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Possible role of warming on Indian summer monsoon precipitation over the north-central Indian subcontinent

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journal contribution
posted on 2020-01-09, 11:14 authored by Sayak Basu, Sarthak Mohanty, Prasanta Sanyal

Broad disagreement between modelled and observed trends of Indian summer monsoon (ISM) over the north-central part of the Indian subcontinent (NCI) implies a gap in understanding of the relationship between the forcing factors and monsoonal precipitation. Although the strength of the land–sea thermal gradient (LSG) is believed to dictate monsoon intensity, its state and fate under continuous warming over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and part of the NCI (23–28°N, 80–95°E) are less explored. Precipitation (1901–2017) and temperature data (1948–2017) at different vertical heights are used to understand the impact of warming in the ISM. In NCI, surface air temperature increased by 0.1–0.2°C decade−1, comparable to the global warming rate. The ISM precipitation prominently weakened and seasonality reduced after 1950, which is caused by a decrease in the LSG at the depth of the troposphere. Warming-induced increase in local convection over the BoB further reduced ISM precipitation over NCI.

Funding

PS gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) India [Project no. EMR/2017/003673]; Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata [Annual Research Fund].

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