scholarly journals Revisiting the Possible Links between the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation and the Indian Summer Monsoon Using NCEP R-2 and CMAP Fields

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 773-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chantal Claud ◽  
Pascal Terray
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Indian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Rainfall Variability ◽  
Equatorial Indian Ocean ◽  
Boreal Winter ◽  
Convective Activity ◽  
Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽  
Zonal Winds ◽  
Biennial Oscillation

Abstract In the past the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) has sometimes been proposed to explain the tendency for the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) to alternate between strong and weak years. In this study, NCEP Reanalysis-2 (R-2) and Climate Prediction Center (CPC) Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) fields are statistically analyzed to assess the relationship between equatorial zonal winds in the stratosphere and ISM. In a first step, it is shown that zonal winds at 15 hPa during the preceding winter (January–February) are the best stratospheric predictor of the summer rainfall over the Indian subcontinent as a whole. This relationship mainly holds for August and September, or the late ISM. Surprisingly, the QBO pattern is not significantly associated with the rainfall variability during June–July or the early ISM. CMAP and NCEP R-2 fields corroborate these findings and show that westerly QBO years are associated with a deepening of the monsoon trough over the Gangetic plains and decreased convective activity in the eastern equatorial Indian region. However, further statistical analysis shows that the QBO–ISM link is complex since a westerly QBO phase at 15 hPa in boreal winter leads to a weaker monsoon surface circulation with, in particular, a weakening of the Somali jet at the beginning of the monsoon, but a much stronger circulation in September. At that time, the Tibetan high is reinforced, the tropical easterly jet at 200 hPa is stronger over India, and the local reversed Hadley circulation is also strengthened north of the equator. The mechanisms by which the QBO may affect ISM have been explored through, in particular, correlations between stratospheric winds and tropopause temperature and pressure fields. The results provide support for an out-of-phase behavior of convective activity between the Indian subcontinent and the equatorial Indian Ocean induced by the QBO phase, especially during the late ISM. During a westerly QBO phase, convective activity is, in September, enhanced over India, which brings higher precipitation, compared to the east phase. This work also suggests that the winter QBO at 15 hPa could have some skill in foreshadowing the late ISM.

scholarly journals Quasi-Biennial Oscillation in Stratospheric Zonal Wind and Indian Summer Monsoon

1985 ◽  
Vol 113 (8) ◽  
pp. 1421-1424 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. K. Mukherjee ◽  
K. Indira ◽  
R. S. Reddy ◽  
Bh V. Ramana Murty
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Indian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Zonal Wind ◽  
Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽  
Biennial Oscillation

scholarly journals Space–Time Evolution of the Low- and High-Frequency Intraseasonal Modes of the Indian Summer Monsoon

2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (2) ◽  
pp. 413-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirupam Karmakar ◽  
Arindam Chakraborty ◽  
Ravi S. Nanjundiah
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Indian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Rainfall Variability ◽  
Daily Rainfall ◽  
Equatorial Indian Ocean ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Boreal Summer ◽  
Comparable Amount

In this study, rainfall estimates by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission are used to understand the spatiotemporal structures of convection in the intraseasonal time scale and their intensity during the boreal summer over South Asia. A quantitative analysis on how these intraseasonal modes modulate the central Indian rainfall is also provided. Two dominant modes of variability with periodicities of 10–20 and 20–60 days are found, with the latter strongly modulated by sea surface temperature. The 20–60-day mode shows northward propagation from the equatorial Indian Ocean linked with eastward-propagating modes of convective systems over the tropics. The 10–20-day mode shows a complex space–time structure with a northwestward-propagating anomalous pattern emanating from the Indonesian coast. This pattern is found to be interacting with a structure emerging from higher latitudes propagating southeastward, the development of which is attributed to the vertical shear of the zonal wind. The two modes exhibit profound variability in their intensity on the interannual time scale and they contribute a comparable amount to the daily rainfall variability in a season. The intensity of the 20–60 and 10–20-day modes shows a significantly strong inverse and direct relationship with the all-India June–September rainfall, respectively. This study establishes that the probability of the occurrence of substantial rainfall over central India increases significantly if the two intraseasonal modes simultaneously exhibit positive anomalies over the region. The results presented in this paper will provide a pathway to understand, using observations and numerical model simulations, intraseasonal variability and its relative contribution to the Indian summer monsoon. It can also be used for model evaluation.

scholarly journals Interannual oxygen isotope variability in Indian summer monsoon precipitation reflects changes in moisture sources

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gayatri Kathayat ◽  
Ashish Sinha ◽  
Masahiro Tanoue ◽  
Kei Yoshimura ◽  
Hanying Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Indian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Monsoon Rainfall ◽  
Isotope Composition ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Rainfall Variability ◽  
Summer Monsoon Rainfall ◽  
Monsoon Circulation

AbstractThe primary influences on the spatio-temporal variability of oxygen isotope compositions in precipitation over the Indian summer monsoon domain are inadequately constrained by the limited observational record. Consequently, the climatic significance of isotopic signatures of precipitation preserved in proxy archives from the region remains unclear. Here we present simulations with an isotope-enabled climate model (IsoGSM2) with the moisture-tagging capability to investigate the role of relative contributions of moisture from oceanic and terrestrial sources to the interannual variability in oxygen isotope composition in summer monsoon rainfall. During weak monsoon years, the moisture contribution from the Arabian Sea dominates precipitation over the Indian subcontinent while the remote oceanic and terrestrial sources have a greater influence during strong monsoon years. We suggest that changes in monsoon circulation, moisture source, and precipitation intensity are interrelated and that speleothem oxygen isotope records from the region can potentially help reconstruct interannual to decadal monsoon rainfall variability.

Quasi-biennial oscillation disrupted by abnormal Southern Hemisphere stratosphere

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Anstey ◽  
Tim Banyard ◽  
Neal Butchart ◽  
Lawrence Coy ◽  
Paul Newman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Boreal Winter ◽  
Lead Times ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽  
Reliable Source ◽  
Biennial Oscillation ◽  
Wave Momentum

Abstract The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is a repeating cycle of tropical stratosphere winds reversing direction from eastward to westward roughly every 14 months. Discovered independently by British and American scientists the QBO continued uninterrupted for 27 cycles from 1953 until February 2016 when a westward jet unexpectedly formed in the lower stratosphere during the eastward phase. This disruption is attributed to unusually high wave-momentum fluxes from the Northern Hemisphere. A second, similar, QBO disruption occurred during the 2019/2020 northern winter though wave fluxes from the Northern Hemisphere were weak. Here we show that this latest disruption to the regular QBO cycling was stronger than that seen in 2016 and resulted from horizontal momentum transport from the Southern Hemisphere during abnormal winter conditions. In both disruptions the normal downward progression of the QBO halts and the eastward shear zone above the disruption moves upward assisted by stronger tropical upwelling during the boreal winter. The predictable signal associated with the QBO's quasi-regular phase progression is permanently lost during disruptions and the oscillation reemerges after a few months significantly shifted in phase from what would be expected if the phase had progressed uninterrupted. We infer from an increased wave-momentum flux into equatorial latitudes seen in model climate projections supporting the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment that disruptions to the QBO are likely to be more common in future. Consequently, we anticipate that in future the QBO will be a less reliable source of predictability on lead times extending out to several years than it currently is.

Holocene climate variability and Indian Summer Monsoon: An overview

The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 744-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Upasana S Banerji ◽  
P Arulbalaji ◽  
D Padmalal
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Indian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Northern Indian Ocean ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Indian Landmass ◽  
Holocene Period

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.

scholarly journals Stratospheric semi-decadal oscillations in NCEP data

2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 2143-2157 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. G. Mayr ◽  
J. G. Mengel ◽  
F. T. Huang ◽  
E. R. Talaat ◽  
E. R. Nash ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Analysis ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Temperature Data ◽  
Spectral Features ◽  
Altitude Range ◽  
Quasi Biennial Oscillation ◽  
Atmospheric Research ◽  
Zonal Winds ◽  
Environmental Prediction ◽  
Biennial Oscillation

Abstract. An analysis of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) data is presented to provide a more complete description of the stratospheric 5-year semi-decadal (SD) oscillation (Mayr et al., 2007). The zonal-mean temperature and zonal wind data from the Atmospheric Research R-1 analysis are employed, covering the years from 1962 to 2002 in the altitude range from 10 to 30 km. For diagnostic purposes, the data are separated into the hemispherically symmetric and anti-symmetric components, and spectral analysis is applied to identify the signatures of the SD oscillations. Through the synthesis or filtering of spectral features, the SD modulations of the annual oscillation (AO) and quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) are delineated. In agreement with the earlier findings, the magnitude of the SD oscillation is more pronounced when the 30-month QBO dominates during the years from 1975 to 1995. This is consistent with results from a numerical model, which shows that such a QBO generates the SD oscillation through interaction with the 12-month AO. In the zonal winds, the SD oscillation in the NCEP data is confined to equatorial latitudes, where it modulates the symmetric AO and QBO by about 5 m/s below 30 km. In the temperature data, the effect is also seen around the equator, but it is much larger at polar latitudes where the SD oscillation produces variations as large as 2 K. Our data analysis indicates that the SD oscillation is mainly hemispherically symmetric, and it appears to originate at equatorial latitudes where most of the energy resides.

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