Distinct modes of the East Asian summer monsoon

Publication Status is "Submitted" Or "In Press: 
LDEO Publication: 
Publication Type: 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Editor: 
Journal Title: 
Journal of Climate
Journal Date: 
Mar
Place Published: 
Tertiary Title: 
Volume: 
21
Issue: 
5
Pages: 
1122-1138
Section / Start page: 
Publisher: 
ISBN Number: 
0894-8755
ISSN Number: 
Edition: 
Short Title: 
Accession Number: 
ISI:000254263700016
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Call Number: 
Abstract: 

Resolution of a complex Hermitian matrix derived from monthly mean 850-hPa wind fields during the summer season (June-August) from 1968 to 2004 revealed four different modes of East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) variability. The leading EASM mode, accounting for 19.6% of the variance, is characterized by two different modes (M11 and M12) or their combination. Both portray a closed cyclonic or anticyclonic circulation anomaly over the western North Pacific (WNP), South China Sea (SCS), and southeastern China; corresponding anomalous geopotential height fields show a wave train structure from the WNP across Japan, the Okhotsk Sea, and Alaska to North America. Thus, the leading EASM mode characterizes the teleconnection pattern of the WNP-EASM. The correlation between M11 (M12) and the dynamic index for the WNP-EASM is 0.85 (0.51). M11 has leading spectral peaks at 15 and 3 yr, whereas M12 displays a predominant peak at 2 yr. It is found that M11 has interdecadal variations, with the transition years being circa 1973 and 1989, respectively. M11 is closely related to air-sea interactions in the SCS and the northwestern Pacific, and its association with the convective heat source over the northwestern Pacific is secondary. In contrast, M12 is closely related to the tropical convective heat source rather than tropical western Pacific sea surface temperature (SST).

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278DKTimes Cited:0Cited References Count:51

DOI: 
Doi 10.1175/2007jcli1592.1