Jong-Ghap Jhun

A New East Asian Winter Monsoon Index and Associated Characteristics of the Winter Monsoon

A new East Asian winter monsoon index, which reflects the 300-hPa meridional wind shear associated with the jet stream, was defined to describe the variability of the winter monsoon in midlatitude East Asia. This index represents very well the seasonal mean winter temperature over Korea, Japan, and eastern China. The National Centers for Environmental Prediction‐National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis data from 1958 to 2001 were used to examine the composite structures of strong and weak winter monsoons based on this index. The composite strong winter monsoon is characterized by an enhanced upper-level jet stream south of Japan, a strengthened midtropospheric East Asian trough, a stronger than normal Aleutian low and Siberian high, and increased low-level northeasterlies along the Russian coast. This composite structure suggests that a cold winter in Korea and Japan depends critically on processes that control the pressure gradients between the Aleutian low and the Siberian high. Power spectral analysis of the index shows significant peaks occurring in 3‐4, 6‐8, and around 18 yr. The decadal peak is primarily due to a prominent cold period from 1980 to 1986 versus a warm period from 1987 to 1993. The regressed sea level pressure field for the interannual component resembles the composite strong winter monsoon pattern, whereas the sea level pressure pattern for the decadal component bears close similarity to that of the Arctic Oscillation. These conditions in the winter monsoon are associated with excess snowfall in October over the Siberian high, northeastern China, and far eastern Russia. The sensitivity experiments with the Seoul National University general circulation model suggest that the change in snow depth in autumn over the Siberian high and northeastern China may lead to the variability of the winter monsoon intensity. The teleconnection analysis confirms that development of the Siberian high and/or the Aleutian low is associated with an enhanced East Asian winter monsoon; the Arctic Oscillation is closely related to the winter monsoon intensity on the decadal time scale.

Remote Connection of the Northeast Asian Summer Rainfall Variation Revealed by a Newly Defined Monsoon Index

Abstract A new northeast Asian summer monsoon index is introduced to investigate the characteristics of the northeast Asian summer rainfall variation, including Korea, Japan, and northeast China, and its possible connection to the tropical and midlatitude circulations. The summer precipitation over northeast Asia is separated into two components associated with tropical forcing and midlatitude dynamics using this monsoon index. The connection between the northeast Asian summer rainfall and ENSO is clearly identified by separating the Tropics-related component from the northeast Asian summer rainfall. That is, the Tropics-related precipitation over northeast Asia tends to be enhanced after the mature phase of El Nino. On the other hand, it is revealed that the extratropics-related component of summer precipitation is connected to the Eurasian wave pattern with no significant lag correlation. The intensity of the western North Pacific anticyclone modulated by ENSO is a key factor in the variation of the nor...

Influences of Tropical Western and Extratropical Pacific SST on East and Southeast Asian Climate in the Summers of 1993–94

Abstract This study emphasizes the importance of sea surface temperature (SST) over the tropical western Pacific and the ocean–atmosphere coupling in the extratropical Pacific for the climate in East and Southeast Asia. Specifically, it demonstrates that the anomalies of tropical SST explain many features of the climate variability in those regions during the summers of 1993 and 1994. Very different atmospheric circulation patterns appeared in East and Southeast Asia between 1993 and 1994. Many regions including northern China, Korea, and Japan suffered from extremely high temperatures and severe droughts in the summer of 1994 but experienced reverse climate anomalies in the summer of 1993. To the south of these regions, the opposite climate patterns occurred. These climate features do not really resemble those associated with the El Nino–Southern Oscillation, which usually exerts a moderate impact on the East Asian climate. However, different SST anomalies have been observed in the tropical western and e...

Variability and singularity of Seoul, South Korea, rainy season (1778-2004)

Abstract The 227-yr daily precipitation record gathered for Seoul, South Korea, represents one of the longest instrumental measurements, which provides an exceptional opportunity for detecting climate singularity (a property of phase locking to annual cycle) of extreme weather events and multidecadal–centennial variability of the rainy season structure. From late June to early September, the occurrence of heavy rain events shows a climatological quasi-biweekly oscillation. The rainy season characteristics, including the dates of onset, retreat, summit, and the duration, all show significant centennial variations. The rainy season summit shows a tendency toward delayed occurrence, which changed from the 37th pentad (P37; 30 June–4 July) during the 1778–1807 period to P44 (4–8 August) during the 1975–2004 period. The amplitude of the interannual (2–6 yr) variation of summer precipitation shows a prominent fluctuation with a 50-yr rhythm. A notable climatological break (around 9–13 August) divides the rainy ...

The Influence of ENSO on Decadal Variations in the Relationship between the East Asian and Western North Pacific Summer Monsoons

Abstract A recent study suggested that the relationship between the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and the western North Pacific summer monsoon (WNPSM) experienced a decadal change around 1993–94. Based on a longer-term integration of a hybrid coupled model, the present study investigates decadal variations in the relationship between the EASM and the WNPSM. Apparent decadal variations in the above relationship have been identified in the model simulation. The authors have analyzed the spatial pattern and variability during strong and weak EASM–WNPSM correlation periods. The purpose of this study is to understand potential reasons for decadal variations in the relationship between the two submonsoons. It is found that the precipitation variability associated with the WNPSM (ENSO) is enhanced over the East Asia and western North Pacific regions during periods when the EASM–WNPSM relationship is strong (weak). The large variability in precipitation associated with the WNPSM during strong periods strengthe...

Interdecadal changes in interannual variability of the global monsoon precipitation and interrelationships among its subcomponents

The interdecadal and the interannual variability of the global monsoon (GM) precipitation over the area which is chosen by the definition of Wang and Ding (Geophys Res Lett 33: L06711, 2006) are investigated. The recent increase of the GM precipitation shown in previous studies is in fact dominant during local summer. It is evident that the GM monsoon precipitation has been increasing associated with the positive phase of the interdecadal Pacific oscillation in recent decades. Against the increasing trend of the GM summer precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere, its interannual variability has been weakened. The significant change-point for the weakening is detected around 1993. The recent weakening of the interannual variability is related to the interdecadal changes in interrelationship among the GM subcomponents around 1993. During P1 (1979–1993) there is no significant interrelationship among GM subcomponents. On the other hand, there are significant interrelationships among the Asian, North American, and North African summer monsoon precipitations during P2 (1994–2009). It is noted that the action center of the interdecadal changes is the Asian summer (AS) monsoon system. It is found that during P2 the Western North Pacific summer monsoon (WNPSM)-related variability is dominant but during P1 the ENSO-related variability is dominant over the AS monsoon region. The WNPSM-related variability is rather related to central-Pacific (CP) type ENSO rather than the eastern-Pacific (EP) type ENSO. Model experiments confirm that the CP type ENSO forcing is related to the dominant WNPSM-related variability and can be responsible for the significant interrelationship among GM subcomponents.

Robust warming over East Asia during the boreal winter monsoon and its possible causes

An analysis of the interannual variability of surface air temperature during the boreal winter in the East Asian (EA) region from 1960 to 2009 reveals that the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) significantly weakens after the mid-1980s. The robust warming over the EA region in the lower and middle troposphere as well as at the surface is caused mainly by changes in circulations over the North Pacific and Eurasian continent. The 300 hPa East Asian jet and 500 hPa trough over the EA region, which are closely linked to cold surges, significantly weaken after the mid-1980s. The weakened northerly wind in the Siberian high region and north of the EA region interfere with cold advection toward the EA region. The anomalous southeasterlies over the East China Sea due to an enhanced North Pacific oscillation (NPO)-like sea level pressure (SLP) pattern lead to anomalous warm advection over the EA region. It is also found that the advection of mean temperature by anomalous wind and the advection of anomalous temperature by mean wind mainly contribute to the anomalous warm advection in the EA region after the mid-1980s. Consequently, these anomalous circulations provide a more favorable environment for weakening of the EAWM.

Impact of the western North Pacific subtropical high on the East Asian monsoon precipitation and the Indian Ocean precipitation in the boreal summertime

The western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) is a crucial component of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) system and significantly influences the precipitation in East Asia. In this study, distinguished role of WNPSH on the EASM and Indian Ocean monsoon (IOM) are investigated. Based on the boreal summer mean field of 850-hPa geopotential height and its interannual variability, the WNPSH index (WNPSHI) is defined by the areaaveraged geopotential height over the region [110°–150°E, 15°–30°N]. The WNPSHI is significantly related to the precipitation over the East Asian monsoon (EAM) region [105°–150°E, 30°–40°N] and IOM region [70°–105°E, 5°–15°N]. Rainfalls over these two regions have good correlation with WNPSH developments and the geopotential height fields at 850 hPa related to the EAM precipitation and IOM precipitation have remarkably different teleconnection patterns in boreal summer. These features exhibit that EAM and IOM precipitations have different type of development processes associated with different type of WNPSH each other. Focusing on the relationships among the EAM precipitation, IOM precipitation, and the WNPSH variabilities, we assume that WNPSH and EAM precipitation are usually fluctuated simultaneously through the sea surface temperature (SST)-subtropical ridge-monsoon rainfall feedback, whereas the IOM precipitation varies through the different process. To clarify the relationships among WNPSH, EAM, and IOM, two cases are selected. The first one is the case that all of WNPSH, EAM, and IOM are in phase (WE(+)I(+)), and the second one is the case that WNPSH and EAM are in phase and WNPSH/EAM and IOM is out of phase (WE(+)I(−)). These two cases are connected to the thermal forcing associated with SST anomalies over the eastern Pacific and Indian Ocean. This different thermal forcing induces the change in circulation fields, and then anomalous circulation fields influence the moisture convergence over Asian monsoon regions interactively. Therefore, the monsoon rainfall may be changed according to the thermal conditions over the tropics.

What drives the global summer monsoon over the past millennium

The global summer monsoon precipitation (GSMP) provides a fundamental measure for changes in the annual cycle of the climate system and hydroclimate. We investigate mechanisms governing decadal-centennial variations of the GSMP over the past millennium with a coupled climate model’s (ECHO-G) simulation forced by solar-volcanic (SV) radiative forcing and greenhouse gases (GHG) forcing. We show that the leading mode of GSMP is a forced response to external forcing on centennial time scale with a globally uniform change of precipitation across all monsoon regions, whereas the second mode represents internal variability on multi-decadal time scale with regional characteristics. The total amount of GSMP varies in phase with the global mean temperature, indicating that global warming is accompanied by amplification of the annual cycle of the climate system. The northern hemisphere summer monsoon precipitation (NHSMP) responds to GHG forcing more sensitively, while the southern hemisphere summer monsoon precipitation (SHSMP) responds to the SV radiative forcing more sensitively. The NHSMP is enhanced by increased NH land–ocean thermal contrast and NH-minus-SH thermal contrast. On the other hand, the SHSMP is strengthened by enhanced SH subtropical highs and the east–west mass contrast between Southeast Pacific and tropical Indian Ocean. The strength of the GSMP is determined by the factors controlling both the NHSMP and SHSMP. Intensification of GSMP is associated with (a) increased global land–ocean thermal contrast, (b) reinforced east–west mass contrast between Southeast Pacific and tropical Indian Ocean, and (c) enhanced circumglobal SH subtropical highs. The physical mechanisms revealed here will add understanding of future change of the global monsoon.

The 30–60-day oscillation in the East Asian summer monsoon and its time-dependent association with the ENSO

Abstract Based on 30–60-day oscillation in the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM), the relationship between its northward propagation and ENSO (El Ni˜no and Southern Oscillation) was investigated. To explicitly describe the 30–60-day monsoonal evolution, an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis was carried out on the temporal-latitude section of the longitudinal average for 115◦E–120◦E. The principal 30–60-day EASM mode captures a northward propagation of well-organized intraseasonal oscillation (NISO). Using the associated time series of the first mode, we found a significant lagged correlation between interannual variability of the NISO and ENSO. Its lagged correlations with NINO indices have a quasi-biennial (QB) characteristic through the preceding summer and the concurrent summer. Their relationship was found by the regression analysis relating the low-level circulation to the ocean temperature. The western North Pacific anticyclone and the anticyclone-induced easterly vertical wind shear anomalies induce the dynamical linkage between the NISO and QB-type ENSO. It is shown that the NISO is more closely tied with QB-type ENSO in its phase than in its amplitude, and may be connected to the anomalous easterly wind and the eastward evolution of an oceanic Kelvin wave, which is associated with abrupt ENSO transition. The predictability on ENSO and NISO is examined through the canonical correlation analysis.