Tropical Pacific Modulation of the Asian Summer Monsoon Over the Last Millennium in Paleoclimate Data Assimilation Reconstructions

Jun Hu, Sylvia Dee, Grant Parajuli, Kaustubh Thirumalai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Large uncertainties exist in climate model projections of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM). The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an important modulator of the ASM, but the ENSO-ASM teleconnection is not stationary. Furthermore, teleconnections between ENSO and the East Asian versus South Asian subcomponents of the ASM exhibit distinct characteristics. Therefore, understanding the variability of the ENSO-ASM teleconnection is critical for anticipating future variations in ASM intensity. To this end, we here use paleoclimate records to extend temporal coverage beyond the instrumental era by millennia. Recently, data assimilation techniques have been applied for the last millennium, which facilitates physically consistent, globally gridded climate reconstructions informed by paleoclimate observations. We use these novel data assimilation products to investigate variations in the ENSO-ASM relationship over the last 1,000 years. We find that correlations between ENSO and ASM indices are mostly negative in the last millennium, suggesting that strong ASM years are often associated with La Niña events. During periods of weak correlations between ENSO and the East Asian summer monsoon, we observe an El Niño-like sea surface temperature (SST) pattern in the Pacific. Additionally, SST patterns associated with periods of weak correlations between ENSO and South Asian summer monsoon rainfall are not consistent among data assimilation products. This underscores the importance of developing more precipitation-sensitive paleoclimate proxies in the Indian subcontinental realm over the last millennium. Our study serves as a baseline for future appraisals of paleoclimate assimilation products and an example of informing our understanding of decadal-scale ENSO-ASM teleconnection variability using paleoclimate data sets.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere2023JD039207
JournalJournal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
Volume128
Issue number20
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 27 2023
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Asian monsoon
  • ENSO
  • paleoclimate data assimilation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geophysics
  • Atmospheric Science
  • Space and Planetary Science
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Tropical Pacific Modulation of the Asian Summer Monsoon Over the Last Millennium in Paleoclimate Data Assimilation Reconstructions'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this