Abstract
Accumulation of water vapor in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UT/LS) over the Asian continent is a recognized feature during the boreal summer monsoon. While there has been a debate on the role of monsoon convective intensities on the UT/LS water vapor accumulations, there are ambiguities with regard to the effects of organized monsoon convection on the spatial distribution of water vapor. We provide insights into this aspect using high precision balloon measurements of water vapor from a high-elevation site Nainital (29.4° N, 79.5° E), India, located in the Himalayan foothills and satellite retrievals of water vapor from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS). We also use precipitation estimates from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite (i.e., merged product 3B42 and precipitation radar 3A25 estimates of rain rate and rain type viz convective/stratiform), reanalysis circulation data, as well as numerical model simulations. We first evaluate the MLS estimates of water vapor mixing ratios with in situ high precision hygrometer balloon observations over Nainital. It is seen from our analyses of the MLS data that the LS water vapor distribution is closely linked to the organization of the South Asian monsoon convection and its influence on the UT/LS circulation. This link between LS water vapor distribution and organized monsoon convection is also captured in the in situ observations on 3 August 2016. It is evidenced that periods of organized summer monsoon convective activity over the Indian subcontinent and Bay of Bengal promote divergence of water vapor flux in the UT/LS; additionally the Tibetan anticyclonic circulation causes widespread distribution of the UT/LS water vapor. In addition to the effects of Asian monsoon convection, we also note that global climate drivers such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC), and Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) can contribute to nearly 38% of the UT/LS water vapor variability over the Asian monsoon region. The main result of our study indicates that widespread spatial distribution and accumulation of water vapor in the LS (about 80% of total accumulation between May and August months) tend to co-occur with organized monsoon convection, intensified divergence of water vapor flux in the UT/LS and intensified Tibetan anticyclone. On the other hand, the circulation response and LS water vapor distribution to pre-monsoon localized deep convection tend to have a limited spatial scale confined to Southeast Asia. Results from model experiments suggest that the UT/LS circulation pattern to organized monsoon convection has resemblance to stationary Rossby waves forced by organized latent heating, with the westward extending response larger by about 15° longitudes as compared to that of the pre-monsoon localized deep convection.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ashman KM, Bird CM, Zepf SE (1994) Detecting bimodality in astronomical datasets. Astron J 108:2348–2361. https://doi.org/10.1086/117248
Avery MA, Davis SM, Rosenlof KH, Ye H, Dessler AE (2017) Large anomalies in lower stratospheric water vapour and ice during the 2015–2016 El Niño. Nat Geosci 10:405–409. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2961
Awaka J, Iguchi T, Kumagai H, Okamoto K (1997) Rain type classification algorithm for TRMM precipitation radar. In: IGARSS’97. 1997 IEEE international geoscience and remote sensing symposium proceedings. Remote sensing—a scientific vision for sustainable development. IEEE, Singapore, pp 1633–1635
Behera SK, Krishnan R, Yamagata T (1999) Unusual ocean-atmosphere conditions in the tropical Indian Ocean during 1994. Geophys Res Lett 26(19):3001–3004
Bourke W (1974) A multi-level spectral model. I. Formulation and hemispheric integrations. Mon Weather Rev 102:687–701. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1974)102%3c0687:AMLSMI%3e2.0.CO;2
Brunamonti S, Jorge T, Oelsner P et al (2018) Balloon-borne measurements of temperature, water vapor, ozone and aerosol backscatter on the southern slopes of the Himalayas during StratoClim 2016–2017. Atmos Chem Phys 18:15937–15957. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15937-2018
Choudhury AD, Krishnan R (2011) Dynamical response of the south Asian monsoon trough to latent heating from stratiform and convective precipitation. J Atmos Sci 68:1347–1363. https://doi.org/10.1175/2011JAS3705.1
Choudhury AD, Krishnan R, Ramarao MVS et al (2018) A Phenomenological paradigm for midtropospheric cyclogenesis in the Indian Summer Monsoon. J Atmos Sci 75:2931–2954. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-17-0356.1
Corti T, Luo BP, de Reus M et al (2008) Unprecedented evidence for deep convection hydrating the tropical stratosphere. Geophys Res Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL033641
Das SS, Suneeth KV (2020) Seasonal and interannual variations of water vapor in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over the Asian Summer Monsoon region—in perspective of the tropopause and ocean-atmosphere interactions. J Atmos Solar Terr Phys. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2020.105244
Dee D, Uppala S, Simmons A et al (2011) The ERA—interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system. Q J R Meteorol Soc 137:553–597. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.828
Dessler AE, Schoeberl MR, Wang T et al (2013) Stratospheric water vapor feedback. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110:18087–18091. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1310344110
Dessler AE, Schoeberl MR, Wang T, Davis SM, Rosenlof KH, Vernier JP (2014) Variations of stratospheric water vapor over the past three decades. J Geophys Res Atmos 119(12):598. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JD021712,588-12
Dessler AE, Sherwood SC (2004) Effect of convection on the summertime extratropical lower stratosphere. J Geophys Res D Atmos 109:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD005209
Dethof A, O’Neill A, Slingo JM, Smit HGJ (1999) A mechanism for moistening the lower stratosphere involving the Asian summer monsoon. Q J R Meteorol Soc 125:1079–1106. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.1999.49712555602
Emmanuel M, Sunilkumar SV, Kumar M et al (2018) Intercomparison of cryogenic frost-point hygrometer observations with radiosonde, SAPHIR, MLS, and reanalysis datasets over Indian Peninsula. In: IEEE Trans. Geosci. and Remo. Sens. https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2018.2834154
Fadnavis S, Semeniuk K, Pozzoli L et al (2013) Transport of aerosols into the UTLS and their impact on the Asian monsoon region as seen in a global model simulation. Atmos Chem Phys 13:8771–8786. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-8771-2013
Forster PMF, Shine KP (2002) Assessing the climate impact of trends in stratospheric water vapor. Geophys Res Lett 29:10-1-10–4. https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GL013909
Forster PMF, Shine KP (1999) Stratospheric water vapour changes as a possible contributor to observed stratospheric cooling. Geophys Res Lett 26:3309–3312. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999GL010487
Fu R, Hu Y, Wright JS et al (2006) Short circuit of water vapor and polluted air to the global stratosphere by convective transport over the Tibetan Plateau. Proc Natl Acad Sci 103:5664–5669. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0601584103
Fujiwara M, Vmel H, Hasebe F et al (2010) Seasonal to decadal variations of water vapor in the tropical lower stratosphere observed with balloon-borne cryogenic frost point hygrometers. J Geophys Res Atmos 115:D18304. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD014179
Garny H, Randel WJ (2013) Dynamic variability of the Asian monsoon anticyclone observed in potential vorticity and correlations with tracer distributions. J Geophys Res Atmos 118:13421–13433
Gelaro R, McCarty W, Suárez MJ, Todling R, Molod A, Takacs L et al (2017) The modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2). J Climate 30(14):5419–5454. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0758.1
Gettelman A, Kinnison DE, Dunkerton TJ, Brasseur GP (2004) Impact of monsoon circulations on the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. J Geophys Res D Atmos 109:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004878
Gill AE (1980) Some simple solutions for heat-induced tropical circulation. Q J R Meteorol Soc 106:447–462. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49710644905
Goswami BN (2012) South Asian monsoon. In: Lau WKM, Waliser DE (eds) Intraseasonal variability in the atmosphere-ocean climate system. Springer, Berlin, pp 21–72
Hanumanthu S, Vogel B, Müller R, Brunamonti S, Fadnavis S, Li D, Ölsner P, Naja M, Singh BB, Kumar KR, Sonbawne S, Jauhiainen H, Vömel H, Luo B, Jorge T, Wienhold FG, Dirkson R, Peter T (2020) Strong day-to-day variability of the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL) in August 2016 at the Himalayan foothills. Atmos Chem Phys 20:14273–14302. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2020-552
Hartigan JA, Hartigan PM (1985) The dip test of unimodality. Ann Stat 13:70–84. https://doi.org/10.2307/2241144
Hoskins BJ, Rodwell MJ (1995) A model of the Asian Summer Monsoon. Part I: the global scale. J Atmos Sci 52:1329–1340. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1995)052%3c1329:AMOTAS%3e2.0.CO;2
Houze RA (1997) Stratiform precipitation in regions of convection: a meteorological paradox? Bull Am Meteorol Soc 78:2179–2196. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1997)078%3c2179:SPIROC%3e2.0.CO;2
Houze RA (2004) Mesoscale convective systems. Rev Geophys 42:RG4003. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004RG000150
Houze RA, Rasmussen KL, Zuluaga MD, Brodzik SR (2015) The variable nature of convection in the tropics and subtropics: a legacy of 16 years of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite. Rev Geophys 53:994–1021. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015RG000488
Huffman GJ, Adler RF, Bolvin DT, Nelkin EJ (2010) The TRMM multi-satellite precipitation analysis (TMPA). In: Gebremichael MHF (ed) Satellite rainfall applications for surface hydrology. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 3–22
Jain S, Jain AR, Mandal TK (2013) Role of convection in hydration of tropical UTLS: implication of AURA MLS long-term observations. Ann Geophys 31:967–981. https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-967-2013
Johny CJ, Sarkar SK, Punyaseshudu D (2009) Spatial and temporal variation of water vapour in upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over Indian region. Curr Sci 97:1735–1741. https://doi.org/10.2307/24107253
Jorge T, Brunamonti S, Poltera Y, Wienhold FG, Luo BP, Oelsner P, Hanumanthu S, Singh BB, Körner S, Dirksen R, Naja M, Fadnavis S, Peter T (2021) Understanding balloon-borne frost point hygrometer measurements after contamination by mixed-phase clouds. Atmos Meas Tech 14:239–268. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-176
Krishnakumar V, Kasture SV, Keshavamurty RN (1993) Linear and nonlinear studies of the summer monsoon onset vortex. J Meteorol Soc Japan 71:1–20
Krishnamurti TN (1971) Tropical east-west circulations during the Northern Summer. J Atmos Sci 28:1342–1347. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1971)028%3c1342:tewcdt%3e2.0.co;2
Krishnamurti TN, Bhalme HN (1976) Oscillations of a Monsoon system. Part I. Observational aspects. J Atmos Sci 33:1937–1954. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1976)033%3c1937:OOAMSP%3e2.0.CO;2
Krishnamurti TN, Biswas MK, Bhaskar Rao DV (2008) Vertical extension of the Tibetan high of the Asian summer monsoon. Tellus A Dyn Meteorol Oceanogr 60:1038–1052. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0870.2008.00359.x
Krishnan R (1998) Interannual variability of water vapour flux over the Indian summer monsoon region as revealed from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis (NNRA). In: Proc. of first WCRP international conference on reanalysis, WCRP-10J, pp 340–343
Krishnan R, Ayantika DC, Kumar V, Pokhrel S (2011) The long-lived monsoon depressions of 2006 and their linkage with the Indian Ocean Dipole. Int J Climatol 31:1334–1352. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.2156
Krishnan R, Kasture SV (1996) Modulation of low frequency intraseasonal oscillations of northern summer monsoon by El Nino and Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Meteorol Atmos Phys 60:237–257. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01042187
Krishnan R, Kumar V, Sugi M, Yoshimura J (2009) Internal feedbacks from monsoon-midlatitude interactions during droughts in the Indian Summer Monsoon. J Atmos Sci 66:553–578. https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JAS2723.1
Krishnan R, Zhang C, Sugi M (2000) Dynamics of breaks in the Indian Summer Monsoon. J Atmos Sci 57:1354–1372
Kumar RK, Singh BB, Kondapalli NK (2021) Intriguing aspects of Asian Summer monsoon anticyclone ozone variability from microwave limb sounder measurements. Atmos Res. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2021.105479
Livesey NJ, Read WG, Wagner PA et al (2018) Version 4.2x Level 2 data quality and description document. Tech Rep JPL D-33509 Rev D Version 4
Mason RB, Anderson CE (1963) The development and decay of the 100-mb. Summertime anticyclone over southern Asia. Mon Weather Rev 91:3–12. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1963)091%3c0003:TDADOT%3e2.3.CO;2
Mote PW, Rosenlof KH, Holton JR et al (1995) Seasonal variations of water vapor in the tropical lower stratosphere. Geophys Res Lett 22:1093–1096. https://doi.org/10.1029/95GL01234
Naja M, Bhardwaj P, Singh N et al (2016) High-frequency vertical profiling of meteorological parameters using AMF1 facility during RAWEX-GVAX at ARIES, Nainital. Curr Sci 111:132–140. https://doi.org/10.18520/cs/v111/i1/132-140
Nützel M, Dameris M, Garny H (2016) Movement, drivers and bimodality of the South Asian High. Atmos Chem Phys 16:14755–14774. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14755-2016
Panwar V, Jain AR, Goel A et al (2012) Some features of water vapor mixing ratio in tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere: role of convection. Atmos Res 108:86–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2012.02.003
Park M, Randel WJ, Gettelman A et al (2007) Transport above the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone inferred from Aura Microwave Limb Sounder tracers. J Geophys Res Atmos 112:D16309. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD008294
Ploeger F, Günther G, Konopka P et al (2013) Horizontal water vapor transport in the lower stratosphere from subtropics to high latitudes during boreal summer. J Geophys Res Atmos 118:8111–8127. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50636
Popovic JM, Plumb RA (2001) Eddy shedding from the upper-tropospheric Asian Monsoon anticyclone. J Atmos Sci 58:93–104. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2001)058%3c0093:ESFTUT%3e2.0.CO;2
Randel WJ, Park M, Emmons L et al (2010) Asian monsoon transport of pollution to the stratosphere. Science (80-) 328:611–613. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1182274
Randel WJ, Zhang K, Fu R (2015) What controls stratospheric water vapor in the NH summer monsoon regions? J Geophys Res 120:7988–8001. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023622
Ravishankara AR (2012) Water vapor in the lower stratosphere. Science (80-) 337:809–810. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1227004
Romatschke U, Houze RA (2011) Characteristics of precipitating convective systems in the South Asian Monsoon. J Hydrometeorol 12:3–26. https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JHM1289.1
Schneider T, Bischoff T, Haug GH (2014) Migrations and dynamics of the intertropical convergence zone. Nature 513:45–53. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13636
Schumacher C, Houze RA, Kraucunas I (2004) The tropical dynamical response to latent heating estimates derived from the TRMM precipitation radar. J Atmos Sci 61:1341–1358. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2004)061%3c1341:TTDRTL%3e2.0.CO;2
Shige S, Kummerow CD (2016) Precipitation-top heights of heavy orographic rainfall in the Asian monsoon region. J Atmos Sci 73:3009–3024. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-15-0271.1
Sikka DR, Gadgil S (1980) On the maximum cloud zone and the ITCZ over Indian, longitudes during the Southwest Monsoon. Mon Weather Rev 108:1840–1853. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1980)108%3c1840:OTMCZA%3e2.0.CO;2
Sinha A, Harries JE (1995) Water vapour and greenhouse trapping: the role of far infrared absorption. Geophys Res Lett 22:2147–2150. https://doi.org/10.1029/95GL01891
Siu LW, Bowman KP (2019) Forcing of the upper-tropospheric monsoon anticyclones. J Atmos Sci 76:1937–1954. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-18-0340.1
Solomon S (1988) The mystery of the Antarctic Ozone “Hole.” Rev Geophys 26:131. https://doi.org/10.1029/RG026i001p00131
Solomon S, Rosenlof KH, Portmann RW et al (2010) Contributions of stratospheric water vapor to decadal changes in the rate of global warming. Science (80-) 327:1219–1223. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1182488
Sundaram S, Krishnan R, Dey A, Swapna P (2010) Dynamics of intensification of the boreal summer monsoon flow during IOD events. Meteorol Atmos Phys 107:17–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-010-0066-z
Tao M, Konopka P, Ploeger F et al (2019) Multitimescale variations in modeled stratospheric water vapor derived from three modern reanalysis products. Atmos Chem Phys 19:6509–6534. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6509-2019
Trenberth KE, Stepaniak DP, Caron JM (2000) The global monsoon as seen through the divergent atmospheric circulation. J Climate 13:3969–3993. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2000)013%3c3969:TGMAST%3e2.0.CO;2
Uma KN, Das SK, Das SS (2014) A climatological perspective of water vapor at the UTLS region over different global monsoon regions: Observations inferred from the Aura-MLS and reanalysis data. Clim Dyn 43:407–420. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-014-2085-9
Vallis GK (2017) Atmospheric and oceanic fluid dynamics: fundamentals and large-scale circulation, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Vellore RK, Kaplan ML, Krishnan R et al (2016) Monsoon-extratropical circulation interactions in Himalayan extreme rainfall. Clim Dyn 46:3517–3546. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2784-x
Vömel H, Barnes JE, Forno RN et al (2007) Validation of aura microwave limb sounder water vapor by balloon-borne cryogenic frost point hygrometer measurements. J Geophys Res Atmos 112:D24S37. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD008698
Wang T, Wu DL, Gong J, Tsai V (2019) Tropopause laminar cirrus andits role in the lower stratosphere totalwater budget. J Geophys Res Atmos 124:7034–7052. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029845
Waters JW, Froidevaux L, Harwood RS et al (2006) The earth observing system microwave limb sounder (EOS MLS) on the aura satellite. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens 44:1075–1092. https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2006.873771
Wright JS, Fueglistaler S (2013) Large differences in reanalyses of diabatic heating in the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Atmos Chem Phys 13(18):9565–9576
Yan X, Wright JS, Zheng X et al (2016) Validation of Aura MLS retrievals of temperature, water vapour and ozone in the upper troposphere and lower-middle stratosphere over the Tibetan Plateau during boreal summer. Atmos Meas Tech 9:3547–3566. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3547-2016
Yanai M, Wu G-X (2006) Effects of the Tibetan Plateau. the Asian Monsoon. Springer, Berlin, pp 513–549
Zhang C, Mapes BE, Soden BJ (2003) Bimodality in tropical water vapour. Q J R Meteorol Soc 129:2847–2866. https://doi.org/10.1256/qj.02.166
Acknowledgments and data statement
The authors acknowledge the funding support from Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) India and the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) in the framework of the StratoClim project under grant agreement number 603557. The authors thank the Director, IITM and Director, ARIES for providing necessary facilities to carry out this research, and appreciate the help from Mr. Deepak Chausali in the balloon soundings. We are also thankful to the Editor and the two anonymous reviewers. The MLS water vapor data were obtained from http://mls.jpl.nasa.gov/products/h2o_product.php and the gridded OLR data from http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/. The ERA-Interim data were obtained from http://apps.ecmwf.int/datasets/data/interim-full-daily/. The TRMM dataset were obtained from http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Appendix A: Statistics of distribution and interpretation of bimodal-like appearance
Appendix A: Statistics of distribution and interpretation of bimodal-like appearance
The statistics of the distribution and robustness of separation between the two peaks are quantified in this section using statistical tests and finite mixture modeling as a tool. We perform a ‘dip test’ through Hartigans' dip test which is a standard test for multimodality and describes the departure of any sample from unimodality (Hartigan and Hartigan 1985). Further, we use Gaussian finite mixture modeling for estimation of mixing density and it is found that the mixing probabilities of mode A and mode B are 0.54 and 0.46, respectively. The bimodality separation is found to be 0.65 (see also Zhang et al. 2003). In addition, we also check Ashman’s D statistic which provides a robust measure of differentiation between the two distributions (Ashman et al. 1994). For a given dataset, if the Ashman’s D statistic is above ~ 2, it is understood to have good separation. The Ashman’s D statistic for the present analysis is noted to be 2.3 which indicate significant separation between the two peaks. However, it should be noted that the bimodal-like appearance discussed here is associated with the systematic transition in convective activity between pre-monsoon to monsoon season and it is equivalent to temporal separation between the two peaks. Therefore the observed statistical separation is a result on appearance and it is almost equivalent to separation of pre-monsoon and monsoon cases. Statistical summary of the frequency distribution is given in the following Table 2.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Singh, B.B., Krishnan, R., Ayantika, D.C. et al. Linkage of water vapor distribution in the lower stratosphere to organized Asian summer monsoon convection. Clim Dyn 57, 1709–1731 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05772-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05772-2