A preliminary study of climatological associations and characteristics of tropical cyclones in the SW Indian Ocean

Summary Tropical cyclones (TC) in the data-sparse SW Indian Ocean region are studied through climatological and statistical associations and case study structure. Differences between summers with more and less TC are identified with a view to the prediction of seasonal frequencies. In summers with more TC, upper easterlies and lower westerlies over the equatorial zone north of Madagascar form a Walker cell anomaly in conjunction with the east phase of the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), while sea surface temperatures (SST) are above normal in the preceding spring (>28°C). In the sub-tropics, easterly trade winds strengthen while mid-latitude westerlies shift polewards and SST are below normal (<23°C). OLR departures in more TC summers are <–15 Wm^–2 over region frequented by tropical cyclones.Two tropical cyclone events are selected for analysis which rank highest in terms of rainfall on Mauritius. Danielle formed near 13°S, 65°E and tracked southwest across Mauritius on 19 January 1964. A radiosonde time-height section is analysed for departures from climatology and thermodynamic structure. The profile of equivalent potential temperature is rather uniform near the center of the TC, decreasing from 350°K near the surface. Dry stable air is present in the 600hPa layer around the perimeter. TC Hyacinthe was quasistationary to the east of Madagascar causing rainfall in excess of 500 cm on Reunion Island from 15–27 January 1980. OLR anomaly plots and satellite imagery indicate that Hyacinthe was spawned in association with an eastward moving convective wave and reached maximum intensity (–92 Wm^–2) and radius (>1000 km) from 21 to 26 January 1980.With 14 Figures     

Intraseasonal Oscillation in the Tropical Indian Ocean

1. Introduction The intraseasonal oscillation (ISO or Madden- Julian Oscillation, MJO) in the tropical atmosphere has been studied extensively, including its existence, structure, evolution and propagation (Madden and Ju- lian, 1971; Murakami, et al., 198…     

Resonance of baroclinic waves in the tropical oceans: The Indian Ocean and the far western Pacific

The Indian Ocean has a particularity, its width is close to half the wavelength of a Rossby wave of biannual frequency, this coincidence having been capitalized on by several authors to give the observations a physical basis. The purpose of this article is to show that this is not the case since the resonance of tropical baroclinic waves occurs in all three oceans. This is because the westward-propagating Rossby wave is retroflexed at the western boundary to form off-equatorial Rossby waves dragged by countercurrents before receding and turning back as a Kelvin wave. Thus a quasi-stationary baroclinic wave is formed, whose mean period is tuned to the forcing period. Two independent basin modes resonantly forced are highlighted – 1) a nearly symmetric zonal 1/2-yr period Quasi-Stationary Wave (QSW) that is resonantly forced by the biannual monsoon. It is formed from first baroclinic mode equatorial-trapped Rossby and Kelvin waves and off-equatorial Rossby waves at the western antinode. This QSW controls the Equatorial Counter Current at the node. The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) results from a subharmonic mode locking resulting from the coupling of this QSW and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th baroclinic modes - 2) a 1-yr period QSW formed from an off-equatorial baroclinic Rossby wave, which is induced from the southernmost current of the Indonesian Throughflow through the Timor passage, propagating in the southern and northern hemispheres: the drivers are south-easterlies in the southern hemisphere and monsoon wind in the northern hemisphere.     

Asymmetry in the tropical Indian Ocean subsurface temperature variability

The empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of subsurface temperature shows a dominant north-south mode of interannual variability in the Tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) at around 100 m depth (thermocline). This subsurface mode (SSM) of variability evolves in September-November (SON) as a response to Indian Ocean Dipole and intensifies during December-February (DJF) reinforced by El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) forcing. The asymmetry in the evolution of positive and negative phases of SSM and its impacts on the modulation of surface features are studied. The asymmetry in the representation of anomalous surface winds along the equator and off-equatorial wind stress curl anomalies are primarily responsible for maintaining the asymmetry in the subsurface temperature through positive and negative phases of the SSM. During the positive phase of SSM, downwelling Rossby waves generated by anticyclonic wind stress curl propagate towards the southwestern TIO (SWTIO), the thermocline ridge region of mean upwelling. The warmer subsurface water associated with the downwelling Rossby waves upwells in the region of mean upwelling and warms the surface resulting in strong subsurface-surface coupling. Such interaction processes are however weak during the negative phase of SSM. The asymmetry in the subsurface-surface interaction during the two phases of SSM and its impact on the modulation of surface features of TIO are also reported. In addition to the ENSO forcing, self-maintenance of SSM during DJF season is evident in the positive SSM (PSSM) years through modulation of subsurface surface coupling and air-sea coupling. This positive feedback during PSSM years is maintained by the deepening thermocline, warm SSTs and convection. The asymmetry in the thermocline evolution is more evident in the SWTIO and southern TIO.     

Forecasting extreme events in the tropical Indian Ocean sector climate

Prospects for forecasting climate variability over the tropical Indian Ocean sector, specifically extreme positive events of the Indian Dipole Mode (IDM), with lead times of a season or more are investigated using the NASA Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Project (NSIPP) coupled-model system. The coupled system presents biases in its climatology over the Indian Ocean sector, which include (i) warmest sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) occurring in the central equatorial basin rather than on the eastside with the eastern (western) tropical SSTs up to 1 °C too cool (warm), (ii) a too northwest lying InterTropical Convergence Zonal over the ocean in boreal fall, (iii) a thermocline shallower (deeper) than observed west of Sumatra-Java (north of Madagascar), (iv) a delay of about a month in the onset (cessation) of the southwest (southeast) monsoon in the west (east) in boreal spring (fall). These biases affect the effectiveness of the SST-clouds-shortwave radiation negative feedback, the sensitivity of SST to wind-stress perturbations, and the character of equatorial coupled ocean-atmosphere modes. Despite these biases, ensemble hindcasts of the SST anomalies averaged over the eastern and western poles of the IDM for the decade 1993–2002, which included extreme positive events in 1994 and 1997/1998, are encouragingly good at 3-months lead. The onset of the 1997/1998-event is delayed by about a month, though the peak and decay are correctly timed. At 6-months lead-time, the forecast at the eastern pole deteriorates with either positive or negative false alarms generated each boreal fall. The forecast at the western pole remains good.     

Changes in the frequency of tropical cyclones over the North Indian Ocean

Summary  Changes in the frequency of tropical cyclones developing over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal have been studied utilizing 122 year (1877–1998) data of tropical cyclone frequency. There have been significant increasing trends in the cyclone frequency over the Bay of Bengal during November and May which are main cyclone months. During transitional monsoon months; June and September however, the frequency has decreased. The results have been presented for five months, i.e., May-November which are relevant as far as tropical cyclone frequency over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are concerned. The tropical cyclone frequency in the Arabian Sea has not shown any significant trend, probably due to small normal frequency. The frequency time series has been subjected to the spectral analysis to obtain the significant periods. The cyclone frequency over the Bay of Bengal during May has shown a 29 year cycle. A significant 44 year cycle has been found during November. Over the Arabian Sea significant cycles of 13 and 10 years have been observed during May-June and November, respectively. The tropical cyclone frequency in the North Indian Ocean has a prominent El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) scale cycle (2–5 years) during all above five months. The annual cyclone frequency exhibits 29 year and ENSO scale (2–4 years) oscillations. There is a reduction in tropical cyclone activity over the Bay of Bengal in severe cyclone months May and November during warm phases of ENSO. Examination of the frequencies of severe cyclones with maximum sustained winds ≥ 48 knots has revealed that these cyclones have become more frequent in the North Indian Ocean during intense cyclone period of the year. The rate of intensification of tropical disturbances to severe cyclone stage has registered an upward trend. Received June 7, 1999/Revised March 20, 2000     

Climatic analysis of tropopause during the northwestern Indian Ocean tropical cyclones

In this research, tropopause temperature (TT) and tropopause geopotential height (TGH) over the inner-core and environmental regions of all tropical cyclones (TCs) over the northwest of the Indian Ocean (NWIO) from 1990 to 2019 were investigated. To this aim, observational/analysis/reanalysis data and also simulated data from both historical and Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) experiments of some global climate models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparision Project (CMIP5) were used. Dynamical and thermo-dynamical environmental factors controlling TC, together with their correlation with different phases of some climatic indices were considered. Results indicated that the eastern part of the NWIO was more favorable for TC genesis and intensification.Lower-level stratospheric (upper-level tropospheric) cooling (warming) was detected over the NWIO during 1990−2019. Over the both inner-core and environmental regions of the NWIO TCs, the coldest tropopause occurred at a CS-Category and the warmest tropopause happened at the first stage of a VSCS event. Over the inner-core (environmental) region, the highest tropopause was detected at the first stage of a CS event (at the end of a VSCS life cycle). A significant majority of the used CMIP5 GCMs produced stratospheric cooling and tropospheric warming trends over the NWIO, similar to those obtained using ERA5 reanalysis dataset. Finally, the decreasing trend of TT over the both inner-core and environmental regions of NWIO TCs together with temperature decreasing trend obtained from the CMIP5 GCMs simulations suggest that the NWIO is prone to experience more TCs, especially the intense ones, in the future.     

Evolution and variability of the ITCZ in the SW Indian Ocean: 1988–90

Summary The structure and variability of the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in the SW Indian Ocean in the austral summer is investigated. The ITCZ is identified by satellite microwave (SSMI) precipitable water (PW) values > 5 g cm^–2, minimum outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) values < 220 W m^–2 and the pattern of convergence in the low level (850 hPa) winds. According to OLR climatology, the ITCZ lies over 15°S latitude to the west of Madagascar (40–50°E), but near 10°S to the east of 60°E. Inter-annual and intra-seasonal variability is induced by the interaction of the convective NW monsoon and subsident easterly trades. Symptoms of the structure and variability are presented using tropical cyclone (TC) tracks, axes of PW exceedences and OLR, 850hPa wind and PW fields in the period 1988–1990. The shape and intensity of the ITCZ is modulated by the strength of the NW monsoon off east Africa and by standing vortices in the SW Indian Ocean. The topography of Madagascar imparts a distinctive break in convective characteristics, and distinguishes the SE African ITCZ from its maritime counterpart.With 6 Figures     

Annual mean statistics of the surface fluxes of the tropical Indian Ocean

The computed long-term annual mean and intramonthly variances of air and sea surface temperature, wind stress, effective radiation at the surface, heat gain over the ocean and the total heat loss for the tropical Indian Ocean between 30 °N and 30 °S are presented. These estimates, which are based on about one million weather reports for the period 1948–1972, indicate a mean annual meridional heat transport in agreement with previous estimates in direction though different in magnitude. The annual mean E-P chart shows that the Bay of Bengal region is highly conducive to large-scale convergence.     

印度洋地区MJO对流生成动力学机制的研究进展

Madden-Julian Oscillation （MJO）是热带大气在季节内时间尺度上的主要变化特征,MJO对流的活动对全球很多地区的天气和气候系统都有重要的影响,因此MJO是大气科学重要的前沿课题之一.MJO对流的生成过程是MJO研究中公认的最薄弱的环节,文中从MJO的研究背景出发,对MJO对流生成的有关研究工作及其进展进行了回顾与总结,主要包括MJO对流生成的前期信号、MJO对流的数值模拟、MJO对流生成的动力学机制.最后对MJO对流生成研究中还有待解决的问题进行了分析与讨论.     

Structure and characteristics of submonthly-scale waves along the Indian Ocean ITCZ

This study examines wave disturbances on submonthly (6–30-day) timescales over the tropical Indian Ocean during Southern Hemisphere summer using Japanese Reanalysis (JRA25-JCDAS) products and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration outgoing longwave radiation data. The analysis period is December–February for the 29 years from 1979/1980 through 2007/2008. An extended empirical orthogonal function (EEOF) analysis of daily 850-hPa meridional wind anomalies reveals a well-organized wave-train pattern as a dominant mode of variability over the tropical Indian Ocean. Daily lagged composite analyses for various atmospheric variables based on the EEOF result show the structure and evolution of a wave train consisting of meridionally elongated troughs and ridges along the Indian Ocean Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The wave train is oriented in a northeast–southwest direction from Sumatra toward Madagascar. The waves have zonal wavelengths of about 3,000–5,000 km and exhibit westward and southwestward phase propagation. Individual troughs and ridges as part of the wave train sequentially travel westward and southwestward from the west of Sumatra into Madagascar. Meanwhile, eastward and northeastward amplification of the wave train occurs associated with the successive growth of new troughs and ridges over the equatorial eastern Indian Ocean. This could be induced by eastward and northeastward wave energy dispersion from the southwestern to eastern Indian Ocean along the mean monsoon westerly flow. In addition, the waves modulate the ITCZ convection. Correlation statistics show the average behavior of the wave disturbances over the tropical Indian Ocean. These statistics and other diagnostic measures are used to characterize the waves obtained from the composite analysis. The waves appear to be connected to the monsoon westerly flow. The waves tend to propagate through a band of the large meridional gradient of absolute vorticity produced by the mean monsoon westerly flow. This suggests that the monsoon westerly flow provides favorable background conditions for the propagation and maintenance of the waves and acts as a waveguide over the tropical Indian Ocean. The horizontal structure of the wave train may be interpreted as that of a mixture of equatorial Rossby waves and mixed Rossby-gravity wavelike gyres.     

The interannual variability in the tropical Indian Ocean as simulated by a CGCM

The interannual variability in the tropical Indian Ocean, and in particular the Indian Ocean dipole mode (IODM), is investigated using both observations and a multi-decadal simulations performed by the coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model SINTEX. Overall, the characteristics of the simulated IODM are close to the features of the observed mode. Evidence of significant correlations between sea level pressure anomalies in the southeastern Indian Ocean and sea surface temperature anomalies in the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans have been found both in observations and a multi-decadal simulation. In particular, a positive SLP anomaly in the southeastern part of the basin seems to produce favorable conditions for the development of an IODM event. The role played by the ocean dynamics both in the developing and closing phases of the IODM events is also investigated. Our results suggest that, during the developing phase, the heat content and SST variability associated with the IODM are influenced by a local response of the ocean to the winds, and a remote response with the excitation of Kelvin and Rossby waves. Ocean wave dynamics appear to be important also during the dying phase of the IODM, when equatorial downwelling Kelvin waves transport positive heat content anomalies from the western to the eastern part of the basin, suppressing the zonal heat content anomaly gradient. The results obtained from the model suggest a mechanism for the IODM. This mechanism is generally consistent with the characteristics of the observed IODM. Furthermore, it might give some clue in understanding the correlation between IODM and ENSO activity found both in the model and in the observations.     

On the mechanism of the seasonal variability of SST in the tropical Indian Ocean

A general form of an equation that "explicitly" diagnoses SST change is derived. All other equations in wide use are its special case. Combining with the data from an ocean general circulation model (MOM2) with an integration of 10 years (1987-1996), the relative importances of various processes that determine seasonal variations of SST in the tropical Indian Ocean are compared mainly for January, April, July and October. The main results are as follows. (1) The net surface heat flux is the most important factor affecting SST over the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the region south of the equator in January; in April, its influence covers almost the whole region studied; whereas in July and October, this term shows significance only in the regions south of 10°S and north of the equator, respectively. (2) The horizontal advection dominates in the East African-Arabian coast and the region around the equator in January and July; in October, the region is located south of 10°S. (3) The entrainment is s     

热带气旋生成指数对印度洋热带气旋频数变化的适用性研究

本文利用ERA5 1979-2019年逐月大气再分析资料计算南北印度洋热带气旋生成指数，并和IBTrACS观测数据进行比较，探讨用热带气旋生成指数研究南北印度洋热带气旋变化特征的适用性.研究发现热带气旋生成指数能较好地刻画南北印度洋热带气旋的空间分布特征、北印度洋热带气旋个数月变化的双峰结构，以及南印度洋比北印度洋热带气旋发生概率高等特征.最新的IBTrACS v4.0观测资料显示，40年来北印度洋热带气旋每年总生成个数平均每10年增加1.3个，频数的增加主要来源于热带低压和热带风暴，而南印度洋热带气旋每年总生成个数每10年减少2.8个.热带气旋生成指数能很好地描述北印度洋热带气旋生成个数的上升趋势，但对南印度洋热带气旋生成个数趋势的刻画与观测不一致，可能原因需要进一步深入研究.     

热带西北太平洋与东南印度洋对流活动年际变化联系的年代际改变

采用美国NOAA卫星观测OLR (outing longwave radiation)资料以及NCEP/NCAR、CM AP月平均资料,利用合成分析等方法,研究了热带西北太平洋(125°～140°E,10°～20°N)与热带东南印度洋(90°～105°E,5°～15°S)对流活动异常的联系。结果表明:热带西北太平洋与东南印度洋对流活动异常的联系有显著的年代际变化; 20世纪80—90年代存在显著的正相关,20世纪90年代至21世纪初有显著的负相关,其后转变为正相关。合成分析表明,热带西北太平洋与东南印度洋对流活动正相关时,两地区均存在反气旋性环流,低层辐散、高层辐合,对流活动弱,不利于降水产生,有降水负异常;当热带西北太平洋与东南印度洋对流活动负相关时,两地区环流异常存在明显差别,热带东南印度洋有正的海温异常,高层辐散、低层辐合,有上升运动,对流活动强,有降水正异常,而热带西北太平洋则相反。热带西北太平洋和热带东南印度洋之间的斜向垂直环流圈将这两个地区联系起来,并决定了这两个地区对流活动负相关关系的形成。     

Anatomy of the Indian Summer Monsoon and ENSO relationships in state-of-the-art CGCMs: role of the tropical Indian Ocean

Climate Dynamics - Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) rainfall and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) exhibit an inverse relationship during boreal summer, which is one of the roots of ISM...     

热带印度洋海温异常与ENSO关系的进一步研究

用1955年1月-2001年12月美国Scripps海洋研究所的海温再分析资料、美国NCEP再分析资料和美国气候预测中心(CPC)资料,讨论了热带太平洋ENSO与热带印度洋海温距平以及与印度洋偶极子(Dipole)的关系,研究结果发现:在垂直最大温度距平曲面(MTAL)上,热带印度洋海温距平分布存在着与热带太平洋ENSO密切相关的Dipole现象,其中最大的相关在太平洋ENSO 超前印度洋Dipole一个月.但是,热带印度洋Dipole的分布与Saij定义的位置略有不同,为东北西南向,它们分别在6°-10°S、65°-75°E(西印度洋)和2°-6°N、85°-95°E(东印度洋),它是赤道印度洋的一个主要海温距平系统.另外,在热带印度洋东北部与ENSO相关的海温距平是一个上下不一致的系统,该海温距平并没有伸展到海面,从海面到20-50 m的浅薄水层,则为与赤道西南印度洋相同符号的海温距平分布.因此在海面,海温距平不存在与ENSO有关的Dipole现象,赤道印度洋Dipole只存在于次表层以下,这是赤道印度洋Dipole与ENSO不同之处.这种赤道东北印度洋表层与赤道西南印度洋表层同符号的海温距平现象,有可能是海气热力过程如感热过程造成的.热带印度洋Dipole的周期要小于El Nio,一般为1-6 a.