Testing a flexible method to reduce false monsoon onsets

PLoS One. 2014 Aug 8;9(8):e104386. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104386. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

To generate information about the monsoon onset and withdrawal we have to choose a monsoon definition and apply it to data. One problem that arises is that false monsoon onsets can hamper our analysis, which is often alleviated by smoothing the data in time or space. Another problem is that local communities or stakeholder groups may define the monsoon differently. We therefore aim to develop a technique that reduces false onsets for high-resolution gridded data, while also being flexible for different requirements that can be tailored to particular end-users. In this study, we explain how we developed our technique and demonstrate how it successfully reduces false onsets and withdrawals. The presented results yield improved information about the monsoon length and its interannual variability. Due to this improvement, we are able to extract information from higher resolution data sets. This implies that we can potentially get a more detailed picture of local climate variations that can be used in more local climate application projects such as community-based adaptations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Bangladesh
  • Forecasting / methods
  • India
  • Meteorology / methods*
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Rain*
  • Seasons*
  • Terminology as Topic
  • Tropical Climate*

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (www.regjeringen.no), internal funding at Uni Research AS (www.uni.no), and student travel grants from the Norwegian Research School for Climate Dynamics (www.resclim.no). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.