Oscillations of a Monsoon System. Part I. Observational Aspects

Abstract

Abstract In this paper the elements of a monsoon system are defined, and its oscillations are determined from spectral analysis of long observational records. The elements of the monsoon system include pressure of the monsoon trough, pressure of the Mascarene high, cross-equatorial low-level jet, Tibetan high, tropical easterly jet, monsoon cloud cover, monsoon rainfall, dry static stability of the lower troposphere, and moist static stability of the lower troposphere. The summer monsoon months over India during normal monsoon rainfall years are considered as guidelines in the selection of data for the period of this study. The salient result of this study is that there seems to exist a quasi-biweekly oscillation in almost all of the elements of the monsoon system. For some of these elements, such as the surface pressure field, monsoon rainfall, low-level cross-equatorial jet and monsoon cloudiness, the amplitude of this oscillation in quasi-biweekly range is very pronounced. For the spectral representati...