scholarly journals Variation of upper tropospheric clouds and water vapor over the Indian ocean

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 21769-21787 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Bhawar ◽  
J. H. Jiang ◽  
H. Su

Abstract. The upper tropospheric (UT) ice water content (IWC) and water vapor (H2O) observed by the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) show dominant dipole mode variability over the Indian Ocean. This is characterized by the oscillating differences between the Western and Eastern Indian Ocean (WIO and EIO) with greater amplitude in JJA and SON than in other seasons. We denote δ X = X_WIO–X_EIO, with X being H2O and IWC at three UT levels (215 hPa, 147 hPa and 100 hPa) as well as sea surface temperature (SST), following the definition for previously identified Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) variability. We found a strong positive correlation of δIWC at three UT levels with δSST, and a relatively weak positive correlation of δIWC with Nino 3.4 SST, suggesting that the UT clouds over the Indian Ocean are largely controlled by local thermally-driven circulation while teleconnection to ENSO plays a secondary role. The change per degree of δSST for δIWC in SON is 5.5 mg m−3 C−1 at 215 hPa, 1.6 mg m−3 C−1 at 147 hPa and 0.13 mg m−3 C−1 at 100 hPa (the 7-yr mean δIWC is −4.7 mg m−3, −1.6 mg m−3 and −0.13 mg m−3 at 215 hPa, 147 hPa and 100 hPa respectively). For δH2O, the per degree δSST change of 41.2 ppmv C−1 corresponds to a strong increase at 215 hPa and a decrease of −0.23 ppmv C−1 (−0.18 ppmv C−1) at 100 hPa (147 hPa), respectively. The Nino 3.4 SST has a relatively weak positive (negative) correlation with δ H2O at 215 hPa (100 hPa). The increase of δH2O at 215 hPa with increasing δSST is associated with the sharper contrast in convective intensity while the decrease of δH2O at 100 hPa with increasing δSST is a signature of the "convective cold top" and temperature control of 100 hPa H2O. For H2O, the 147 hPa marks a transition from the convection-controlled 215 hPa to the temperature-controlled 100 hPa.

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-16
Author(s):  
Abu Bakar Sambah ◽  
Trisnanda Devi Oktavia ◽  
Denny Wijaya Kusuma ◽  
Fenni Iranawati ◽  
Nurin Hidayati ◽  
...  

The existence of pelagic fish resources is greatly influenced by the condition of the waters which are described through its relationship with the oceanographic parameters. As a dominant species in Bali Strait, lemuru fish (Sardinella lemuru) have catch dynamics that vary each year. Oceanographic factor influence the number of fish catch in Bali Strait, in which global phenomena such as ENSO and IOD also have a role in influencing the migration of marine resources. This research aims to analysis annual variation of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Sea Surface Chlorophyll-a (SSC) in Bali Strait, and its effect on fish catch. The method applied a quantitative descriptive with correlation analysis and spatial analysis using Geographical Information System approach. The analysis described a significant impact of oceanographic parameters on pelagic fish catch. SSC has a significant impact on the number of fish catch which describes a positive correlation, and it illustrated a time interval between the highest concentration of SSC and the period of fishing peak season. It also impacts the fishing trip and the distribution of fishing ground that spread along the area of the Indian Ocean to Bali Strait. SSC has a significant impact on the number of fish catch which describes a positive correlation, and it illustrated a time interval between the highest concentration of SSC and the period of fishing peak season. It also impacts the fishing trip and the distribution of fishing ground that spread along the area of the Indian Ocean to Bali Strait


2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 3428-3449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert S. Fischer ◽  
Pascal Terray ◽  
Eric Guilyardi ◽  
Silvio Gualdi ◽  
Pascale Delecluse

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.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yair De-Leon ◽  
Nathan Paldor

Abstract. Using 20 years of accurately calibrated, high resolution, observations of Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) by satellite ‎borne altimeters we show that in the Indian Ocean south of the Australian coast the low frequency variations of SSHA are ‎dominated by westward propagating, trapped, i.e. non-harmonic, planetary waves. Our results demonstrate that the ‎meridional-dependent amplitudes of the SSHA are large only within a few degrees of latitude next to the South-Australian ‎coast while farther in the ocean they are uniformly small. This meridional variation of the SSHA signal is typical of the ‎amplitude structure in the trapped wave theory. The westward propagation speed of the SSHA signals is analyzed by ‎employing three different methods of estimation. Each one of these methods yields speed estimates that can vary widely ‎between adjacent latitudes but the combination of at least two of the three methods yields much smoother variation. The ‎estimates obtained in this manner show that the observed phase speeds at different latitudes exceed the phase speeds of ‎harmonic Rossby (Planetary) waves by 140 % to 200 %. In contrast, the theory of trapped Rossby (Planetary) waves in a ‎domain bounded by a wall on its equatorward side yields phase speeds that approximate more closely the observed phase ‎speeds.‎


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (15) ◽  
pp. 5847-5864 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Wright ◽  
R. Fu ◽  
A. J. Heymsfield

Abstract. The factors that control the influence of deep convective detrainment on water vapor in the tropical upper troposphere are examined using observations from multiple satellites in conjunction with a trajectory model. Deep convection is confirmed to act primarily as a moisture source to the upper troposphere, modulated by the ambient relative humidity (RH). Convective detrainment provides strong moistening at low RH and offsets drying due to subsidence across a wide range of RH. Strong day-to-day moistening and drying takes place most frequently in relatively dry transition zones, where between 0.01% and 0.1% of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Precipitation Radar observations indicate active convection. Many of these strong moistening events in the tropics can be directly attributed to detrainment from recent tropical convection, while others in the subtropics appear to be related to stratosphere-troposphere exchange. The temporal and spatial limits of the convective source are estimated to be about 36–48 h and 600–1500 km, respectively, consistent with the lifetimes of detrainment cirrus clouds. Larger amounts of detrained ice are associated with enhanced upper tropospheric moistening in both absolute and relative terms. In particular, an increase in ice water content of approximately 400% corresponds to a 10–90% increase in the likelihood of moistening and a 30–50% increase in the magnitude of moistening.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 719-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Smitha Ratheesh ◽  
Rashmi Sharma ◽  
Rajesh Sikhakolli ◽  
Raj Kumar ◽  
Sujit Basu

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinquan Zhou ◽  
Stéphanie Duchamp-Alphonse ◽  
Masa Kageyama ◽  
Franck Bassinot ◽  
Xiaoxu Shi ◽  
...  

<p>Today, precipitation and wind patterns over the equatorial Indian Ocean and surrounding lands are paced by monsoon and Walker circulations that are controlled by the seasonal land-sea temperature contrast and the inter-annual convection over the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool, respectively. The annual mean surface westerly winds are particularly tied to the Walker circulation, showing interannual variability coupled with the gradient of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomaly between the tropical western and southeastern Indian Ocean, namely, the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). While the Indian monsoon pattern has been widely studied in the past, few works deal with the evolution of Walker circulation despite its crucial impacts on modern and future tropical climate systems. Here, we reconstruct the long-term westerly (summer) and easterly (winter) wind dynamics of the equatorial Indian Ocean (10°S−10°N), since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) based on i) primary productivity (PP) records derived from coccolith analyses of sedimentary cores MD77-191 and BAR94-24, retrieved off the southern tip of India and off the northwestern tip of Sumatra, respectively and ii) the calculation of a sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly gradient off (south) western Sumatra based on published SST data. We compare these reconstructions with atmospheric circulation simulations obtained with the general coupled model AWI-ESM-1-1-LR (Alfred Wegener Institute Earth System Model).</p><p>Our results show that the Indian Ocean Walker circulation was weaker during the LGM and the early/middle Holocene than present. Model simulations suggest that this is due to anomalous easterlies over the eastern Indian Ocean. The LGM mean circulation state may have been comparable to the year 1997 with a positive IOD, when anomalously strong equatorial easterlies prevailed in winter. The early/mid Holocene mean circulation state may have been equivalent to the year 2006 with a positive IOD, when anomalously strong southeasterlies prevailed over Java-Sumatra in summer. The deglaciation can be seen as a transient period between these two positive IOD-like mean states.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 1595-1609
Author(s):  
Motoki Nagura ◽  
Michael J. McPhaden

AbstractThis study examines interannual variability in sea surface height (SSH) at southern midlatitudes of the Indian Ocean (10°–35°S). Our focus is on the relative role of local wind forcing and remote forcing from the equatorial Pacific Ocean. We use satellite altimetry measurements, an atmospheric reanalysis, and a one-dimensional wave model tuned to simulate observed SSH anomalies. The model solution is decomposed into the part driven by local winds and that driven by SSH variability radiated from the western coast of Australia. Results show that variability radiated from the Australian coast is larger in amplitude than variability driven by local winds in the central and eastern parts of the south Indian Ocean at midlatitudes (between 19° and 33°S), whereas the influence from eastern boundary forcing is confined to the eastern basin at lower latitudes (10° and 17°S). The relative importance of eastern boundary forcing at midlatitudes is due to the weakness of wind stress curl anomalies in the interior of the south Indian Ocean. Our analysis further suggests that SSH variability along the west coast of Australia originates from remote wind forcing in the tropical Pacific, as is pointed out by previous studies. The zonal gradient of SSH between the western and eastern parts of the south Indian Ocean is also mostly controlled by variability radiated from the Australian coast, indicating that interannual variability in meridional geostrophic transport is driven principally by Pacific winds.


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