Interannual variability of the seesaw mode of the interface between the Indian and East Asian summer monsoons

Author(s):  
Ruo Wen Yang ◽  
Jian Wang

<p>The relation between the seesaw mode of the Interface between the Indian summer monsoon and East Asian summer monsoon (IIE) and the South China Sea summer monsoon trough (SCSSMT) and the Indian summer monsoon trough (ISMT) is investigated using two atmospheric reanalyses together with outgoing longwave radiation, sea surface temperature (SST), and gridded precipitation datasets. Canonical correlation analysis combined with empirical orthogonal functions, correlation, and composite analysis are employed. Results indicate that a stronger ISMT and SCSSMT resulting from colder SST over the tropical Indian Ocean and tropical east-central Pacific cause the IIE to deviate from its normal position in an anticlockwise direction, with a node at around 22°N. This leads to heavier than normal summer rainfall over the north-central Indian subcontinent and South China Sea, but weaker than normal from the low and middle reaches of the Yangtze River and South Korea to central Japan. A weaker ISMT and SCSSMT resulting from warmer SST over the tropical Indian Ocean and tropical east-central Pacific causes the IIE to deviate from its normal position in a clockwise direction, and the anomalous summer rainfall pattern is the opposite of that for the stronger troughs. Further analysis indicates that the SCSSMT plays a crucial role in the evolution of the IIE seesaw mode. The latitudinal difference between the IMST and SCSSMT may be one of the most important reasons for the formation of the IIE seesaw mode.</p>

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 2388-2402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiangyu Mao ◽  
Johnny C. L. Chan

Abstract The objective of this study is to explore, based on the National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP–NCAR) reanalysis data, the intraseasonal variability of the South China Sea (SCS) summer monsoon (SM) in terms of its structure and propagation, as well as interannual variations. A possible mechanism that is responsible for the origin of the 10–20-day oscillation of the SCS SM is also proposed. The 30–60-day (hereafter the 3/6 mode) and 10–20-day (hereafter the 1/2 mode) oscillations are found to be the two intraseasonal modes that control the behavior of the SCSSM activities for most of the years. Both the 3/6 and 1/2 modes are distinct, but may not always exist simultaneously in a particular year, and their contributions to the overall variations differ among different years. Thus, the interannual variability in the intraseasonal oscillation activity of the SCS SM may be categorized as follows: the 3/6 category, in which the 3/6 mode is more significant (in terms of the percentage of variance explained) than the 1/2 mode; the 1/2 category, in which the 1/2 mode is dominant; and the dual category, in which both the 3/6 and 1/2 modes are pronounced. Composite analyses of the 3/6 category cases indicate that the 30–60-day oscillation of the SCS SM exhibits a trough–ridge seesaw in which the monsoon trough and subtropical ridge exist alternatively over the SCS, with anomalous cyclones (anticyclones), along with enhanced (suppressed) convection, migrating northward from the equator to the midlatitudes. The northward-migrating 3/6-mode monsoon trough–ridge in the lower troposphere is coupled with the eastward-propagating 3/6-mode divergence–convergence in the upper troposphere. It is also found that, for the years in the dual category, the SCS SM activities are basically controlled by the 3/6 mode, but modified by the 1/2 mode. Composite results of the 1/2-mode category cases show that the 10–20-day oscillation is manifest as an anticyclone–cyclone system over the western tropical Pacific, propagating northwestward into the SCS. A close coupling also exists between the upper-level convergence (divergence) and the low-level anticyclone (cyclone). It is found that the 1/2 mode of the SCS SM mainly originates from the equatorial central Pacific, although a disturbance from the northeast of the SCS also contributes to this mode. The flow patterns from an inactive to an active period resemble those associated with a mixed Rossby–gravity wave observed in previous studies.


2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (22) ◽  
pp. 6080-6088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuanglin Li ◽  
Jian Lu ◽  
Gang Huang ◽  
Kaiming Hu

Abstract A basin-scale warming is the leading mode of tropical Indian Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) variability on interannual time scales, and it is also the prominent feature of the interdecadal SST trend in recent decades. The influence of the warming on the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) is investigated through ensemble experiments of several atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). The results from five AGCMs consistently suggest that near the surface, the Indian Ocean warming forces an anticyclonic anomaly over the subtropical western Pacific, intensifying the southwesterly winds to East China; and in the upper troposphere, it forces a Gill-type response with the intensified South Asian high, both favoring the enhancement of the EASM. These processes are argued to contribute to the stronger EASM during the summer following the peak of El Niño than monsoons in other years. These model results also suggest that tropical Indian Ocean warming may not have a causal relationship to the synchronous weakening of EASM on interdecadal time scales.


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