Co-authors: Niklas Boers (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research ), Veronika Stolbova (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research ), Bodo Bookhagen (UC Santa Barbara, Geography Department)
We investigate the spatial characteristics of extreme rainfall synchronicity of the Indian and South American Summer Monsoon System by means of Complex Networks (CN). By introducing a new combination of CN measures and interpreting it in a climatic context, we investigate climatic linkages and classify the spatial characteristics of extreme rainfall synchronicity. Although our approach is based on only one variable (rainfall), it reveals the most important features of the Monsoon Systems, such as the main moisture pathways, areas with frequent development of Mesoscale Convective Systems, and the major convergence zones. In addition, our results reveal substantial differences between the spatial structures of rainfall synchronicity above the 90th and above the 95th percentiles.
References Arenas, A., A. Diaz-Guilera, J. Kurths, Y. Moreno, and C. Zhou, Phys. Reports 2008, 469, 93. Boers, N., B. Bookhagen, N. Marwan, J. Kurths, and J. Marengo, Geophys. Res. Lett. 2013, DOI: 10.1002/grl.50681 (online). Donges, J., Y. Zou, N. Marwan, and J. Kurths, Europhys. Lett. 2009, 87, 48007. Malik, N., B. Bookhagen, N. Marwan, and J. Kurths, Climate Dynamics, 2012, 39, 971.
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