• Atmosphere
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.415-425
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• 2018

The roles of atmospheric heating formation and distribution on the global circulation are of utmost importance, and those are directly related to not only spatial but also temporal characteristics of monsoon system. In this study, before we clarify the characteristics of apparent heat source <$Q_1$> and moisture sink <$Q_2$>, comparisons of three reanalysis datasets (NCEP2, ERA-Interim, and JRA-55) in its global or regional patterns are performed to clearly evaluate differences among datasets. Considering inter-hemispheric difference of global monsoon regions, seasonal means of June-July-August and December-January-February, which is summer (winter) and winter (summer) in the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere are employed respectively. Here we show the characteristics of eight different regional monsoon regions and find contributions of <$Q_2$> to <$Q_1$> for the regional monsoon regions. Each term in apparent heat source and moisture sink is shown to come from the ERA-Interim dataset, since the ERA-Interim could be representative of three datasets. The NCEP2 data has a different characteristic in the ratio of <$Q_2$> and <$Q_1$> because it overestimates <$Q_1$> compared to the other two different datasets. The Australia monsoon has been performing better over time, while some regional monsoons (South America, North America, and North Africa) have been showing increasing data inconsistency. In addition, the three reanalysis datasets are getting different marching with time, in particular since the early 2000s over South America, North America, and North Africa monsoon regions. The recent inconsistency among the three datasets that may be associated with the global warming hiatus remains unexplored.