Study decodes how land conditions impact summer monsoons in Asia

Tokyo (IANS) A team of Japanese researchers have identified how conditions on land will impact weather during summer monsoons in Asia.

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University used numerical simulations to analyse the impact of land conditions when combined with fixed maritime conditions over the Tibetan plateau in late spring.

Their findings, published in the Climate Dynamics journal, showed that land-atmosphere combination “varies greatly from year to year, with unexpectedly low dependence on maritime phenomena like El Nino”. El Nino is a strong, anomalous phenomenon that directly impacts sea surface temperatures.

Using cutting-edge climate models, the team led by Dr. Hiroshi G. Takahashi from the University examined the latest simulation data of weather in different years. They looked for weather patterns with the same maritime conditions.

Snow cover over the plateau during the winters and early spring was found to have had minimal impact on monsoon severity.

“This suggests a memory effect specific to land conditions of around a month, with conditions in late spring significantly impacting monsoons in June,” said the researchers.

Better modelling of land conditions may be key to making accurate seasonal forecasts for the Asian monsoon region, they said.