INTERANNUAL VARIATION OF INDEX OF EAST ASIAN LAND-SEA THERMAL DIFFERENCE AND ITS RELATION TO MONSOON CIRCULATION AND RAINFALL OVER CHINA^*

This paper proposes an index of land-sea thermal difference(ILSTD)that describes its zonal and meridional strength responsible for East Asian monsoon circulation to study its relation to the East Asian monsoon circulation and the summer rainfall over China on an interannual basis.Results are as follows:(1)ILSTD can be used to measure the strength of East Asian summer monsoon in such a way that the strong(weak)ILSTD years are associated with strong(weak)summer monsoon circulation.(2)The index also reflects well summer rainfall anomaly over the eastern part of China.In the strong index years,rain belt is mainly located over the northern China,and serious drought emerges in the Jianghuai valleys and mid-lower reaches of the Changjiang River,along with increase of rainfall in North and South China,but in the weak years it is contrary.(3)Besides,the index has obvious QBO and quasi 4-year oscillations,but the periods and amplitudes have significant changes on an interdecadal basis.