Decadal change of East Asian summer tropospheric temperature meridional gradient around the early 1990s

During 1979–2004, the East Asian summer precipitation has experienced another significant decadal shift around the early 1990s. Based on three radiosonde temperature datasets and four reanalysis datasets, this paper examines the decadal change of the East Asian summer tropospheric temperature around the early 1990s. The results show that the meridional gradient of layer mean upper tropospheric temperature for 200–500 hPa (here after UTT, UTT is upper tropospheric temperature) also underwent an obvious decadal decrease around 1992. The tropospheric temperature south to 35°N becomes decadal cooling, centered along the Yangtze River Valley, while the tropospheric temperature north to 35°N shows a decadal warming, centered in Northwest China-Mongolia. JRA-25 reanalysis is better than the other reanalysis datasets in revealing this decadal change. This decadal shift of East Asian summer UTT may be ascribed to the decadal change of the ENSO period from low-frequency oscillation (4–6 yr) to quasi-biennial oscillation since 1992. It behaves as an increase of ENSO developing events and a reduction of ENSO decaying events. It leads to stronger forcing of ENSO developing summer and weaker forcing of ENSO decaying summer, leading to the dominant role of monopole cooling mode of East Asian UTT after 1992, in contrast to the dominant role of dipole mode of East Asia UTT before 1992. The summer UTT difference between 1993–2004 and 1979–1992 shows a “South cooling-North Warming” pattern, and thereby contributes to the interdecadal decrease of East Asian summer UTT meridional gradient around 1992.