A review of recent Chinese research on convection in the Asian monsoon area

Observational and theoretical studies on effects of convection in the Asian monsoon area are reviewed. The major findings are: 1. The South China Sea is a key area of active tropical convection. 2. Convection in the Asian monsoon area plays an important role in the maintenance of the summer monsoon. The transition of planetary scale convective regions into the southern hemisphere is also intimately related to the winter monsoon activity in east Asia. 3. The vertical transports of momentum and heat by mesoscale convective complexes in southeast China are larger than those computed from synoptic-scale data sets, but comparable with those from squall line cases in the tropics. 4. Convection enhances mesoscale and synoptic-scale motions through cooperative interactions with them. 5. Free and forced mesoscale motions, such as cloud clusters, moist low-level jets and land/sea breezes are typical in the south China monsoon area. These motions are important in forming heavy rainfall events.