A Study of the Teleconnections in the Asian-Pacific Monsoon Region

The interactions among the Asian-Pacific monsoon subsystems have significant impacts on the climatic regimes in the monsoon region and even the whole world. Based on the domestic and foreign related research,an analysis is made of four different teleconnection modes found in the Asian-Pacific monsoon region, which reveal clearly the interactions among the Indian summer monsoon (ISM), the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM), and the western North Pacific summer monsoon (WNPSM). The results show that: (1) In the period of the Asian monsoon onset, the date of ISM onset is two weeks earlier than the beginning of the Meiyu over the Yangtze River Basin, and a teleconnection mode is set up from the southwestern India via the Bay of Bengal (BOB) to the Yangtze River Basin and southern Japan, i.e., the "southern" teleconnection of the Asian summer monsoon.(2) In the Asian monsoon culmination period, the precipitation of the Yangtze River Basin is influenced significantly by the WNPSM through their teleconnection relationship, and is negatively related to the WNPSM rainfall, that is, when the WNPSM is weaker than normal, the precipitation of the Yangtze River Basin is more than normal. (3) In contrast to the rainfall over the Yangtze River Basin, the precipitation of northern China (from the 4th pentad of July to the 3rd pentad of August) is positively related to the WNPSM. When the WNPSM is stronger than normal, the position of the western Paci c subtropical high (WPSH) becomes farther northeast than normal, the anomalous northeastward water vapor transport along the southwestern flank of WPSH is converged over northern China, providing adequate moisture for more rainfalls than normal there. (4) The summer rainfall in northern China has also a positive correlation with the ISM. During the peak period of ISM, a teleconnection pattern is formed from Northwest India via the Tibetan Plateau to northern China, i.e., the "northern" teleconnection of the Asian summer monsoon. The above four kinds of teleconnections reflect the links among the Asian monsoon subsystems of ISM, EASM, and WNPSM during the northward advancing march of the Asian summer monsoons.