Influence of the Eastern Indian Ocean Warm Pool variability on the spring precipitation in China

Abstract

The relationship between the variability of the Eastern India Ocean Warm Pool (EIWP) and the spring precipitation in China is studied in the paper based on an analysis of the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data, the reanalysis data of monthly grid wind field at 925 hPa with a resolution of 2.5° latitude and longitude from the National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR), and the monthly mean rainfall data from 160 observational stations in China. The results show that there is a strong correlation between the EIWP variability and the spring precipitation in China. The area, volume and intensity indices of the EIWP are negatively correlated with the spring precipitation in southwestern China, while they are positively correlated with the spring precipitation in the rest of China, especially in the northeast. For this correlation between the EIWP variability and the spring precipitation in China, it is found that the correlative relationship is mainly connected with the variations of the moisture transport by the warm air flow, which is under the influence of the EIWP variability, into the inland of China in spring. Two causative factors may influence this transport. One is the variation of the moisture transport carried by the warm air flow from the Arabian Sea influenced by the EIWP variability. The other is the variation of the equator-crossing flow (70°–90°E) influenced by the EIWP anomaly in the previous winter which exerts its effect on the moist warm air transported from the Southern Hemisphere. The position and intensity of the Western North Pacific Subtropical High (WNPSH) variability caused by EIWP variation also influence the spring precipitation in China.