The ocean-monsoon coupling in the Australian region: A systematic review — Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
  1. Schedule
  2. 27. Tropical climate variability: dynamics, teleconnections and impacts
  3. 27(i). Tropical climate variability: dynamics, teleconnections and impacts
  4. The ocean-monsoon coupling in the Australian region: A systematic review

The ocean-monsoon coupling in the Australian region: A systematic review (#131)

Hanna Heidemann 1 , Joachim Ribbe 1 , Christa Pudmenzky 1
  1. University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QUEENSLAND, Australia

In this presentation, the results from a systematic literature review about the role of sea surface temperature (SST) in the variability of the Australian Monsoon (AUSM) is discussed. A specific aim of the analysis is to find answers to some of the following questions: Which oceanic regions influence the AUSM the strongest on an interannual to interdecadal timescale? Which regions have the weakest link? What are the specific characteristics of these influences? What physical processes drive the SST-AUSM link and how do physical models capture the SST-AUSM link?

The initial keyword and abstract search of the SCOPUS data base found that 96% of all AUSM related publications with focus on its physical drivers were published since the extensive first AUSM review by Suppiah (1992). The search identified two additional reviews by Wheeler and Mcbride (2011) and Zhang and Moise (2016), but all of these have only very little or no focus on decadal variability and none of the previous reviews on the AUSM examined in detail the influence of the ocean as a driver on AUSM variability. Therefore, the analysis presented in this study focused on the literature since 1991 with a total of 196 relevant observational and modelling studies assessed. It finds that a large majority of studies identify a strong connection between far and nearfield SST with AUSM precipitation and atmospheric circulation anomalies on interannual to interdecadal timescales. However, the analysis also finds that the exact role of SST and the underlying physical processes that link and drive AUSM variability remain unclear.

 The relationship between the AUSM and SST is revisited by using a number of SST indices. The detailed outcomes from this work will define the further direction of this ongoing project.  

  1. Suppiah, R. (1992). The Australian Summer Monsoon: A review. Prog. Phys. Geogr. 16, 283–318. doi:10.1177/030913339201600302.
  2. Wheeler, M. C., and Mcbride, J. L. (2011). “Australasian monsoon,” in Intraseasonal Variability in the Atmosphere-Ocean Climate System, eds. W. K. M. Lau and D. E. Waliser (Springer Berlin Heidelberg). doi:10.1007/978-3-642-13914-7_5.
  3. Zhang, H., and Moise, A. (2016). “The Australian Summer Monsoon in Current and Future Climate,” in The Monsoons and Climate Change, eds. L. M. V. de Carvalho and C. Jones (Springer Berlin), 67–120. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-21650-8
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