APPLICATION OF HYSPLIT MODEL IN DEFINITION OF THE ONSET OF SOUTH CHINA SEA SUMMER MONSOON

Using NCEP reanalysis data and an airflow trajectory model based on the Lagrangian method, theHybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model, the daily backward trajectorieson the height of 850 hPa above the South China Sea (SCS) area are simulated from April to June. The onsetdate of the SCS summer monsoon from 1948 to 2009 is determined according to the simulated source ofairflow in the monitored area of the SCS. By analyzing the SCS monsoon onset dates over the 62 years, wefound that the number of years in which the SCS monsoon onset is earlier accounts for 13%, and the lateryears 14%, the normal years 73%, of all the 62 years. Analyses with the Lagrangian method, done incomparison with the other two methods which combine wind and potential pseudo-equivalent temperature,were performed to determine the onset dates of the SCS summer monsoon. In some years, the source of thesouthwest airflow in the monitored area of the SCS is in the subtropical region before the onset of the SCSmonsoon, so the airflow from the subtropics can be distinguished with the airflow from the tropics by usingthe Lagrangian method. The simulation by the trajectory model indicated that in some years, after the onsetof SCS summer monsoon, the SCS will be controlled by the southeast wind instead of the southwesterlyusually expected.