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Variations of monsoon rainfall: A simple unified index
Author(s) -
Nguyen DangQuang,
Renwick James,
McGregor James
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2013gl058155
Subject(s) - monsoon , climatology , east asian monsoon , predictability , environmental science , index (typography) , monsoon of south asia , tropical monsoon climate , geology , mathematics , statistics , world wide web , computer science
A new objective approach is proposed to identify the seasonal cycle of rainfall for major monsoon regions of the globe. Mean sea level pressure and low‐level zonal wind are combined to establish a standardized monsoon index. The index is able to determine the timing of the summer monsoon rainy season across all major monsoon regions in Asia‐Australia, Africa, and the Americas. A detailed application of the index in detecting the monsoon onset‐withdrawal phases is demonstrated for the Vietnam‐South China Sea region. A significant advantage of the index is that it can be used both for studies of monsoon rainfall variability and for monsoon predictability at seasonal time scales.