Barotropic growth of monsoon depressions

Diaz, Michael; Boos, William R.

doi:10.1002/qj.3467

Barotropic growth of monsoon depressions

Journal Article · Mon Dec 24 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3467· OSTI ID:1542355

^[1]; ^[2]

Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

While monsoon depressions are a principal synoptic-scale element of the South Asian monsoon, producing extreme rainfall over India and surrounding regions, there exists no widely accepted mechanism explaining their occurrence. This study presents a hierarchy of numerical experiments aimed at finding such an explanation. Using a perturbation-basic state decomposition, we derive an anelastic system of equations that can represent disturbances growing in the complex, three-dimensional monsoon basic state. We find that modal solutions to these equations linearized about this basic state can explain many features of observed monsoon depressions, including their warm-over-cold core structure, westward propagation, and lower-tropospheric wind maximum. For the zonally symmetric case, these modes are barotropically unstable, drawing energy from the meridional shear of the monsoon trough. For the zonally varying basic state, modal solutions still derive energy from barotropic conversion, but fail to achieve positive net growth rates when dissipative processes are included. For the nonlinear equation set, these modes can be excited by a heating impulse, and their energy then remains roughly constant over several days as barotropic energy transfers oppose dissipative losses. Our conclusions support the idea that the general concept of barotropic instability can explain the structure, propagation, and geographic distribution of monsoon depressions, but not their rapid growth rates. We suggest that condensational heating coupled to these waves is needed to obtain a positive growth rate.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); Office of Naval Research; USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; SC0019367

OSTI ID:: 1542355

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1494214

Journal Information:: Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Journal Name: Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society Journal Issue: 719 Vol. 145; ISSN 0035-9009

Publisher:: Royal Meteorological SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (61)

A global climatology of monsoon low-pressure systems: Global Climatology of Monsoon Low-Pressure Systems Hurley, John V.; Boos, William R. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 141, Issue 689 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2447	journal	October 2014
Adiabatic westward drift of Indian monsoon depressions Boos, W. R.; Hurley, J. V.; Murthy, V. S. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 141, Issue 689 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2454	journal	November 2014
The movement of Indian monsoon depressions by interaction with image vortices near the Himalayan wall: Movement of Indian Monsoon Depressions Hunt, Kieran M. R.; Parker, Douglas J. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 142, Issue 698 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2812	journal	June 2016
The spatiotemporal structure of precipitation in Indian monsoon depressions: Spatiotemporal Structure of Precipitation in MDs Hunt, Kieran M. R.; Turner, Andrew G.; Parker, David E. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 142, Issue 701 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2901	journal	October 2016
On the evolution of planetary-scale fields and genesis of monsoon depressions over the Indian region: Genesis of Monsoon Depressions Mishra, S. K. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 144, Issue 710 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3189	journal	December 2017
Nonlinear Balance and Potential-Vorticity Thinking At Large Rossby Number Raymond, D. J. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 118, Issue 507 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49711850708	journal	July 1992
The ERA-Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system Dee, D. P.; Uppala, S. M.; Simmons, A. J. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 137, Issue 656 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.828	journal	April 2011
Some Aspects of the Life History, Structure and Movement of Monsoon Depressions Sikka, D. R. Monsoon Dynamics https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-5759-8_21	book	January 1978
Barotropic-Baroclinic instability of mean zonal wind during summer monsoon Shukla, J. Pure and Applied Geophysics PAGEOPH, Vol. 115, Issue 5-6 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00874418	journal	January 1977
Some aspects of the life history, structure and movement of monsoon depressions Sikka, D. R. Pure and Applied Geophysics PAGEOPH, Vol. 115, Issue 5-6 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00874421	journal	January 1977
Role of barotropic mechanism in the development of a monsoon depression: A MONEX study Subrahmanyam, D.; Tandon, M. K.; George, L. Pure and Applied Geophysics PAGEOPH, Vol. 119, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00878958	journal	January 1981
Baroclinic energetics and zonal plane distribution of monsoon disturbances Salvekar, P. S.; Mishra, S. K. Pure and Applied Geophysics PAGEOPH, Vol. 123, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00880743	journal	January 1985
Low level wind shear and baroclinic growth of monsoon depression scale waves Salvekar, P. S.; George, L.; Mishra, S. K. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, Vol. 35, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01029520	journal	January 1986
Study of Dynamical Structure of an Unusual Monsoon Depression formed over the Bay of Bengal during August 2006 Nagar, Sunanda; Bawiskar, Sanjay; Chinthalu, Gurunath Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 166, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-009-0446-9	journal	February 2009
Impacts of enhanced CCN on the organization of convection and recent reduced counts of monsoon depressions Krishnamurti, T. N.; Martin, Andrew; Krishnamurti, Ruby Climate Dynamics, Vol. 41, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-012-1638-z	journal	January 2013
Numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations Chorin, Alexandre Joel Mathematics of Computation, Vol. 22, Issue 104 https://doi.org/10.1090/S0025-5718-1968-0242392-2	journal	January 1968
Some dynamical characteristics and thermal structure of monsoon depressions over the Bay of Bengal Rajamani, S.; Sikdar, D. N. Tellus A, Vol. 41A, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0870.1989.tb00380.x	journal	May 1989
Westward propagation of the Indian monsoon depression Chen, Tsing-Chang; Yoon, Jin-Ho; Wang, Shih-Yu Tellus A, Vol. 57, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0870.2005.00140.x	journal	October 2005
Dynamic instability of the zonal current during a break monsoon Rao, V. Brahmananda Tellus, Vol. 23, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2153-3490.1971.tb00552.x	journal	February 1971
Impacts of enhanced CCN on the organization of convection and recent reduced counts of monsoon depressions Krishnamurti, T. N.; Martin, Andrew; Krishnamurti, Ruby SPIE Asia-Pacific Remote Sensing, SPIE Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1117/12.979717	conference	November 2012
The Distribution of Deep Convection over Ocean and Land during the Asian Summer Monsoon Grossman, Robert L.; Garcia, Oswaldo Journal of Climate, Vol. 3, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1990)003<1032:TDODCO>2.0.CO;2	journal	September 1990
On the Vertical Tilt of Monsoon Disturbances Keshavamurty, R. N. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 29, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1972)029<0993:OTVTOM>2.0.CO;2	journal	July 1972
Determination of Bulk Properties of Tropical Cloud Clusters from Large-Scale Heat and Moisture Budgets Yanai, Michio; Esbensen, Steven; Chu, Jan-Hwa Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 30, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1973)030<0611:DOBPOT>2.0.CO;2	journal	May 1973
On the vorticity Budget and Vertical Velocity Distribution Associated with the Life Cycle of a Monsoon Depression Daggupaty, Sreerama M.; Sikka, Dev R. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 34, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1977)034<0773:OTVBAV>2.0.CO;2	journal	May 1977
CISK-Barotropic-Baroclinic Instability and the Growth of Monsoon Depressions Shukla, J. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 35, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1978)035<0495:CBBIAT>2.0.CO;2	journal	March 1978
Role of Baroclinic Instability in the Development of Monsoon Disturbances Mishra, S. K.; Salvekar, P. S. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 37, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1980)037<0383:ROBIIT>2.0.CO;2	journal	February 1980
Absolute Barotropic Instability and Monsoon Depressions Lindzen, R. S.; Farrell, B.; Rosenthal, A. J. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 40, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1983)040<1178:ABIAMD>2.0.CO;2	journal	May 1983
Barotropic Wave Propagation and Instability, and Atmospheric Teleconnection Patterns Simmons, A. J.; Wallace, J. M.; Branstator, G. W. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 40, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1983)040<1363:BWPAIA>2.0.CO;2	journal	June 1983
Quasi-Geostrophic Diagnosis of the Monsoon Depression of 5–8 July 1979 Sanders, Frederick Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 41, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1984)041<0538:QGDOTM>2.0.CO;2	journal	February 1984
Baroclinic Instability with Cumulus Heating Moorthi, Shrinivas; Arakawa, Akio Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 42, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1985)042<2007:BIWCH>2.0.CO;2	journal	October 1985
Ageostrophic Geopotential Fluxes in Downstream and Upstream Development of Baroclinic Waves Orlanski, Isidoro; Chang, Edmund K. M. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 50, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1993)050<0212:AGFIDA>2.0.CO;2	journal	January 1993
Radiative-Convective Equilibrium with Explicit Two-Dimensional Moist Convection Held, Isaac M.; Hemler, Richard S.; Ramaswamy, V. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 50, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1993)050<3909:RCEWET>2.0.CO;2	journal	December 1993
Potential Vorticity Conservation, Hydrostatic Adjustment, and the Anelastic Approximation Bannon, Peter R. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 52, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1995)052<2302:PVCHAA>2.0.CO;2	journal	June 1995
Heating, Moistening, and Rainfall over the Western Pacific Warm Pool during TOGA COARE Lin, Xin; Johnson, Richard H. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 53, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1996)053<3367:HMAROT>2.0.CO;2	journal	November 1996
Is the Time-Mean Northern Hemisphere Flow Baroclinically Unstable? Hall, Nicholas M. J.; Sardeshmukh, Prashant D. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 55, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1998)055<0041:ITTMNH>2.0.CO;2	journal	January 1998
On the Ability of Dry Tropical-Cyclone-like Vortices to Withstand Vertical Shear Jones, Sarah C. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 61, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2004)061<0114:OTAODT>2.0.CO;2	journal	January 2004
Numerical Experiments with a Two-Dimensional Horizontal Variable grid Anthes, Richard A. Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 98, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1970)098<0810:NEWATD>2.3.CO;2	journal	November 1970
Downstream Amplification and Formation of Monsoon Disturbances Krishnamurti, T. N.; Molinari, John; Pan, Hua-lu Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 105, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1977)105<1281:DAAFOM>2.0.CO;2	journal	October 1977
Westward Propagating Predecessors of Monsoon Depressions Saha, Kshudiram; Sanders, Frederick; Shukla, Jagadish Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 109, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1981)109<0330:WPPOMD>2.0.CO;2	journal	February 1981
The Baroclinic Processes of Monsoon Depressions Saha, Kshudiram; Chang, C-P. Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 111, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1983)111<1506:TBPOMD>2.0.CO;2	journal	July 1983
Core Structure of a Bay of Bengal Monsoon Depression Warner, Charles Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 112, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1984)112<0137:CSOABO>2.0.CO;2	journal	January 1984
Interannual and Intraseasonal Variations in Monsoon Depressions and Their Westward-Propagating Predecessors Chen, Tsing-Chang; Weng, Shu-Ping Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 127, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1999)127<1005:IAIVIM>2.0.CO;2	journal	June 1999
Time-Splitting Methods for Elastic Models Using Forward Time Schemes Wicker, Louis J.; Skamarock, William C. Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 130, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(2002)130<2088:TSMFEM>2.0.CO;2	journal	August 2002
Convective Clouds over the Bay of Bengal Zuidema, Paquita Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 131, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(2003)131<0780:CCOTBO>2.0.CO;2	journal	May 2003
Three-Dimensional Structure and Dynamics of African Easterly Waves. Part III: Genesis Thorncroft, Chris D.; Hall, Nicholas M. J.; Kiladis, George N. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 65, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JAS2575.1	journal	November 2008
Observations of the Overland Reintensification of Tropical Storm Erin (2007) Arndt, Derek S.; Basara, Jeffrey B.; McPherson, Renee A. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 90, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1175/2009BAMS2644.1	journal	August 2009
Perspectives on Moist Baroclinic Instability: Implications for the Growth of Monsoon Depressions Cohen, Naftali Y.; Boos, William R. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 73, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-15-0254.1	journal	April 2016
Moisture and Moist Static Energy Budgets of South Asian Monsoon Low Pressure Systems in GFDL AM4.0 Adames, Ángel F.; Ming, Yi Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 75, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-17-0309.1	journal	June 2018
Interactions between Water Vapor and Potential Vorticity in Synoptic-Scale Monsoonal Disturbances: Moisture Vortex Instability Adames, Ángel F.; Ming, Yi Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 75, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-17-0310.1	journal	June 2018
Three-Dimensional Structure and Dynamics of African Easterly Waves. Part II: Dynamical Modes Hall, Nicholas M. J.; Kiladis, George N.; Thorncroft, Chris D. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 63, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS3742.1	journal	September 2006
A Genesis Index for Monsoon Disturbances Ditchek, Sarah D.; Boos, William R.; Camargo, Suzana J. Journal of Climate, Vol. 29, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0704.1	journal	July 2016
Role of Narrow Mountains in Large-Scale Organization of Asian Monsoon Convection Xie, Shang-Ping; Xu, Haiming; Saji, N. H. Journal of Climate, Vol. 19, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI3777.1	journal	July 2006
On the Structure and Dynamics of Indian Monsoon Depressions Hunt, Kieran M. R.; Turner, Andrew G.; Inness, Peter M. Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 144, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-15-0138.1	journal	September 2016
Study of a Monsoon Depression (II), Dynamical Structure [モンスーンじょう乱の研究(そのII)じょう乱の力学的構造] Krishnamurti, T. N.; Kanamitsu, Masao; Godbole, Ramesh Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II, Vol. 54, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj1965.54.4_208	journal	January 1976
bservational Study of a Monsoon Depression Developed Over the Bay of Bengal during Summer MONEX [夏季モンスーン実験期間中,ベンガル湾上で発達したモンスーン低気圧の解析] Nitta, Tsuyoshi; Masuda, Kooiti Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II, Vol. 59, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj1965.59.5_672	journal	January 1981
Paradigms for tropical cyclone intensification Montgomery, M.; Smith, R. Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal, Vol. 64, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.22499/2.6401.005	journal	March 2014
Numerical Solution of the Navier-Stokes Equations Chorin, Alexandre Joel Mathematics of Computation, Vol. 22, Issue 104 https://doi.org/10.2307/2004575	journal	October 1968
Dynamic instability of the zonal current during a break monsoon Rao, V. Brahmananda Tellus, Vol. 23, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v23i1.10314	journal	January 1971
Some dynamical characteristics and thermal structure of monsoon depressions over the Bay of Bengal Rajamani, S.; Sikdar, D. N. Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography, Vol. 41, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v41i3.11838	journal	January 1989
Westward propagation of the Indian monsoon depression Chen, Tsing-Chang; Yoon, Jin-Ho; Wang, Shih-Yu Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography, Vol. 57, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v57i5.14733	journal	January 2005
A genesis index for monsoon disturbances Ditchek, Sarah D.; Boos, William R.; Camargo, Suzana J. Columbia University https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-k84e-9c26	text	January 2016

Cited By (3)

Monsoon depression amplification by moist barotropic instability in a vertically sheared environment Diaz, Michael; Boos, William R. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 145, Issue 723 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3585	journal	June 2019
Mesoscale precipitation systems and their role in the rapid development of a monsoon depression over the Bay of Bengal Fujinami, Hatsuki; Hirata, Hidetaka; Kato, Masaya Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 146, Issue 726 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3672	journal	December 2019
Downstream and In Situ: Two Perspectives on the Initiation of Monsoon Low‐Pressure Systems Over the Bay of Bengal Meera, M.; Suhas, E.; Sandeep, S. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 46, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl084555	journal	November 2019

Similar Records

Monsoon depression amplification by moist barotropic instability in a vertically sheared environment

Journal Article · Tue Jun 18 20:00:00 EDT 2019 · Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society · OSTI ID:1574333

Monsoon Depression Amplification by Horizontal Shear and Humidity Gradients: A Shallow Water Perspective

Journal Article · Mon Feb 06 19:00:00 EST 2023 · Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences · OSTI ID:2305347

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Indian monsoon
barotropic instability
idealized numerical modelling
monsoon depression
monsoon low pressure system

Barotropic growth of monsoon depressions

Citation Formats

References (61)

Cited By (3)

Similar Records

Related Subjects