Lagrangian tracing and analysis of the South Asian summer monsoon precipitation

Author(s):  
Dipanjan Dey ◽  
Kristofer Döös

<p>The water-mass sources and their variability responsible for the South Asian summer monsoon precipitation were investigated using Lagrangian atmospheric water-mass trajectories. The results indicated that water-masses from the Central and South Indian Ocean are the dominant contributors to the total South Asian summer monsoon rainfall, followed by the contribution from the local recycling, the Arabian Sea, remote sources and the Bay of Bengal. It was also found that although the direct contribution originating from the Bay of Bengal is small, it still provides a route for the water-masses that come from other regions. The outcomes further revealed that the water-masses originating from the Central and South Indian Ocean are responsible for the net precipitation over the coastal regions of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta, Northeast India, Myanmar, the foothills of the Himalayas and Central-East India. Water-masses from the Arabian sea are mainly contributing to the rainfall over the Western coast and West-Central India. Summer monsoon precipitation due to the local recycling is primarily restricted to the Indo-Gangetic plain. No recycled precipitation was observed over the mountain chain along the West coast of India (Western Ghats). The inter-annual variability of the South Asian summer monsoon precipitation was found to be mainly controlled by the water-masses from the Central and South Indian Ocean.</p>

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Dipanjan Dey ◽  
Kristofer Döös

AbstractThe water sources and their variability responsible for the South Asian summer monsoon precipitation were analyzed using Lagrangian atmospheric water-mass trajectories. The results indicated that evaporated waters from the Central and South Indian Ocean are the major contributors to the South Asian summer monsoon rainfall, followed by the contribution from the local recycling (precipitated water that evapotranspirated from the South Asian landmass), the Arabian Sea, remote sources and the Bay of Bengal. It was also found that although the direct contribution originating from the Bay of Bengal is small, it still provides a pathway for the atmospheric water that come from other regions. This pathway is hence only crossing over the Bay of Bengal. The outcomes further revealed that the evaporated waters originating from the Central and South Indian Ocean are responsible for the net precipitation over the coastal regions of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta, Northeast India, Myanmar, the foothills of the Himalayas and Central-East India. Evaporated waters from the Arabian sea are mainly contributing to the rainfall over the Western coast and West-Central India. Summer monsoon precipitation due to the local recycling is primarily restricted to the Indo-Gangetic plain. No recycled precipitation was observed over the mountain chain along the West coast of India (Western Ghats). The month-to-month precipitation variation over South Asia was analysed to be linked with the Somali Low Level jet variability. The inter-annual variability of the South Asian summer monsoon precipitation was found to be mainly controlled by the atmospheric waters that were sourced and travelled from the Central and South Indian Ocean.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (23) ◽  
pp. eabg3848
Author(s):  
Steven C. Clemens ◽  
Masanobu Yamamoto ◽  
Kaustubh Thirumalai ◽  
Liviu Giosan ◽  
Julie N. Richey ◽  
...  

South Asian precipitation amount and extreme variability are predicted to increase due to thermodynamic effects of increased 21st-century greenhouse gases, accompanied by an increased supply of moisture from the southern hemisphere Indian Ocean. We reconstructed South Asian summer monsoon precipitation and runoff into the Bay of Bengal to assess the extent to which these factors also operated in the Pleistocene, a time of large-scale natural changes in carbon dioxide and ice volume. South Asian precipitation and runoff are strongly coherent with, and lag, atmospheric carbon dioxide changes at Earth’s orbital eccentricity, obliquity, and precession bands and are closely tied to cross-equatorial wind strength at the precession band. We find that the projected monsoon response to ongoing, rapid high-latitude ice melt and rising carbon dioxide levels is fully consistent with dynamics of the past 0.9 million years.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 6967-7018 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Rauthe-Schöch ◽  
A. K. Baker ◽  
T. J. Schuck ◽  
C. A. M. Brenninkmeijer ◽  
A. Zahn ◽  
...  

Abstract. The CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the Atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container) passenger aircraft observatory performed in situ measurements at 10–12 km altitude in the South Asian summer monsoon anticyclone between June and September 2008. These measurements enable us to investigate this atmospheric region, which so far has mostly been observed from satellites, using the broad suite of trace gases and aerosols measured by CARIBIC. Elevated levels of a range of atmospheric pollutants were recorded e.g. carbon monoxide, total reactive nitrogen oxides, aerosol particles and several volatile organic compounds. The measurements provide detailed information about the chemical composition of air in different parts of the monsoon anticyclone, particularly of ozone precursors. While covering a range of 3500 km inside the monsoon anticyclone, CARIBIC observations show remarkable consistency, i.e. with regular latitudinal patterns of trace gases during the entire monsoon period. Trajectory calculations indicate that these air masses originated mainly from South Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia. Using the CARIBIC trace gas and aerosol measurements in combination with the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART we investigated the characteristics of monsoon outflow and the chemical evolution of air masses during transport. Estimated photochemical ages of the air were found to agree well with transport times from a source region east of 95° E. The photochemical ages of the air in the southern part of the monsoon anticyclone were consistently younger (less than 7 days) and the air masses mostly in an ozone forming chemical regime. In its northern part the air masses were older (up to 13 days) and had unclear ozone formation or destruction potential. Based on analysis of forward trajectories several receptor regions were identified. In addition to predominantly westward transport, we found evidence for efficient transport (within 10 days) to the Pacific and North America, particularly during June and September, and also of cross-tropopause exchange, which was strongest during June and July. Westward transport to Africa and further to the Mediterranean was the main pathway during July.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 4476-4484
Author(s):  
Ding Ma ◽  
Adam H. Sobel ◽  
Zhiming Kuang ◽  
Martin S. Singh ◽  
Ji Nie

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 3731-3750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Walker ◽  
Simona Bordoni ◽  
Tapio Schneider

Abstract This study identifies coherent and robust large-scale atmospheric patterns of interannual variability of the South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) in observational data. A decomposition of the water vapor budget into dynamic and thermodynamic components shows that interannual variability of SASM net precipitation (P − E) is primarily caused by variations in winds rather than in moisture. Linear regression analyses reveal that strong monsoons are distinguished from weak monsoons by a northward expansion of the cross-equatorial monsoonal circulation, with increased precipitation in the ascending branch. Interestingly, and in disagreement with the view of monsoons as large-scale sea-breeze circulations, strong monsoons are associated with a decreased meridional gradient in the near-surface atmospheric temperature in the SASM region. Teleconnections exist from the SASM region to the Southern Hemisphere, whose midlatitude poleward eddy energy flux correlates with monsoon strength. Possible implications of these teleconnection patterns for understanding SASM interannual variability are discussed.


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