Monday, 10 February 2003: 1:45 PM
Interannual variability of the western North Pacific summer monsoon: differences between ENSO and non-ENSO years
The interannual variability of the western North Pacific (WNP) summer
monsoon is examined for the non-ENSO, ENSO developing and ENSO decaying
years respectively. The ENSO developing (decaying) year is defined as the
year before (after) the mature phase of ENSO, and the non-ENSO year is defined
as the year that is neither the ENSO developing year nor the ENSO decaying
year. A strong (weak) WNP
summer monsoon tends to occur during the El Niņo (La Niņa)
developing year and a weak (strong) WNP summer monsoon tends to occur
during the El Niņo (La Niņa) decaying year.
In all non-ENSO, ENSO developing and ENSO decaying years, the strong
(weak) WNP summer monsoon
is associated with the positive (negative) rainfall anomalies,
cold (warm) sea surface temperature anomalies, warm (cold) upper tropospheric
temperature anomalies, low (high) surface pressure anomalies and a low-level
cyclonic (anticyclonic) circulation anomaly over the subtropical WNP.
The 850 hPa wave train
associated with the WNP and EA summer monsoons in the non-ENSO, ENSO
developing and ENSO decaying years extends northward and suggests a
possible teleconnection between the WNP summer monsoon and the North American
climate. The wave train extended into the Southern Hemisphere in the
non-ENSO and ENSO developing years implies a teleconnection between
the WNP summer monsoon and the Australian winter climate. The anomalous
WNP monsoon in the non-ENSO and ENSO developing years exists only in
summer, while the anomalous WNP monsoon in the ENSO decaying year persists
from the beginning of the year to the summer season. The anomalous WNP
summer monsoon exhibits a strong ocean-atmosphere interaction, especially
in the ENSO decaying year. This study suggests that the anomalous WNP
summer monsoon in the non-ENSO year is associated with
the variation of the meridional temperature gradient in the upper
troposphere, while the anomalous WNP summer monsoon in the ENSO developing
and decaying years is associated with ENSO related SST anomalies.
Supplementary URL: http://ecrc.sinica.edu.tw/~chia/