IMPACT OF DESERT DUST ON THE EAST ASIAN SUMMER MONSOON

The radiative forcing (RF) of Asian desert dust and its regional feedbacks to the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) system are investigated with a coupled regional climate-desert dust model. The statistical significance of desert dust effects are analyzed through 20 summer seasons (1990-2009). In order to estimate the dust effects reasonably, some improvement has been achieved for the coupled model, including the updates of optical properties and desert source area distribution. We find that the desert dust can result in a roughly weakened monsoon in eastern China, Korean Peninsula, Japan and Indian Peninsula and a strengthened monsoon in Indochina Peninsula in the lower troposphere. Moreover, the precipitation comparisons between observational data and simulated patterns are also suggestive of the desert dust effect on the EASM. In the upper troposphere, the southward shift of the westerly jet (WJ) by the dust effect can be seen as an indicator of the weakened monsoon in great part of the monsoon areas. The change of the moist static energy (MSE) contrast between land and ocean is the main reason for the EASM variations.