As essential parts of the Asian-Australian monsoon system, monsoon variabilities in East Asia, Indochina, and the western North Pacific are interconnected on a range of time scales. This paper provides a review for some aspects of multi-scale variability of three regional monsoon systems. The diurnal, sub-seasonal, and annual cycle of monsoon precipitation across three regions based on new observational findings are described. Progresses in observational studies of the interannual, interdecadal, and long-term variabilities of monsoon are summarized. The relations of tropical ocean-atmosphere interaction, water vapor transport, and high latitude teleconnections to the interannual variability of monsoon are addressed. How to understand the interdecadal/long-term variability of regional monsoon from three-dimensional structure and global monsoon are discussed. The hypothesized mechanisms are commented, including some results from climate model simulations. A short review on the intra-seasonal variations in the tropical regions is also included. Finally a summary is provided on possible areas of future work. The need for both observational analysis and climate modeling from the perspective of interconnected monsoon systems is emphasized.
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