The Value Addition of Dynamic Downscaling the South Asian Summer Monsoon
from a Global Reanalysis using a Regional Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model
Abstract
In this study we present the results of a Regional Coupled
ocean-atmosphere Model (RCM) simulation of the South Asian Summer
Monsoon (SASM) forced by global atmospheric and oceanic reanalysis at 20
km grid spacing over a period of 25 years (1986-2010). The RCM shows a
more realistic alignment of the simulated rainfall along the orographic
features of the domain. Furthermore, the RCM simulates the observed
feature of convection over continental SASM region being more vigorous
with dominance of mixed warm and cold phase hydrometeors in contrast to
the dominance of the warm rain process in the neighboring tropical
oceans. Similarly, the upper ocean features of contrasting mixed layer
and thermocline depths between the northern and equatorial Indian Ocean
are also simulated in the RSM-ROMS. Intra-Seasonal Oscillation (ISO) of
the SASM at 10-20 and 20-70 days are simulated in the RSM-ROMS with many
of the observed features captured like the latter frequency band being
of higher amplitude and the meridional propagation being slower in Bay
of Bengal compared to that over Arabian Sea. Additionally, RSM-ROMS
shows 12.3 Monsoon Low Pressure Systems (LPS) per season that is
comparable to 14.6 per season from observations. Furthermore, the
intraseasonal contrasts of LPS between the wet and dry spells of ISO is
also reproduced in the RSM-ROMS. The simulation of mesoscale LPS and its
intraseasonal variability by the RCM amidst its reasonable fidelity of
the SASM climatology clearly demonstrates the value addition of
downscaling a global reanalysis at 2.5° (~277-km) to
20-km grid spacing.