Air–Sea Interactions from the Diurnal to the Intraseasonal during the PISTON, MISOBOB, and CAMP2Ex Observational Campaigns in the Tropics
Description:
Current climate, weather, and compositional forecasts have limited predictive skill within the Indo-Pacific warm pool regions and across Southeast Asia. Improvement of our forecasting capability has significant societal consequences, as cyclone activity, periods of drought and flooding, and severe biomass burning episodes affect the livelihoods and security of the millions of people inhabiting Southeast Asia. These regions are characterized by deep, moist convection that is organized and maintained over a range of spatio-temporal scales, ranging from coastal convection to ENSO and IOD. While comparison of uncoupled and coupled simulations suggests that air–sea interactions are important in organizing convection, a process-based understanding of exactly how air-sea interaction influences large-scale convective patterns and relationships to overall monsoon meteorology remains uncertain. Tightly linked land, oceanic, and atmospheric processes likely all have an important role to play, requiring an interdisciplinary approach for improved understanding. The recent US-funded field campaigns Propagation of INtraseasonal Tropical Oscillations (PISTON), Monsoon Intraseasonal Oscillations in the Bay of Bengal (MISOBOB), and Cloud, Aerosol and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex) and their international counterparts—South China Sea Two-Island Monsoon Experiment (SCSTIMX) and Ocean Mixing and Monsoon (OMM)—have focused on air-sea observations, forecast, and model studies over timescales of sub-daily to multi-year within the Indo-Pacific warm pool region with the aim of improving our coupled, interdisciplinary understanding across the air–sea interface. This special collection showcases the results from these observational campaigns and corresponding numerical modeling efforts. Contributions range from ocean-centric to atmosphere-centric to fully coupled works that address sub-seasonal to seasonal variability of convection including that associated with the Madden Julian oscillation and boreal summer intraseasonal oscillations, monsoon variability, cyclone activity, the diurnal cycle, and/or related cloud, aerosol, land, and ocean processes.
Collection organizers:
Emily Shroyer, Oregon State University
Sue Chen, US Naval Research Laboratory
Eric Maloney, Colorado State University
Jeffrey Reid, US Naval Research Laboratory
Amit Tandon, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
Air–Sea Interactions from the Diurnal to the Intraseasonal during the PISTON, MISOBOB, and CAMP2Ex Observational Campaigns in the Tropics
Abstract
In-cloud aerosol scavenging remains a large source of model uncertainty, affecting capabilities to capture the aerosol lifetime and impacts on air quality and climate. While past work quantified aerosol scavenging efficiencies (SEs) in midlatitude mixed-phase deep convection, SEs are less well known for shallower convection. We used aircraft data over the tropical west Pacific to calculate SEs for three marine cumuli of different top heights (3–7 km MSL) using a simple entrainment model and measurements of the cloud outflow and nearby clear air. Across cases, efficient scavenging was observed for sulfate (>86%) and black carbon (70%–80%), while organic aerosols (53%–60%) and nitrate (61.5%) were moderately scavenged. Ammonium had a wide SE range (53%–87%). SEs of aerosol volume concentration showed near-total removal of aerosols with diameters greater than 100 nm (>92%) and inefficient removal for aerosols with diameters less than 100 nm (30%–50%), associated with the preferential activation and removal of larger particles. Mass-based SEs did not differ substantially between tropical cumuli and midlatitude deep convection, attributed to the negligible mass activated at higher supersaturations. The efficient scavenging of black carbon (BC) can be explained by an enhanced hygroscopic fraction of BC based on model results from the Community Earth System Model, version 2 (CESM2), Community Atmosphere Model with Chemistry, suggesting the internal mixing of BC with more soluble species during long-range transport through the marine atmosphere. The estimates of BC SEs provide direct evidence of substantial BC removal in convection as inferred by previous work and should motivate improvements in chemical transport models.
Significance Statement
The scavenging (removal) of aerosols is critical for estimating the lifetime of aerosols and their impact on air quality and climate; however, scavenging efficiency remains uncertain in global models especially for shallow convection. To address this uncertainty, we calculated aerosol scavenging efficiencies in tropical marine cumuli for different aerosol species, including sulfate and black carbon. We find that scavenging efficiencies depend on aerosol composition, size, and to a lesser extent, cloud-top height. The efficient removal of black carbon is explained by high hygroscopic fractions based on a model, related to the mixing of black carbon with more soluble species during transport. The reported scavenging efficiencies can be implemented into chemical transport models to improve model estimates of aerosol removal.
Abstract
In-cloud aerosol scavenging remains a large source of model uncertainty, affecting capabilities to capture the aerosol lifetime and impacts on air quality and climate. While past work quantified aerosol scavenging efficiencies (SEs) in midlatitude mixed-phase deep convection, SEs are less well known for shallower convection. We used aircraft data over the tropical west Pacific to calculate SEs for three marine cumuli of different top heights (3–7 km MSL) using a simple entrainment model and measurements of the cloud outflow and nearby clear air. Across cases, efficient scavenging was observed for sulfate (>86%) and black carbon (70%–80%), while organic aerosols (53%–60%) and nitrate (61.5%) were moderately scavenged. Ammonium had a wide SE range (53%–87%). SEs of aerosol volume concentration showed near-total removal of aerosols with diameters greater than 100 nm (>92%) and inefficient removal for aerosols with diameters less than 100 nm (30%–50%), associated with the preferential activation and removal of larger particles. Mass-based SEs did not differ substantially between tropical cumuli and midlatitude deep convection, attributed to the negligible mass activated at higher supersaturations. The efficient scavenging of black carbon (BC) can be explained by an enhanced hygroscopic fraction of BC based on model results from the Community Earth System Model, version 2 (CESM2), Community Atmosphere Model with Chemistry, suggesting the internal mixing of BC with more soluble species during long-range transport through the marine atmosphere. The estimates of BC SEs provide direct evidence of substantial BC removal in convection as inferred by previous work and should motivate improvements in chemical transport models.
Significance Statement
The scavenging (removal) of aerosols is critical for estimating the lifetime of aerosols and their impact on air quality and climate; however, scavenging efficiency remains uncertain in global models especially for shallow convection. To address this uncertainty, we calculated aerosol scavenging efficiencies in tropical marine cumuli for different aerosol species, including sulfate and black carbon. We find that scavenging efficiencies depend on aerosol composition, size, and to a lesser extent, cloud-top height. The efficient removal of black carbon is explained by high hygroscopic fractions based on a model, related to the mixing of black carbon with more soluble species during transport. The reported scavenging efficiencies can be implemented into chemical transport models to improve model estimates of aerosol removal.
Abstract
We have quantified the impacts of varying thermodynamic environments on tropical congestus and cumulonimbus clouds (CCCs) within maritime tropical regions. To elucidate this relationship, we employed the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) to conduct high-resolution (1 km) simulations of convection over the Philippine Archipelago for a month-long period in 2019. We subsequently performed a cloud-object-based analysis, identifying and tracking hundreds of thousands of individual CCCs using the Tracking and Object-Based Analysis of Clouds (tobac) tracking library. Using this object-oriented dataset of tracked cells, we examined differences in individual storm strength, organization, and morphology due to the storm’s initial environment. We found that storm strength, defined here as maximum midlevel updraft velocity, was controlled primarily by convective available potential energy (CAPE) and precipitable water (PW); high CAPE (>2500 J kg−1) and high (approximately 63 mm) PW were both required for midlevel CCC updraft velocities to reach at least 10 m s−1. Of the CCCs with the most vigorous updrafts, 80.9% were also in the upper tercile of precipitation rates, with the strongest precipitation rates requiring even higher PW. Further, we found that vertical wind shear was the primary differentiator between organized and isolated convective storms. Within the set of organized storms, linearly oriented CCC systems have significantly weaker vertical wind shear than nonlinear CCCs in low- (0–1, 0–3 km) and midlevels (0–5, 2–7 km). Overall, these results provide new insights into the environmental conditions determining the CCC properties in maritime tropical regions.
Abstract
We have quantified the impacts of varying thermodynamic environments on tropical congestus and cumulonimbus clouds (CCCs) within maritime tropical regions. To elucidate this relationship, we employed the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) to conduct high-resolution (1 km) simulations of convection over the Philippine Archipelago for a month-long period in 2019. We subsequently performed a cloud-object-based analysis, identifying and tracking hundreds of thousands of individual CCCs using the Tracking and Object-Based Analysis of Clouds (tobac) tracking library. Using this object-oriented dataset of tracked cells, we examined differences in individual storm strength, organization, and morphology due to the storm’s initial environment. We found that storm strength, defined here as maximum midlevel updraft velocity, was controlled primarily by convective available potential energy (CAPE) and precipitable water (PW); high CAPE (>2500 J kg−1) and high (approximately 63 mm) PW were both required for midlevel CCC updraft velocities to reach at least 10 m s−1. Of the CCCs with the most vigorous updrafts, 80.9% were also in the upper tercile of precipitation rates, with the strongest precipitation rates requiring even higher PW. Further, we found that vertical wind shear was the primary differentiator between organized and isolated convective storms. Within the set of organized storms, linearly oriented CCC systems have significantly weaker vertical wind shear than nonlinear CCCs in low- (0–1, 0–3 km) and midlevels (0–5, 2–7 km). Overall, these results provide new insights into the environmental conditions determining the CCC properties in maritime tropical regions.
Abstract
We study the near-inertial response of the salinity-stratified north Bay of Bengal to monsoonal wind forcing using 6 years of hourly observations from four moorings. The mean annual energy input from surface winds to near-inertial mixed layer currents is 10–20 kJ m−2, occurring mainly in distinct synoptic “events” from April–September. A total of fifteen events are analyzed: Seven when the ocean is capped by a thin layer of low-salinity river water (fresh) and eight when it is not (salty). The average near-inertial energy input from winds is 40% higher in the fresh cases than in the salty cases. During the fresh events, 1) mixed layer near-inertial motions decay about two times faster and 2) near-inertial kinetic energy below the mixed layer is reduced by at least a factor of three relative to the salty cases. The near-inertial horizontal wavelength was measured for one fresh and one salty event; the fresh was about three times shorter initially. A linear model of near-inertial wave propagation tuned to these data reproduces 2); the thin (10 m) mixed layers during the fresh events excite high modes, which propagate more slowly than the low modes excited by the thicker (40 m) mixed layers in the salty events. The model does not reproduce 1); the rapid decay of the mixed layer inertial motions in the fresh events is not explained by the linear wave propagation at the resolved scales; a different and currently unknown set of processes is likely responsible.
Abstract
We study the near-inertial response of the salinity-stratified north Bay of Bengal to monsoonal wind forcing using 6 years of hourly observations from four moorings. The mean annual energy input from surface winds to near-inertial mixed layer currents is 10–20 kJ m−2, occurring mainly in distinct synoptic “events” from April–September. A total of fifteen events are analyzed: Seven when the ocean is capped by a thin layer of low-salinity river water (fresh) and eight when it is not (salty). The average near-inertial energy input from winds is 40% higher in the fresh cases than in the salty cases. During the fresh events, 1) mixed layer near-inertial motions decay about two times faster and 2) near-inertial kinetic energy below the mixed layer is reduced by at least a factor of three relative to the salty cases. The near-inertial horizontal wavelength was measured for one fresh and one salty event; the fresh was about three times shorter initially. A linear model of near-inertial wave propagation tuned to these data reproduces 2); the thin (10 m) mixed layers during the fresh events excite high modes, which propagate more slowly than the low modes excited by the thicker (40 m) mixed layers in the salty events. The model does not reproduce 1); the rapid decay of the mixed layer inertial motions in the fresh events is not explained by the linear wave propagation at the resolved scales; a different and currently unknown set of processes is likely responsible.
Abstract
The mechanisms regulating the relationship between the tropical island diurnal cycle and large-scale modes of tropical variability such as the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) are explored in observations and an idealized model. Specifically, the local environmental conditions associated with diurnal cycle variability are explored. Using Luzon Island in the northern Philippines as an observational test case, a novel probabilistic framework is applied to improve the understanding of diurnal cycle variability. High-amplitude diurnal cycle days tend to occur with weak to moderate offshore low-level wind and near to above average column moisture in the local environment. The transition from the BSISO suppressed phase to the active phase is most likely to produce the wind and moisture conditions supportive of a substantial diurnal cycle over western Luzon and the South China Sea (SCS). Thus, the impact of the BSISO on the local diurnal cycle can be understood in terms of the change in the probability of favorable environmental conditions. Idealized high-resolution 3D Cloud Model 1 (CM1) simulations driven by base states derived from BSISO composite profiles are able to reproduce several important features of the observed diurnal cycle variability with BSISO phase, including the strong, land-based diurnal cycle and offshore propagation in the transition phases. Background wind appears to be the primary variable controlling the diurnal cycle response, but ambient moisture distinctly reduces precipitation strength in the suppressed BSISO phase and enhances it in the active phase.
Abstract
The mechanisms regulating the relationship between the tropical island diurnal cycle and large-scale modes of tropical variability such as the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) are explored in observations and an idealized model. Specifically, the local environmental conditions associated with diurnal cycle variability are explored. Using Luzon Island in the northern Philippines as an observational test case, a novel probabilistic framework is applied to improve the understanding of diurnal cycle variability. High-amplitude diurnal cycle days tend to occur with weak to moderate offshore low-level wind and near to above average column moisture in the local environment. The transition from the BSISO suppressed phase to the active phase is most likely to produce the wind and moisture conditions supportive of a substantial diurnal cycle over western Luzon and the South China Sea (SCS). Thus, the impact of the BSISO on the local diurnal cycle can be understood in terms of the change in the probability of favorable environmental conditions. Idealized high-resolution 3D Cloud Model 1 (CM1) simulations driven by base states derived from BSISO composite profiles are able to reproduce several important features of the observed diurnal cycle variability with BSISO phase, including the strong, land-based diurnal cycle and offshore propagation in the transition phases. Background wind appears to be the primary variable controlling the diurnal cycle response, but ambient moisture distinctly reduces precipitation strength in the suppressed BSISO phase and enhances it in the active phase.
Abstract
This work evaluates the fidelity of various upper-ocean turbulence parameterizations subject to realistic monsoon forcing and presents a finite-time ensemble vector (EV) method to better manage the design and numerical principles of these parameterizations. The EV method emphasizes the dynamics of a turbulence closure multimodel ensemble and is applied to evaluate 10 different ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) parameterizations within a single-column (SC) model against two boundary layer large-eddy simulations (LES). Both LES include realistic surface forcing, but one includes wind-driven shear turbulence only, while the other includes additional Stokes forcing through the wave-average equations that generate Langmuir turbulence. The finite-time EV framework focuses on what constitutes the local behavior of the mixed layer dynamical system and isolates the forcing and ocean state conditions where turbulence parameterizations most disagree. Identifying disagreement provides the potential to evaluate SC models comparatively against the LES. Observations collected during the 2018 monsoon onset in the Bay of Bengal provide a case study to evaluate models under realistic and variable forcing conditions. The case study results highlight two regimes where models disagree 1) during wind-driven deepening of the mixed layer and 2) under strong diurnal forcing.
Abstract
This work evaluates the fidelity of various upper-ocean turbulence parameterizations subject to realistic monsoon forcing and presents a finite-time ensemble vector (EV) method to better manage the design and numerical principles of these parameterizations. The EV method emphasizes the dynamics of a turbulence closure multimodel ensemble and is applied to evaluate 10 different ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) parameterizations within a single-column (SC) model against two boundary layer large-eddy simulations (LES). Both LES include realistic surface forcing, but one includes wind-driven shear turbulence only, while the other includes additional Stokes forcing through the wave-average equations that generate Langmuir turbulence. The finite-time EV framework focuses on what constitutes the local behavior of the mixed layer dynamical system and isolates the forcing and ocean state conditions where turbulence parameterizations most disagree. Identifying disagreement provides the potential to evaluate SC models comparatively against the LES. Observations collected during the 2018 monsoon onset in the Bay of Bengal provide a case study to evaluate models under realistic and variable forcing conditions. The case study results highlight two regimes where models disagree 1) during wind-driven deepening of the mixed layer and 2) under strong diurnal forcing.
Abstract
The NASA Cloud, Aerosol, and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex) employed the NASA P-3, Stratton Park Engineering Company (SPEC) Learjet 35, and a host of satellites and surface sensors to characterize the coupling of aerosol processes, cloud physics, and atmospheric radiation within the Maritime Continent’s complex southwest monsoonal environment. Conducted in the late summer of 2019 from Luzon, Philippines, in conjunction with the Office of Naval Research Propagation of Intraseasonal Tropical Oscillations (PISTON) experiment with its R/V Sally Ride stationed in the northwestern tropical Pacific, CAMP2Ex documented diverse biomass burning, industrial and natural aerosol populations, and their interactions with small to congestus convection. The 2019 season exhibited El Niño conditions and associated drought, high biomass burning emissions, and an early monsoon transition allowing for observation of pristine to massively polluted environments as they advected through intricate diurnal mesoscale and radiative environments into the monsoonal trough. CAMP2Ex’s preliminary results indicate 1) increasing aerosol loadings tend to invigorate congestus convection in height and increase liquid water paths; 2) lidar, polarimetry, and geostationary Advanced Himawari Imager remote sensing sensors have skill in quantifying diverse aerosol and cloud properties and their interaction; and 3) high-resolution remote sensing technologies are able to greatly improve our ability to evaluate the radiation budget in complex cloud systems. Through the development of innovative informatics technologies, CAMP2Ex provides a benchmark dataset of an environment of extremes for the study of aerosol, cloud, and radiation processes as well as a crucible for the design of future observing systems.
Abstract
The NASA Cloud, Aerosol, and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex) employed the NASA P-3, Stratton Park Engineering Company (SPEC) Learjet 35, and a host of satellites and surface sensors to characterize the coupling of aerosol processes, cloud physics, and atmospheric radiation within the Maritime Continent’s complex southwest monsoonal environment. Conducted in the late summer of 2019 from Luzon, Philippines, in conjunction with the Office of Naval Research Propagation of Intraseasonal Tropical Oscillations (PISTON) experiment with its R/V Sally Ride stationed in the northwestern tropical Pacific, CAMP2Ex documented diverse biomass burning, industrial and natural aerosol populations, and their interactions with small to congestus convection. The 2019 season exhibited El Niño conditions and associated drought, high biomass burning emissions, and an early monsoon transition allowing for observation of pristine to massively polluted environments as they advected through intricate diurnal mesoscale and radiative environments into the monsoonal trough. CAMP2Ex’s preliminary results indicate 1) increasing aerosol loadings tend to invigorate congestus convection in height and increase liquid water paths; 2) lidar, polarimetry, and geostationary Advanced Himawari Imager remote sensing sensors have skill in quantifying diverse aerosol and cloud properties and their interaction; and 3) high-resolution remote sensing technologies are able to greatly improve our ability to evaluate the radiation budget in complex cloud systems. Through the development of innovative informatics technologies, CAMP2Ex provides a benchmark dataset of an environment of extremes for the study of aerosol, cloud, and radiation processes as well as a crucible for the design of future observing systems.
Abstract
The formation of a sharp oceanic front located south-southeast of Sri Lanka during the southwest monsoon is examined through in situ and remote observations and high-resolution model output. Remote sensing and model output reveal that the front extends approximately 200 km eastward from the southeast coast of Sri Lanka toward the southern Bay of Bengal (BoB). This annually occurring front is associated with the boundary between the southwest monsoon current with high-salinity water to the south, and a weak flow field comprised of relatively fresh BoB water to the north. The front contains a line of high chlorophyll extending from the coastal upwelling zone, often for several hundred kilometers. Elevated turbulent diffusivities ∼10−2 m2 s−1 along with large diapycnal fluxes of heat and salt were found within the front. The formation of the front and vertical transports are linked to local wind stress curl. Large vertical velocities (∼50 m day−1) indicate the importance of ageostrophic, submesoscale processes. To examine these processes, the Ertel potential vorticity (PV) was computed using the observations and numerical model output. The model output shows a ribbon of negative PV along the front between the coastal upwelling zone and two eddies (Sri Lanka Dome and an anticyclonic eddy) typically found in the southern BoB. PV estimates support the view that the flow is susceptible to submesoscale instabilities, which in turn generate high vertical velocities within the front. Frontal upwelling and heightened mixing show that the seasonal front is regionally important to linking the fresh surface water of the BoB with the Arabian Sea.
Significance Statement
Within the ocean, motions span extraordinarily wide ranges of sizes and time scales. In this study we focus on a narrow, intensified feature called a front. This front occurs in the southern Bay of Bengal during the summer monsoon and forms a boundary between fresher water to the north and saltier water to the south. Features such as this are difficult to study, however, by combining observations made from ships and satellites with output from numerical models of the ocean, we are able to better understand the front. This is important because fronts like the one studied here play a role in determining the pathways of heat within the ocean, which, in turn, may feedback into the atmosphere and weather patterns.
Abstract
The formation of a sharp oceanic front located south-southeast of Sri Lanka during the southwest monsoon is examined through in situ and remote observations and high-resolution model output. Remote sensing and model output reveal that the front extends approximately 200 km eastward from the southeast coast of Sri Lanka toward the southern Bay of Bengal (BoB). This annually occurring front is associated with the boundary between the southwest monsoon current with high-salinity water to the south, and a weak flow field comprised of relatively fresh BoB water to the north. The front contains a line of high chlorophyll extending from the coastal upwelling zone, often for several hundred kilometers. Elevated turbulent diffusivities ∼10−2 m2 s−1 along with large diapycnal fluxes of heat and salt were found within the front. The formation of the front and vertical transports are linked to local wind stress curl. Large vertical velocities (∼50 m day−1) indicate the importance of ageostrophic, submesoscale processes. To examine these processes, the Ertel potential vorticity (PV) was computed using the observations and numerical model output. The model output shows a ribbon of negative PV along the front between the coastal upwelling zone and two eddies (Sri Lanka Dome and an anticyclonic eddy) typically found in the southern BoB. PV estimates support the view that the flow is susceptible to submesoscale instabilities, which in turn generate high vertical velocities within the front. Frontal upwelling and heightened mixing show that the seasonal front is regionally important to linking the fresh surface water of the BoB with the Arabian Sea.
Significance Statement
Within the ocean, motions span extraordinarily wide ranges of sizes and time scales. In this study we focus on a narrow, intensified feature called a front. This front occurs in the southern Bay of Bengal during the summer monsoon and forms a boundary between fresher water to the north and saltier water to the south. Features such as this are difficult to study, however, by combining observations made from ships and satellites with output from numerical models of the ocean, we are able to better understand the front. This is important because fronts like the one studied here play a role in determining the pathways of heat within the ocean, which, in turn, may feedback into the atmosphere and weather patterns.
Abstract
The relationship between eastward-propagating convective equatorial signals (CES) along the equatorial Indian Ocean (EIO) and the northward-propagating monsoon intraseasonal oscillations (MISOs) in the Bay of Bengal (BOB) was studied using observational datasets acquired during the 2018 and 2019 MISO-BOB field campaigns. Convective envelopes of MISOs originating from just south of the BOB were associated with both strong and weak eastward CES (average speed ∼6.4 m s−1). Strong CES contributed to ∼20% of the precipitation budget of BOB, and they spurred northward-propagating convective signals that matched the canonical speed of MISOs (1–2 m s−1). In contrast, weak CES contributed to ∼14% of the BOB precipitation budget, and they dissipated without significant northward propagation. Eastward-propagating intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs; period 30–60 days) and convectively coupled Kelvin waves (CCKWs; period 4–15 days) accounted for most precipitation variability across the EIO during the 2019 boreal summer as compared with that of 2018. An agreement could be noted between high moisture content in the midtroposphere and the active phases of CCKWs and ISOs for two observational locations in the BOB. Basin-scale thermodynamic conditions prior to the arrival of strong or weak CES revealed warmer or cooler sea surface temperatures, respectively. Flux measurements aboard a research vessel suggest that the evolution of MISOs associated with strong CES are signified by local enhanced air–sea interactions, in particular the supply of local moisture and sensible heat, which could enhance deep convection and further moisten the upper troposphere.
Significance Statement
Eastward-propagating convective signals along the equatorial Indian Ocean and their relationship to the northward-propagating spells of rainfall that lead to moisture variability in the Bay of Bengal are studied for the 2018 and 2019 southwest monsoon seasons using observational datasets acquired during field campaigns. Strong convective equatorial signals spurred northward-propagating convection, as compared with weak signals that dissipated without significant northward propagation. Wave spectral analysis showed CCKWs (period 4–15 days), and eastward ISOs (period 30–60 days) accounted for most of the precipitation variability, with the former dominating during the 2018 boreal summer. High moisture periods observed from radiosonde measurements show agreement with the active phases of CCKWs and ISOs.
Abstract
The relationship between eastward-propagating convective equatorial signals (CES) along the equatorial Indian Ocean (EIO) and the northward-propagating monsoon intraseasonal oscillations (MISOs) in the Bay of Bengal (BOB) was studied using observational datasets acquired during the 2018 and 2019 MISO-BOB field campaigns. Convective envelopes of MISOs originating from just south of the BOB were associated with both strong and weak eastward CES (average speed ∼6.4 m s−1). Strong CES contributed to ∼20% of the precipitation budget of BOB, and they spurred northward-propagating convective signals that matched the canonical speed of MISOs (1–2 m s−1). In contrast, weak CES contributed to ∼14% of the BOB precipitation budget, and they dissipated without significant northward propagation. Eastward-propagating intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs; period 30–60 days) and convectively coupled Kelvin waves (CCKWs; period 4–15 days) accounted for most precipitation variability across the EIO during the 2019 boreal summer as compared with that of 2018. An agreement could be noted between high moisture content in the midtroposphere and the active phases of CCKWs and ISOs for two observational locations in the BOB. Basin-scale thermodynamic conditions prior to the arrival of strong or weak CES revealed warmer or cooler sea surface temperatures, respectively. Flux measurements aboard a research vessel suggest that the evolution of MISOs associated with strong CES are signified by local enhanced air–sea interactions, in particular the supply of local moisture and sensible heat, which could enhance deep convection and further moisten the upper troposphere.
Significance Statement
Eastward-propagating convective signals along the equatorial Indian Ocean and their relationship to the northward-propagating spells of rainfall that lead to moisture variability in the Bay of Bengal are studied for the 2018 and 2019 southwest monsoon seasons using observational datasets acquired during field campaigns. Strong convective equatorial signals spurred northward-propagating convection, as compared with weak signals that dissipated without significant northward propagation. Wave spectral analysis showed CCKWs (period 4–15 days), and eastward ISOs (period 30–60 days) accounted for most of the precipitation variability, with the former dominating during the 2018 boreal summer. High moisture periods observed from radiosonde measurements show agreement with the active phases of CCKWs and ISOs.
Abstract
Moist static energy (MSE) and ocean heat content (OHC) in the tropics are inextricably linked. The processes by which sources and sinks of OHC modulate column integrated MSE in the Indian Ocean (IO) are explored through a reformulation of the MSE budget using atmosphere and ocean reanalysis data. In the reframed MSE budget, interfacial air–sea turbulent and radiative fluxes are replaced for information on upper ocean dynamics, thus “mooring” the MSE tendency to the subsurface ocean. On subseasonal time scales, ocean forcing is largely responsible for the amplification of MSE anomalies across the IO, with basin average growth rates of 10% day−1. Local OHC depletion is the leading contributor to anomalous MSE amplification with average rates of 12% day−1. Along the equator, MSE is amplified by OHC vertical advection. Ocean forcing only weakly reduces the propagation tendency of MSE anomalies (−2% day−1), with propagation predominantly resulting from atmosphere forcing (10% day−1). OHC in the IO acts as an MSE reservoir that is expended during periods of enhanced intraseasonal atmosphere convection and recharged during periods of suppressed convection. Because OHC is an MSE source during enhanced intraseasonal convection periods, it largely offsets the negative MSE tendency produced by horizontal advection in the atmosphere. The opposite effect occurs during suppressed convection periods, where OHC is a sink of MSE and counters the positive MSE tendency produced by horizontal advection in the atmosphere.
Abstract
Moist static energy (MSE) and ocean heat content (OHC) in the tropics are inextricably linked. The processes by which sources and sinks of OHC modulate column integrated MSE in the Indian Ocean (IO) are explored through a reformulation of the MSE budget using atmosphere and ocean reanalysis data. In the reframed MSE budget, interfacial air–sea turbulent and radiative fluxes are replaced for information on upper ocean dynamics, thus “mooring” the MSE tendency to the subsurface ocean. On subseasonal time scales, ocean forcing is largely responsible for the amplification of MSE anomalies across the IO, with basin average growth rates of 10% day−1. Local OHC depletion is the leading contributor to anomalous MSE amplification with average rates of 12% day−1. Along the equator, MSE is amplified by OHC vertical advection. Ocean forcing only weakly reduces the propagation tendency of MSE anomalies (−2% day−1), with propagation predominantly resulting from atmosphere forcing (10% day−1). OHC in the IO acts as an MSE reservoir that is expended during periods of enhanced intraseasonal atmosphere convection and recharged during periods of suppressed convection. Because OHC is an MSE source during enhanced intraseasonal convection periods, it largely offsets the negative MSE tendency produced by horizontal advection in the atmosphere. The opposite effect occurs during suppressed convection periods, where OHC is a sink of MSE and counters the positive MSE tendency produced by horizontal advection in the atmosphere.
Abstract
This study evaluates rainfall, cloudiness, and related fields in the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts fifth-generation climate reanalysis (ERA5) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), gridded global reanalysis products against observations from the Office of Naval Research’s Propagation of Intraseasonal Tropical Oscillations (PISTON) field campaign. We focus on the first PISTON cruise, which took place from August to October 2018 in the northern equatorial western Pacific Ocean. We find biases in the mean surface heat and radiative fluxes consistent with observed biases in high and low cloud fraction and convective activity in the reanalyses. Biases in the high, middle, and low cloud fraction are also consistent with the biases in the thermodynamic profiles, with positive biases in upper-level humidity associated with excessive high cloud in both products, whereas negative biases in humidity above the boundary layer are associated with too few low and middle clouds and increased static stability. ERA5 exhibits a profile that is more top-heavy than that of MERRA-2 during periods dominated by MCSs and stronger upward motion during rainy periods, consistent with higher total rainfall in this product during PISTON. The coarser grid size in MERRA-2 relative to ERA5 and the fact that MERRA-2 did not assimilate PISTON data likely both contribute to the overall larger biases seen in MERRA-2. The observed biases in the reanalyses during PISTON have also been seen in comparisons of these products with satellite data, suggesting that the results of this study are more broadly applicable.
Abstract
This study evaluates rainfall, cloudiness, and related fields in the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts fifth-generation climate reanalysis (ERA5) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), gridded global reanalysis products against observations from the Office of Naval Research’s Propagation of Intraseasonal Tropical Oscillations (PISTON) field campaign. We focus on the first PISTON cruise, which took place from August to October 2018 in the northern equatorial western Pacific Ocean. We find biases in the mean surface heat and radiative fluxes consistent with observed biases in high and low cloud fraction and convective activity in the reanalyses. Biases in the high, middle, and low cloud fraction are also consistent with the biases in the thermodynamic profiles, with positive biases in upper-level humidity associated with excessive high cloud in both products, whereas negative biases in humidity above the boundary layer are associated with too few low and middle clouds and increased static stability. ERA5 exhibits a profile that is more top-heavy than that of MERRA-2 during periods dominated by MCSs and stronger upward motion during rainy periods, consistent with higher total rainfall in this product during PISTON. The coarser grid size in MERRA-2 relative to ERA5 and the fact that MERRA-2 did not assimilate PISTON data likely both contribute to the overall larger biases seen in MERRA-2. The observed biases in the reanalyses during PISTON have also been seen in comparisons of these products with satellite data, suggesting that the results of this study are more broadly applicable.
