Delayed Impact of Biomass Burning in the Indochinese Peninsula on the Bay of Bengal Monsoon

Sixiao Yang aSchool of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China
bHuizhou Innovation Center for Meteorological Safety, Huizhou 516000, China

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Zhenming Ji aSchool of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China
cKey Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System, Ministry of Education, Zhuhai 519082, China
dSouthern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), 519082, China

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Abstract

The Indochinese Peninsula experiences a dry season with extensive biomass burning peaking from March to April. As the monsoon arrives, rainfall significantly removes aerosols through deposition, ending the emission season. However, the biomass burning aerosols exert an influence on the atmospheric circulation prior to the monsoon onset. This study employed statistical methods and a regional atmosphere-chemistry model (WRF-Chem) to investigate the delayed impact of biomass burning from the Indochinese Peninsula on the monsoon onset. The results indicate that the cold sea surface temperature anomaly caused by the aerosols during the emission season can be stored in the ocean and inhibit convective activities over the adjacent sea regions in the post-emission season, suppressing the southwestward cross-equatorial flow over the southern Bay of Bengal. This suppression delays the westward extension and northward shift of the upper-level South Asian high-pressure system, along with its divergence and subsidence effects, thereby postponing the breakdown and retreat of the subtropical high-pressure belt. Simultaneously, the cold sea temperature also suppresses the development of a warm pool in the southeastern Bay of Bengal, which is associated with the generation of a monsoon onset vortex. Consequently, the onset of the Bay of Bengal monsoon is delayed. Due to the decreasing delayed effects of aerosols over time and the counteractive warming from the accelerated abnormal anticyclonic circulation in the upper Bay of Bengal, which results in accelerated sea surface warming, the delayed influence of aerosols diminishes gradually after the onset of the Bay of Bengal monsoon until it disappears.

© 2024 American Meteorological Society. This is an Author Accepted Manuscript distributed under the terms of the default AMS reuse license. For information regarding reuse and general copyright information, consult the AMS Copyright Policy (www.ametsoc.org/PUBSReuseLicenses).

Corresponding author: Zhenming Ji, jizhm3@mail.sysu.edu.cn

Abstract

The Indochinese Peninsula experiences a dry season with extensive biomass burning peaking from March to April. As the monsoon arrives, rainfall significantly removes aerosols through deposition, ending the emission season. However, the biomass burning aerosols exert an influence on the atmospheric circulation prior to the monsoon onset. This study employed statistical methods and a regional atmosphere-chemistry model (WRF-Chem) to investigate the delayed impact of biomass burning from the Indochinese Peninsula on the monsoon onset. The results indicate that the cold sea surface temperature anomaly caused by the aerosols during the emission season can be stored in the ocean and inhibit convective activities over the adjacent sea regions in the post-emission season, suppressing the southwestward cross-equatorial flow over the southern Bay of Bengal. This suppression delays the westward extension and northward shift of the upper-level South Asian high-pressure system, along with its divergence and subsidence effects, thereby postponing the breakdown and retreat of the subtropical high-pressure belt. Simultaneously, the cold sea temperature also suppresses the development of a warm pool in the southeastern Bay of Bengal, which is associated with the generation of a monsoon onset vortex. Consequently, the onset of the Bay of Bengal monsoon is delayed. Due to the decreasing delayed effects of aerosols over time and the counteractive warming from the accelerated abnormal anticyclonic circulation in the upper Bay of Bengal, which results in accelerated sea surface warming, the delayed influence of aerosols diminishes gradually after the onset of the Bay of Bengal monsoon until it disappears.

© 2024 American Meteorological Society. This is an Author Accepted Manuscript distributed under the terms of the default AMS reuse license. For information regarding reuse and general copyright information, consult the AMS Copyright Policy (www.ametsoc.org/PUBSReuseLicenses).

Corresponding author: Zhenming Ji, jizhm3@mail.sysu.edu.cn
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