The no‐slip constraint and ocean models

Abstract

The conclusion that there is no vorticity and no vorticity transport in a boundary current, assuming no slip at the boundary, is shown to be robust to the level (L₁/L₂)², where L₁ is a characteristic width and L₂ a characteristic length of the boundary current. Vorticity transport into the interior from the boundary is shown to be related to the stress gradient at the boundary, which is in turn equal to the pressure gradient along the boundary. On western boundaries the flow is down the pressure gradient, a circumstance that usually leads to thin boundary layers. It is shown that in the inner, fractional, boundary layer both the stress and the energy dissipation depend on the thickness of the inner layer and become small when it is thin.     

Tracing freshwater anomalies through the air‐land‐ocean system: A case study from the Mackenzie river basin and the Beaufort Gyre

Abstract

Mackenzie River discharge was at a record low in water year (WY) 1995 (October 1994 to September 1995), was near average in WY 1996, and was at a record high in WY 1997. The record high discharge in WY 1997, with above average flow each month, was followed by a record high flow in May 1998, then a sharp decline. Through diagnosing these changing flows and their expression in the Beaufort Sea via synthesis of observations and model output, this study provides insight into the nature of the Arctic's freshwater system. The low discharge in WY 1995 manifests negative anomalies in P‐E and precipitation, recycled summer precipitation, and dry surface conditions immediately prior to the water year. The complex hydrograph for WY 1996 reflects a combination of spring soil moisture recharge, buffering by rising lake levels, positive P‐E anomalies in summer, and a massive release of water held in storage by Bennett Dam. The record high discharge in WY 1997 manifests the dual effects of reduced buffering by lakes and positive P‐E anomalies for most of the year. With reduced buffering, only modest P‐E the following spring led to a record discharge in May 1998. As simulated with a coupled ice‐ocean model, the record low discharge in WY 1995 contributed to a negative freshwater anomaly on the Mackenzie shelf lasting throughout the winter of 1995/96. High discharge from July–October 1996 contributed approximately 20% to a positive freshwater anomaly forming in the Beaufort Sea in the autumn of that year. The remainder was associated with reduced autumn/winter ice growth, strong ice melt the previous summer, and positive P‐E anomalies over the ocean itself. Starting in autumn 1997 and throughout 1998, the upper ocean became more saline owing to sea‐ice growth.     

Baroclinic adjustment in coarse‐resolution numerical ocean models

Abstract

The propagation of baroclinic Kelvin and Rossby waves in a fairly coarse‐resolution numerical reduced‐gravity ocean model is investigated using simple geostrophic adjustment experiments in a box‐like domain. Numerical experiments using three different horizontal resolutions (4° × 5°,2° × 2.5° and l° × 1.25°) with properly scaled eddy viscosity coefficients show that the phase speed of the model Kelvin waves is almost exactly proportional to the grid resolution, but is virtually independent of the model viscosity. These results are consistent with the findings of Hsieh et al. (1983) and Wajsowicz and Gill (1986). It is also shown that the two relevant parameters that govern the propagation and decay of these waves, namely the grid‐resolution parameter Δ = Δx/a (where Δx is the grid size and a is the baroclinic Rossby radius, viz. a = C/f, with C being the phase speed of inviscid internal gravity waves in a continuum) and the viscosity parameterΔ = A_mλ/2πfa³ (where A_m is the eddy viscosity coefficient and λ is the alongshore wavelength) can be replaced with Δ only. This is because in Munk (1950)‐type models, the viscosity parameter Δ scales with Δ³. For Δ³ >1, the Kelvin wave phase speed is c_K ΔC/Δ and the alongshore decay length scale is of the order of the perimeter of the basin, viz., 0(10⁴) km.

In contrast to the case for Kelvin waves, the phase speed of the model Rossby waves is not that much different from its value in a continuum and depends only weakly on the model resolution. This is in good agreement with the theoretical results of Wajsowicz (1986). On the other hand, the model Rossby waves are severely damped, within a distance of the order of a wavelength, by the large eddy viscosity of the model. We therefore extrapolate that for a proper simulanon of Kelvin and Rossby waves in this type of numerical ocean model, we need a grid size smaller than 1° × 1°, and a higher‐order turbulent closure scheme that will reduce the eddy viscosity coefficient.     

Interannual variations of the winter‐time outcrop area of subtropical mode water in the western north pacific ocean

Abstract

Seasonal and interannual variations of the SST 16–19°C zone in the western North Pacific are described. Temperatures ranging from 16 to 19°C correspond with those of the Subtropical Mode Water (SMW) first reported and named by Masuzawa (1969). In the cooling season, this zone gradually moves southward and about December crosses latitudes 35–37°N where the Kuroshio axis lies. From January to April, the zone stagnates and spreads from the Kuroshio axis to about 28°N, i.e. to a width of about 700 km at 145°E in midwinter. This stagnation and widening are a manifestation of the existence of a thick mixed layer of SMW, i.e. the formation of a large amount of SMW, which is confirmed by several examples of the subsurface temperature distribution. In the heating season, the zone migrates northward with a narrow width as a result of the warming of the surface layer through the air‐sea interface. SST maps in March, and other related data, show the large interannual variations of the zone, especially in the sea west of the Izu Ridge.     

Spatio‐temporal variability in a mid‐latitude ocean basin subject to periodic wind forcing

Abstract

The mid‐latitude ocean's response to time‐dependent zonal wind‐stress forcing is studied using a reduced‐gravity, 1.5‐layer, shallow‐water model in two rectangular ocean basins of different sizes. The small basin is 1000 km × 2000 km and the larger one is 3000 km × 2010 km; the aspect ratio of the larger basin is quite similar to that of the North Atlantic between 20°N and 60°N. The parameter dependence of the model solutions and their spatio‐temporal variability subject to time‐independent wind stress forcing serve as the reference against which the results for time‐dependent forcing are compared.

For the time‐dependent forcing case, three zonal‐wind profiles that mimic the seasonal cycle are considered in this study: (1) a fixed‐profile wind‐stress forcing with periodically varying intensity; (2) a wind‐stress profile with fixed intensity, but north–south migration of the mid‐latitude westerly wind maximum; and (3) a north–south migrating profile with periodically varying intensity. Results of the small‐basin simulations show the intrinsic variability found for time‐independent forcing to persist when the intensity of the wind forcing varies periodically. It thus appears that the physics behind the upper ocean's variability is mainly controlled by internal dynamics, although the solutions’ spatial patterns are now more complex, due to the interaction between the external and internal modes of variability. The north–south migration of wind forcing, however, does inhibit the inertial recirculation; its suppression increases with the amplitude of north–south migration in the wind‐stress forcing.

Model solutions in the larger rectangular basin and at smaller viscosity exhibit more realistic recirculation gyres, with a small meridional‐to‐zonal aspect ratio, and an elongated eastward jet; the low‐frequency variability of these solutions is dominated by periodicities of 14 and 6–7 years. Simulations performed in this setting with a wind‐stress profile that involves seasonal variations of realistic amplitude in both the intensity and the position of the atmospheric jet show the seven‐year periodicity in the oceanic circulation to be robust. The intrinsic variability is reinforced by the periodic variations in the jet's intensity and weakened by periodic variations in the meridional position; the two effects cancel, roughly speaking, thus preserving the overall characteristics of the seven‐year mode.     

Coupling ocean–atmosphere intensity determines ocean chlorophyll-induced SST change in the tropical Pacific

Phytoplankton pigments (e.g., chlorophyll-a) absorb solar radiation in the upper ocean and induce a pronounced radiant heating effect (chlorophyll effect) on the climate. However, the ocean chlorophyll-induced heating effect on the mean climate state in the tropical Pacific has not been understood well. Here, a hybrid coupled model (HCM) of the atmosphere, ocean physics and biogeochemistry is used to investigate the chlorophyll effect on sea surface temperature (SST) in the eastern equatorial Pacific; a tunable coefficient, α, is introduced to represent the coupling intensity between the atmosphere and ocean in the HCM. The modeling results show that the chlorophyll effect on the mean-state SST is sensitively dependent on α (the coupling intensity). At weakly represented coupling intensity (0 ≤ α < 1.01), the chlorophyll effect tends to induce an SST cooling in the eastern equatorial Pacific, whereas an SST warming emerges at the strongly represented coupling intensity (α ≥ 1.01). Thus, a threshold exists for the coupling intensity (about α = 1.01) at which the sign of SST responses can change. Mechanisms and processes are illustrated to understand the different SST responses. In the weak coupling cases, indirect dynamical cooling processes (the adjustment of ocean circulation, enhanced vertical mixing, and upwelling) tend to dominate the SST cooling. In the strong coupling cases, the persistent warming induced by chlorophyll in the southern subtropical Pacific tends to induce cross-equatorial northerly winds, which shifts to anomalous westerly winds in the eastern equatorial Pacific, consequently reducing the evaporative cooling and weakening indirect dynamical cooling; eventually, SST warming maintains in the eastern equatorial Pacific. These results provide new insights into the biogeochemical feedback on the climate and bio-physical interactions in the tropical Pacific.

     

Atmosphere‐ocean heat fluxes and stresses in general circulation models

Abstract

The coupling of atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs) to oceanic general circulation models (OGCMs) requires that each behaves appropriately in the uncoupled mode. The lower boundary conditions for uncoupled AGCMs are particularly simple over the oceans and consist of the specified climatological sea surface temperatures and sea‐ice extents. AGCMs develop fluxes of energy, momentum and moisture in response to these specified sea surface temperatures while they interact with their internal dynamics and parametrized physics.

The atmosphere‐ocean fluxes of energy and momentum developed in a collection of twelve AGCMs are compared with the climatological estimates of these terms. For the snapshot provided by this particular collection of models, the fluxes developed in the AGCMs are qualitatively similar to the climatological estimates, but there may be quantitative differences of considerable magnitude for some models as well as scatter among model values. Both the observation‐based estimates and the model‐generated values of these basic climatological quantities deserve attention, and efforts in this area are briefly noted.     

Constraining ocean diffusivity from the 8.2 ka event

Greenland ice-core data containing the 8.2 ka event are utilized by a model-data intercomparison within the Earth system model of intermediate complexity, CLIMBER-2.3 to investigate their potential for constraining the range of uncertain ocean diffusivity properties. Within a stochastic version of the model (Bauer et al. in Paleoceanography 19:PA3014, 2004) it has been possible to mimic the pronounced cooling of the 8.2 ka event with relatively good accuracy considering the timing of the event in comparison to other modelling exercises. When statistically inferring from the 8.2 ka event on diffusivity the technical difficulty arises to establish the related likelihood numerically per realisation of the uncertain model parameters: while mainstream uncertainty analyses can assume a quasi-Gaussian shape of likelihood, with weather fluctuating around a long term mean, the 8.2 ka event as a highly nonlinear effect precludes such an a priori assumption. As a result of this study the Bayesian Analysis leads to a sharp single-mode likelihood for ocean diffusivity parameters within CLIMBER-2.3. Depending on the prior distribution this likelihood leads to a reduction of uncertainty in ocean diffusivity parameters (e.g. for flat prior uncertainty in the vertical ocean diffusivity parameter is reduced by factor 2). These results highlight the potential of paleo data to constrain uncertain system properties and strongly suggest to make further steps with more complex models and richer data sets to harvest this potential.     

Airborne radar measurements of ocean wave spectra and wind speed during the grand banks ERS‐1 SAR wave experiment

Abstract

Measurements of ocean directional wave spectra, significant wave height, and wind speed over the Grand Banks of Newfoundland were made using the combined capabilities of the radar ocean wave spectrometer (ROWS) and scanning radar altimeter (SRA). The instruments were flown aboard the NASA P‐3A aircraft in support of the Grand Banks ERS‐1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Wave Experiment. The NASA sensors use proven techniques, which differ greatly from SAR, for estimating the directional long‐wave spectrum; thus they provide a unique set of measurements for use in evaluating SAR performance. ROWS and SRA data are combined with spectra from the SAR aboard the Canadian Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) CV‐580 aircraft, the first‐generation Canadian Spectral Ocean Wave Model (CSOWM) hindcast, and other available in situ measurements to assess the ERS‐1 SAR's ability to correctly resolve wave field components along a 200‐ to 300‐km flight line for four separate satellite passes. Given the complex seas present on the Grand Banks, the complementary nature of viewing the sea spectrum from the perspectives of multiple sensors and a wave prediction model is apparent. The data intercomparisons show the ERS‐1 SAR to be meeting the expected goals for measuring swell, but the data also show evidence of this remote sensor's inability to detect the shorter waves travelling in the azimuth or along‐track direction. Example SAR spectra simulations are made using a non‐linear forward transform with ROWS measurements as input. Additionally, surface wind and wave height estimates made using the ROWS altimeter channel are presented. These data demonstrate the utility of operating the system in its new combined altimeter and spectrometer configuration.     

Coupled atmosphere�Cmixed layer ocean response to ocean heat flux convergence along the Kuroshio Current Extension

The winter response of the coupled atmosphere?Cocean mixed layer system to anomalous geostrophic ocean heat flux convergence in the Kuroshio Extension is investigated by means of experiments with an atmospheric general circulation model coupled to an entraining ocean mixed layer model in the extra-tropics. The direct response consists of positive SST anomalies along the Kuroshio Extension and a baroclinic (low-level trough and upper-level ridge) circulation anomaly over the North Pacific. The low-level component of this atmospheric circulation response is weaker in the case without coupling to an extratropical ocean mixed layer, especially in late winter. The inclusion of an interactive mixed layer in the tropics modifies the direct coupled atmospheric response due to a northward displacement of the Pacific Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone which drives an equivalent barotropic anomalous ridge over the North Pacific. Although the tropically driven component of the North Pacific atmospheric circulation response is comparable to the direct response in terms of sea level pressure amplitude, it is less important in terms of wind stress curl amplitude due to the mitigating effect of the relatively broad spatial scale of the tropically forced atmospheric teleconnection.     

Can ocean iron fertilization mitigate ocean acidification?

Ocean iron fertilization has been proposed as a method to mitigate anthropogenic climate change, and there is continued commercial interest in using iron fertilization to generate carbon credits. It has been further speculated that ocean iron fertilization could help mitigate ocean acidification. Here, using a global ocean carbon cycle model, we performed idealized ocean iron fertilization simulations to place an upper bound on the effect of iron fertilization on atmospheric CO₂ and ocean acidification. Under the IPCC A2 CO₂ emission scenario, at year 2100 the model simulates an atmospheric CO₂ concentration of 965 ppm with the mean surface ocean pH 0.44 units less than its pre-industrial value of 8.18. A globally sustained ocean iron fertilization could not diminish CO₂ concentrations below 833 ppm or reduce the mean surface ocean pH change to less than 0.38 units. This maximum of 0.06 unit mitigation in surface pH change by the end of this century is achieved at the cost of storing more anthropogenic CO₂ in the ocean interior, furthering acidifying the deep-ocean. If the amount of net carbon storage in the deep ocean by iron fertilization produces an equivalent amount of emission credits, ocean iron fertilization further acidifies the deep ocean without conferring any chemical benefit to the surface ocean.     

Scientists’ framing of the ocean science–policy interface

Scientists’ ideas, beliefs, and discourses form the frames that shape their choices about which research to pursue, their approaches to collaboration and communicating results, and how they evaluate research outputs and outcomes. To achieve ocean sustainability, there are increasing calls for new levels of engagement and collaboration between scientists and policy-makers; scientists’ willingness to engage depends on their current and evolving frames. Here, I present results about how scientists involved in diverse fields of ocean research perceived their role as scientists working at or near the ocean science–policy interface and how this related to their perceptions regarding ocean research priorities. The survey of 2187 physical, ecological and social scientists from 94 countries showed that scientists held different perspectives about their appropriate level of engagement at the ocean science–policy interface and the relative primacy of science versus politics in formulating ocean policy. Six clusters of scientists varied in their frames; three clusters accounted for 94% of the sample. Of 67 research questions identified from 22 research prioritization and horizon scanning exercises, the top eight were shared among all three clusters, showing consistency in research priorities across scientists with different framings of their role at the science–policy interface. Five focused on the mechanisms and effects of global change on oceans, two focused on data collection and management for long-term ocean monitoring, and one focused on the links between biodiversity and ecological function at different scales. The results from this survey demonstrated that scientists’ framings of the role of ocean science at the science–policy interface can be quantified in surveys, that framing varies among scientists, and that research priorities vary according to the framings.     

Wind–wave stabilization by a foam layer between the atmosphere and the ocean

The study is motivated by recent findings of the decrease in the momentum transfer from strong winds to sea. The Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) of a three-fluid system of air, foam and water is examined within the range of intermediately short surface waves. The foam-layer thickness necessary for effective separation of the atmosphere and the ocean is estimated. Due to high density contrasts in the three-fluid system, even a relatively thin foam layer between the atmosphere and the ocean can provide a significant stabilization of the water surface by the wavelength shift of the instability towards smaller scales. It is conjectured that such stabilization qualitatively explains the observed reduction of roughness and drag.     

Uncertainty in the ocean–atmosphere feedbacks associated with ENSO in the reanalysis products

The evolution of El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability can be characterized by various ocean–atmosphere feedbacks, for example, the influence of ENSO related sea surface temperature (SST) variability on the low-level wind and surface heat fluxes in the equatorial tropical Pacific, which in turn affects the evolution of the SST. An analysis of these feedbacks requires physically consistent observational data sets. Availability of various reanalysis data sets produced during the last 15?years provides such an opportunity. A consolidated estimate of ocean surface fluxes based on multiple reanalyses also helps understand biases in ENSO predictions and simulations from climate models. In this paper, the intensity and the spatial structure of ocean–atmosphere feedback terms (precipitation, surface wind stress, and ocean surface heat flux) associated with ENSO are evaluated for six different reanalysis products. The analysis provides an estimate for the feedback terms that could be used for model validation studies. The analysis includes the robustness of the estimate across different reanalyses. Results show that one of the “coupled” reanalysis among the six investigated is closer to the ensemble mean of the results, suggesting that the coupled data assimilation may have the potential to better capture the overall atmosphere–ocean feedback processes associated with ENSO than the uncoupled ones.     

On the variable‐lag and variable‐velocity cell‐to‐cell routing schemes for climate models

Abstract

The cell‐to‐cell channel routing schemes used in General Circulation Models (GCMs) and Regional Climate Models (RCMs) are revisited. A simpler parsimonious routing scheme based on Askew's formula (1970) for computing time‐evolving channel lags is implemented and tested against observations and compared with the variable‐velocity scheme of Arora and Boer (1999). The variable‐lag routing scheme agrees very well with the variable‐velocity scheme. The variable‐lag scheme has the advantage of using fewer parameters, which is a major advantage at fine resolution over a large domain, where the uncertainty associated with parameters can be quite large.

The spatial resolutions of RCMs are much finer than those of GCMs and hence there is a need for channel routing at fine spatial resolutions. The task of extending the cell‐to‐cell routing schemes developed for large‐scale routing, as in GCMs, to finer spatial scales, as in RCMs, is addressed. The sensitivity of the variable‐lag scheme to the routing time interval is studied. The choice of the routing time interval is very critical and varies with the spatial resolution as in any hydrological model. A simple method for determining the appropriate range of routing intervals at different spatial resolutions for the variable‐lag scheme is presented.     

Laterally‐propagating Rossby waves in the easterly acceleration phase of the quasi‐biennial oscillation

Abstract

It is shown that oscillating mean flow solutions exist in the one‐dimensional Holton‐Lindzen (1972) model in the presence of a single Kelvin wave, mean flow diffusion, and an easterly zonal force per unit mass that is constant in height and time except at those points in the time‐height cross‐section where the latitudinally‐integrated mean flow is less than some prescribed easterly value. The latter forcing is intended to crudely represent the absorption of quasi‐stationary planetary Rossby waves at the tropical zero‐wind line. Our results suggest an alternative, and somewhat simpler, possible interpretation of the quasi‐biennial mean zonal wind oscillation in the equatorial lower stratosphere.     

The ocean’s role in setting the mean position of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone

Through study of observations and coupled climate simulations, it is argued that the mean position of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) north of the equator is a consequence of a northwards heat transport across the equator by ocean circulation. Observations suggest that the hemispheric net radiative forcing of climate at the top of the atmosphere is almost perfectly symmetric about the equator, and so the total (atmosphere plus ocean) heat transport across the equator is small (order 0.2 PW northwards). Due to the Atlantic ocean’s meridional overturning circulation, however, the ocean carries significantly more heat northwards across the equator (order 0.4 PW) than does the coupled system. There are two primary consequences. First, atmospheric heat transport is southwards across the equator to compensate (0.2 PW southwards), resulting in the ITCZ being displaced north of the equator. Second, the atmosphere, and indeed the ocean, is slightly warmer (by perhaps 2 °C) in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere. This leads to the northern hemisphere emitting slightly more outgoing longwave radiation than the southern hemisphere by virtue of its relative warmth, supporting the small northward heat transport by the coupled system across the equator. To conclude, the coupled nature of the problem is illustrated through study of atmosphere–ocean–ice simulations in the idealized setting of an aquaplanet, resolving the key processes at work.     

Isolating mesoscale coupled ocean–atmosphere interactions in the Kuroshio Extension region

The Kuroshio Extension region is characterized by energetic oceanic mesoscale and frontal variability that alters the air–sea fluxes that can influence large-scale climate variability in the North Pacific. We investigate this mesoscale air-sea coupling using a regional eddy-resolving coupled ocean–atmosphere (OA) model that downscales the observed large-scale climate variability from 2001 to 2007. The model simulates many aspects of the observed seasonal cycle of OA coupling strength for both momentum and turbulent heat fluxes. We introduce a new modeling approach to study the scale-dependence of two well-known mechanisms for the surface wind response to mesoscale sea surface temperatures (SSTs), namely, the ‘vertical mixing mechanism’ (VMM) and the ‘pressure adjustment mechanism’ (PAM). We compare the fully coupled model to the same model with an online, 2-D spatial smoother applied to remove the mesoscale SST field felt by the atmosphere. Both VMM and PAM are found to be active during the strong wintertime peak seen in the coupling strength in both the model and observations. For VMM, large-scale SST gradients surprisingly generate coupling between downwind SST gradient and wind stress divergence that is often stronger than the coupling on the mesoscale, indicating their joint importance in OA interaction in this region. In contrast, VMM coupling between crosswind SST gradient and wind stress curl occurs only on the mesoscale, and not over large-scale SST gradients, indicating the essential role of the ocean mesocale. For PAM, the model results indicate that coupling between the Laplacian of sea level pressure and surface wind convergence occurs for both mesoscale and large-scale processes, but inclusion of the mesoscale roughly doubles the coupling strength. Coupling between latent heat flux and SST is found to be significant throughout the entire seasonal cycle in both fully coupled mode and large-scale coupled mode, with peak coupling during winter months. The atmospheric response to the oceanic mesoscale SST is also studied by comparing the fully coupled run to an uncoupled atmospheric model forced with smoothed SST prescribed from the coupled run. Precipitation anomalies are found to be forced by surface wind convergence patterns that are driven by mesoscale SST gradients, indicating the importance of the ocean forcing the atmosphere at this scale.     

Modulation of tropical ocean surface chlorophyll by the Madden–Julian Oscillation

The MJO modulation of sea surface chlorophyll-a (Chl) examined initially by Waliser et al. in Geophys Res Lett, (2005) is revisited with a significantly longer time-series of observations and a more systematic approach to characterizing the possible mechanisms underlying the MJO-Chl relationships. The MJO composite analysis of Chl and lead-lag correlations between Chl and other physical variables reveal regional variability of Chl and corresponding indicative temporal relationships among variables. Along the path of the MJO convection, wind speed—a proxy for oceanic vertical turbulent mixing and corresponding entrainment—is most strongly correlated with Chl when wind leads Chl by a few days. Composite Chl also displays MJO influences away from the path of the MJO convection. The role of wind speed in those regions is generally the same for Chl variability as that along the path of the MJO convection, although Ekman pumping also plays a role in generating Chl variability in limited regions. However, the wind forcing away from the MJO convection path is less coherent, rendering the temporal link relatively weak. Lastly, the potential for bio-physical feedbacks at the MJO time-scale is examined. The correlation analysis provides tantalizing evidence for local bio-feedbacks to the physical MJO system. Plausible hypothesis for Chl to amplify the MJO phase transition is presented though it cannot be affirmed in this study and will be examined and reported in a future modeling study.     

An ocean–atmosphere interaction mechanism for the active break cycle of the Asian summer monsoon

A typical active–break cycle of the Asian summer monsoon is taken as beginning with maximum SST (pentad 0) over the north Bay of Bengal when the oceans to its west and east from longitude 40°–160°E, and between latitudes 10° and 25°N (area A) also has maximum SST. During this pentad the recently found “Cold Pool” of the Bay of Bengal (between latitudes 3°N and 10°N) has its minimum SST. An area of convection takes genesis over the Bay of Bengal immediately after pentad 0 in the zone of large SST gradient north of the Cold Pool and it pulls the monsoon Low Level Jetstream (LLJ) through peninsular India. Convection and the LLJ westerlies then spread to the western Pacific Ocean during pentads 1–4 taken as the active phase of the monsoon during which convection and LLJ have grown in a positive feed back process. The cyclonic vorticity to the north of the LLJ axis is hypothesized to act as a flywheel maintaining the convection during the long active phase against the dissipating effect of atmospheric stabilization by each short spell of deep convection. By the end of pentad 4 the SST over area A has cooled and the convection weakens there, when the LLJ turns clockwise over the Arabian Sea and flows close to the equator in the Indian ocean. A band of convection develops at pentad 5 between the equator and latitude 10°S over the Indian ocean and it is nourished by the cyclonic vorticity of the LLJ now near the equator and the moisture supply through it. This is taken as the break monsoon phase lasting for about three to four pentads beginning from pentad 5 of a composite active–break cycle of 40 day duration. With reduced wind and convection over the area A during the break phase, solar radiation and light winds make the SST there warm rapidly and a new active–break cycle begins. SST, convection, LLJ and the net heat flux at the ocean surface have important roles in this new way of looking at the active–break cycle as a coupled ocean–atmosphere phenomenon.