3. Indian Monsoon

We already know that India’s climate is ‘tropical monsoon’ type. The word ‘monsoon’ has been derived from the Arabic word ‘Mausim’ which means ‘season’. Originally, this word was used by Arab traders to describe a system of seasonal reversal of winds along the shores of the Indian Ocean. Monsoons are especially prominent within the tropics on the eastern sides of the great landmass, but in Asia, it occurs outside the tropics in China, Korea and Japan.

Monsoon is a complex meteorological phenomenon. Experts of meteorology have developed a number of concepts about the origin of the monsoon. Some of the important concepts about the origin of monsoon have been given as under.

3.1. Thermal Concept 3.2. Recent Concept about the Origin of Indian Monsoon 3.2.1. Role of Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau Figure 6 – Tibet anti-cyclone and Easterly Jet stream 3.2.3. Role of ENSO 3.2.4. Walker Cell Figure 7 – Somali current Figure 8 – walker cell and Indian Monsoon Figure 9 – Indian Ocean Dipole 3.3. Nature of Indian Monsoon 3.4. Onset and Advance of Monsoon Figure 10 – India: Normal dates of Onset of the Southwest Monsoon Figure 11 – Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal branches of Southwest Monsoon 3.6. Break in the Monsoon 3.7. Retreat of Monsoon Figure 12 – India: Normal dates of withdrawal of the Southwest Monsoon 3.9. Monsoons and the Economic Life in India