An Asian–Pacific teleconnection in summer tropospheric temperature and associated Asian climate variability

Abstract

We identified the Asian-Pacific Oscillation (APO) and its associated index, a zonal teleconnection pattern over the extratropical Asian-Pacific region. This was done through the correlation and empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analyses on the summer mean tropospheric eddy temperature from the monthly European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast reanalysis. The APO reflects an out-of-phase relationship in variability of the eddy temperature between Asia and the North Pacific and is associated with the out-of-phase relationship in atmospheric heating. The APO index shows a decadal variation, tending to a high-index polarity before 1975 and afterward to a low-index polarity. Moreover, the APO index has a quasi-5-year period. With higher APO-index conditions in the upper troposphere, the summer South Asian high and the North Pacific trough are stronger, while the westerly jet stream over Asia and the easterly jet stream over South Asia strengthen. Also, the Asian low and the North Pacific subtropical high are stronger in the lower troposphere. The anomalous southerlies prevail at the midlatitudes of East Asia, accompanied by a more northward Mei-yu front, and the anomalous westerlies prevail over South Asia. Summer rainfall increases in North China, South China, and South Asia, while it decreases from the valley of the Yangtze River to southern Japan, and near the Philippines.