The Madden–Julian Oscillation’s Influence on Spring Rainy Season Precipitation over Equatorial West Africa*

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (22) ◽  
pp. 8653-8672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fisseha Berhane ◽  
Benjamin Zaitchik ◽  
Hamada S. Badr

Abstract This paper characterizes the influence of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) on spring rainy season (March–June) convection variability over equatorial West Africa (EWA) and investigates mechanisms of association. It is found that the MJO has a significant impact on convection and precipitation anomalies over the region. Over large portions of EWA, MJO impacts on rainfall constitute a difference on the order of 20%–50% from average daily rain rates for the season. This impact is primarily due to the direct influence of the eastward movement of the MJO convective core into EWA, which is associated with westerly low-level wind anomalies that advect moisture from the Atlantic Ocean to the region. In addition, equatorial Rossby and Kelvin waves triggered by MJO convection anomalies over the Indian Ocean have a significant and systematic influence on EWA spring rainy season precipitation. The Kelvin wave contribution and the relative strength of the direct MJO convective influence compared to that of equatorial wave activity differs from findings of studies that have examined MJO influence on EWA during boreal summer. In addition, MJO is found to influence precipitation extremes during spring rains in a manner that is not observed in summer. Importantly, in this analysis the influences of MJO convection and each of the MJO-associated convectively coupled equatorial waves frequently coincide, reaching EWA approximately 20 days after MJO convection initiates in the Indian Ocean. This coincident timing enhances the total MJO impact on the region, and it also implies that MJO events have potential for prediction of regional-scale convection and rainfall anomalies over EWA in this season.

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 114
Author(s):  
Young-Min Yang ◽  
Taehyoun Shim ◽  
Ja-Yeon Moon ◽  
Ki-Young Kim ◽  
Yu-Kyung Hyun

A Madden–Jillian oscillation (MJO) and boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) are important climate variabilities, which affect a forecast of weather and climate. In this study, the MJO and the BSISO hindcasts from the Global Seasonal Forecast System, version 5 (GS5) were diagnosed using dynamic-oriented theories. We additionally analyzed the GS5 climatological run to identify whether the weakness of the GS5 hindcast results from the model physics or initialization processes. The GS5 hindcast captures three-dimensional dynamics and thermodynamics structure of MJO eastward propagation well in the Indian Ocean. The model produces the boundary layer (BL) moisture convergence anomalies to the east of the MJO deep precipitation with easterly anomalies associated with the Kelvin wave. The enhanced BL moisture convergence increases upward transport of moisture from the surface to the lower troposphere, inducing the moist lower troposphere and the positive convective instability by destabilization of the lower atmosphere and, thus, generating the next convection to the east of MJO deep convection and promoting MJO eastward propagation. However, the signal for eastward propagation is relatively weak in the Maritime Continent (MC) and the Western Pacific (WP). To improve the MJO eastward propagation in the MC and WP, improved heating induced by shallow (or congestus) clouds interacting with enhanced BL dynamics may be required. On the other hand, the GS5 hindcast reproduces the BSISO northward propagation reasonably well in the Indian Ocean, which is attributed to positive vorticity anomalies induced by strong vertical shear.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 11973-11990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Fiehn ◽  
Birgit Quack ◽  
Irene Stemmler ◽  
Franziska Ziska ◽  
Kirstin Krüger

Abstract. Oceanic very short-lived substances (VSLSs), such as bromoform (CHBr3), contribute to stratospheric halogen loading and, thus, to ozone depletion. However, the amount, timing, and region of bromine delivery to the stratosphere through one of the main entrance gates, the Indian summer monsoon circulation, are still uncertain. In this study, we created two bromoform emission inventories with monthly resolution for the tropical Indian Ocean and west Pacific based on new in situ bromoform measurements and novel ocean biogeochemistry modeling. The mass transport and atmospheric mixing ratios of bromoform were modeled for the year 2014 with the particle dispersion model FLEXPART driven by ERA-Interim reanalysis. We compare results between two emission scenarios: (1) monthly averaged and (2) annually averaged emissions. Both simulations reproduce the atmospheric distribution of bromoform from ship- and aircraft-based observations in the boundary layer and upper troposphere above the Indian Ocean reasonably well. Using monthly resolved emissions, the main oceanic source regions for the stratosphere include the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal in boreal summer and the tropical west Pacific Ocean in boreal winter. The main stratospheric injection in boreal summer occurs over the southern tip of India associated with the high local oceanic sources and strong convection of the summer monsoon. In boreal winter more bromoform is entrained over the west Pacific than over the Indian Ocean. The annually averaged stratospheric injection of bromoform is in the same range whether using monthly averaged or annually averaged emissions in our Lagrangian calculations. However, monthly averaged emissions result in the highest mixing ratios within the Asian monsoon anticyclone in boreal summer and above the central Indian Ocean in boreal winter, while annually averaged emissions display a maximum above the west Indian Ocean in boreal spring. In the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone bromoform atmospheric mixing ratios vary by up to 50 % between using monthly averaged and annually averaged oceanic emissions. Our results underline that the seasonal and regional stratospheric bromine injection from the tropical Indian Ocean and west Pacific critically depend on the seasonality and spatial distribution of the VSLS emissions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 322 ◽  
pp. 01037
Author(s):  
Triyanto ◽  
Gadis Sri Haryani ◽  
Mohammad Mukhlis Kamal ◽  
Iwan Ridwansyah ◽  
Fauzan Ali ◽  
...  

The rivers on the Sukabumi Coast flow into the Indian Ocean. Three major rivers, namely the Cimandiri River, Cikaso River, and Cibuni River, are sources of glass eel fishing. This study aims to determine the recruitment and estimate of glass eel abundance for future glass eel management. The study was conducted from November 2020-April 2021. Estimation of glass eel abundance was carried out using a fyke net. The glass eel calculation is determined based on the number of glass eels caught, the water discharge entering the fyke net, the water discharge in the estuary, and other variables. The results showed that glass eel recruitment began at the beginning of the rainy season in November 2020 and lasted at the end of the study in April 2021. Anguilla bicolor bicolor is a dominant species of glass eel found in the three river estuaries. The estimated abundance of glass eel was approximately 2,583,438-13,556,650 ind./year or 326,24-1,812 kg/year. The abundance of glass eels at the estuary of Cimandiri River was higher than that of the estuary of Cibuni River and the estuary of Cikaso River.


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1333-1347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ke Huang ◽  
Weiqing Han ◽  
Dongxiao Wang ◽  
Weiqiang Wang ◽  
Qiang Xie ◽  
...  

AbstractThis paper investigates the features of the Equatorial Intermediate Current (EIC) in the Indian Ocean and its relationship with basin resonance at the semiannual time scale by using in situ observations, reanalysis output, and a continuously stratified linear ocean model (LOM). The observational results show that the EIC is characterized by prominent semiannual variations with velocity reversals and westward phase propagation and that it is strongly influenced by the pronounced second baroclinic mode structure but with identifiable vertical phase propagation. Similar behavior is found in the reanalysis data and LOM results. The simulation of wind-driven equatorial wave dynamics in the LOM reveals that the observed variability of the EIC can be largely explained by the equatorial basin resonance at the semiannual period, when the second baroclinic Rossby wave reflected from the eastern boundary intensifies the directly forced equatorial Kelvin and Rossby waves in the basin interior. The sum of the first 10 modes can reproduce the main features of the EIC. Among these modes, the resonant second baroclinic mode makes the largest contribution, which dominates the vertical structure, semiannual cycle, and westward phase propagation of the EIC. The other 9 modes, however, are also important, and the superposition of the first 10 modes produces downward energy propagation in the equatorial Indian Ocean.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (20) ◽  
pp. 8021-8036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Yang ◽  
Shang-Ping Xie ◽  
Lixin Wu ◽  
Yu Kosaka ◽  
Ngar-Cheung Lau ◽  
...  

Abstract This study evaluates the relative contributions to the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) mode of interannual variability from the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) forcing and ocean–atmosphere feedbacks internal to the Indian Ocean. The ENSO forcing and internal variability is extracted by conducting a 10-member coupled simulation for 1950–2012 where sea surface temperature (SST) is restored to the observed anomalies over the tropical Pacific but interactive with the atmosphere over the rest of the World Ocean. In these experiments, the ensemble mean is due to ENSO forcing and the intermember difference arises from internal variability of the climate system independent of ENSO. These elements contribute one-third and two-thirds of the total IOD variance, respectively. Both types of IOD variability develop into an east–west dipole pattern because of Bjerknes feedback and peak in September–November. The ENSO forced and internal IOD modes differ in several important ways. The forced IOD mode develops in August with a broad meridional pattern and eventually evolves into the Indian Ocean basin mode, while the internal IOD mode grows earlier in June, is more confined to the equator, and decays rapidly after October. The internal IOD mode is more skewed than the ENSO forced response. The destructive interference of ENSO forcing and internal variability can explain early terminating IOD events, referred to as IOD-like perturbations that fail to grow during boreal summer. The results have implications for predictability. Internal variability, as represented by preseason sea surface height anomalies off Sumatra, contributes to predictability considerably. Including this indicator of internal variability, together with ENSO, improves the predictability of IOD.


2012 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Molinari ◽  
David Vollaro

This paper describes a large cyclonic gyre that lasted several days in the northwest Pacific during July 1988. Cyclonic winds at 850 hPa extended beyond the 2000-km radius with a radius of maximum winds of 700–800 km. The gyre exhibited clear skies within and north of its center. Active convection extended 4000 km in longitude to its south. The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) was in its active phase in the Indian Ocean prior to gyre formation. Consistent with earlier studies, diabatic heating in the MJO was associated with an anomalous upper-tropospheric westerly jet over the northeast Asian coast and a jet exit region over the northwest Pacific. Repeated equatorward wave-breaking events developed downwind of the jet exit region. One such event left behind a region of lower-tropospheric cyclonic vorticity and convection in the subtropics that played a key role in the gyre formation. A second wave-breaking event produced strong subsidence north of the mature gyre that contributed to its convective asymmetry. Gyres from 1985 and 1989 were compared to the 1988 case. All three gyres developed during an active MJO in the Indian Ocean. Each gyre displayed the same strong convective asymmetry. Each developed in July or August during the climatological peak in breaking Rossby waves in the northwest Pacific. Finally, all of the gyres developed during La Niña at nearly the same location. This location and the convective structure of the gyres closely matched composite La Niña anomalies during boreal summer.


2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 3634-3649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aihong Zhong ◽  
Harry H. Hendon ◽  
Oscar Alves

Abstract The evolution of the Indian Ocean during El Niño–Southern Oscillation is investigated in a 100-yr integration of an Australian Bureau of Meteorology coupled seasonal forecast model. During El Niño, easterly anomalies are induced across the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean. These act to suppress the equatorial thermocline to the west and elevate it to the east and initially cool (warm) the sea surface temperature (SST) in the east (west). Subsequently, the entire Indian Ocean basin warms, mainly in response to the reduced latent heat flux and enhanced shortwave radiation that is associated with suppressed rainfall. This evolution can be partially explained by the excitation of an intrinsic coupled mode that involves a feedback between anomalous equatorial easterlies and zonal gradients in SST and rainfall. This positive feedback develops in the boreal summer and autumn seasons when the mean thermocline is shallow in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean in response to trade southeasterlies. This positive feedback diminishes once the climatological surface winds become westerly at the onset of the Australian summer monsoon. ENSO is the leading mechanism that excites this coupled mode, but not all ENSO events are efficient at exciting it. During the typical El Niño (La Niña) event, easterly (westerly) anomalies are not induced until after boreal autumn, which is too late in the annual cycle to instigate strong dynamical coupling. Only those ENSO events that develop early (i.e., before boreal summer) instigate a strong coupled response in the Indian Ocean. The coupled mode can also be initiated in early boreal summer by an equatorward shift of the subtropical ridge in the southern Indian Ocean, which stems from uncoupled extratropical variability.


2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 1688-1705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swadhin K. Behera ◽  
Jing Jia Luo ◽  
Sebastien Masson ◽  
Suryachandra A. Rao ◽  
Hirofumi Sakuma ◽  
...  

Abstract An atmosphere–ocean coupled general circulation model known as the Scale Interaction Experiment Frontier version 1 (SINTEX-F1) model is used to understand the intrinsic variability of the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD). In addition to a globally coupled control experiment, a Pacific decoupled noENSO experiment has been conducted. In the latter, the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability is suppressed by decoupling the tropical Pacific Ocean from the atmosphere. The ocean–atmosphere conditions related to the IOD are realistically simulated by both experiments including the characteristic east–west dipole in SST anomalies. This demonstrates that the dipole mode in the Indian Ocean is mainly determined by intrinsic processes within the basin. In the EOF analysis of SST anomalies from the noENSO experiment, the IOD takes the dominant seat instead of the basinwide monopole mode. Even the coupled feedback among anomalies of upper-ocean heat content, SST, wind, and Walker circulation over the Indian Ocean is reproduced. As in the observation, IOD peaks in boreal fall for both model experiments. In the absence of ENSO variability the interannual IOD variability is dominantly biennial. The ENSO variability is found to affect the periodicity, strength, and formation processes of the IOD in years of co-occurrences. The amplitudes of SST anomalies in the western pole of co-occurring IODs are aided by dynamical and thermodynamical modifications related to the ENSO-induced wind variability. Anomalous latent heat flux and vertical heat convergence associated with the modified Walker circulation contribute to the alteration of western anomalies. It is found that 42% of IOD events affected by changes in the Walker circulation are related to the tropical Pacific variabilities including ENSO. The formation is delayed until boreal summer for those IODs, which otherwise form in boreal spring as in the noENSO experiment.


Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3583 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
RALF BOCHERT

Four apseudomorph tanaidaceans are recorded from benthos of the shelf off Angola and off northern Namibia (SouthWest Africa). Of these, three are new to science, one each in the genera Hemikalliapseudes, Calozodion andApseudopsis. The genus Hemikalliapseudes now contains four species, all described from West Africa (Angola andMauretania). The new species Hemikalliapseudes sebastiani sp. nov. is separated from other species of this genus byfeatures of several appendages, and the shape of the cephalothorax, pereonites and telson. The genus Calozodion ismainly distributed in the Atlantic and also in the Indian Ocean. Calozodion dominiki sp. nov. is the tenth representativeof the genus and is readily distinguished from all others in that the cheliped propodus of the male has only smallprocesses proximo-ventrally. The new species was widely distributed in the investigation area. Apseudopsis cuanzanussp. nov. is a new member of this species-rich and widely-distributed genus. It differs from the other species of this genusby a combination of several morphological features, including the absence of a dorsodistal spine on the pereopod 1merus, the lack of anterolateral spines on the pereonites, the shape of rostrum and by the absence of plumose setae on pereopod six basis.


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