This paper evaluates the performance of 29 state‐ of‐ the‐ art CMIP5 coupled atmosphere‐ ocean general circulation models (AOGCM) in their representation of the regional characteristics of monsoon simulations over South Asia. Despite their relatively coarse resolution, the AOGCMs have shown some skill in simulating the mean monsoon and precipitation variability over the South Asian monsoon region. However, considerable biases exist with reference to observed precipitation and inter‐ model differences are apparent. The models are evaluated for the ENSO‐monsoon teleconnection and the veracity of modeled air‐ sea interactions in the Indian Ocean during the summer monsoon season. The monsoon rainfall and surface flux bias, with respect to observations from the historical run (for the period 1850 to 2010), are discussed in detail. Our results show that the coupled model simulations over South Asia exhibit large uncertainties between models. The analysis clearly exhibits the presence of large systematic biases in the coupled simulations of boreal summer precipitation, evaporation, and sea surface temperature (SST) in the Indian Ocean, often exceeding 50% of the climatological values, and such biases are common to many of the models. Overall, the coupled models are found to be deficient in portraying the boreal summer monsoon over the South Asian monsoon region, and it is therefore apparent that they need further improvement.

ASSESSMENT OF SOUTH ASIAN SUMMER MONSOON SIMULATION IN THE HISTORICAL RUN OF CMIP5 COUPLED CLIMATE MODELS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. METHODOLOGY

2.1 Data and Experiment

3. RESULTS

3.1 Observed and CGCM simulated monsoon over South Asia

4. DISCUSSION

4.1 Discussion and Conclusion

REGIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS OVER SOUTH ASIA IN CMIP5 COUPLED CLIMATE MODEL SIMULATIONS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. METHODOLOGY

2.1 Datasets and Methodology

3. RESULTS

3.1 Atmospheric hydrological cycle over South Asia

4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION