Mrr. Kumar et al., On the role of the cross equatorial flow on summer monsoon rainfall over India using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, METEOR ATM, 70(3-4), 1999, pp. 201-213
The role of the cross equatorial flow from the southern Indian Ocean on the
Indian Summer monsoon is examined using the National Centre for Environmen
tal Prediction (NCEP)/National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) data
for the period January 1982 to December 1994. A comparison of NCEP/NCAR dat
a with the satellite data retrieved from the Special Sensor Microwave Image
r (SSM/I) sensor onboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP
) exhibited a negative bias for the wind speeds greater than 4 m/s, whereas
in the case of specific humidity, SSMI values exhibited a positive bias an
d the precipitable water derived from the satellite data exhibited a negati
ve bias. The NCEP reanalysis is able to depict the mean annual cycle of bot
h the cross equatorial flow and moisture flow into the Indian subcontinent
during the monsoon season, but it fails to depict these differences during
excess (1983, 1988, 1994) and deficit monsoon (1982, 1986, 1987) composites
. Further, it is seen that inter hemispheric flow far exceeds the excess mo
isture available over the Arabian Sea indicating that it is the cross equat
orial flow which decides the fate of the summer monsoon.