Differences between CMIP6 and CMIP5 Models in Simulating Climate over China and the East Asian Monsoon

We compare the ability of coupled global climate models from the phases 5 and 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP5 and CMIP6, respectively) in simulating the temperature and precipitation climatology and interannual variability over China for the period 1961–2005 and the climatological East Asian monsoon for the period1979–2005. All 92 models are able to simulate the geographical distribution of the above variables reasonably well.Compared with earlier CMIP5 models, current CMIP6 models have nationally weaker cold biases, a similar nationwide overestimation of precipitation and a weaker underestimation of the southeast–northwest precipitation gradient, a comparable overestimation of the spatial variability of the interannual variability, and a similar underestimation of the strength of winter monsoon over northern Asia. Pairwise comparison indicates that models have improved from CMIP5 to CMIP6 for climatological temperature and precipitation and winter monsoon but display little improvement for the interannual temperature and precipitation variability and summer monsoon. The ability of models relates to their horizontal resolutions in certain aspects. Both the multi-model arithmetic mean and median display similar skills and outperform most of the individual models in all considered aspects.     

高分辨率MRI模式对青藏高原夏季降水及水汽输送通量的模拟

本文使用MRI模式在不同分辨率下(180 km、120 km、60 km、20 km)的AMIP试验结果, 分析了该模式对青藏高原夏季降水及水汽输送通量的模拟, 并考察模式分辨率的影响。结果表明:MRI模式能够较为合理地模拟出青藏高原夏季气候平均的降水空间分布, 但对气候平均水汽输送通量以及降水年际变化的模拟却存在较大的误差。随着分辨率的提高, 该模式对青藏高原气候平均降水的模拟有明显改进, 包括降水年循环以及夏季降水的空间分布等。分辨率为180 km、120 km、60 km、20 km的MRI模式模拟的青藏高原7月平均降水绝对误差分别为2.2 mm/d、1.2 mm/d、0.7 mm/d、0.2 mm/d。另外, 高分辨率模式模拟的青藏高原夏季水汽输送通量的年际变化也更接近观测。当分辨率达到20 km时, MRI模式模拟的西风水汽输送指数与观测的相关系数达到0.43, 通过了0.1显著性水平的显著性检验。但MRI模式对青藏高原夏季降水的年际变化以及气候平均水汽输送通量的模拟技巧并不随分辨率的增加有明显提高。低分辨率模式中模拟降水量偏大、印度季风槽偏强的现象在高分辨率模式中仍然存在。     

Characteristics of the Asian–Pacific Oscillation in Boreal Summer Simulated by BCC_CSM with Different Horizontal Resolutions

The summer Asian–Pacific Oscillation(APO) is a major teleconnection pattern that reflects the zonal thermal contrast between East Asia and the North Pacific in the upper troposphere. The performance of Beijing Climate Center Climate System Models(BCC CSMs) with different horizontal resolutions, i.e., BCC CSM1.1 and BCC CSM1.1(m), in reproducing APO interannual variability, APO-related precipitation anomalies, and associated atmospheric circulation anomalies, is evaluated.The results show that BCC CSM1.1(m) can successfully capture the interannual variability of the summer APO index. It is also more capable in reproducing the APO's spatial pattern, compared to BCC CSM1.1, due to its higher horizontal resolution. Associated with a positive APO index, the northward-shifted and intensified South Asian high, strengthened extratropical westerly jet, and tropical easterly jet in the upper troposphere, as well as the southwesterly monsoonal flow over North Africa and the Indian Ocean in the lower troposphere, are realistically represented by BCC CSM1.1(m), leading to an improvement in reproducing the increased precipitation over tropical North Africa, South Asia, and East Asia, as well as the decreased precipitation over subtropical North Africa, Japan, and North America. In contrast, these features are less consistent with observations when simulated by BCC CSM1.1. Regression analysis further indicates that surface temperature anomalies over the North Pacific and the southern and western flanks of the Tibetan Plateau are reasonably reproduced by BCC CSM1.1(m), which contributes to the substantial improvement in the simulation of the characteristics of summer APO compared to that of BCC CSM1.1.     

Mechanisms for projected future changes in south Asian monsoon precipitation

Results are first presented from an analysis of a global coupled climate model regarding changes in future mean and variability of south Asian monsoon precipitation due to increased atmospheric CO₂ for doubled (2 × CO₂) and quadrupled (4 × CO₂) present-day amounts. Results from the coupled model show that, in agreement with previous studies, mean area-averaged south Asian monsoon precipitation increases with greater CO₂ concentrations, as does the interannual variability. Mechanisms producing these changes are then examined in a series of AMIP2-style sensitivity experiments using the atmospheric model (taken from the coupled model) run with specified SSTs. Three sets of ensemble experiments are run with SST anomalies superimposed on the AMIP2 SSTs from 1979–97: (1) anomalously warm Indian Ocean SSTs, (2) anomalously warm Pacific Ocean SSTs, and (3) anomalously warm Indian and Pacific Ocean SSTs. Results from these experiments show that the greater mean monsoon precipitation is due to increased moisture source from the warmer Indian Ocean. Increased south Asian monsoon interannual variability is primarily due to warmer Pacific Ocean SSTs with enhanced evaporation variability, with the warmer Indian Ocean SSTs a contributing but secondary factor. That is, for a given interannual tropical Pacific SST fluctuation with warmer mean SSTs in the future climate, there is enhanced evaporation and precipitation variability that is communicated via the Walker Circulation in the atmosphere to the south Asian monsoon to increase interannual precipitation variability there. This enhanced monsoon variability occurs even with no change in interannual SST variability in the tropical Pacific.     

Simulated Change in the Interannual Variability of South Asian Summer Monsoon in the 21st Century

This study investigates the projected changes in interannual variability of South Asian summer monsoon and changes of ENSO-monsoon relationships in the 21st century under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios A1B and A2, respectively, by analyzing the simulated results of twelve Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 3 (CMIP3) coupled models. The dynamical monsoon index (DMI) was adopted to describe the interannual variability of South Asian summer monsoon, and the standard dev...     

Asian monsoon simulations by Community Climate Models CAM4 and CCSM4

This study examines the ability of Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) and Community Climate System Model (CCSM) to simulate the Asian summer monsoon, focusing particularly on inter-model comparison and the role of air–sea interaction. Two different versions of CAM, namely CAM4 and CAM5, are used for uncoupled simulations whereas coupled simulations are performed with CCSM4 model. Ensemble uncoupled simulations are performed for a 30 year time period whereas the coupled model is integrated for 100 years. Emphasis is placed on the simulation of monsoon precipitation by analyzing the interannual variability of the atmosphere-only simulations and sea surface temperature bias in the coupled simulation. It is found that both CAM4 and CAM5 adequately simulated monsoon precipitation, and considerably reduced systematic errors that occurred in predecessors of CAM4, although both tend to overestimate monsoon precipitation when compared with observations. The onset and cessation of the precipitation annual cycle, along with the mean climatology, are reasonably well captured in their simulations. In terms of monsoon interannual variability and its teleconnection with SST over the Pacific and Indian Ocean, both CAM4 and CAM5 showed modest skill. CAM5, with revised model physics, has significantly improved the simulation of the monsoon mean climatology and showed better skill than CAM4. Using idealized experiments with CAM5, it is seen that the adoption of new boundary layer schemes in CAM5 contributes the most to reduce the monsoon overestimation bias in its simulation. In the CCSM4 coupled simulations, several aspects of the monsoon simulation are improved by the inclusion of air–sea interaction, including the cross-variability of simulated precipitation and SST. A significant improvement is seen in the spatial distribution of monsoon mean climatology where a too-heavy monsoon precipitation, which occurred in CAM4, is rectified. A detailed investigation of this significant precipitation reduction showed that the large systematic cold SST errors in the Northern Indian Ocean reduces monsoon precipitation and delays onset by weakening local evaporation. Sensitivity experiments with CAM4 further confirmed these results by simulating a weak monsoon in the presence of cold biases in the Northern Indian Ocean. It is found that although the air–sea coupling rectifies the major weaknesses of the monsoon simulation, the SST bias in coupled simulations induces significant differences in monsoon precipitation. The overall simulation characteristics demonstrate that although the new model versions CAM4, CAM5 and CCSM4, are significantly improved, they still have major weaknesses in simulating Asian monsoon precipitation.     

Strong interannual variation of the Indian summer monsoon in the Late Miocene

The modern Asian monsoon system exhibits strong interannual variation, which has profound environmental and economical impacts. It has been well-documented that the mean Asian monsoon state underwent significant changes in the Late Miocene (11–5 Ma ago). But how the interannual variability of the monsoon climate evolved during this period is still largely unknown. In this study, a long-term simulation of the Late Miocene with a fully coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (ECHAM5/MPI-OM) at T31L19 resolution is used to explore the interannual variation of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) in the Late Miocene. The regional climate model COSMO–CLM with a higher spatial resolution (~1° × 1°) is further employed to better characterize the spatial patterns of these variations. Our results show that although the mean ISM circulation is weaker in the Late Miocene runs, its interannual variation is as strong as or even stronger than at present and the dominant periods (~2.6–2.7 years) are shorter than at present (~3.4–8.4 years). It is noticed that while the extratropical influence on the ISM variability is weaker-than-present, a persistent El Niño-Southern Oscillation with stronger-than-present interannual variability is observed in our Late Miocene run. This may have maintained a strong interannual variation of the ISM with a shorter period in the Late Miocene. Our findings do not only improve our understanding of the Asian monsoon evolution in the Late Miocene, but also shed light on the future changes in the interannual variability of the ISM.     

The Influence of Tibetan Plateau on the Interannual Variability of Asian Monsoon

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MRI模式对华南春雨气候态及年际变率的模拟：不同模式分辨率的比较

本文利用日本气象研究所（MRI）参加第五次国际耦合模式比较计划（CMIP5）的大气环流模式在高、中、低三种分辨率下的AMIP试验结果,评估了其对华南春雨气候态和年际变率的模拟能力,比较了不同分辨率的模拟结果。结果表明,三种不同水平分辨率（120 km、60 km和20 km）的模式均能再现北半球春季位于中国东南部的降水中心。相较于120 km模式,20 km模式能够更为合理地模拟出华南春雨位于南岭—武夷山脉的降水中心。水汽收支分析表明,60 km、20 km模式高估了水汽辐合,使得华南春雨的降水强度被高估。在年际变率方面,在三种分辨率下,模式均能较好地再现观测中El Ni?o衰减年春季的西北太平洋反气旋以及华南春雨降水正异常。较之120 km模式,60 km、20 km模式模拟的降水正异常的空间分布和强度更接近观测,原因是后者模拟的El Ni?o衰减年春季华南地区的水平水汽平流异常更接近观测。本研究表明,发展高分辨率气候模式是提高华南春雨的气候态和年际变率模拟水平的有效途径之一。     

Intraseasonal SST-precipitation relationship and its spatial variability over the tropical summer monsoon region

The SST-precipitation relationship in the intraseasonal variability (ISV) over the Asian monsoon region is examined using recent high quality satellite data and simulations from a state of the art coupled model, the climate forecast system version 2 (CFSv2). CFSv2 demonstrates high skill in reproducing the spatial distribution of the observed climatological mean summer monsoon precipitation along with its interannual variability, a task which has been a conundrum for many recent climate coupled models. The model also exhibits reasonable skill in simulating coherent northward propagating monsoon intraseasonal anomalies including SST and precipitation, which are generally consistent with observed ISV characteristics. Results from the observations and the model establish the existence of spatial variability in the atmospheric convective response to SST anomalies, over the Asian monsoon domain on intraseasonal timescales. The response is fast over the Arabian Sea, where precipitation lags SST by ~5 days; whereas it is slow over the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea, with a lag of ~12 days. The intraseasonal SST anomalies result in a similar atmospheric response across the basins, which consists of a destabilization of the bottom of the atmospheric column, as observed from the equivalent potential temperature anomalies near the surface. However, the presence of a relatively strong surface convergence over the Arabian Sea, due to the presence of a strong zonal gradient in SST, which accelerates the upward motion of the moist air, results in a relatively faster response in terms of the local precipitation anomalies over the Arabian Sea than over the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea. With respect to the observations, the ocean–atmosphere coupling is well simulated in the model, though with an overestimation of the intraseasonal SST anomalies, leading to an exaggerated SST-precipitation relationship. A detailed examination points to a systematic bias in the thickness of the mixed layer of the ocean model, which needs to be rectified. A too shallow (deep) mixed layer enhances (suppress) the amplitude of the intraseasonal SST anomalies, thereby amplifying (lessening) the ISV and the active-break phases of the monsoon in the model.     

East Asian summer monsoon simulation by a 20-km mesh AGCM

East Asian summer monsoon climate simulated by a global 20-km mesh atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) forced by the global sea surface temperature during the period 1979–1998 is investigated. In comparison with a lower resolution (180-km mesh) model experiment, it is revealed that the 20-km mesh AGCM shows the superiority in simulating orographic rainfall not only its location but also its amount. The Baiu frontal structure is also better simulated in the higher resolution model, which leads to stronger Baiu rainfall. The 20-km model also shows more intense extremes in precipitation. Interannual variability of June–August mean precipitation and seasonal march of the monsoon rain band are also investigated. This paper is a contribution to the AMIP-CMIP Diagnostic Sub-project on General Circulation Model Simulation of the East Asian Climate, coordinated by W.-C. Wang.     

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.     

Climate-Vegetation Interannual Variability in a Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean-Land Model

The coupled models of both the Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System (GOALS) and the Atmosphere-Vegetation Interaction Model (GOALS-AVIM) are used to study the main characteristics of interannual variations. The simulated results are also used to investigate some significant interannual variability and correlation analysis of the atmospheric circulation and terrestrial ecosystem. By comparing the simulations of the climate model GOALS-AVIM and GOALS, it is known that the simulated results of the interannual variations of the spatial and temporal distributions of the surface air temperatures and precipitation are generally improved by using AVIM in GOALS-AVIM. The interannual variation displays some distinct characteristics of the geographical distribution. Both the Net Primary Production (NPP) and the Leap Area Index (LAI) have quasi 1-2-year cycles. Meanwhile, precipitation and the surface temperatures have 2--4-year cycles. Conditions when the spectrum density values of GOALS are less than those of GOALS-AVIM, tell us that the model coupled with AVIM enhances the simulative capability for interannual variability and makes the annual cycle variability more apparent. Using Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) analysis, the relationship between the ecosystem and the atmospheric circulation in East Asia is explored. The result shows that the strengthening and weakening of the East Asian monsoon, characterized by the geopotential heights at 500 hPa and the wind fields at 850 hPa, correspond to the spatiotemporal pattern of the NPP. The correlation between NPP and the air temperature, precipitation and solar radiation are different in interannual variability because of the variation in vegetation types.     

Projected Changes in Asian Summer Monsoon in RCP Scenarios of CMIP5

Responses of the Asian Summer Monsoon(ASM) in future projections have been studied based on two core future projections of phase five of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP5) coordinated experiments with the IAP-coupled model FGOALS_s2(the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System Model).The projected changes of the ASM in climatological mean and interannual variability were respectively reported.Both the South Asian Summer Monsoon(SASM) and the East Asian Summer Monsoon(EASM) were intensified in their climatology,featuring increased monsoon precipitation and an enhanced monsoon lower-level westerly jet flow.Accordingly,the amplitude of the annual cycle of rainfall over East Asia(EA) is enhanced,thereby indicating a more abrupt monsoon onset.After the EA monsoon onset,the EASM marched farther northward in the future scenarios than in the historical runs.In the interannual variability,the leading pattern of the EASM,defined by the first multi-variable EOF analysis over EA,explains more of the total variances in the warmest future scenario,specifically,Representative Concentration Pathway(RCP8.5).Also,the correlation coefficients analysis suggests that the relationship between the EASM interannual variations and ENSO was significantly strengthened in the future projections,which may indicate improved predictability of the EASM interannual variations.     

Projected changes in South Asian summer monsoon by multi-model global warming experiments

South Asian summer monsoon (June through September) rainfall simulation and its potential future changes are evaluated in a multi-model ensemble of global coupled climate models outputs under World Climate Research Program Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (WCRP CMIP3) dataset. The response of South Asian summer monsoon to a transient increase in future anthropogenic radiative forcing is investigated for two time slices, middle (2031–2050) and end of the twenty-first century (2081–2100), in the non-mitigated Special Report on Emission Scenarios B1, A1B and A2 .There is large inter-model variability in the simulation of spatial characteristics of seasonal monsoon precipitation. Ten out of the 25 models are able to simulate space–time characteristics of the South Asian monsoon precipitation reasonably well. The response of these selected ten models has been examined for projected changes in seasonal monsoon rainfall. The multi-model ensemble of these ten models projects a significant increase in monsoon precipitation with global warming. The substantial increase in precipitation is observed over western equatorial Indian Ocean and southern parts of India. However, the monsoon circulation weakens significantly under all the three climate change experiments. Possible mechanisms for the projected increase in precipitation and for precipitation–wind paradox have been discussed. The surface temperature over Asian landmass increases in pre-monsoon months due to global warming and heat low over northwest India intensifies. The dipole snow configuration over Eurasian continent strengthens in warmer atmosphere, which is conducive for the enhancement in precipitation over Indian landmass. No notable changes have been projected in the El Niño–Monsoon relationship, which is useful for predicting interannual variations of the monsoon.     

A coupled model study on the intensification of the Asian summer monsoon in IPCC SRES Scenarios

The Asian summer monsoon is an important part of the climate system. Investigating the response of the Asian summer monsoon to changing concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols will be meaningful to understand and predict climate variability and climate change not only in Asia but also globally. In order to diagnose the impacts of future anthropogenic emissions on monsoon climates, a coupled general circulation model of the atmosphere and the ocean has been used at the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology. In addition to carbon dioxide, the major well mixed greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, several chlorofluorocarbons, and CFC substitute gases are prescribed as a function of time. The sulfur cycle is simulated interactively, and both the direct aerosol effect and the indirect cloud albedo effect are considered. Furthermore, changes in tropospheric ozone have been pre-calculated with a chemical transport model and prescribed as a function of time and space in the climate simulations. Concentrations of greenhouse gases and anthropogenic emissions of sulfur dioxide are prescribed according to observations （1860-1990） and projected into the future （1990-2100） according to the Scenarios A2 and B2 in Special Report on Emissions Scenarios （SRES, Nakcenovic et al., 2000） developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change （IPCC）. It is found that the Indian summer monsoon is enhanced in the scenarios in terms of both mean precipitation and interannual variability. An increase in precipitation is simulated for northern China but a decrease for the southern part. Furthermore, the simulated future increase in monsoon variability seems to be linked to enhanced ENSO variability towards the end of the scenario integrations.     

大样本初始化十年际预测试验（CESM-DPLE）对东亚夏季气候预测的评估

基于气温和降水观测资料以及美国国家环境预报中心/国家大气研究中心（NCEP/NCAR）大气再分析资料,系统评估了大样本初始化十年际预测试验（CESM-DPLE）对1959—2016年东亚夏季气候预测的能力。结果表明,CESM-DPLE能较好地模拟东亚夏季气候以及相关主要大气环流系统的基本态特征,在年际尺度上对东亚气温有很高的预测技巧但对降水几乎没有预测能力。CESM-DPLE再现了北大西洋多年代际振荡（AMO）经由激发遥相关波列所引起的中高纬度大气环流、东亚夏季风和气候的异常。20世纪90年代末之后,北大西洋多年代际振荡由冷位相转为暖位相,遥相关波列位相调整,东亚受异常低压控制,东亚夏季风偏强,夏季气温偏高、降水偏多。总体上,尽管还存在着不足,但CESM-DPLE对东亚夏季温度年际变化以及与20世纪90年代末北大西洋多年代际振荡位相转变相联的东亚夏季气候年代际变化具备一定的预测能力,是目前研究和预测东亚气候变化的一套较好试验数据。      

Evaluation of mean and intraseasonal variability of Indian summer monsoon simulation in ECHAM5: identification of possible source of bias

The performance of ECHAM5 atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) is evaluated to simulate the seasonal mean and intraseasonal variability of Indian summer monsoon (ISM). The model is simulated at two different vertical resolutions, with 19 and 31 levels (L19 and L31, respectively), using observed monthly mean sea surface temperature and compared with the observation. The analyses examine the biases present in the internal dynamics of the model in simulating the mean monsoon and the evolution of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) and attempts to unveil the reason behind them. The model reasonably simulates the seasonal mean-state of the atmosphere during ISM. However, some notable discrepancies are found in the simulated summer mean moisture and rainfall distribution. Both the vertical resolutions, overestimate the seasonal mean precipitation over the oceanic regions, but underestimate the precipitation over the Indian landmass. The performance of the model improves with the increment of the vertical resolution. The AGCM reasonably simulates some salient features of BSISO, but fails to show the eastward propagation of the convection across the Maritime Continent in L19 simulation. The propagation across the Maritime Continent and tilted rainband structure improve as one moves from L19 to L31. The model unlikely shows prominent westward propagation that originates over the tropical western Pacific region. L31 also produces some of the observed characteristics of the northward propagating BSISOs. However, the northward propagating convection becomes stationary in phase 5–7. The simulation of shallow diabatic heating structure and the heavy rainfall activity over the Bay of Bengal indicate the abundance of the premature convection-generated precipitation events in the model. It is found that the moist physics is responsible for the poor simulation of the northward propagating convection anomalies.     

Diagnosing GCM errors over West Africa using relaxation experiments. Part I: summer monsoon climatology and interannual variability

The CNRM atmospheric general circulation model Arpege-Climat is relaxed towards atmospheric reanalyses outside the 10°S?C32°N 30°W?C50°E domain in order to disentangle the regional versus large-scale sources of climatological biases and interannual variability of the West African monsoon (WAM). On the one hand, the main climatological features of the monsoon, including the spatial distribution of summer precipitation, are only weakly improved by the nudging, thereby suggesting the regional origin of the Arpege-Climat biases. On the other hand, the nudging technique is relatively efficient to control the interannual variability of the WAM dynamics, though the impact on rainfall variability is less clear. Additional sensitivity experiments focusing on the strong 1994 summer monsoon suggest that the weak sensitivity of the model biases is not an artifact of the nudging design, but the evidence that regional physical processes are the main limiting factors for a realistic simulation of monsoon circulation and precipitation in the Arpege-Climat model. Sensitivity experiments to soil moisture boundary conditions are also conducted and highlight the relevance of land?Catmosphere coupling for the amplification of precipitation biases. Nevertheless, the land surface hydrology is not the main explanation for the model errors that are rather due to deficiencies in the atmospheric physics. The intraseasonal timescale and the model internal variability are discussed in a companion paper.     

Reproducibility and predictability of the Asian summer monsoon in the ECHAM4-GCM

The mean evolution of the Asian summer monsoon and its interannual variability have been studied using three simulations (from 1961 to 1994) with the ECHAM4 General Circulation Model (GCM). The results have been compared with observational data and with two reanalyses data sets: the ECMWF Reanalysis (ERA) and the NCEP-NCAR Reanalysis. The South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) has been studied in terms of mean precipitation and circulation patterns. The model is successful in simulating the mean circulation of the SASM, though precipitation is generally weaker than observed in India, but closer to the observed values over the Indian Ocean and the Philippines. The ECHAM4 model also shows a capability to capture the interannual variability of the monsoon as it is measured by two different indices, the EIMR (Extended Indian Monsoon Rainfall) index and the DMI (Dynamical Monsoon Index). An analysis of NINO3 SSTA anomalies and of the Asian summer monsoon indices showed that the model is able to capture rather well the interdecadal variation of the correlation between them. A large ensemble of 25 members, forced with interannually varying SST from 1979 to 1993, has been used to test the potential predictability of the Indian summer monsoon and the dependence of the skill on the ensemble size. Results indicate that a minimum ensemble size of 16 members is needed to capture the variability of the monsoon indices.