The Asian Monsoon Years (AMY 2007-2012) is a cross-cutting initiative as part of the International Monsoon Study (IMS), a coordinated observation and modeling effort under the leadership of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). The long-term goal of AMY is to improve Asian monsoon prediction for societal benefits through coordinated efforts to improve our understanding of Asian monsoon variability and predictability. It is believed that coordination and cooperation of individual participating and partner projects will greatly facilitate the efforts to reach this goal.