中文摘要：

The temporal and spatial variations of the ten-day mean surface latent heat flux (TMLH) havebeen analyzed in this paper based on the data of NCEP from January of 1979 to December of 1995in the South China Sea (SCS) monsoon region. It is found that there exist maximum centers ofTMLH standard deviation in the northwest Indochina and the Indian Peninsula as well as thewestern Pacific, SCS, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal, and their locations and strengthschange significantly during the period of SCS monsoon onset. A positive zonal deviation of TMLHoccurs first in the Indochina Peninsula, apparently earlier than that in the Indian Peninsula. Theappearance of maximum positive zonal deviations of TMLH approximately coincides with thesummer monsoon onset. Over the Indochina and Indian Peninsulas, the TMLH increases graduallywith a small amplitude of variation before the onset of summer monsoon, and the rate of increase issignificantly enhanced after the onset of the monsoon; whereas over the ocean, TMLH decreasesbefore the monsoon onset, varies little during the period of monsoon and increases gradually afterthe ending of monsoon. Therefore, it seems that the surface latent heat flux plays an importantrole in the maintenance of the summer monsoon, and its variation is an phenomenon accompanyingthe onset of summer monsoon.