North Atlantic and Pacific Quasi‐Stationary Parts of Atmospheric Rivers and Their Implications for East Asian Monsoon Onset

Type Article
Date 2019-11
Language English
Author(s) Lee Hung‐i1, Mitchell Jonathan L.1, 2, Tripati Aradhna1, 2, 3, 4, 8, Lora Juan M.2, 5, Chen Ge1, Ding Qinghua6, 7
Affiliation(s) 1 : Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California Los Angeles CA, USA
2 : Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California Los Angeles CA ,USA
3 : Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California Los Angeles C,A USA
4 : European Institute of Marine Sciences (IUEM) Universit de Brest, UMR 6538, Domaines Océaniques, Rue Dumont D'Urville, and IFREMER Plouzane ,France
5 : Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University New Haven CT ,USA
6 : Department of Geography, University of California Santa Barbara CA,USA
7 : Earth Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara CA, USA
8 : European Institute of Marine Sciences (IUEM) Universit de Brest, UMR 6538, Domaines Océaniques, Rue Dumont D'Urville, and IFREMER Plouzane ,France
Source Geophysical Research Letters (0094-8276) (American Geophysical Union (AGU)), 2019-11 , Vol. 46 , N. 21 , P. 12311-12320
DOI 10.1029/2019GL084272
WOS© Times Cited 2
Note This article also appears in: Atmospheric Rivers: Intersection of Weather and Climate
Keyword(s) atmospheric rivers, monsoon, Rossby wave breaking
Abstract

Using a global space‐time diagram of column water vapor (CWV) at 30° N latitude from daily reanalysis data, we find two quasi‐stationary parts of atmospheric rivers (QSARs) that feature locally enhanced CWV and evolve from the Eastern Pacific/Atlantic basins in the winter to the Western Pacific/Atlantic in the summer. East Asian Summer Monsoon onset coincides with the time CWV in the Pacific QSAR first exceeds 40 mm, which also typically occurs just before it makes landfall. QSARs exist in 39‐year (1979–2017) daily climatological CWV, demonstrating the seasonal cycles of these features are quasi‐stationary and potentially useful for monsoon onset prediction. East Asian Summer Monsoon onset is particularly predictable following El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, consistently occurring 25–40 days after the QSAR crosses the dateline. Analysis of local wave activity reveals QSARs as fronts of wave breakings, thus opening a new window into dynamics of subtropical monsoon extensions.

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How to cite 

Lee Hung‐i, Mitchell Jonathan L., Tripati Aradhna, Lora Juan M., Chen Ge, Ding Qinghua (2019). North Atlantic and Pacific Quasi‐Stationary Parts of Atmospheric Rivers and Their Implications for East Asian Monsoon Onset. Geophysical Research Letters, 46(21), 12311-12320. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084272 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00592/70439/