Radiative Energy Budget Estimates for the 1979 Southwest Summer Monsoon

Abstract

Obsemations of temperature moisture, cloud amount, cloud height and soil-derived aerosols are incorporated into radiative transfer models to yield estimates of the tropospheric and surface radiative energy budgets for the summer Monsoon of 1979. Results are presented for six phases of the monsoon for the region 30°S to 40°N latitude and 30°E to 100°E longitude. The derived radiative fields are significantly different from climatological estimates. The evolution of the radiative energy budgets are discussed in relation to monsoon activity. Total tropospheric convergence (TTC) for the January and February phases exhibits a minimum cooling over the southern Indian Ocean and a maximum tropospheric radiative energy loss over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. The early May, pre-onset, onset and post-onset periods exhibit cellular patterns in TTC, with maximum cooling over the cloud-free oceanic regions, and minimum cooling associated with continental regions and areas with large amounts of cloud. This cellular structure is still evident when TTC is averaged over 10° regions. Large seasonal variations in TTC are observed over the deserts, due to the presence of dust in the summer. Regions with large seasonal variations in cloud cover (e.g., the Arabian Sea) also display large variations in TTC. Regionally averaged radiative heating profiles also change significantly with period. These variations result primarily from changes in the cloud distribution associated with the evolution of the monsoon. The net surface radiative flux varies markedly from period to period, and within the same period. As expected, all six periods have a maximum surface radiative energy gain for the cloud-free oceanic regions, while cloudy and continental regions tend to have relative minimae. Large spatial and temporal variations exist in the net surface flux.