Influence of the Indian Ocean Dipole on Atmospheric Subseasonal Variability

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 3891-3909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiaki Shinoda ◽  
Weiqing Han
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Zonal Wind ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
Interannual Variation ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Subseasonal Variability ◽  
Ocean Response ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Wind Activity ◽  
Sst Gradient

Abstract The relationship between atmospheric subseasonal variability and interannual variation of SST over the tropical Indian Ocean is examined using winds and humidity from the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis, outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), and the monthly SST analysis. The primary focus is on whether and how the subseasonal variability is related to the zonal dipole structure of SST, which peaks during boreal fall. The level of subseasonal wind activity is measured by standard deviation of bandpass-filtered zonal wind fields on the 6–30- and 30–90-day time scales. During boreal fall (September–November), the interannual variation of 6–30-day (submonthly) near-surface zonal wind activity in the central and eastern equatorial Indian Ocean is highly correlated with the large-scale zonal SST gradient. The intensity of submonthly variability is largely reduced during positive dipole years. A significant reduction of intraseasonal (30–90-day) wind activity is also evident during large dipole events. However, the correlation with the zonal SST gradient is much weaker than that of submonthly variability. The mechanism by which the Indian Ocean dipole influences equatorial submonthly winds is investigated based on a cross-correlation analysis of OLR and winds. During negative dipole years, submonthly convection is active in the southeast Indian Ocean where the anomalous convergence of surface moisture associated with dipole events is at its maximum. The submonthly convection in this region is often associated with a cyclonic circulation, and these disturbances propagate westward. Consequently, equatorial westerlies and northwesterly winds near the coast of Sumatra are generated. During positive dipole years, submonthly convective activity is highly reduced in the southeast Indian Ocean, and thus no equatorial westerly is generated. Ocean response to submonthly disturbances is examined using OGCM experiments forced with winds from the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis. Results suggest that submonthly winds can generate significant upper-ocean response, including strong eastward surface currents near the equator and sea surface height anomalies along the coast of Sumatra where the large SST anomalies associated with dipole events are observed.

scholarly journals Indian Ocean Dipole and El Niño/Southern Oscillation impacts on regional chlorophyll anomalies in the Indian Ocean

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 6677-6698 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Currie ◽  
M. Lengaigne ◽  
J. Vialard ◽  
D. M. Kaplan ◽  
O. Aumont ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
El Niño Southern Oscillation ◽  
El Nino Southern Oscillation ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Climate Modes ◽  
The Indian Ocean

Abstract. The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are independent climate modes, which frequently co-occur, driving significant interannual changes within the Indian Ocean. We use a four-decade hindcast from a coupled biophysical ocean general circulation model, to disentangle patterns of chlorophyll anomalies driven by these two climate modes. Comparisons with remotely sensed records show that the simulation competently reproduces the chlorophyll seasonal cycle, as well as open-ocean anomalies during the 1997/1998 ENSO and IOD event. Results suggest that anomalous surface and euphotic-layer chlorophyll blooms in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean in fall, and southern Bay of Bengal in winter, are primarily related to IOD forcing. A negative influence of IOD on chlorophyll concentrations is shown in a region around the southern tip of India in fall. IOD also depresses depth-integrated chlorophyll in the 5–10° S thermocline ridge region, yet the signal is negligible in surface chlorophyll. The only investigated region where ENSO has a greater influence on chlorophyll than does IOD, is in the Somalia upwelling region, where it causes a decrease in fall and winter chlorophyll by reducing local upwelling winds. Yet unlike most other regions examined, the combined explanatory power of IOD and ENSO in predicting depth-integrated chlorophyll anomalies is relatively low in this region, suggestive that other drivers are important there. We show that the chlorophyll impact of climate indices is frequently asymmetric, with a general tendency for larger positive than negative chlorophyll anomalies. Our results suggest that ENSO and IOD cause significant and predictable regional re-organisation of chlorophyll via their influence on near-surface oceanography. Resolving the details of these effects should improve our understanding, and eventually gain predictability, of interannual changes in Indian Ocean productivity, fisheries, ecosystems and carbon budgets.

scholarly journals Impact of Equatorial Wind Stress on Ekman Transport During the Mature Phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linfang Zhang ◽  
Yaokun Li ◽  
Jianping Li
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Zonal Wind ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Ekman Transport ◽  
Zonal Wind Stress ◽  
Mature Phase ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This paper investigates the impact of equatorial wind stress on the equatorial Ekman transport during the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) mature phase. The results show that the equatorial zonal wind stress directly drives the meridional motion of seawater at the upper levels. In normal years, the zonal wind stress south of the equator is easterly and that north of the equator is westerly, which contributes to southward Ekman transport at the upper levels to form the climatological Indian Ocean shallow meridional overturning circulation. During the years of positive IOD events, abnormal easterly winds near the equator bring southward Ekman transport south of the equator while they bring northward Ekman transport north of the equator. This causes the seawater to move away from the equator and hence induces upwelling near the equator, which forms a pair of small circulation cells that are symmetric about the equator at the upper levels (approximately 100 m deep). The abnormal circulation cell south (north) of the equator strengthens (weakens) the southward (southward) motion south (north) of the equator. During years with negative IOD events, the opposite occurs. In addition, during the mature period of IOD, the remote sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) such as El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) may exert some influence on equatorial wind stress and Ekman transport anomaly but the influence is weak.

scholarly journals Indian Ocean Dipole and El Niño/Southern Oscillation impacts on regional chlorophyll anomalies in the Indian Ocean

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 5841-5888 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Currie ◽  
M. Lengaigne ◽  
J. Vialard ◽  
D. M. Kaplan ◽  
O. Aumont ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
El Niño Southern Oscillation ◽  
El Nino Southern Oscillation ◽  
Phytoplankton Productivity ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
The Indian Ocean

Abstract. The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) frequently co-occur, driving significant interannual changes within the Indian Ocean. We use a four-decade hindcast from a coupled bio-physical ocean general circulation model, to disentangle patterns of chlorophyll anomalies driven by these two climate modes. Comparisons with remotely-sensed records show that the simulation competently reproduces the chlorophyll seasonal cycle, as well as open-ocean anomalies during the 1997–1998 ENSO and IOD event. Results show that anomalous surface and euphotic-layer chlorophyll blooms in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean in fall, and southern Bay of Bengal in winter, are primarily related to IOD forcing. IOD depresses integrated chlorophyll in the 5° S–10° S thermocline ridge region, even though the signal is negligible in surface chlorophyll. A previously-unreported negative influence of IOD on chlorophyll concentrations is also shown in a region around the southern tip of India. The only investigated region where ENSO has a greater influence on chlorophyll than does IOD, is in the Somalia upwelling region, where it causes a decrease in fall and winter chlorophyll by reducing local upwelling winds. Lastly, we show that the chlorophyll impact of climate indices is frequently asymmetric, with a general tendency for larger positive than negative chlorophyll anomalies. ENSO and IOD cause significant and predictable regional re-organisation of phytoplankton productivity via their influence on near-surface oceanography. Resolving the details of these effects should improve our understanding, and eventually gain predictability, of interannual changes in Indian Ocean productivity, fisheries, ecosystems and carbon budgets.

Dynamic and Thermodynamic Air–Sea Coupling Associated with the Indian Ocean Dipole Diagnosed from 23 WCRP CMIP3 Models*

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (18) ◽  
pp. 4941-4958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Liu ◽  
Weidong Yu ◽  
Tim Li
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Zonal Wind ◽  
Coupling Strength ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
Quantitative Measure ◽  
Specific Humidity ◽  
Coupled Models ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Mean State

Abstract The performance of 23 World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, phase 3 (CMIP3) models in the simulation of the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) is evaluated, and the results show large diversity in the simulated IOD intensity. A detailed diagnosis is carried out to understand the role of the Bjerknes dynamic air–sea feedback and the thermodynamic air–sea coupling in shaping the different model behaviors. The Bjerknes feedback processes include the equatorial zonal wind response to SST, the thermocline response to the equatorial zonal wind, and the ocean subsurface temperature response to the thermocline variation. The thermodynamic feedback examined includes the wind–evaporation–SST and cloud–radiation–SST feedbacks. A combined Bjerknes and thermodynamic feedback intensity index is introduced. This index well reflects the simulated IOD strength contrast among the strong, moderate, and weak model groups. It gives a quantitative measure of the relative contribution of the dynamic and thermodynamic feedback processes. The distinctive features in the dynamic and thermodynamic coupling strength are closely related to the mean state difference in the coupled models. A shallower (deeper) equatorial mean thermocline, a stronger (weaker) background vertical temperature gradient, and a greater (smaller) mean vertical upwelling velocity are found in the strong (weak) IOD simulation group. Thus, the mean state biases greatly affect the air–sea coupling strength on the interannual time scale. A number of models failed to simulate the observed positive wind–evaporation–SST feedback during the IOD developing phase. Analysis indicates that the bias arises from a greater contribution to the surface latent heat flux anomaly by the sea–air specific humidity difference than by the wind speed anomaly.

scholarly journals Sources of Tropical Subseasonal Skill in the CFSv2

2020 ◽  
Vol 148 (4) ◽  
pp. 1553-1565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl J. Schreck ◽  
Matthew A. Janiga ◽  
Stephen Baxter
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Convectively Coupled Equatorial Waves ◽  
Subseasonal Variability ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Fourier Filtering ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Rainfall Anomalies ◽  
Combined Data

Abstract This study applies Fourier filtering to a combination of rainfall estimates from TRMM and forecasts from the CFSv2. The combined data are filtered for low-frequency (LF, ≥120 days) variability, the MJO, and convectively coupled equatorial waves. The filtering provides insight into the sources of skill for the CFSv2. The LF filter, which encapsulates persistent anomalies generally corresponding with SSTs, has the largest contribution to forecast skill beyond week 2. Variability within the equatorial Pacific is dominated by its response to ENSO, such that both the unfiltered and the LF-filtered forecasts are skillful over the Pacific through the entire 45-day CFSv2 forecast. In fact, the LF forecasts in that region are more skillful than the unfiltered forecasts or any combination of the filters. Verifying filtered against unfiltered observations shows that subseasonal variability has very little opportunity to contribute to skill over the equatorial Pacific. Any subseasonal variability produced by the model is actually detracting from the skill there. The MJO primarily contributes to CFSv2 skill over the Indian Ocean, particularly during March–May and MJO phases 2–5. However, the model misses opportunities for the MJO to contribute to skill in other regions. Convectively coupled equatorial Rossby waves contribute to skill over the Indian Ocean during December–February and the Atlantic Ocean during September–November. Convectively coupled Kelvin waves show limited potential skill for predicting weekly averaged rainfall anomalies since they explain a relatively small percent of the observed variability.

scholarly journals Analysis of Drought-Sensitive Areas and Evolution Patterns through Statistical Simulations of the Indian Ocean Dipole Mode

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing-Gang Gao ◽  
Vonevilay Sombutmounvong ◽  
Lihua Xiong ◽  
Joo-Heon Lee ◽  
Jong-Suk Kim
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
Diagnostic Techniques ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Indochina Peninsula ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole Mode ◽  
Sensitive Areas ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Long Term Trend

In this study, we investigated extreme droughts in the Indochina peninsula and their relationship with the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) mode. Areas most vulnerable to drought were analyzed via statistical simulations of the IOD based on historical observations. Results of the long-term trend analysis indicate that areas with increasing spring (March–May) rainfall are mainly distributed along the eastern coast (Vietnam) and the northwestern portions of the Indochina Peninsula (ICP), while Central and Northern Laos and Northern Cambodia have witnessed a reduction in spring rainfall over the past few decades. This trend is similar to that of extreme drought. During positive IOD years, the frequency of extreme droughts was reduced throughout Vietnam and in the southwestern parts of China, while increased drought was observed in Cambodia, Central Laos, and along the coastline adjacent to the Myanmar Sea. Results for negative IOD years were similar to changes observed for positive IOD years; however, the eastern and northern parts of the ICP experienced reduced droughts. In addition, the results of the statistical simulations proposed in this study successfully simulate drought-sensitive areas and evolution patterns of various IOD changes. The results of this study can help improve diagnostic techniques for extreme droughts in the ICP.

Influence of the Indian Ocean Dipole on tree-ring δ18O of monsoonal Southeast Tibet

2016 ◽  
Vol 137 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 217-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Hochreuther ◽  
Jakob Wernicke ◽  
Jussi Grießinger ◽  
Thomas Mölg ◽  
Haifeng Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Southeast Tibet

scholarly journals Two Independent Triggers for the Indian Ocean Dipole/Zonal Mode in a Coupled GCM

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 3428-3449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert S. Fischer ◽  
Pascal Terray ◽  
Eric Guilyardi ◽  
Silvio Gualdi ◽  
Pascale Delecluse
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Tropical Indian Ocean ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Dynamical Response ◽  
Thermocline Depth ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
The Indian Ocean

Abstract The question of whether and how tropical Indian Ocean dipole or zonal mode (IOZM) interannual variability is independent of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability in the Pacific is addressed in a comparison of twin 200-yr runs of a coupled climate model. The first is a reference simulation, and the second has ENSO-scale variability suppressed with a constraint on the tropical Pacific wind stress. The IOZM can exist in the model without ENSO, and the composite evolution of the main anomalies in the Indian Ocean in the two simulations is virtually identical. Its growth depends on a positive feedback between anomalous equatorial easterly winds, upwelling equatorial and coastal Kelvin waves reducing the thermocline depth and sea surface temperature off the coast of Sumatra, and the atmospheric dynamical response to the subsequently reduced convection. Two IOZM triggers in the boreal spring are found. The first is an anomalous Hadley circulation over the eastern tropical Indian Ocean and Maritime Continent, with an early northward penetration of the Southern Hemisphere southeasterly trades. This situation grows out of cooler sea surface temperatures in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean left behind by a reinforcement of the late austral summer winds. The second trigger is a consequence of a zonal shift in the center of convection associated with a developing El Niño, a Walker cell anomaly. The first trigger is the only one present in the constrained simulation and is similar to the evolution of anomalies in 1994, when the IOZM occurred in the absence of a Pacific El Niño state. The presence of these two triggers—the first independent of ENSO and the second phase locking the IOZM to El Niño—allows an understanding of both the existence of IOZM events when Pacific conditions are neutral and the significant correlation between the IOZM and El Niño.

scholarly journals Contrasting Impacts of the Indian Ocean Dipole and ENSO on the Tropospheric Biennial Oscillation

SOLA ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 13-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toru Tamura ◽  
Toshio Koike ◽  
Akio Yamamoto ◽  
Masaki Yasukawa ◽  
Masaru Kitsuregawa
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
Tropospheric Biennial Oscillation ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Biennial Oscillation
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