The Indian Ocean-type isotopic signature in western Pacific marginal basins: Origin and significance

Author(s):  
Rosemary Hickey-Vargas ◽  
Janet M. Hergt ◽  
Piera Spadea
2006 ◽  
Vol 70 (18) ◽  
pp. A446
Author(s):  
Y. Nishio ◽  
S. Nakai ◽  
T. Ishii ◽  
Y. Sano

Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2561 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANÇOISE MONNIOT

Numerous collections of ascidians have been made in the Pacific and Indian Oceans but the inventory is far from complete. Each sampling provides new species. Two new didemnids are described here from Palau and Vanuatu. New records are given for 22 additional species with complementary descriptions and underwater photographs. The tropical ascidian fauna is highly diverse and successive new collections show that many of the species are not only widely distributed from the central to western Pacific but also common to the Indian Ocean.


2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 3899-3916 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. H. Seto ◽  
M. K. Yamamoto ◽  
H. Hashiguchi ◽  
S. Fukao

Abstract. The influence of intraseasonal variation (ISV) on convective activities over Sumatera (or Sumatra) is studied by using data derived from the Equatorial Atmosphere Radar (EAR), the Boundary Layer Radar (BLR), the surface weather station, the Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS), and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. In June 2002, convective activities over the Indian Ocean, the maritime continent, and the western Pacific were significantly modulated by the ISV. Blackbody brightness temperature observed by GMS (TBB) showed that two super cloud clusters (SCCs) developed over the Indian Ocean (70-90° E) in the first half of June 2002, and propagated eastward from the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific. Convective activities were enhanced over the western Pacific (130-160° E) in the latter half of June 2002. Convergence at 1000hPa, which prevailed over the Indian Ocean in the first half of June 2002, propagated eastward to the western Pacific in the latter half of June 2002. Zonal wind observed by EAR and surface pressure observed at the observation site suggested the existence of a Kelvin-wave-like structure of ISV. From temporal variations of TBB, zonal wind at 850hPa, and vertical shear of horizontal wind between 700 and 150hPa, we classified the observation periods into the inactive phase (1-9 June), active phase (10-19 June), and postwesterly wind burst phase of ISV (20-26 June). During the inactive phase of ISV, convective activities caused by local circulation were prominent over Sumatera. Results of radar observations indicated the dominance of convective rainfall events over the mountainous area of Sumatera during the inactive phase of ISV. During the active phase of the ISV, cloud clusters (CCs), which developed in the convective envelope of SCC with a period of 1-2 days, mainly induced the formation of convective activities over Sumatera. Results of radar observations indicated that both convective and stratiform rainfall events occurred over the mountainous area of Sumatera during the active phase of ISV. In the postwesterly wind burst phase of ISV, convective activities were suppressed over Sumatera. Features of convective activities found over Sumatera generally agreed well with those found in Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere/Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE). However, local circulation played an important role in the formation of convective activities over Sumatera in the inactive phase of ISV.


2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Zhang ◽  
Bizheng Wang ◽  
Qingcun Zeng

Abstract The impact of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) on summer rainfall in Southeast China is investigated using the Real-time Multivariate MJO (RMM) index and the observational rainfall data. A marked transition of rainfall patterns from being enhanced to being suppressed is found in Southeast China (east of 105°E and south of 35°N) on intraseasonal time scales as the MJO convective center moves from the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean. The maximum positive and negative anomalies of regional mean rainfall are in excess of 10% relative to the climatological regional mean. Such different rainfall regimes are associated with the corresponding changes in physical fields such as the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH), moisture, and vertical motions. When the MJO is mainly over the Indian Ocean, the WPSH shifts farther westward, and the moisture and upward motions in Southeast China are increased. In contrast, when the MJO enters the western Pacific, the WPSH retreats eastward, and the moisture and upward motions in Southeast China are decreased. It is suggested that the MJO may influence summer rainfall in Southeast China through remote and local dynamical mechanisms, which correspond to the rainfall enhancement and suppression, respectively. The remote role is the energy propagation of the Rossby wave forced by the MJO-related heating over the Indian Ocean through the low-level westerly waveguide from the tropical Indian Ocean to Southeast China. The local role is the northward shift of the upward branch of the anomalous meridional circulation when the MJO is over the western Pacific, which causes eastward retreat of the WPSH and suppressed moisture transport toward Southeast China.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 1908-1931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin P. Stachnik ◽  
Duane E. Waliser ◽  
Andrew J. Majda

Abstract This study presents an analysis of the precursor environmental conditions related to the termination of Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) events. A simple climatology is created using a real-time MJO monitoring index, documenting the locations and frequencies of MJO decay. Lead–lag composites of several atmospheric variables including temperature, moisture, and intraseasonal wind anomalies are generated from three reanalyses. There is remarkable agreement among the datasets with long-term, lower-tropospheric moisture deficits over the local domain best identifying termination events over the Indian Ocean. MJO termination in the Indian Ocean is also linked to a northward shift of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) with possible lead times as much as 20 days prior to MJO decay. Statistically significant differences in the low-level vertical velocity and specific humidity are also identified more than 10 days in advance of MJO termination events in the western Pacific, though the differences here are more symmetric about the equator. Unlike the Indian Ocean and western Pacific, MJOs that terminate over the Maritime Continent appear to be related to their own intensity rather than the downstream conditions. As such, only the strongest MJOs tend to propagate into the warm pool region. Finally, a budget analysis is performed on the three-dimensional moisture advection equation in order to better elucidate what time scales and physical mechanisms are most important for MJO termination. The combination of intraseasonal vertical circulation anomalies coupled with the mean-state specific humidity best explain the anomalous moisture patterns associated with MJO termination, suggesting that the downstream influence of the MJO circulation can eventually lead to its future demise.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (24) ◽  
pp. 10155-10178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia E. Wieners ◽  
Henk A. Dijkstra ◽  
Will P. M. de Ruijter

In recent years it has been proposed that a negative (positive) Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) in boreal autumn favors an El Niño (La Niña) at a lead time of 15 months. Observational analysis suggests that a negative IOD might be accompanied by easterly anomalies over the western Pacific. Such easterlies can enhance the western Pacific warm water volume, thus favoring El Niño development from the following boreal spring onward. However, a Gill-model response to a negative IOD forcing would lead to nearly zero winds over the western Pacific. The authors hypothesize that a negative IOD—or even a cool western Indian Ocean alone—leads to low-level air convergence and hence enhanced convectional heating over the Maritime Continent, which in turn amplifies the wind convergence so as to cause easterly winds over the western Pacific. This hypothesis is tested by coupling an idealized Indian Ocean model and a convective feedback model over the Maritime Continent to the Zebiak–Cane model. It is found that, for a sufficiently strong convection feedback, a negative (positive) IOD indeed forces easterlies (westerlies) over the western Pacific. The contribution from the eastern IOD pole dominates. IOD variability is found to destabilize the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) mode, whereas Indian Ocean basinwide warming (IOB) variability dampens ENSO, even in the presence of convection. The influence of the Indian Ocean on the spectral properties of ENSO is dominated by the IOB, while the IOD is a better predictor for individual ENSO events.


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