A hypothesis, concerning the spatial scale of the onset of the Asian southwest monsoon of the Northern Hemispheric summer, is put forth. It is implied, from the large scale climatology of the tropospheric motion and temperature fields in May and June, that the monsoon onset is characterized by radical changes in the tropical circulations on a planetary scale. A suitable framework for the quantitative definition of this phenomenon, i.e., the atmospheric energetics in the zonal wavenumber domain, is reviewed. Global tropospheric wind and temperature data for periods surrounding the Indian monsoon onset cases of 1973, 1977 and 1979 are utilized. It is found that the kinetic and available potential energy of the sum of zonal wavenumbers 1, 2 and 3 (defined as the planetary scale waves) increase by about 30 to 50% on the time scale of about 1 week, corresponding to Indian (regional) onset. This increase characterizes the planetary scale onset. From the point of view of scale interactions, the observational calculations show that the planetary scale eddies, in general, supply available potential and kinetic energy to other (zonal mean and sub-planetary) scales during the onset although there are some interesting time variations. It is concluded that additional mechanisms must play the dominant roles in the planetary scale onset. / To determine a more complete energetics for the onset using a dynamically more consistent set of atmospheric observations, an NWP experiment, for the 1979 onset case, is conducted. A global, multi-level, primitive equation spectral model containing a variety of physical effects parameterizations is described in detail. The results of a 96-hour prediction are compared to the observed circulation and rainfall patterns over the Indian Ocean region and the model is seen to reproduce the broad scale synoptic features of the onset fairly well. An analysis of the model diagnosed energetics (for the planetary scale waves) reveals that deep cumulus convection, organized on a planetary scale, is the dominant physical mechanism for the onset. This forcing is most pronounced near the southern Tibetan plateau and over Indochina. The role of this and other heat sources in the monsoon evolution is discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-09, Section: B, page: 2786. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75184 |
| Contributors | PASCH, RICHARD JOSEPH., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 250 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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