Jae-Cheol Nam

Interannual Variation of the South Asian High and Its Relation with Indian and East Asian Summer Monsoon Rainfall

AbstractA diagnostic analysis reveals that on the interannual time scale the southeast–northwest movement is a dominant feature of the South Asian high (SAH), and it is closely related to the Indian and East Asian summer monsoon rainfall. The southeastward (northwestward) shift of the SAH is closely related to less (more) Indian summer monsoon rainfall and more (less) rainfall in the Yangtze River valley (YRV) over the East Asian summer monsoon region. An anomalous AGCM is utilized to examine the effect of latent heat anomalies associated with the Asian summer monsoon rainfall on the SAH. The negative latent heat anomalies over the northern Indian Subcontinent associated with a weak Indian summer monsoon stimulates an anomalous cyclone to its northwest and an anticyclone to its northeast over the eastern Tibetan Plateau and eastern China in the upper troposphere, which is responsible for the east–west shift of the SAH and more rainfall in the YRV. The positive latent heat release associated with rainfall ...

Variation in Summer Surface Air Temperature over Northeast Asia and Its Associated Circulation Anomalies

This study investigates the interannual variation of summer surface air temperature over Northeast Asia (NEA) and its associated circulation anomalies. Two leading modes for the temperature variability over NEA are obtained by EOF analysis. The first EOF mode is characterized by a homogeneous temperature anomaly over NEA and therefore is called the NEA mode. This anomaly extends from southeast of Lake Baikal to Japan, with a central area in Northeast China. The second EOF mode is characterized by a seesaw pattern, showing a contrasting distribution between East Asia (specifically including the Changbai Mountains in Northeast China, Korea, and Japan) and north of this region. This mode is named the East Asia (EA) mode. Both modes contribute equivalently to the temperature variability in EA.The two leading modes are associated with different circulation anomalies. A warm NEA mode is associated with a positive geopotential height anomaly over NEA and thus a weakened upper-tropospheric westerly jet. On the other hand, a warm EA mode is related to a positive height anomaly over EA and a northward displaced jet. In addition, the NEA mode tends to be related to the Eurasian teleconnection pattern, while the EA mode is associated with the East Asia-Pacific/Pacific-Japan pattern.

A Study of Teleconnection between the South Asian and East Asian Monsoons: Comparison of Summer Monsoon Precipitation of Nepal and South Korea

This study is carried out in order to bridge the gap to understand the relationships between South Asian and East Asian monsoon systems by comparing the summer (June-September) precipitation of Nepal and South Korea. Summer monsoon precipitation data from Nepal and South Korea during 30 years (1981-2010) are used in this research to investigate the association. NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data are also used to see the nature of large scale phenomena. Statistical applications are used to analyze these data. The analyzed results show that summer monsoon precipitation is higher over Nepal (1513.98 ± 159.29 mm y -1 ) than that of South Korea (907.80 ± 204.71 mm y -1 ) and the wettest period in both the countries is July. However, the coefficient of variation shows that amplitude of interannual variation of summer monsoon over South Korea (22.55%) is larger in comparison to that of Nepal (10.52%). Summer monsoon precipitation of Nepal is found to be significantly correlated to that of South Korea with a correlation coefficient of 0.52 (99% confidence level). Large-scale circulations are studied to further investigate the relationship between the two countries. wind and specific humidity at 850 hPa show a strong westerly from Arabian Sea to BOB and from BOB, wind moves towards Nepal in a northwestward direction during the positive rainfall years. In case of East Asia, strong northward displacement of wind can be observed from Pacific to South Korea and strong anticyclone over the northwestern Pacific Ocean. However, during the negative rainfall years, in the South Asian region we can find weak westerly from the Arabian Sea to BOB, wind is blowing in a southerly direction from Nepal and Bangladesh to BOB.