Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Delayed impacts of the IOD: cross-seasonal relationships between the IOD, Tibetan Plateau snow, and summer precipitation over the Yangtze–Huaihe River region

  • Published:
Climate Dynamics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Significant anomalous signals are found during the ensuing summer after the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) forcing mode dissipates over the tropical Indian Ocean. These signals manifest as increased summer precipitation over the Yangtze–Huaihe River (YHR) region associated with abnormal water vapor convergence contributed mainly by southerly water vapor input along the western flank of an anomalous anticyclone over the subtropical western North Pacific (WNP). The mechanism of these delayed impacts of the IOD is investigated and summarized as a relationship between the IOD, Tibetan Plateau (TP) snow, and summer precipitation. The evolution of the moisture circulation response to the IOD reveals that the IOD can modulate the precipitation over the TP during winter and deepen the snow distribution over the southern TP. Anomalous snow conditions over the TP are a likely capacitor of the delayed effect of the IOD in that they can exert further influence on the ensuing summer monsoon. The influence of deeper snow over the southern edge of the TP on summer precipitation is confirmed: (1) the melting of excessive snow over the TP can lead to a weakened thermal land-sea contrast and weakened Asian summer monsoon westerlies; (2) easterly anomalies can further induce divergence over the WNP, meanwhile stimulating a Pacific-Japan teleconnection pattern; and (3) the anomalous anticyclone over the WNP strengthens the subtropical high and benefits southerly water vapor input to the YHR, while the anomalous cyclone dominates Japan. In between, the subtropical upper-level westerly jet accelerates, and the divergence at its right entrance can enhance the ascending vertical motion over the YHR, which is also favourable for precipitation.

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
Fig. 13
Fig. 14

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ashok K, Guan Z, Saji NH, Yamagata T (2004) Individual and combined influences of ENSO and the Indian Ocean Dipole on the Indian summer monsoon. Am Meteorol Soc 17:3141–3155

    Google Scholar 

  • Black E, Slingo J, Sperber KR (2003) An observational study of the relationship between excessively strong short rains in coastal East Africa and Indian Ocean SST. Mon Weather Rev 131:74–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bretherton CS, Smith C, Wallace JM (1992) An intercomparison of methods for finding coupled patterns in climate data. J Clim 5:541–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cai W, van Rensch P, Cowan T, Hendon HH (2011) Teleconnection pathways of ENSO and the IOD and the mechanisms for impacts on Australian rainfall. J Clim 24:3910–3923

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen L, Wu R (2000) Interannual and decadal variations of snow cover over Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and their relationships to summer monsoon rainfall in China. Adv Atmos Sci 17:18–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chow KC, Chan JCL, Shi X, Liu Y, Ding Y (2008) Time-lagged effects of spring Tibetan Plateau soil moisture on the monsoon over China in early summer. Int J Climatol 28:55–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark CO, Webster PJ, Cole JE (2003) Interdecadal variability of the relationship between the Indian Ocean zonal mode and East African coastal rainfall anomalies. J Clim 16:548–554

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dee DP et al (2011) The ERA-interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system. Q J R Meteorol Soc 137:553–597

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dey B, Bhanu Kumar OSRU (1983) Himalayan winter snow cover area and summer monsoon rainfall over India. J Geophys Res 88:5471–5474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding Y, Sun Y, Wang Z, Zhu Y, Song Y (2009) Inter-decadal variation of the summer precipitation in China and its association with decreasing Asian summer monsoon, Part II: possible causes. Int J Climatol 29:1926–1944. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.1759

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Draxler RR, Hess GD (1998) An overview of the HYSPLIT4 modelling system for trajectories. Aust Meteorol Mag 47:295–308

    Google Scholar 

  • Fasullo J (2004) A stratified diagnosis of the Indian monsoon—Eurasian snow cover relationship. J Clim 17:1110–1122. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2004)017%3c1110:ASDOTI%3e2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guan Z, Yamagata T (2003) The unusual summer of 1994 in East Asia: IOD teleconnections. Geophys Res Lett 30:1544

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang X, Li Y, Wang X (2009) Water vapor transport over China and its relationship with drought and flood in Yangtze River Basin. J Geogr Sci 19:153–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kripalani RH, Kumar P (2004) Northeast monsoon rainfall variability over south peninsular India vis-à-vis the Indian Ocean dipole mode. Int J Climatol 24:1267–1282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kripalani RH, Oh JH, Chaudhari HS (2010) Delayed influence of the Indian Ocean dipole mode on the East Asia–West Pacific monsoon: possible mechanism. Int J Climatol 30:197–209. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.1890

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li X, Wen Z, Zhou W (2011) Long-term change in summer water vapor transport over South China in recent decades. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 89A:271–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu XF, Yuan HZ, Guan ZY (2008) Effects of ENSO on the relationship between IOD and China summer rainfall. J Trop Meteorol 24:502–506 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu G, Wu R, Zhang Y, Nan S (2014) The summer snow cover anomaly over the Tibetan Plateau and its association with simultaneous precipitation over the mei-yu-baiu region. Adv Atmos Sci 31:755–764

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyers G, McIntosh P, Pigot L, Pook M (2007) The years of El Niño, La Niña, and interactions with the tropical Indian Ocean. J Clim 20:2872–2880

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ninomiya K, Akiyama T (1992) Multi-scale features of Baiu, the summer monsoon over Japan and East Asia. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 70:467–494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ose T (1996) The comparison of the simulated response to the regional snow mass anomalies over Tibet, eastern Europe, and Siberia. J Meteorol Soc Jpn Ser II 74:845–866. https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj1965.74.6_845

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu Y, Cai W, Guo X, Ng B (2014) The asymmetric influence of the positive and negative IOD events on China’s rainfall. Sci Rep 4:4943. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04943

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds RW et al (2002) An improved in situ and satellite SST analysis for climate. J Clim 15:1609–1625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saji NH, Yamagata T (2003) Possible impacts of Indian Ocean Dipole mode events on global climate. Clim Res 25:151–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saji NH, Goswami BN, Vinayachandran PN, Yamagata T (1999) A dipole mode in the tropical Indian Ocean. Nature 401:360–363. https://doi.org/10.1038/43854

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tao S, Ding Y (1981) Observational evidence of the influence of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau on the occurrence of heavy rain and severe convective storms in China. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 62:23–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ummenhofer CC, D’Arrigo RD, Anchukaitis KJ, Buckley BM, Cook ER (2013) Links between Indo-Pacific climate variability and drought in the Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas. Clim Dyn 40:1319–1334

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Wu R, Li T (2003) Atmosphere–warm ocean interaction and its impacts on Asian–Australian monsoon variation. J Clim 16:1195–1211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang C, Yang K, Li Y, Wu D, Bo Y (2017) Impacts of spatiotemporal anomalies of Tibetan Plateau snow cover on summer precipitation in eastern China. J Clim 30:885–903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webster PJ, Moore AM, Loschnigg JP, Leben RR, Nin E (1999) Coupled ocean–atmosphere dynamics in the Indian Ocean during 1997–98. Nature 401:356–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weng H, Wu G, Liu Y, Behera SK, Yamagata T (2011) Anomalous summer climate in China influenced by the tropical Indo-Pacific Oceans. Clim Dyn 36:769–782. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-009-0658-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu TW, Qian ZA (2003) The relation between the Tibetan winter snow and the Asian summer monsoon and rainfall: an observational investigation. J Clim 16:2038–2051. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2003)016%3c2038:TRBTTW%3e2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu R, Wen Z, Yang S, Li Y (2010) An interdecadal change in southern China summer rainfall around 1992/93. J Clim 23:2389–2403. https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JCLI3336.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu B, Zhou T, Li T (2012) Two distinct modes of tropical Indian Ocean precipitation in boreal winter and their impacts on equatorial Western Pacific. J Clim 25:921–938. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00065.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiao Z, Duan A (2016) Impacts of Tibetan Plateau snow cover on the interannual variability of the East Asian summer monsoon. J Clim 29:8495–8514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiao M, Zhang Q, Singh VP (2015) Influences of ENSO, NAO, IOD and PDO on seasonal precipitation regimes in the Yangtze River basin, China. Int J Climatol 35:3556–3567

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie S, Hu K, Jan H, 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 

  • Yanai M, Esbensen S, Chu JH (1973) Determination of bulk properties of tropical cloud clusters from large-scale heat and moisture budgets. J Atmos Sci 30:611–627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yasunari T, Kitoh A, Tokioka T (1991) Local and remote responses to excessive snow mass over Eurasia appearing in the northern spring and summer climate. J Meteorol Soc Jpn Ser II 69:473–487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan Y, Yang H, Zhou W, Li C (2008) Influences of the Indian Ocean dipole on the Asian summer monsoon in the following year. Int J Climatol 28:1849–1859

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan C, Tozuka T, Miyasaka T, Yamagata T (2009) Respective influences of IOD and ENSO on the Tibetan snow cover in early winter. Clim Dyn 33:509–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan C, Tozuka T, Yamagata T (2012) IOD influence on the early winter Tibetan Plateau snow cover: diagnostic analyses and an AGCM simulation. Clim Dyn 39:1643–1660

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang SL, Tao SY (2001) The influences of snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau on Asian summer monsoon. Chin J Atmos Sci 25:372–390

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Li T, Wang B (2004) Decadal change of the spring snow depth over the Tibetan Plateau: the associated circulation and influence on the East Asian summer monsoon. J Clim 17:2780–2793

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang L, Sielmann F, Fraedrich K, Zhu X, Zhi X (2015) Variability of winter extreme precipitation in southeast China: contributions of SST anomalies. Clim Dyn 45:2557–2570. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2492-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Zhou W, Leung MYT (2018) Phase relationship between summer and winter monsoons over the South China Sea: Indian Ocean and ENSO forcing. Clim Dyn. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4440-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao P, Zhou Z, Liu J (2007) Variability of Tibetan spring snow and its associations with the hemispheric extratropical circulation and East Asian Summer Monsoon rainfall: an observational investigation. J Clim 20:3942–3955. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI4205.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu Y, Liu H, Ding Y, Zhang F, Li W (2015) Interdecadal variation of spring snow depth over the Tibetan Plateau and its influence on summer rainfall over East China in the recent 30 years. Int J Climatol 35:3654–3660. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuo Z, Zhang R, Wu B, Rong X (2012) Decadal variability in springtime snow over Eurasia: relation with circulation and possible influence on springtime rainfall over China. Int J Climatol 32:1336–1345

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41805042, 41675062), and the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (CityU 11305715, 11335316, and 11306417). The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guy Carpenter Asia-Pacific Climate Impact Centre, School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Yue Zhang, Wen Zhou & Marco Y. T. Leung

  2. CityU Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, China

    Wen Zhou, Eric C. H. Chow & Marco Y. T. Leung

Authors
  1. Yue Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wen Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eric C. H. Chow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Marco Y. T. Leung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wen Zhou.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, Y., Zhou, W., Chow, E.C.H. et al. Delayed impacts of the IOD: cross-seasonal relationships between the IOD, Tibetan Plateau snow, and summer precipitation over the Yangtze–Huaihe River region. Clim Dyn 53, 4077–4093 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-019-04774-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-019-04774-5

Search

Navigation