Evaluating and Understanding the Simulated Global Monsoon in the GFDL AM4 Model

Historically, the global monsoon has been difficult to both model and understand. The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory has developed their Atmospheric Model Version 4, which was evaluated in its capability of accurately predicting and simulating the global monsoon. The criteria for the global monsoon domain included local summer minus local winter precipitation exceeding 2.0 mm/day, and that the local summer precipitation had to exceed 55% of the annual total precipitation in the respective region. The second part of this project encompassed understanding what controls the variations in the global monsoon precipitation, by analyzing composite maps and atmospheric circulation.