Summary
This study addresses the relationship between the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) and the coupled atmosphere/ocean system in the tropical Pacific on the interannual time scales. High positive correlations are found between ISM rainfall and both mixed layer sea water temperature (SWT) and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies of the tropical western Pacific in the following winter. Negative correlations between ISM rainfall and SST in the central/eastern Pacific also appear to be most significant in the following winter. These parameters are correlated with each other mainly on a biennial time scale. Lag-correlations between the zonal wind and SST along the the equatorial Pacific show that the westerly (easterly) surface wind stress anomalies over the central/western Pacific are greatly responsible for the formation of negative (positive) SST/SWT anomalies in the western Pacific and positive (negative) SST/SWT anomalies in the central/eastern Pacific. Furthermore, it is evidenced that these lagcorrelations are physically based on the anomalies in the large-scale convection over the Asian monsoon region and the associated east-west circulation over the tropical Pacific, which first appear during the Indian summer monsoon season and evolve during the following autumn and winter. These results strongly suggest that the Asian summer monsoon may have an active, rather than a passive, role on the interannual variability, including the ENSO events, of the coupled atmosphere/ocean system over the tropical Pacific.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angell, J. K., 1981: Comparison of variations in atmospheric quantities with sea surface temperature variations in the equatorial Eastern Pacific.Mon. Wea. Rev.,109, 230–243.
Barnett, T. P., 1985: Variations near-global sea level pressure.J. Atmos. Sci.,42, 478–501.
Battisti, D. S., 1988: The dynamics and thermodynamics of a warming event in a coupled tropical atmosphere-ocean model.J. Atmos. Sci.,45, 2889–2919.
Bhalme, H. N., Jadhav, S. K. 1984: The southern oscillation and relation to the monsoon rainfall.J. Climatol. 4, 509–520.
Cane, M. A., Zebiak, S. E., Dolan, S. C., 1986: Experimental forecasts of El Niño.Nature,321, 827–832.
Hanawa, K., Watanabe, T., Iwasaka, N., Suga, T., Toba, Y., 1988: Surface thermal conditions in the Western North Pacific during the ENSO events.J. Meteor. Soc. Japan,66, 445–456.
Kawamura, R., 1986: Seasonal dependency of atmosphere-ocean interaction over the North Pacific.J. Meteor. Soc. Japan,64, 363–371.
Krishnamurti, T. N., 1971: Tropical east-west circulations during the northern summer.J. Atmos. Sci.,28, 1342–1347.
Kurihara, K., 1985: Relationship between the surface air temperature in Japan and sea water temperature in the Western Pacific.Tenki,32, 407–417 (in Japanese)
Kutsuwada, K., 1988: Spatial characteristics of interannual variability in wind stress over the Western North Pacific.J. Climate,1, 333–347.
Masumoto, Y., Yamagata, T., 1990: The birth and evolution of an eastward propagating air-sea coupled disturbance in an aqua-planet.Meteorol. Atmos. Phys.,44, 1–9.
Meehl, G. A., 1987: The annual cycle and interannual variability in the tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.Mon. Wea. Rev.,115, 17–50.
Meyers, G., Donguy, J. R., England, M., Reed, R. K., 1988: The Southern Oscillation and heat storage in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, 1979–1984. Part I: Surface beat fluxes and local storage. Submitted toJ. Marine Res.
Miyakoda, K., Rosati, A., Gudgel, R., Chao, Y., 1987: Study of the 1982/1983 El Niño and Southern Oscillation with an ocean GCM and observational data. Part I: El Niño Sequence. To be submitted.
Nicholls, N., 1984: Predicting Indian monsoon rainfall from sea-surface temperature in the Indonesia-north Australia area.Nature,307, 576–577.
Parthasarathy, B., 1987: Droughts/floods in the summer monsoon season over different meteorological subdividions of India for the period 1871–1984.J. Climatol. 7, 57–70.
Parthasarathy, B., Mooley, D. A., 1978: Some features of a long homogeneous series of Indian summer monsoon rainfall.Mon. Wea. Rev.,106, 771–781.
Pazan, S. E., White, W. B., Inoue, M., O'Brien, J. J., 1986: Off-equatorial influence upon Pacific dynamic height variability during the 1982–1983 El Niño/Southern Oscillation event.J. Geophys. Res.,91, 8437–8449.
Philander, S. G. H., Yamagata, T., Pacanowski, R. C., 1984: Unstable air-sea interactions in the tropics.J. Atmos. Sci.,41, 604–613.
Rasmusson, E. M., Carpenter, T. H., 1982: Variations in tropical sea surface temperature and surface wind fields associated with the Southern Oscillation/El Niño.Mon. Wea. Rev.,110, 354–384.
Rasmusson, E. M., Carpenter, T. H., 1983: The relation between eastern equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature and rainfall over India and Sri Lanka.Mon. Wea. Rev.,111, 517–528.
Shukla, J., Paolino, D. A., 1983: The Southern Oscillation and long-range forecasting of the summer monsoon rainfall over India.Mon. Wea. Rev.,111, 1830–1837.
Walker, G. T., Bliss, E. W., 1932: World Weather V.Mem. Roy. Met. Soc.,4, 53–84.
White, W. B., Pazan, S. E., Inoue, M., 1987: Hindcast/Forecast of ENSO events based upon the redistribution of observed and model heat continent in the Western Pacific.J. Phys. Oceanogr.,17, 264–280.
Wyrtki, K., 1975: El Niño — The dynamic response of the equatorial Pacific Ocean to atmospheric forcing.J. Phys. Oceanogr.,5, 572–584.
Wyrtki, K., 1985: Water displacements in the Pacific and the genesis of El Niño cycles.J. Geophys. Res.,90, 7129–7132.
Yamagata, T., Masumoto, Y., 1989: A simple air-sea coupled model of the origin of a warm ENSO event. To appear inPhil. Trans. Roy. Soc.
Yasunari, T., 1985: Zonally propagating modes of the global east-west circulation associated with the Southern Oscillation.J. Meteor. Soc. Japan,63, 1013–1029.
Yasunari, T., 1987: Global structure of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation. Part II. Time evolution.J. Meteor Soc. Japan,65, 81–102.
Yoshino, M., Kawamura, R., 1987: Periodicity and propagation of sea surface temperature fluctuations in the equatorial Pacific.Beitr. Phys. Atmos.,60, 283–293.
Zebiak, S. E., Cane, M. A., 1987: A model El Niño-Southern Oscillation.Mon. Wea. Rev.,115, 2262–2278.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
With 9 Figures
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yasunari, T. Impact of Indian monsoon on the coupled atmosphere/ocean system in the tropical pacific. Meteorl. Atmos. Phys. 44, 29–41 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01026809
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01026809