Impact of Subdaily Air–Sea Interaction on Simulating Intraseasonal Oscillations over the Tropical Asian Monsoon Region

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1057-1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenting Hu ◽  
Anmin Duan ◽  
Guoxiong Wu

Abstract The off-equatorial boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) is closely linked to the onset, active, and break phases of the tropical Asian monsoon, but the accurate simulation of the eastward-propagating low-frequency ISO by current models remains a challenge. In this study, an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM)–ocean mixed layer coupled model with high (10 min) coupling frequency (DC_10m) shows improved skill in simulating the ISO signal in terms of period, intensity, and propagation direction, compared with the coupled runs with low (1 and 12 h) coupling frequency and a stand-alone AGCM driven by the daily sea surface temperature (SST) fields. In particular, only the DC_10m is able to recreate the observed lead–lag phase relationship between SST (SST tendency) and precipitation at intraseasonal time scales, indicating that the ISO signal is closely linked to the subdaily air–sea interaction. During the ISO life cycle, air–sea interaction reduces the SST underlying the convection via wind–evaporation and cloud–radiation feedbacks, as well as wind-induced oceanic mixing, which in turn restrains convection. However, to the east of the convection, the heat-induced atmospheric Gill-type response leads to downward motion and a reduced surface westerly background flow because of the easterly anomalies. The resultant decreased oceanic mixing, together with the increased shortwave flux, tends to warm the SST and subsequently trigger convection. Therefore, the eastward-propagating ISO may result from an asymmetric east–west change in SST induced mainly by multiscale air–sea interactions.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5191-5209
Author(s):  
Yingxia Gao ◽  
Nicholas P. Klingaman ◽  
Charlotte A. DeMott ◽  
Pang-Chi Hsu

Abstract. The effect of air–sea coupling on simulated boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) is examined using atmosphere–ocean-mixed-layer coupled (SPCAM3-KPP, referred to as SPK throughout) and uncoupled configurations of the superparameterized (SP) Community Atmospheric Model, version 3 (SPCAM3, referred to as SPA throughout). The coupled configuration is constrained to either observed ocean mean state or the mean state from the SP coupled configuration with a dynamic ocean (SPCCSM3), to understand the effect of mean-state biases on the BSISO. All configurations overestimate summer mean subtropical rainfall and its intraseasonal variance. All configurations simulate realistic BSISO northward propagation over the Indian Ocean and western Pacific, in common with other SP configurations. Prescribing the 31 d smoothed sea surface temperature (SST) from the SPK simulation in SPA worsens the overestimated BSISO variance. In both coupled models, the phase relationship between intraseasonal rainfall and SST is well captured. This suggests that air–sea coupling improves the amplitude of simulated BSISO and contributes to the propagation of convection. Constraining SPK to the SPCCSM3 mean state also reduces the overestimated BSISO variability but weakens BSISO propagation. Using the SPCCSM3 mean state also introduces a 1-month delay to the BSISO seasonal cycle compared to SPK with the observed ocean mean state, which matches well with observation. Based on a Taylor diagram, both air–sea coupling and SPCCSM3 mean-state SST biases generally lead to higher simulated BSISO fidelity, largely due to their abilities to suppress the overestimated subtropical BSISO variance.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (16) ◽  
pp. 4278-4286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hae-Kyung Lee Drbohlav ◽  
Bin Wang

Abstract The structures and mechanism of the northward-propagating boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) in the southern Asian monsoon region are simulated and investigated in a three-dimensional intermediate model (3D model). The horizontal structure of the intraseasonal variability in the 3D model depicts the Kelvin–Rossby wave–type disturbance, which may or may not produce the northward-propagating disturbance in the Indian Ocean, depending on the seasonal-mean background winds. Two experiments are conducted in order to identify what characteristic of seasonal-mean background can induce the northwestward-tilted band in the Kelvin–Rossby wave, whose overall eastward movement gives the impression of the northward propagation at a given longitude. When the prescribed boreal summer mean winds are excluded in the first experiment, the phase difference between the barotropic divergence tendency and convection disappears. Consequently, the Rossby wave–type convection forms a zonally elongated band. As a result, the northward propagation of convection at a given longitude disappears. When the easterly vertical shear is introduced in the second experiment, the horizontal and the vertical structures of BSISO become similar to that of the northward-propagating one. The reoccurrence of the northwestward-directed convective band and the phase difference between the barotropic divergence tendency and the convection suggest that the summer mean zonal winds in the boreal Indian summer monsoon region are a critical condition that causes the horizontal and vertical structures of northward-propagating BSISO in the southern Asian monsoon region.


2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2801-2816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suhee Park ◽  
Song-You Hong ◽  
Young-Hwa Byun

Abstract In this paper, the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) and its possible link to dynamical seasonal predictability within a general circulation model framework is investigated. Two experiments with different convection scheme algorithms, namely, the simplified Arakawa–Schubert (SAS) and the relaxed Arakawa–Schubert (RAS) convection algorithms, were designed to compare seasonal simulations from 1979 to 2002 on a seasonal model intercomparison project (SMIP)-type simulation test bed. Furthermore, the wave characteristics (wave intensity, period, and propagation) of the simulated ISO signal provided by the model with two different convection schemes for extended boreal summers from 1997 to 2004 were compared to the observational ISO signal. Precipitation in the boreal summer was fairly well simulated by the model irrespective of the convection scheme used, but the RAS run outperformed the SAS run with respect to tabulated skill scores. Decomposition of the interannual variability of boreal summer precipitation based on observations and model results demonstrates that the seasonal predictability of precipitation is dominated by the intraseasonal component over the warm pool area and the SST-forced signal over the equatorial Pacific Ocean, implying that the seasonal mean anomalies are more predictable under active ISO conditions as well as strong ENSO conditions. Comparison of the ISO simulations with the observations revealed that the main features, such as the intensity of precipitation variance in the intraseasonal time scale and the evolution of propagating ISOs, were reproduced fairly well by the model; however, the wave characteristics associated with the ISO signals were better captured by the experiment with the RAS scheme than the SAS scheme. This study further suggests that accurate simulation of the ISO can improve the seasonal predictability of dynamical seasonal prediction systems.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunil Kumar Pariyar ◽  
Noel Keenlyside ◽  
Wan-Ling Tseng ◽  
Huang Hsiung Hsu ◽  
Ben-jei Tsuang

Abstract We investigate the impact of resolving air-sea interaction on the simulation of the intraseasonal rainfall variability over the South Pacific using the ECHAM5 atmospheric general circulation model coupled with the Snow-Ice-Thermocline (SIT) ocean model. We compare the fully coupled simulation with two uncoupled ECHAM5 simulations, one forced with sea surface temperature (SST) climatology and one forced with daily SST from the coupled model. The intraseasonal rainfall variability over the South Pacific is reduced by 17% in the uncoupled model forced with SST climatology and increased by 8% in the uncoupled simulation forced with daily SST, suggesting the role of air-sea coupling and SST variability. The coupled model best simulates the key characteristics of two intraseasonal rainfall modes over the South Pacific with reasonable propagation and correct periodicity. The spatial structure of the two rainfall modes in all three simulations is very similar, suggesting these modes are primarily generated by the dynamics of the atmosphere. The southeastward propagation of rainfall anomalies associated with two leading rainfall modes in the South Pacific depends upon the eastward propagating MJO signals over the Indian Ocean and western Pacific. Air-sea interaction seems crucial for such propagation as both eastward and southeastward propagations are substantially reduced in the uncoupled model forced with SST climatology. The simulation of both eastward and southeastward propagations improved considerably in the uncoupled model forced with daily SST; however, the periodicity differs from the coupled model. Such discrepancy in the periodicity is attributed to the changes in the SST-rainfall relationship with weaker correlations and the nearly in-phase relationship.


2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 3777-3795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xian-An Jiang ◽  
Tim Li

Abstract The characteristic features of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) during its reinitiation period are studied using NCEP–NCAR reanalysis. Based on these observations and with the aid of an anomalous atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM), a possible mechanism responsible for the BSISO reinitiation is elucidated. The western equatorial Indian Ocean along the eastern African coast tends to be a key region for the phase transition of the BSISO from an enhanced to suppressed convective phase, or vise versa. The major precursory feature associated with reinitiation of suppressed convection is found in the divergence and reduced specific humidity in the boundary layer. Numerical experiments indicate that the low-level divergence is caused by the cold horizontal temperature advection and associated adiabatic warming (descending motion) in situ. The summer mean state is found to be important for the cold horizontal temperature advection through the modulation of a Gill-type response to an intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) heating in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean. The results in this study suggest a self-sustained paradigm in the Indian Ocean for the BSISO; that is, the BSISO could be a basinwide phenomenon instead of a global circumstance system as hypothesized for the boreal winter ISO (i.e., the Madden–Julian oscillation).


2004 ◽  
Vol 17 (21) ◽  
pp. 4109-4134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Zheng ◽  
D. E. Waliser ◽  
W. F. Stern ◽  
C. Jones

Abstract This study compares the tropical intraseasonal oscillation (TISO) variability in the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) coupled general circulation model (CGCM) and the stand-alone atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM). For the AGCM simulation, the sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were specified using those from the CGCM simulation. This was done so that any differences in the TISO that emerged from the two simulations could be attributed to the coupling process and not to a difference in the mean background state. The comparison focused on analysis of the rainfall, 200-mb velocity potential, and 850-mb zonal wind data from the two simulations, for both summer and winter periods, and included comparisons to analogous diagnostics using NCEP–NCAR reanalysis and Climate Prediction Center (CPC) Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) rainfall data. The results of the analysis showed three principal differences in the TISO variability between the coupled and uncoupled simulations. The first was that the CGCM showed an improvement in the spatial variability associated with the TISO mode, particularly for boreal summer. Specifically, the AGCM exhibited almost no TISO variability in the Indian Ocean during boreal summer—a common shortcoming among AGCMs. The CGCM, on the other hand, did show a considerable enhancement in TISO variability in this region for this season. The second was that the wavenumber–frequency spectra of the AGCM exhibited an unrealistic peak in variability at low wavenumbers (1–3, depending on the variable) and about 3 cycles yr−1 (cpy). This unrealistic peak of variability was absent in the CGCM, which otherwise tended to show good agreement with the observations. The third difference was that the AGCM showed a less realistic phase lag between the TISO-related convection and SST anomalies. In particular, the CGCM exhibited a near-quadrature relation between precipitation and SST anomalies, which is consistent with observations, while the phase lag was reduced in the AGCM by about 1.5 pentads (∼1 week). The implications of the above results, including those for the notions of “perfect SST” and “two tier” experiments, are discussed, as are the caveats associated with the study's modeling framework and analysis.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 10125-10156 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Wonsick ◽  
R. T. Pinker ◽  
Y. Ma

Abstract. In recent years, the "Elevated Heat Pump" (EHP) hypothesis has been a topic of intensive research and controversy. It postulates that aerosol-induced anomalous mid- and upper-tropospheric warming above the Tibetan Plateau leads to an early onset and intensification of Asian monsoon rainfall. The finding is primarily based on results from a NASA Finite-Volume General Circulation Model run with and without radiative forcing from different types of aerosols. In particular, black carbon emissions from sources in Northern India and dust from Western China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Southwest Asia affected the modeled anomalous heating. Since the initial discussion of the EHP hypothesis in 2006, the aerosol-monsoon relationship has been addressed using various modeling and observational techniques. The current study takes an observational approach to detect signatures of the "Elevated Heat Pump" effect in the cloud cover and cloud type distributions as derived from Meteosat-5 observations over the Asian Monsoon region, supplemented with temperature data from the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis and precipitation data from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP). Cloud, convection, precipitation, and temperature features for the highest-aerosol years are compared with lower-aerosol content years during the period 2000–2005. Predicted precipitation features in China and Korea are found to be consistent with the hypothesis, but the early onset and intensification of monsoon rainfall over India are not observed. It is proposed that model inaccuracies and/or indirect aerosol effects caused the disagreement between observed and hypothesized behavior.


2009 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
pp. 797-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyong-Hee An ◽  
Chi-Yung Tam ◽  
Chung-Kyu Park

Abstract This study investigates the role of model tropical diabatic heating error on the boreal summer northeast Asian monsoon (NEAM) simulation given by a general circulation model (GCM). A numerical experiment is carried out in which the GCM diabatic heating is adjusted toward more realistic values in the tropics. It is found that the seasonal mean NEAM circulation and rainfall are improved in the GCM. This can be attributed to the reduced positive heating bias in the western Pacific Ocean around 10°–15°N in the model, which in turn leads to better-simulated low-level southerly winds over eastern Asia and more moisture supply to the NEAM region. The GCM’s ability in capturing the year-to-year variation of NEAM rainfall is also markedly improved in the experiment. These results show that the diabatic heating error over the western Pacific can be one reason for poor NEAM simulations in GCMs. The authors also suggest a simple method to reduce model heating biases that can be readily applied to dynamical seasonal prediction systems.


2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 2451-2468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas P. Klingaman ◽  
Steven J. Woolnough ◽  
Hilary Weller ◽  
Julia M. Slingo

Abstract A newly assembled atmosphere–ocean coupled model, called HadKPP, is described and then used to determine the effects of subdaily air–sea coupling and fine near-surface ocean vertical resolution on the representation of the Northern Hemisphere summer intraseasonal oscillation. HadKPP comprises the Hadley Centre atmospheric model coupled to the K-Profile Parameterization ocean boundary layer model. Four 30-member ensembles were performed that vary in ocean vertical resolution between 1 and 10 m and in coupling frequency between 3 and 24 h. The 10-m, 24-h ensemble exhibited roughly 60% of the observed 30–50-day variability in sea surface temperatures and rainfall and very weak northward propagation. Enhancing only the vertical resolution or only the coupling frequency produced modest improvements in variability and just a standing intraseasonal oscillation. Only the 1-m, 3-h configuration generated organized, northward-propagating convection similar to observations. Subdaily surface forcing produced stronger upper-ocean temperature anomalies in quadrature with anomalous convection, which likely affected lower-atmospheric stability ahead of the convection, causing propagation. Well-resolved air–sea coupling did not improve the eastward propagation of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation in this model. Upper-ocean vertical mixing and diurnal variability in coupled models must be improved to accurately resolve and simulate tropical subseasonal variability. In HadKPP, the mere presence of air–sea coupling was not sufficient to generate an intraseasonal oscillation resembling observations.


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