Abstract
This study evaluates the seasonal predictability of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall using the Climate Forecast System, version 2 (CFSv2), the current operational forecast model for subseasonal-to-seasonal predictions at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). From a 50-year CFSv2 simulation, 21 wet, dry and normal ISM cases are chosen for a set of seasonal “predictions” with initial states in each month from January to May to conduct predictability experiments. For each prediction, a five-member ensemble is generated with perturbed atmospheric initial states and all predictions are integrated to the end of September. Based on the measures of correlation and root mean square error, the prediction skill decreases with lead month, with the initial states with the shortest lead (May initial states) generally showing the highest skill for predicting the summer mean (June to September; JJAS) rainfall, zonal wind at 850 hPa and sea surface temperature over the ISM region in the perfect model scenario. These predictability experiments are used to understand the finding reported by some recent studies that the NCEP CFSv2 seasonal retrospective forecasts generally have higher skill in predicting the ISM rainfall anomalies from February initial states than from May ones. Comparing the May climatologies generated by the February and May initialized CFSv2 retrospective forecasts, it is found that the latter shows larger bias over the Arabian Sea, with stronger monsoon winds, precipitation and surface latent heat flux. Although the atmospheric bias diminishes quickly after May, an accompanying cold bias persists in the Arabian Sea for several months. It is argued that a similar phenomenon does not occur in the predictability experiments in the perfect model scenario, because the initial shock is negligible in these experiments by design. Therefore, it is possible that the stronger model bias and initial shock in the May CFSv2 retrospective forecasts over the Arabian Sea may be a major factor in affecting ISM prediction skill.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achuthavarier D, Krishnamurthy V, Kirtman BP, Huang B (2012) Role of Indian Ocean in the ENSO-Indian summer monsoon teleconnection in the NCEP climate forecast system. J Clim 25:2490–2508
Adler RF, Huffman GJ, Chang A, Ferraro R, Xie PP, Janowiak J, Rudolf B, Schneider U, Curtis S, Bolvin D, Gruber A, Susskind J, Arkin P, Nelkin E (2003) The version-2 global precipitation climatology project (GPCP) monthly precipitation analysis (1979–present). J Hydrometeorol 4:1147–1167
Balmaseda M, Vidard A, Anderson D (2008) The ECMWF System 3 ocean analysis system. Mon Weather Rev 136:3018–3034. doi:10.1175/2008MWR2433.1
Behringer DW (2005) The global ocean data assimilation system (GODAS) at NCEP, paper presented at 11th Symposium on Integrated Observing and Assimilation Systems for the Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Surface (IOAS-AOLS), Am. Meteorol. Soc., San Antonio, Tex
Charney JG, Shukla J (1981) Predictability of monsoons. In: Lighthill J, Pearce RP (eds) Monsoon dynamics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 99–109
Chattopadhyay R, Rao SA, Sabeerali CT, George G, Rao DN, Dhakate A, Salunke K (2015) Large-scale teleconnection patterns of Indian summer monsoon as revealed by CFSv2 retrospective seasonal forecast runs. Int J Climatol. doi:10.1002/joc.4556
Chaudhari HS, Pokhrel S, Saha SK, Dhakate A, Yadav RK, Salunke K, Mahapatra S, Sabeerali CT, Rao SA (2013) Model biases in long coupled runs of NCEP CFS in the context of Indian summer monsoon. Int J Climatol 33:1057–1069
DelSole T, Shukla J (2010) Model fidelity versus skill in seasonal forecasting. J Clim 23(18):4794–4806
Findlater J (1969) A major low-level air current near the Indian Ocean during the northern summer. Quart J R Meteorol Soc 95:362–380
Gadgil S, Gadgil S (2006) The Indian monsoon, GDP and agriculture. Econ Political Wkly 41(47):4887–4895
Huang B, Kinter JL III (2002) Interannual variability in the tropical Indian Ocean. J Geophys Res 107(C11):3199. doi:10.1029/2001JC001278
Huang B, Shukla J (2007a) Mechanisms for the interannual variability in the tropical Indian Ocean. Part I: the role of remote forcing from the tropical pacific. J Clim 20:2917–2936
Huang B, Shukla J (2007b) Mechanisms for the interannual variability in the tropical Indian Ocean. Part II: regional processes. J Clim 20:2937–2960
Huang B, Zhu J, Marx L, Wu X, Kumar A, Z.Z. Hu, Balmaseda MA, Zhang S, Lu J, E.K. Schneider EK, Kinter JL (2015) Climate drift of AMOC, North Atlantic salinity and arctic sea ice in CFSv2 decadal predictions. Clim Dyn 44:559–583. doi:10.1007/s00382-014-2395-y
Izumo T, Montégut CB, Luo JJ, Behera SK, Masson S, Yamagata T (2008) The role of the western Arabian Sea upwelling in Indian monsoon rainfall variability. J Clim 21(21):5603–5623
Jiang X, Song Yang, Yueqing Li, Arun Kumar, Xiangwen Liu, Zhiyan Zuo, Bhaskar Jha (2013) Seasonal-to-Interannual prediction of the Asian summer monsoon in the NCEP climate forecast system version 2. J Clim 26:3708–3727
Joshi UR, Rajeevan M (2006) Trends in precipitation extremes over India. National Climate Centre, India Meteorological Department.
Kalnay E et al (1996) The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year reanalysis project. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 77:437–471
Levine RC, Turner AG (2012) Dependence of Indian monsoon rainfall on moisture fluxes across the Arabian Sea and the impact of coupled model sea surface temperature biases. Clim Dyn 38:2167–2190. doi:10.1007/s00382-011-1096-z
Levine RC, Turner AG, Marathayil D, Martin GM (2013) The role of northern Arabian Sea surface temperature biases in CMIP5 model simulations and future projections of Indian summer monsoon rainfall. Clim Dyn 41:155–172. doi:10.1007/s00382-012-1656-x
Lorenz EN (1963) Deterministic non-periodic flows. J Atmos Sci 20:130–141
Mulholland DP, Laloyaux P, Haines K, Balmaseda MA (2015) Origin and impact of initialization shocks in coupled atmosphere–ocean forecasts*. Mon Weather Rev 143(11):4631–4644
Parthasarathy B, Munot AA, Kothawale DR (1988) Regression model for estimation of Indian food grain production from Indian summer rainfall. Agric For Meteorol 42:167–182
Pokhrel S, Saha SK, Dhakate A, Rahman H, Chaudhari HS, Salunke K, Hazra A, Sujith K and Sikka, DR (2016) Seasonal prediction of Indian summer monsoon rainfall in NCEP CFSv2: forecast and predictability error. Clim Dyn 46(7–8):2305–2326.
Rahmstorf S (1995) Climate drift in an ocean model coupled to a simple, perfectly matched atmosphere. Clim Dyn 11(8):447–458
Rajeevan M, Guhathakurta P, Thapliyal V (2000) New models for long range forecasts of summer monsoon rainfall over Northwest and Peninsular India. Meteorol Atmos Phys 73:211–225
Rajeevan M, Pa DS, Dikshit SK, and Kelkar RR (2004) IMD’s new operational models for long range forecast of south-west monsoon rainfall over India and their verification for. Curr Sci 86:422–431
Rao KG, Goswami BN (1988) Interannual variations of sea surface temperature over the Arabian Sea and the Indian monsoon: a new perspective. Mon Wea Rev 116:558–568
Rasmusson EM, Carpenter TH (1983) The relationship between eastern equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature and rainfall over India and Sri Lanka. Mon Wea Rev 111:517–528
Saha K (1970) Zonal Anomaly of sea surface temperature in equatorial Indian Ocean and its possible effect upon monsoon circulation. Tellus 22:403–409
Saha S et al (2010) The NCEP Climate Forecast System reanalysis. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 91:1015–1057. doi:10.1175/2010BAMS3001.1
Saha SK, Pokhrel S, Chaudhari HS, Dhakate A, Shewale S, Sabeerali CT, Salunke K, Hazra A, Mahapatra S, Rao AS (2014a) Improved simulation of Indian summer monsoon in latest NCEP climate forecast system free run. Int J Climatol 34:1628–1641
Saha S, Shrinivas Moorthi, Wu X, Wang J, Nadiga S, Patrick Tripp, David Behringer, Yu-Tai Hou, Hui-ya Chuang, Iredell M, Michael Ek, Jesse Meng, Yang R, Malaquías Mendez P, Huug van den Dool, Qin Zhang, Wang W, Mingyue Chen, Emily B (2014b) The NCEP climate forecast system version 2. J Clim 27:2185–2208
Saha SK, S Pokhrel, Salunke K, Dhakate A, Chaudhari HS, Rahaman H, Sujith K, Hazra A, Sikka DR (2016) Potential predictability of Indian summer monsoon rainfall in NCEP CFSv2. J Adv Model Earth Syst 8:96–120. doi:10.1002/2015MS000542.
Saji NH, Goswami BN, Vinayachandran PN, Yamagata T (1999) A dipole mode in the tropical Indian Ocean. Nature 401:360–363
Sausen R, Barthel K, Hasselmann K (1988) Coupled ocean-atmosphere models with flux correction. Clim Dyn 2(3):145–163
Shukla J (1975) Effect of Arabian sea-surface temperature anomaly on Indian summer monsoon: a numerical experiment with the GFDL mode. J Atmos Sci 32:503–511
Shukla J (1981) Dynamical predictability of monthly means. J Atmos Sci 38:2547–2572
Shukla J (1987) Interannual variability of monsoons. In: Fein JS, Stephens PI (eds) Monsoons. Wiley, New York, pp 632
Shukla RP, Bohua Huang (2015a) Interannual variability of the Indian summer monsoon associated with the air-sea feedback in the northern Indian Ocean. Clim Dyn. doi:10.1007/s00382-015-2687-x
Shukla RP, Bohua Huang (2015b) Mean state and interannual variability of the Indian summer monsoon simulation by NCEP CFSv2. Clim Dyn. doi:10.1007/s00382-015-2808-6
Shukla RP, Kinter JL (2014) Simulation of the Asian Monsoon using a regionally-coupled global climate mode. Clim Dyn. doi:10.1007/s00382-014-2188-3
Shukla J, Misra BM (1977) Relationships between sea surface temperature and wind speed over the central Arabian Sea, and the monsoon rainfall over India. Mon Wea Rev 105:998–1002
Shukla J, Paolin DA (1983) The Southern oscillation and long range forecasting of the summer monsoon rainfall over India. Mon Wea Rev 11:1830–1837
Shukla RP, Tripathi KC, Pandey AC and Das IML (2011) Prediction of Indian Summer monsoon rainfall using Niño indices: a neural network approach. Atmos Res 102(1) 99–109. doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2011.06.013
Slingo J, Palmer T (2011) Uncertainty in weather and climate prediction. Philos Trans R Soc Lond A Math Phys Eng Sci 369(1956):4751–4767
Smith MT, Reynolds WR, Peterson TC, Lawrimore J (2008) Improvements to NOAA’s historical merged land–ocean surface temperature analysis (1880–2006). J Clim 21:2283–2296
Walker GT (1923) Correlation in seasonal variations of weather, VIII. A preliminary study of world weather. Mem India Meteorol Dep 24(4):75–131
Wang B, Ding Q, Fu X, Kang I-S, Shukla J, Doblas-Reyes F (2005) Fundamental challenge in simulation and prediction of summer monsoon rainfall. Geophys Res Lett 32:L15711. doi:10.1029/2005GL022734
Webster PJ and Yang S (1992) Monsoon and ENSO: selectively interactive systems. Quart J R Meteorol Soc 118:877–926
Webster PJ, Magana VO, Palmer TN, Shukla J, Tomas RA, Yanai M, Yasunari T (1998) Monsoons: processes, predictability and the prospectsfor prediction. J Geophys Res 103(14 451–14):510
Wu R, Kirtman BP (2004) Impacts of the Indian Ocean on the Indian summer monsoon-ENSO relationship. J Clim 17:3037–3054
Wu R, Kirtman BP (2005) Roles of Indian and Pacific Ocean air–sea coupling in tropical atmospheric variability. Clim Dyn 25:155–170
Xie S-P, Annamalai H, Schott F, McCreary JP Jr (2002) Structure and mechanism of South Indian Ocean climate variability. J Climate 15:864–878
Zhang S (2011a) Impact of observation-optimized model parameters on decadal predictions: Simulation with a simple pycnocline prediction model. Geophys Res Lett 38:L02702. doi:10.1029/2010GL046133
Zhang S (2011b) A study of impacts of coupled model initial shocks and state-parameter optimization on climate predictions using a simple pycnocline prediction model. J Clim 24(23):6210–6226
Zhu J, Shukla J (2013) The role of air–sea coupling in seasonal prediction of Asia-Pacific summer monsoon rainfall. J Clim 26:5689–5697
Acknowledgements
Funding for this research work was provided by grants from the National Science Foundation (1338427), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NA14OAR4310160), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX14AM19G). This research is also supported by a grant from the National Monsoon Mission, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. Computing resources provided by the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) division are gratefully acknowledged. The authors are grateful to three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions, which improved the quality of the manuscript significantly
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shukla, R.P., Huang, B., Marx, L. et al. Predictability and prediction of Indian summer monsoon by CFSv2: implication of the initial shock effect. Clim Dyn 50, 159–178 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3594-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3594-0