Water vapor sources associated with the early summer precipitation over China

This study investigates the water vapor sources for the early summer precipitation over China in association with the Asian summer monsoon, based on the sensitivity experiments performed by a regional climate model for the year 1998. It is found that the northern South China Sea (NSCS) is an important region for the early summer precipitation over China, particularly the south China region. The evaporative water vapor flux or sea surface temperature over the NSCS could significantly affect the southwesterly water vapor transport towards the NSCS. This in turn may significantly change the water vapor transport from the NSCS to China and so changes the precipitation there. The results of the experiments also show that the precipitation over China does not particularly depend on the water vapor transports from some distant sources by the large-scale flows. Most of the required water vapor could be obtained from the ocean within the monsoon region. The results suggest that the water vapor transport over China is basically a combination of the southeasterly water vapor transport associated with the north Western Pacific subtropical high and the southwesterly water vapor transport associated with the Indian summer monsoon. Without the latter, the early summer precipitation over China could be reduced by up to half of the original amount.