be important for the northward-propagating ISVs before the ISM onset in the ISVO years. Evidence shows that warm SST anomalies drive the atmosphere and lead to atmospheric instability and convection. This reinforces the more recent view that the ocean does not just play a passive role in the northward-propagating ISVs. This process understanding helps shape the path to enhancing predictive understanding and monsoon prediction skills with obvious implications for the prediction of El Niño–Southern Oscillation.

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 903-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renguang Wu ◽  
Jilong Chen ◽  
Wen Chen

Abstract Observational analysis reveals three types of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences on the Indian summer monsoon (ISM): indirect influence of the preceding winter [December–February (DJF)] eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP) sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies (DJF-only cases), direct influence of the concurrent summer [June–September (JJAS)] EEP SST anomalies (JJAS-only cases), and coherent influence of both the preceding winter and concurrent summer EEP SST anomalies (DJF&JJAS cases). The present study distinguishes the three types of ENSO influences and investigates the processes connecting ENSO to the ISM separately. In the DJF-only cases, the preceding winter EEP SST anomalies induce north Indian Ocean (NIO) SST anomalies through air–sea interaction processes in the tropical Indian Ocean. The SST anomalies over the western Indian Ocean alter the surface air humidity there. Both processes favor an anomalous ISM. In the JJAS-only cases, an anomalous ISM is directly induced by ENSO through large-scale circulation changes. The meridional thermal contrast may also contribute to an anomalous ISM. In the DJF&JJAS cases, the preceding winter EEP SST anomalies induce NIO SST anomalies and change the surface air humidity over the western Indian Ocean. Concurrent summer EEP SST anomalies induce large-scale vertical motion anomalies over South Asia. Together, they lead to an anomalous ISM. The anomalous meridional thermal contrast may contribute to an anomalous ISM in late summer. Impacts of the preceding winter EEP SST anomalies in the DJF and JJAS cases may contribute to the contemporaneous correlation between ISM and EEP SST. There are more DJF&JJAS cases before than after the late 1970s. This provides an alternative interpretation for the observed weakening in the ISM–ENSO relationship around the late 1970s.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (17) ◽  
pp. 6985-7002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Wang ◽  
Guang J. Zhang ◽  
Yiquan Jiang

The Plant–Craig (PC) stochastic convective parameterization scheme is modified by linking the stochastic generation of convective clouds to the change of large-scale vertical pressure velocity at 500 hPa with time so as to better account for the relationship between convection and the large-scale environment. Three experiments using the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Atmosphere Model, version 5 (CAM5), are conducted: one with the default Zhang–McFarlane deterministic convective scheme, another with the original PC stochastic scheme, and a third with the modified PC stochastic scheme. Evaluation is focused on the simulation of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM), which is a long-standing challenge for all current global circulation models. Results show that the modified stochastic scheme better represents the annual cycle of the climatological mean rainfall over central India and the mean onset date of ISM compared to other simulations. Also, for the simulations of ISM intraseasonal variability for quasi-biweekly and 30–60-day modes, the modified stochastic parameterization produces more realistic propagation and magnitude, especially for the observed northeastward movement of the 30–60-day mode, for which the other two simulations show the propagation in the opposite direction. Causes are investigated through a moisture budget analysis. Compared to the other two simulations, the modified stochastic scheme with an appropriate representation of convection better represents the patterns and amplitudes of large-scale dynamical convergence and moisture advection and thus corrects the monsoon cycle associated with their covariation during the peaks and troughs of intraseasonal oscillation.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akshaya C Nikumbh ◽  
Arindam Chakraborty ◽  
G S Bhat ◽  
Dargan M. W. Frierson

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (15) ◽  
pp. 3751-3767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinghua Ding ◽  
Bin Wang

Abstract This study investigated the most recurrent coupled pattern of intraseasonal variability between midlatitude circulation and the Indian summer monsoon (ISM). The leading singular vector decomposition (SVD) pattern reveals a significant, coupled intraseasonal variation between a Rossby wave train across the Eurasian continent and the summer monsoon convection in northwestern India and Pakistan (hereafter referred to as NISM). The wave train associated with an active phase of NISM rainfall displays two high pressure anomalies, one located over central Asia and the other over northeastern Asia. They are accompanied by increased rainfall over the western Siberia plain and northern China and decreased rainfall over the eastern Mediterranean Sea and southern Japan. The circulation of the wave train shows a barotropic structure everywhere except the anomalous central Asian high, located to the northwest of India, where a heat-induced baroclinic circulation structure dominates. The time-lagged SVD analysis shows that the midlatitude wave train originates from the northeastern Atlantic and traverses Europe to central Asia. The wave train enhances the upper-level high pressure and reinforces the convection over the NISM region; meanwhile, it propagates farther toward East Asia along the waveguide provided by the westerly jet. After an outbreak of NISM convection, the anomalous central Asian high retreats westward. Composite analysis suggests a coupling between the central Asian high and the convective fluctuation in the NISM. The significance of the midlatitude–ISM interaction is also revealed by the close resemblance between the individual empirical orthogonal functions and the coupled (SVD) modes of the midlatitude circulation and the ISM. It is hypothesized that the eastward and southward propagation of the wave train originating from the northeastern Atlantic contributes to the intraseasonal variability in the NISM by changing the intensity of the monsoonal easterly vertical shear and its associated moist dynamic instability. On the other hand, the rainfall variations over the NISM reinforce the variations of the central Asian high through the “monsoon–desert” mechanism, thus reenergizing the downstream propagation of the wave train. The coupling between the Eurasian wave train and NISM may be instrumental for understanding their interaction and can provide a way to predict the intraseasonal variations of the Indian summer monsoon and East Asian summer monsoon.


2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 2075-2089 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Chakraborty ◽  
R. S. Nanjundiah ◽  
J. Srinivasan

Abstract. A theory is proposed to determine the onset of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) in an Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM). The onset of ISM is delayed substantially in the absence of global orography. The impact of orography over different parts of the Earth on the onset of ISM has also been investigated using five additional perturbed simulations. The large difference in the date of onset of ISM in these simulations has been explained by a new theory based on the Surface Moist Static Energy (SMSE) and vertical velocity at the mid-troposphere. It is found that onset occurs only after SMSE crosses a threshold value and the large-scale vertical motion in the middle troposphere becomes upward. This study shows that both dynamics and thermodynamics play profound roles in the onset of the monsoon.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 1845-1859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio A. Jara ◽  
Antonio Maldonado ◽  
Leticia González ◽  
Armand Hernández ◽  
Alberto Sáez ◽  
...  

Abstract. Modern precipitation anomalies in the Altiplano, South America, are closely linked to the strength of the South American summer monsoon (SASM), which is influenced by large-scale climate features sourced in the tropics such as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However, the timing, direction, and spatial extent of precipitation changes prior to the instrumental period are still largely unknown, preventing a better understanding of the long-term drivers of the SASM and their effects over the Altiplano. Here we present a detailed pollen reconstruction from a sedimentary sequence covering the period between 4500 and 1000 cal yr BP in Lago Chungará (18∘ S; 4570 m a.s.l.), a high-elevation lake on the southwestern margin of the Altiplano where precipitation is delivered almost exclusively during the mature phase of the SASM over the austral summer. We distinguish three well-defined centennial-scale anomalies, with dry conditions between 4100–3300 and 1600–1000 cal yr BP and a conspicuous humid interval between 2400 and 1600 cal yr BP, which resulted from the weakening and strengthening of the SASM, respectively. Comparisons with other climate reconstructions from the Altiplano, the Atacama Desert, the tropical Andes, and the southwestern Atlantic coast reveal that – unlike modern climatological controls – past precipitation anomalies at Lago Chungará were largely decoupled from north–south shifts in the ITCZ and ENSO. A regionally coherent pattern of centennial-scale SASM variations and a significant latitudinal gradient in precipitation responses suggest the contribution of an extratropical moisture source for the SASM, with significant effects on precipitation variability in the southern Altiplano.


The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 744-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Upasana S Banerji ◽  
P Arulbalaji ◽  
D Padmalal

The response of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) to forcing factors and climate variables has not yet fully explored, even though the ISM plays a pivotal role in the socio-economics of the Indian subcontinent and nearby areas. The ISM progression over Indian landmass is a manifestation of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) migration over the northern Indian Ocean and the Indian subcontinent. The recent anomalous behaviour of ISM raises the need for a better understanding of its spatio-temporal changes during the ongoing interglacial period termed as the Holocene period. The Holocene period has been classified further based on the globally observed abrupt climatic events at 8.2 and 4.2 ka. The 8.2 ka global cooling events have been recorded from northern Indian Ocean marine archives but limited records from the continental archives of the Indian landmass has demonstrated the 8.2 ka event. At the same time, the 4.2 ka dry climate has been endorsed by both marine as well as continental records and agrees with the global studies. During the ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA), in the India subcontinent, wet conditions prevailed in the northern, central and western regions while a dry climate existed over the greater part of peninsular India. The present review offers an account of ISM signatures and possible mechanisms associated with the monsoon variability in the Indian subcontinent and the northern Indian Ocean during the Holocene period.


2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 4149-4169 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Rai ◽  
M. Joshi ◽  
A. P. Dimri ◽  
A. G. Turner

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