Synoptic scale disturbances of the Indian summer monsoon as simulated in a high resolution climate model

Abstract

The Hamburg atmospheric general circulation model ECHAM3 at T106 resolution has considerable skill in reproducing the observed seasonal reversal of mean sea level pressure, the location of the summer heat flow as well as the position of the monsoon trough over the Indian subcontinent. The present-day climate and its seasonal cycle are realistically simulated by the model over this region. The model simulates the structure, intensity, frequency, movement and lifetime of monsoon depressions remarkably well. The number of monsoon depressions/storms simulated by the model in a year ranged from 5 to 12 with an average frequency of 8.4 yr-1, not significantly different from the observed climatology. -from Authors