scholarly journals Influence of the Madden–Julian Oscillation and Caribbean Low-Level Jet on East Pacific Easterly Wave Dynamics

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 1121-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin W. Whitaker ◽  
Eric D. Maloney
Keyword(s):  
Warm Pool ◽  
Central American ◽  
Madden Julian Oscillation ◽  
Easterly Waves ◽  
Low Level ◽  
East Pacific ◽  
Pacific Warm Pool ◽  
Low Level Jet ◽  
Favorable Conditions ◽  
Relationship Of

Abstract The east Pacific warm pool exhibits basic-state variability associated with the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) and Caribbean low-level jet (CLLJ), which affects the development of easterly waves (EWs). This study compares and contrasts composite changes in the background environment, eddy kinetic energy (EKE) budgets, and EW tracks during MJO and CLLJ events. While previous studies have shown that the MJO influences jet activity in the east Pacific, the influence of the MJO and CLLJ on the east Pacific and EWs is not synonymous. The CLLJ is a stronger modulator of the ITCZ than the MJO, while the MJO has a more expansive influence on the northeastern portion of the basin. Anomalous low-level westerly MJO and CLLJ periods are associated with favorable conditions for EW development paralleling the Central American coast, contrary to previous findings about the relationship of the CLLJ to EWs. Easterly MJO and CLLJ periods support enhanced ITCZ EW development, although the CLLJ is a greater modulator of EW tracks in this region, which is likely associated with stronger moisture and convection variations and their subsequent influence on the EKE budget. ITCZ EW growth during easterly MJO periods is more reliant on barotropic conversion than during strong CLLJ periods, when eddy available potential energy (EAPE)-to-EKE conversion associated with ITCZ convection is more important. Thus, the influence of these phenomena on east Pacific EWs should be considered distinct.

scholarly journals Energetics of East Pacific Easterly Waves during Intraseasonal Events

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (20) ◽  
pp. 7603-7621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam V. Rydbeck ◽  
Eric D. Maloney
Keyword(s):  
Diabatic Heating ◽  
Intraseasonal Variability ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
Easterly Waves ◽  
Low Level ◽  
East Pacific ◽  
Circulation Patterns ◽  
Pacific Warm Pool ◽  
Unidentified Source ◽  
Atmospheric State

Abstract The background atmospheric state of the east Pacific warm pool in which easterly waves develop varies dramatically on intraseasonal time scales. East Pacific intraseasonal variability is well known to modulate local convective and circulation patterns. Westerly (easterly) intraseasonal phases are associated with westerly (easterly) low-level wind and positive (negative) convective anomalies. This study investigates the perturbation available potential energy (PAPE) and perturbation kinetic energy (PKE) budgets of easterly waves composited during westerly, easterly, and neutral intraseasonal phases, respectively. The mechanisms, magnitudes, locations, and vertical structures of easterly waves are shown to strongly vary as a function of intraseasonal phase. Easterly waves draw energy from low-level barotropic conversion, regardless of phase, although the location and magnitude of the conversion varies strongly. During neutral and westerly intraseasonal phases, the generation of PAPE associated with perturbation diabatic heating that is subsequently converted to PKE is the dominant energy source for easterly waves. A novel and previously unrecognized result is the detection of strong barotropic generation of PKE at midlevels during westerly intraseasonal phases. This previously unidentified source of PKE at midlevels is in part due to strong intraseasonal modulation of the background midlevel winds.

scholarly journals On the Convective Coupling and Moisture Organization of East Pacific Easterly Waves

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (10) ◽  
pp. 3850-3870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam V. Rydbeck ◽  
Eric D. Maloney
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Zonal Wind ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
Moisture Gradient ◽  
Easterly Waves ◽  
East Pacific ◽  
Pacific Warm Pool ◽  
Meridional Winds ◽  
The Mean

Abstract Processes associated with the local amplification of easterly waves (EWs) in the east Pacific warm pool are explored. Developing EWs favor convection in the southwest and northeast quadrants of the disturbance. In nascent EWs, convection favors the southwest quadrant. As the EW life cycle progresses, convection in the northeast quadrant becomes increasingly prominent and southwest quadrant convection wanes. The EW moisture budget reveals that anomalous meridional winds acting on the mean meridional moisture gradient of the ITCZ produce moisture anomalies supportive of convection in the southwest quadrant early in the EW life cycle. As EWs mature, moisture anomalies on the poleward side of the EW begin to grow and are supported by the advection of anomalous moisture by the mean zonal wind. In the southwest and northeast portions of the wave, where convection anomalies are favored, lower-tropospheric vorticity is generated locally through vertical stretching that supports a horizontal tilt of the wave from the southwest to the northeast. EWs with such tilts are then able to draw energy via barotropic conversion from the background cyclonic zonal wind shear present in the east Pacific. Convection anomalies associated with EWs vary strongly with changes in the background intraseasonal state. EWs during westerly and neutral intraseasonal periods are associated with robust convection anomalies. Easterly intraseasonal periods are, at times, associated with very weak EW convection anomalies because of weaker moisture and diluted CAPE variations.

scholarly journals The Role of SST in the East Pacific Warm Pool in the Interannual Variability of Central American Rainfall

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 2605-2623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristopher B. Karnauskas ◽  
Antonio J. Busalacchi
Keyword(s):  
Interannual Variability ◽  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
Central American ◽  
Potential Predictability ◽  
El Niño Event ◽  
East Pacific ◽  
Pacific Warm Pool

Abstract Satellite- and gauge-based precipitation and sea surface temperature (SST) are analyzed to understand the role of SST in the east Pacific warm pool (EPWP) in the interannual variability of Central American rainfall. It is shown that, during the rainy season following the mature phase of an El Niño event, an anomalously warm EPWP can cause a rapid enhancement of the eastern Pacific intertropical convergence zone (EP ITCZ), which directly leads to a positive rainfall anomaly over Central America. Moreover, the timing and amplitude of the SST-enhanced EP ITCZ depends on the persistence of the El Niño event. The longer the equatorial SST anomaly persists, the longer the EPWP is subject to anomalous shortwave heating, and thus the stronger (and later) the subsequent SST enhancement of the EP ITCZ. The implications for regional climate monitoring and predictability are explored; potential predictability of seasonal rainfall is demonstrated 4 months in advance using an SST-based index designed to capture the essence of the above-mentioned mechanism.

Mixed layer modeling in the East Pacific warm pool during 2002

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 2559-2573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke P. Van Roekel ◽  
Eric D. Maloney
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
East Pacific ◽  
Pacific Warm Pool

Subseasonal SST Variability in the Tropical Eastern North Pacific during Boreal Summer

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (17) ◽  
pp. 4149-4167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric D. Maloney ◽  
Dudley B. Chelton ◽  
Steven K. Esbensen
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
Boreal Summer ◽  
Sst Variability ◽  
East Pacific ◽  
Pacific Warm Pool ◽  
Northern Edge ◽  
Precipitation Anomalies ◽  
Sst Anomalies ◽  
Costa Rica Dome

Abstract Boreal summer intraseasonal (30–90-day time scale) sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the east Pacific warm pool is examined using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) sea surface temperatures during 1998–2005. Intraseasonal SST variance maximizes at two locations in the warm pool: in the vicinity of 9°N, 92°W near the Costa Rica Dome and near the northern edge of the warm pool in the vicinity of 19°N, 108°W. Both locations exhibit a significant spectral peak at 50–60-day periods, time scales characteristic of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). Complex empirical orthogonal function (CEOF) and spectra coherence analyses are used to show that boreal summer intraseasonal SST anomalies are coherent with precipitation anomalies across the east Pacific warm pool. Spatial variations of phase are modest across the warm pool, although evidence exists for the northward progression of intraseasonal SST and precipitation anomalies. Intraseasonal SSTs at the north edge of the warm pool lag those in the vicinity of the Costa Rica Dome by about 1 week. The MJO explains 30%–40% of the variance of intraseasonal SST anomalies in the east Pacific warm pool during boreal summer. Peak-to-peak SST variations of 0.8°–1.0°C occur during MJO events. SST is approximately in quadrature with MJO precipitation, with suppressed (enhanced) MJO precipitation anomalies leading positive (negative) SST anomalies by 7–10 days. Consistent with the CEOF and coherence analyses, MJO-related SST and precipitation anomalies near the Costa Rica Dome lead those at the northern edge of the warm pool by about 1 week.

scholarly journals A numerical study of the early stages of a tropical cyclogenesis in relation to the MJO

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 4919-4935
Author(s):  
J. Guerbette ◽  
M. Plu ◽  
C. Barthe ◽  
J.-F. Mahfouf
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Study ◽  
Active Phase ◽  
Atmospheric Model ◽  
Tropical Cyclogenesis ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Madden Julian Oscillation ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
South West Indian Ocean ◽  
Low Level Jet

Abstract. The role of an active phase of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) on the evolution of a mesoscale convective systems (MCS) leading to a tropical depression is investigated in the South-West Indian Ocean during the Dynamics of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO) field experiment, with a numerical limited-area atmospheric model. A mesoscale vortex is followed in the low-troposphere from the initiation of the active MJO phase. It is shown that the interaction of the vortex with the Equatorial jet associated with the MJO plays an important role on the vortex development. As the vortex encounters the southern part of the low-level jet, it undergoes intensification that is explained by the barotropic conversion of kinetic energy from the low-level jet to the vortex.

Influence of the Madden-Julian Oscillation on moisture transport by the Caribbean Low Level Jet during the Midsummer Drought in Mexico

2021 ◽  
Vol 248 ◽  
pp. 105243
Author(s):  
Juliet Perdigón-Morales ◽  
Rosario Romero-Centeno ◽  
Paulina Ordoñez ◽  
Raquel Nieto ◽  
Luis Gimeno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Transport ◽  
Madden Julian Oscillation ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Low Level Jet ◽  
The Caribbean

Regime Change of the Boreal Summer Hadley Circulation and Its Connection with the Tropical SST

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (15) ◽  
pp. 3867-3877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran Feng ◽  
Jianping Li ◽  
Jincheng Wang
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Hadley Circulation ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
Boreal Summer ◽  
Tropical Atlantic ◽  
Asymmetric Mode ◽  
Pacific Warm Pool ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Relationship Of

Abstract The year-to-year variability of the boreal summer [June–August (JJA)] Hadley circulation (HC) is dominated by an asymmetric mode centered in the Northern Hemisphere (AMN) and a quasi-symmetric mode centered at 5°N (QSM). The regime change of the JJA HC is revealed by the phase reversal of the time series of the AMN, showing significant weakening of the northern part of the JJA HC and a reversed seesaw relationship of the zonal-mean updraft over 10°–20°N and around the equator. This transition is accompanied by the southward retreat of the HC core and is well correlated with the weakening of tropical summer monsoons. The strong warming trends of the sea surface temperature over the tropical Atlantic and Indo–west Pacific warm pool play an important role in the regime change of the JJA HC. The high-frequency interannual variability of the JJA HC, however, is mainly featured by the QSM and is highly correlated with the Niño-3.4 index, implying that ENSO’s influence is mainly on the high-frequency interannual time scale.

scholarly journals The Spectrum of Convectively Coupled Kelvin Waves and the Madden–Julian Oscillation in Regions of Low-Level Easterly and Westerly Background Flow

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 2107-2111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Roundy
Keyword(s):  
Longwave Radiation ◽  
Wave Dispersion ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
Kelvin Waves ◽  
Madden Julian Oscillation ◽  
Westerly Wind ◽  
Kelvin Wave ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Zonal Wavenumber

Abstract The zonal wavenumber–frequency power spectrum of outgoing longwave radiation in the global tropics suggests that power in convectively coupled Kelvin waves and the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) is organized into two distinct spectral peaks with a minimum in power in between. This work demonstrates that integration of wavelet power in the wavenumber–frequency domain over geographical regions of moderate trade winds yields a similar pronounced spectral gap between these peaks. In contrast, integration over regions of background low-level westerly wind yields a continuum of power with no gap between the MJO and Kelvin bands. Results further show that signals in tropical convection are redder in frequency in these low-level westerly wind zones, confirming that Kelvin waves tend to propagate more slowly eastward over the warm pool than other parts of the world. Results are consistent with the perspective that portions of disturbances labeled as Kelvin waves and the MJO that are proximate to Kelvin wave dispersion curves exist as a continuum over warm pool regions.

scholarly journals Satellite and Buoy Observations of Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Variability in the Tropical Northeast Pacific

2007 ◽  
Vol 135 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric D. Maloney ◽  
Steven K. Esbensen
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Latent Heat Flux ◽  
Intraseasonal Variability ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
East Pacific ◽  
Pacific Warm Pool ◽  
Westerly Flow ◽  
Trmm Precipitation

Abstract Tropical intraseasonal variability in the eastern North Pacific during June–September of 2000–03 is analyzed using satellite and buoy observations. Quick Scatterometer ocean vector winds and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation indicate that periods of anomalous surface westerly flow over the east Pacific warm pool during a summertime intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) life cycle are generally associated with an enhancement of convection to the east of 120°W. An exception is a narrow band of suppressed precipitation along 8°N that is associated with negative column-integrated precipitable water anomalies and anticyclonic vorticity anomalies. Periods of surface easterly anomalies are generally associated with suppressed convection to the east of 120°W. Summertime wind jets in the Gulfs of Tehuantepec and Papagayo exhibit heightened activity during periods of ISO easterly anomalies and suppressed convection. Strong variations in east Pacific warm pool wind speed occur in association with the summertime ISO. Anomalous ISO westerly flow is generally accompanied by enhanced wind speed to the east of 120°W, while anomalous easterly flow is associated with suppressed wind speed. Intraseasonal vector wind anomalies added to the climatological flow account for the bulk of the wind speed enhancement in the warm pool during the westerly phase, while the easterly phase shows strong contributions to the negative wind speed anomaly from both intraseasonal vector wind anomalies and suppressed synoptic-scale eddy activity. An analysis using Tropical Atmosphere Ocean buoys and TRMM precipitation suggests that wind–evaporation feedback is important for supporting summertime intraseasonal convection over the east Pacific warm pool. A statistically significant correlation of 0.6 between intraseasonal latent heat flux and precipitation occurs at the 12°N, 95°W buoy. Correlations between precipitation and latent heat flux at the 10°N, 95°W and 8°N, 95°W buoys are positive (0.4), but not statistically significant. Intraseasonal latent heat flux anomalies at all buoys are primarily wind induced. Consistent with the suppressed convection there during the ISO westerly phase, a negative but not statistically significant correlation (−0.3) occurs between precipitation and latent heat flux at the 8°N, 110°W buoy.

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