Report on the Summer MONEX Field Phase

The Summer Monsoon Experiment (MONEX) which was conducted over the Indian Ocean and adjacent land areas from May to August 1979, and overlapped with the second Special Observing Period of the Global Weather Experiment (FGGE). Attention is given to the scientific goals of Summer MONEX which cover (1) planetary scale aspects, (2) synoptic scale aspects, (3) interactions with atmospheric circulation in the Pacific, Southern Hemisphere, Northern midlatitudes, and stratosphere, and (4) numerical simulation and prediction. The observing system and field operations designed to attain these goals are discussed in detail. In conclusion, it is noted that the combined MONEX and FGGE observations should provide an unprecedented data set for a basic study of the monsoon phenomena.