Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

An interdecadal change in the relationship between the western North Pacific Ocean and the East Asian summer monsoon

  • Published:
Climate Dynamics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study reveals that the relationship between the western North Pacific Ocean (WNPO; 0–55°N, 100–165°E) and the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) experiences a well-defined interdecadal change in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The EASM-related WNPO sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) pattern changes from the dipole pattern [WNPO dipole (WNPOD)] that develops over the period between 1968 and 1987 (P1) to a tripole pattern [WNPO tripole (WNPOT)] between 1991 and 2010 (P2). The positive (negative) phase of the WNPOD is characterized by warm (cold) SSTAs in the Japan Sea and Kuroshio–Oyashio Extension region, and cold (warm) SSTAs in the subtropical WNPO, whereas the positive (negative) phase of the WNPOT shows warming (cooling) in the Kuroshio Extension region (KER), and cooling (warming) in the south of Kamchatka Peninsula (SKP) and Philippine Sea (PS). During P1 (P2), the WNPOD (WNPOT) can be regarded as the first (second) leading mode of summer WNPO SST variability, and its positive phase is associated with a weakened WNPO subtropical high and thereby the deficient summer rainfall in the Yangtze River valley, together with a strong EASM, and vice versa. The change in the WNPO–EASM relationship may be caused by interdecadal changes in the relationship of the equatorial central Pacific (ECP) with the WNPO and EASM, and an increase in summer KER SST variability. During P2, because the ECP warming-induced cyclonic anomalies move northwestwards and intensify, summertime ECP warming is able to generate a strong EASM and significant cooling over the two poles of the WNPOT (SKP and PS). These strengthened impacts of the ECP on the WNPOT and EASM contribute to the strengthened WNPOT–EASM relationship during P2. In addition, summer KER SST variability increases between 1991 and 2010, and this may have enhanced the impact of the KER on the EASM during P2. These two factors probably cause the EASM-related WNPO SSTA pattern to change from the WNPOD in P1 to the WNPOT in P2.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ashok K, Behera SK, Rao SA, Weng H, Yamagata T (2007) El Niño Modoki and its possible teleconnection. J Geophys Res 112:C11007. doi:10.1029/2006JC003798

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bretherton CS, Widmann M, Dymnikov VP, Wallace JM, Bladé I (1999) The effective number of spatial degrees of freedom of a time-varying field. J Clim 12:1990–2009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cayan D (1992) Latent and sensible heat flux anomalies over the Northern oceans driving the sea surface temperature. J Phys Oceanogr 22:859–881

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen LX, Dong M, Shao YN (1992) The characteristics of interannual variations on the East Asian monsoon. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 70:397–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen M, Xie P, Janowiak JE, Arkin PA (2002) Global land precipitation: a 50-yr monthly analysis based on gauge observations. J Hydrometeorol 3:249–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deng WT, Sun ZB, Zeng G, Ni DH (2009) Interdecadal variation of summer precipitation pattern over Eastern China and its relationship with the North Pacific SST. Chin J Atmos Sci 33:835–846

    Google Scholar 

  • Deser C, Phillips A (2006) Simulation of the 1976/77 climate transition over the North Pacific: sensitivity to tropical forcing. J Clim 19:6170–6180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding RQ, Ha K-J, Li JP (2010) Interdecadal shift in the relationship between the East Asian summer monsoon and the tropical Indian Ocean. Clim Dyn 34:1059–1071. doi:10.1007/s00382-009-0555-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan L, Shin SI, Liu Q, Liu Z (2013) Relative importance of tropical SST anomalies in forcing East Asian summer monsoon circulation. Geophys Res Lett 40:2471–2477. doi:10.1002/grl.50494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankignoul C, Sennéchael N (2007) Observed influence of North Pacific SST anomalies on the atmospheric circulation. J Clim 20:592–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham NE, Barnett TP (1987) Sea surface temperature, surface wind divergence, and convection over tropical oceans. Science 238:657–659

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guan Z, Yamagata T (2003) The unusual summer of 1994 in East Asia: IOD teleconnections. Geophys Res Lett 30:1544–1547. doi:10.1029/2002GL016831

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ha K-J, Heo K-Y, Lee S-S, Yun K-S, Jhun J-J (2012) Variability in the East Asian monsoon: a review. Meteorol Appl 19:200–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He C, Zhou T (2015) Decadal change of the connection between summer western North Pacific subtropical high and tropical SST in the early 1990s. Atmos Sci Lett 16:253–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heo K-Y, Ha K-J, Lee S-S (2012) Warming of western North Pacific Ocean and energetics of transient eddy activity. Mon Weather Rev 140:2860–2873

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holbrook NJ, Li JP, Collins M, Di Lorenzo E, Jin FF, Knutson T, Latif M, Li CY, Power SB, Huang RH, Wu GX (2014) Decadal climate variability and cross-scale interactions: ICCL 2013 expert assessment workshop. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 95:155–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang RH, Sun FY (1992) Impact of the tropical western Pacific on the East Asian summer monsoon. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 70:243–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang RH, Wu YF (1989) The influence of ENSO on the summer climate change in China and its mechanism. Adv Atmos Sci 6:21–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang RH, Zhou LT (2002) Research on the characteristics, formation mechanism and prediction of severe climate disasters in China. J Nat Disasters 11:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang RH, Chen JL, Huang G (2007) Characteristics and variations of the East Asian monsoon system and its impacts on climate disasters in China. Adv Atmos Sci 24:993–1023

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang B, Banzon VF, Freeman E, Lawrimore J, Liu W, Peterson TC, Smith TM, Thorne PW, Woodruff SD, Zhang H-M (2015) Extended reconstructed sea surface temperature version 4 (ERSST.v4). Part I: upgrades and intercomparisions. J Clim 28:911–930

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang Z, Yang S, He J, Li J, Liang J (2008) Interdecadal variations of East Asian summer monsoon northward propagation and influences on summer precipitation over East China. Meteorol Atmos Phys 100:101–119. doi:10.1007/s00703-008-0298-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jo H-S, Yeh S-W, Lee S-K (2015) Changes in the relationship in the SST variability between the tropical Pacific and the North Pacific across the 1998/1999 regime shift. Geophys Res Lett 42:7171–7178. doi:10.1002/2015GL065049

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalnay E et al (1996) The NCEP–NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 77:437–471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kosaka Y, Xie S-P, Lau N-C, Vecchi GA (2013) Origin of seasonal predictability for summer climate over the Northwestern Pacific. PNAS 110:7574–7579

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwon M, Jhun J-G, Ha K-J (2007) Decadal change in East Asian summer monsoon circulation in the mid-1990s. Geophys Res Lett 34:L21706. doi:10.1029/2007GL031977

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee E-J, Ha K-J, Jhun J-G (2014) Interdecadal changes in interannual variability of the global monsoon precipitation and interrelationships among its subcomponents. Clim Dyn 42:2585–2601. doi:10.1007/s00382-013-1762-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li F, He J-H (2000) The decadal change of the interaction between northern Pacific SSTA and East Asian summer monsoon. J Trop Meteorol 16:260–271

    Google Scholar 

  • Li F, He J-H (2001) Study on interdecadal relation features of north Pacific SSTA with East Asian summer monsoon as well as its mechanism. J Nanjing Inst Meteorol 24:199–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Li JP, Zeng QC (2002) A unified monsoon index. Geophys Res Lett 29:1274. doi:10.1029/2001GL013874

    Google Scholar 

  • Li JP, Wu ZW, Jiang ZH, He JH (2010) Can global warming strengthen the East Asian summer monsoon? J Clim 23:6696–6705

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li JP, Wu GX, Hu DX (2011) Ocean-atmosphere interaction over the joining area of Asia Indian-Pacific ocean and its impact on the short-term climate variation in China, vol 1. China Meteorological Press, Beijing, pp 8–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Li JP, Sun C, Jin FF (2013) NAO implicated as a predictor of northern hemisphere mean temperature multidecadal variability. Geophys Res Lett 40:5497–5502. doi:10.1002/2013GL057877

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Q, Wen N, Liu Z (2006) An observational study of the impact of the North Pacific SST on the atmosphere. Geophys Res Lett 33:L18611. doi:10.1029/2006GL026082

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu W, Huang B, Thorne PW, Banzon VF, Zhang H-M, Freeman E, Lawrimore J, Peterson TC, Smith TM, Woodruff SD (2015) Extended reconstructed sea surface temperature version 4 (ERSST.v4): part II. Parametric and structure uncertainty estimations. J Clim 28:931–951

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu R, Lu S (2015) Asymmetric relationship between Indian Ocean SST and the western North Pacific summer monsoon. J Clim 28:1383–1395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miyasaka T, Nakamura H, Taguchi B, Nonaka M (2014) Multidecadal modulations of the low-frequency climate variability in the wintertime North Pacific since 1950. Geophys Res Lett 41:2948–2955. doi:10.1002/2014GL059696

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nitta T (1987) Convective activities in the tropical western Pacific and their impact on the Northern Hemisphere summer circulation. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 64:373–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nitta T, Yamada S (1989) Recent warming of tropical sea surface temperature and its relationship to the Northern Hemisphere circulation. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 67:375–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • North GR, Bell TL, Cahalan RF, Moeng FJ (1982) Sampling errors in the estimation of empirical orthogonal functions. Mon Weather Rev 110:699–706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park J-Y, Jhun J-G, Yim S-Y, Kim W-M (2010) Decadal changes in two types of the western North Pacific subtropical high in boreal summer associated with Asian summer monsoon/El Niño-Southern Oscillation connections. J Geophys Res 115:D21129. doi:10.1029/2009JD013642

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rayner NA, Parker DE, Horton EB, Folland CK, Alexander LV, Rowell DP, Kent EC, Kaplan A (2003) Global analyses of sea surface temperature, sea ice, and night marine air temperature since the late nineteenth century. J Geophys Res 108:4407. doi:10.1029/2002JD002670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saji NH, Goswami BN, Vinayachandran PN, Yamagata T (1999) A dipole mode in the tropical Indian Ocean. Nature 401:360–363

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuecker MF, Timmermann A, Jin FF, McGregor S, Ren HL (2013) A combination mode of the annual cycle and the El Niño/Southern Oscillation. Nat Geosci 6:540–544

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stuecker MF, Jin FF, Timmermann A, McGregor S (2015) Combination mode dynamics of the anomalous Northwest Pacific anticyclone. J Clim 28:1093–1111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sui CH, Chung PH, Li T (2007) Interannual and interdecadal variability of the summertime western North Pacific subtropical high. Geophys Res Lett 34:L11701. doi:10.1029/2006GL029204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan GR, Sun ZB, Min JZ, Zhu YF (2009) Spatial modes of the summer SST anomaly in the North Pacific and its relationship with the circulation anomaly over East Asia. Chin J Atmos Sci 33:1038–1046

    Google Scholar 

  • Tao SY, Chen LX (1987) A review of recent research on the East Asian summer monsoon in China monsoon meteorology. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 60–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Trenberth KE (1990) Recent observed interdecadal climate changes in the Northern Hemisphere. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 71:988–993

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Fan Z (1999) Choice of South Asian summer monsoon indices. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 80:629–638. doi:10.1175/1520-0477(1999)080,0629:COSASM.2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Wu RG, Fu XH (2000) Pacific-East Asian teleconnection: how does ENSO affect East Asian climate? J Clim 13:1517–1536

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Fan Z, Lau K-M (2001) Interannual variability of the Asian summer monsoon: contrasts between the Indian and the western North Pacific-East Asian monsoons. J Clim 14:4073–4090

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Wu ZW, Li JP, Liu J, Chang CP, Ding YH, Wu GX (2008a) How to measure the strength of the East Asian summer monsoon. J Clim 21:4449–4463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Yang J, Zhou T, Wang B (2008b) Interdecadal changes in the major modes of Asian-Australian monsoon variability: strengthening relationship with ENSO since the late 1970s. J Clim 21:1771–1789

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang XD, Zhong Z, Tan YK, Du N (2011) Numerical experiment on the effect of the warmer SST in the Kuroshio Extension in winter on the East Asian summer monsoon. J Trop Meteorol 27:569–576

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Xiang B, Lee JY (2013) Subtropical high predictability establishes a promising way for monsoon and tropical storm predictions. PNAS 10:2718–2722

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu GX, Liu HZ (1995) Neighbourhood response of rainfall to tropical sea surface temperature anomalies part I: numerical experiment. Chin J Atmos Sci 19:422–434

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu R, Wang B (2002) A contrast of the East Asian summer monsoon and ENSO relationship between 1962–1977 and 1978–1993. J Clim 15:3266–3279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu BY, Zhang RH (2007) Interdecadal shift in the western North Pacific summer SST anomaly in the late 1980s. Chin Sci Bull 52:2559–2564

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu GX, Sun FY, Wang JF, Wang XC (1995) Neibourhood response of rainfall to tropical sea surface temperature anomalies part II: data analysis. Chin J Atmos Sci 19:663–676

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu GX, Liu P, Liu YM, Li WP (2000) Impacts of the sea surface temperature anomaly in the Indian Ocean on the subtropical anticyclone over the western Pacific—two stage thermal adaptation in the atmosphere. Acta Meteorol Sin 58:513–522

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu B, Li T, Zhou T (2010) Asymmetry of atmospheric circulation anomalies over the Western North Pacific between El Niño and La Niña. J Clim 23:4807–4822

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiao D, Li JP (2007) Spatial and temporal characteristics of the decadal abrupt changes of global atmosphere-ocean system in the 1970s. J Geophys Res 112:D24S22. doi:10.1029/2007JD008956

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiao D, Li JP, Zhao P (2012) Four-dimensional structures and physical process of the decadal abrupt changes of the northern extratropical ocean-atmosphere system in the 1980s. Int J Climatol 32:983–994. doi:10.1002/joc.2326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie SP, Hu K, Hafner J, Tokinaga H, Du Y, Huang G, Sampe T (2009) Indian Ocean capacitor effect on Indo-Western Pacific climate during the summer following El Niño. J Clim 22:730–747

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang J, Liu Q, Xie SP, Liu Z, Wu L (2007) Impact of the Indian Ocean SST basin mode on the Asian summer monsoon. Geophys Res Lett 34:L02708. doi:10.1029/2006GL028571

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeh S-W, Kug J-S, Dewitte B, Kwon M-H, Kirtman BP, Jin F-F (2009) El Niño in a changing climate. Nature 461:511–515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeh S-W, Kang Y-J, Noh Y, Miller AJ (2011) The North Pacific climate transitions of the winters of 1976/77 and 1988/89. J Clim 24:1170–1183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeo S-R, Kim K-Y, Yeh S-W, Kim W (2012) Decadal changes in the relationship between the tropical Pacific and the North Pacific. J Geophys Res 117:D15102. doi:10.1029/2012JD017775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yim S-Y, Jhun J-G, Yeh S-W (2008) Decadal change in the relationship between east Asian–western North Pacific summer monsoons and ENSO in the mid-1990s. Geophys Res Lett 35:L20711. doi:10.1029/2008GL035751

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yim S-Y, Wang B, Kwon M (2013) Interdecadal change of the controlling mechanisms for East Asian early summer rainfall variation around the mid-1990s. Clim Dyn 42:1325–1333. doi:10.1007/s00382-013-1760-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yun K-S, Seo K-H, Ha K-J (2010) Interdecadal change in the relationship between ENSO and the intraseasonal oscillation in East Asia. J Clim 23:3599–3612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yun K-S, Yeh S-W, Ha K-J (2015) Covariability of western tropical Pacific-North Pacific atmospheric circulation during summer. Sci Rep 5:16980. doi:10.1038/srep16980

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng JY, Li JP, Feng J (2014) A dipole pattern in the Indian and Pacific oceans and its relationship with the East Asian summer monsoon. Environ Res Lett 9:074006. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/074006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu J, Liao H, Li JP (2012) Increases in aerosol concentrations over eastern China due to the decadal-scale weakening of the East Asian summer monsoon. Geophys Res Lett 39:L09809. doi:10.1029/2012GL051428

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful for the two anonymous reviewers who provided valuable and insightful comments on the manuscript. Discussions with Ruiqiang Ding and Yanke Tan are also helpful. This work is supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (2013CB956203) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41375063).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Meteorology and Oceanography, PLA University of Science and Technology, No. 60, Shuanglong Road, Nanjing, 211101, China

    Peilong Yu, Lifeng Zhang & Quanjia Zhong

  2. State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, 100029, China

    Quanjia Zhong

Authors
  1. Peilong Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lifeng Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Quanjia Zhong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lifeng Zhang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yu, P., Zhang, L. & Zhong, Q. An interdecadal change in the relationship between the western North Pacific Ocean and the East Asian summer monsoon. Clim Dyn 49, 1139–1156 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3370-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3370-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation