An intercomparison of CMIP5 and CMIP3 models for interannual variability of summer precipitation in Pan-Asian monsoon region

Twenty-one climate models from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 3 (CMIP3) and thirty-one models from the project's Phase 5 (CMIP5) were used to evaluate model reproducibility in assessing interannual variability of summer precipitation in Pan-Asian monsoon region. The results show that both the multi-model ensemble means of the best eight models and of the thirty-one CMIP5 models are more skilful than those of the CMIP3 models in simulating the climatological pattern and the dominant mode of summer precipitation in Pan-Asian monsoon region. CMIP5 models show improved skill in representing the main characteristic of the first mode of summer precipitation in Pan-Asian monsoon region, which is a meridional tripole pattern from north to south occurring east of the 80 degrees E region. That is, owing to the improved El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) pattern and the relationship between Antarctic oscillation in the southern Pacific Ocean (AAO(SP)) and ENSO, the first dominant mode of summer precipitation in Pan-Asian monsoon region are captured by CMIP5 models, which indicates that these models are more skilful in simulating the air-sea interaction of the Southern Hemisphere.