We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Premonsoon Drought in India Observed from Space.
- Authors
LIU, W. TIMOTHY; XIAOSU XIE
- Abstract
Satellite observations between 2007 and 2015 are used to characterize the annual occurrence of the premonsoon drought (PMD), which causes human death and economic hardship in India, and to postulate its scientific causes. The PMDis identified as the driest and hottest weeks in central India just before the summer monsoon onset. The onset is marked by a sharp increase in precipitation and soil moisture and a decrease in air temperature. The difference between integrated moisture transported in from the Arabian Sea and out to the Bay of Bengal is largely deposited as rain over land during the summer monsoon. The PMDoccurs during the short period when moisture is drawn out to the Bay of Bengal before it can be replenished from the Arabian Sea. The time gap is caused by the earlier start of summer monsoon (southwest) winds in the Bay of Bengal than in the Arabian Sea. Sea surface temperature rise precedes the start of summer monsoon wind in both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, and it has the potential to give advance warning of the PMD and thus allow mitigation of the adverse effects.
- Subjects
INDIA; BAY of Bengal; DROUGHTS; MONSOONS; GLOBAL warming; PUBLIC health
- Publication
Journal of Hydrometeorology, 2017, Vol 18, Issue 3, p683
- ISSN
1525-755X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1175/JHM-D-16-0014.1