Contrasting the Role of Regional and Remote Circulation in Driving Asian Monsoon Biases in MetUM GA7.1

Abstract

AbstractMonsoon precipitation affects nearly half of the world's population, but monsoon biases are a long‐standing problem in climate simulations. We apply dynamical nudging either globally or regionally to demonstrate the role of regional and remote circulation in generating Asian monsoon biases in an atmospheric general circulation model. Monsoon precipitation biases are substantially reduced in response to global nudging but may also be exacerbated over the warm oceanic equatorial areas because of unconstrained sub‐grid convection. Regional nudging over Asia appears to be more efficient than nudging outside Asia in reducing seasonal precipitation biases over eastern China and India. This suggests a predominant role of local circulation anomalies in generating monsoon precipitation errors in these regions. An exception is the summer precipitation bias over eastern China, which is more strongly controlled by remote circulation. Besides seasonal mean rainfall, nudging can also improve the simulated interannual and intraseasonal precipitation variability over the subtropics. This results in a better skill in reproducing the observed El Niño teleconnections to India and China and the monsoon onset date. Improved understanding of the origin of Asian monsoon biases and the contribution from regional and remote circulation advances our knowledge of the interplay between the Asian monsoon and large‐scale circulation, which can be beneficial to the simulation and interpretation of monsoon projections.