Relation between Eurasian Snow Cover, Snow Depth, and the Indian Summer Monsoon: An Observational Study

Abstract

Satellite-derived snow cover data for 22 yr and snow depth data for 9 yr over Eurasia have been analyzed to reexamine the possible relation of snow with the Indian summer monsoon. In contrast to the previous studies that use snow cover averaged over all of Eurasia as a single number, the frequency of occurrence of snow at each grid point over Eurasia is correlated with the Indian summer monsoon rainfall. Thus specific geographical regions over Eurasia that are responsible for the well-known inverse relationship between Eurasian snow cover and Indian monsoon rainfall are delineated.