Relationship between East Asian winter monsoon and summer monsoon

Abstract

Using National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis data and monthly Hadley Center sea surface temperature (SST) data, and selecting a representative East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) index, this study investigated the relationship between EAWM and East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) using statistical analyses and numerical simulations. Some possible mechanisms regarding this relationship were also explored. Results indicate a close relationship between EAWM and EASM: a strong EAWM led to a strong EASM in the following summer, and a weak EAWM led to a weak EASM in the following summer. Anomalous EAWM has persistent impacts on the variation of SST in the tropical Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, and on the equatorial atmospheric thermal anomalies at both lower and upper levels. Through these impacts, the EAWM influences the land-sea thermal contrast in summer and the low-level atmospheric divergence and convergence over the Indo-Pacific region. It further affects the meridional monsoon circulation and other features of the EASM. Numerical simulations support the results of diagnostic analysis. The study provides useful information for predicting the EASM by analyzing the variations of preceding EAWM and tropical SST.