Suryachandra A. Rao

Interannual subsurface variability in the tropical Indian Ocean with a special emphasis on the Indian Ocean Dipole

Interannual variability in the subsurface tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) is studied using three independent data sets: satellite derived sea-level data, an ocean general circulation model simulation, and in situ upper-ocean temperature data. It is found that significant interannual variability in the TIO is confined to the north of 15°S. Unlike the Pacific Ocean, the dominant modes of interannual variability in the Indian Ocean do not show co-variability between the surface and the subsurface. In contrast to the sea-surface temperature variability dominated by the El Nino and Southern Oscillation, subsurface variability is governed by the Indian Ocean Dipole in the TIO. The dominant mode of the interannual variability in the subsurface TIO is characterized by a dipole. Its evolution is controlled by equatorial ocean dynamics forced by zonal winds in the equatorial region. The subsurface dipole provides the delayed time required to reverse the phase of the surface dipole in the following year. The second dominant mode of interannual variability shows the interesting quasi-biennial tendency. It is found that the turnabout of the phase of the subsurface dipole leads to the quasi-biennial behavior of the TIO. Analysis of in situ subsurface temperature data substantiates this finding.

Coupled Ocean‐Atmosphere Variability in the Tropical Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is a natural ocean-atmosphere coupled mode that plays important roles in seasonal and interannual climate variations. The coupled mode locked to boreal summer and fall is distinguished as a dipole in the SST anomalies that are coupled to zonal winds. The equatorial winds reverse their direction from westerlies to easterlies during the peak phase of the positive IOD events when SST is cool in the east and warm in the west. In response to changes in the wind, the thermocline rises in the east and subsides in the west. Subsurface equatorial long Rossby waves play a major role in strengthening SST anomalies in the central and western parts. The SINTEX-F1 coupled model results support the observational finding that these equatorial Rossby waves are coupled to the surface wind forcing associated with IOD rather than ENSO. The ENSO influence is only distinct in off-equatorial latitudes south of 10°S. Although IOD events dominate the ocean-atmosphere variability during its evolution, their less frequent occurrence compared to ENSO events leads the mode to the second seat in the interannual variability. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the most dominant uniform mode to capture the IOD statistically. The seasonally stratified correlation between the indices of IOD and ENSO peaks at 0.53 in September-November. This means that only one third of IOD events are associated with ENSO events. Since a large number of IOD events are not associated with ENSO events, the independent nature of IOD is examined using partial correlation and pure composite techniques. Through changes in atmospheric circulation and water vapor transport, a positive IOD event causes drought in Indonesia, above normal rainfall in Africa, India, Bangladesh and Vietnam, and dry as well as hot summer in Europe, Japan, Korea and East China. In the Southern Hemisphere, the positive IOD causes dry winter in Australia, and dry as well as warm conditions in Brazil. The identification of IOD events has raised a new possibility to make a real advance in the predictability of seasonal and interannual climate variations that originate in the tropics.

A CGCM Study on the Interaction between IOD and ENSO

Abstract An atmosphere–ocean coupled general circulation model known as the Scale Interaction Experiment Frontier version 1 (SINTEX-F1) model is used to understand the intrinsic variability of the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD). In addition to a globally coupled control experiment, a Pacific decoupled noENSO experiment has been conducted. In the latter, the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability is suppressed by decoupling the tropical Pacific Ocean from the atmosphere. The ocean–atmosphere conditions related to the IOD are realistically simulated by both experiments including the characteristic east–west dipole in SST anomalies. This demonstrates that the dipole mode in the Indian Ocean is mainly determined by intrinsic processes within the basin. In the EOF analysis of SST anomalies from the noENSO experiment, the IOD takes the dominant seat instead of the basinwide monopole mode. Even the coupled feedback among anomalies of upper-ocean heat content, SST, wind, and Walker circulation over the Indian...

Comments on “A Cautionary Note on the Interpretation of EOFs”

The misleading aspect of the statistical analyses used in Dommenget and Latif, which raises concerns on some of the reported climate modes, is demonstrated. Adopting simple statistical techniques, the physical existence of the Indian Ocean dipole mode is shown and then the limitations of varimax and regression analyses in capturing the climate mode are discussed.

Unusual Central Indian Drought of Summer Monsoon 2008: Role of Southern Tropical Indian Ocean Warming

Abstract While many of the previous positive Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) years were associated with above (below)-normal monsoon rainfall over central (southern) India during summer monsoon months [June–September (JJAS)], the IOD event in 2008 is associated with below (above)-normal rainfall in many parts of central (southern peninsular) India. Because understanding such regional organization is a key for success in regional prediction, using different datasets and atmospheric model simulations, the reasons for this abnormal behavior of the monsoon in 2008 are explored. Compared to normal positive IOD events, sea surface temperature (SST) and rainfall in the southern tropical Indian Ocean (STIO) in JJAS 2008 were abnormally high. Downwelling Rossby waves and oceanic heat advection played an important role in warming SST abnormally in the STIO. It was also found that the combined influence of a linear warming trend in the tropical Indian Ocean and warming associated with the IOD have resulted in abnormal war...

Why is Indian Ocean warming consistently

Observations have shown that the Indian Ocean is consistently warming and its warm pool is expanding, particularly in the recent decades. This paper attempts to investigate the reason behind these observations. Under global warming scenario, it is expected that the greenhouse gas induced changes in air–sea fluxes will enhance the warming. Surprisingly, it is found that the net surface heat fluxes over Indian Ocean warm pool (IOWP) region alone cannot explain the consistent warming. The warm pool area anomaly of IOWP is strongly correlated with the sea surface height anomaly, suggesting an important role played by the ocean advection processes in warming and expansion of IOWP. The structure of lead/lag correlations further suggests that Oceanic Rossby waves might be involved in the warming. Using heat budget analysis of several Ocean data assimilation products, it is shown that the net surface heat flux (advection) alone tends to cool (warm) the Ocean. Based on above observations, we propose an ocean-atmosphere coupled positive feedback mechanism for explaining the consistent warming and expansion of IOWP. Warming over IOWP induces an enhancement of convection in central equatorial Indian ocean, which causes anomalous easterlies along the equator. Anomalous easterlies in turn excite frequent Indian ocean Dipole events and cause anti-cyclonic wind stress curl in south-east and north-east equatorial Indian ocean. The anomalous wind stress curl triggers anomalous downwelling oceanic Rossby waves, thereby deepening the thermocline and resulting in advection of warm waters towards western Indian ocean. This acts as a positive feedback and results in more warming and westward expansion of IOWP.

On the relationship between Indian summer monsoon withdrawal and Indo-Pacific SST anomalies before and after 1976/1977 climate shift

A clear shift in the withdrawal dates of the Indian Summer Monsoon is observed in the long term time series of rainfall data. Prior (posterior) to the 1976/1977 climate shift most of the withdrawal dates are associated with a late (an early) withdrawal. As a result, the length of the rainy season (LRS) over the Indian land mass has also undergone similar changes (i.e., longer (shorter) LRS prior (posterior) to the climate shift). In this study, probable reasons for this significant shift in withdrawal dates and the LRS are investigated using reanalysis/observed datasets and also with the help of an atmospheric general circulation model. Reanalysis/observational datasets indicate that prior to the climate shift the sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean and the Arabian Sea exerted a strong influence on both the withdrawal and the LRS. After the climate shift, the influence of the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean SST has decreased and surprisingly, the influence of the Arabian Sea SST is almost non-existent. On the other hand, the influence of the southeastern equatorial Indian Ocean has increased significantly. It is observed that the upper tropospheric temperature gradient over the dominant monsoon region has decreased and the relative influence of the Indian Ocean SST variability on the withdrawal of the Indian Summer Monsoon has increased in the post climate shift period. Sensitivity experiments with the contrasting SST patterns on withdrawal dates and the LRS in the pre- and post- climate shift scenarios, confirm the observational evidences presented above.

Indian summer monsoon rainfall simulation and prediction skill in the CFSv2 coupled model: Impact of atmospheric horizontal resolution

This study compares the simulation and prediction skill of the Indian summer monsoon at two different horizontal resolutions viz., T126 (~100 km) and T382 (~38 km) using 28 years of hindcast runs of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2) model. It is found that the simulation of the mean state of the South Asian summer monsoon, its variance, and prediction skill of the all India summer monsoon rainfall (AISMR) are better represented in the high-resolution configuration (T382) of the CFSv2 compared to the low-resolution (T126) configuration. In the high-resolution run, the systematic bias in the teleconnection between the AISMR and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) has considerably reduced and the teleconnections between the AISMR and El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) remained same. We hypothesize that the better simulation of mean climate and IOD-AISMR teleconnection in high-resolution configuration (T382) of CFSv2 are responsible for the improved prediction skill of AISMR in T382 configuration. Although the T382 configuration of CFSv2 has shown a significant improvement in the simulation and prediction of Indian summer monsoon as compared to the T126 configuration, several parallel efforts are still essential to understand the processes controlling some of the systematic biases of CFSv2 and those efforts are underway as part of the Monsoon Mission project.

Termination of Indian Ocean Dipole Events in a Coupled General Circulation Model

Abstract Using 200 yr of coupled general circulation model (CGCM) results, causes for the termination of Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) events are investigated. The CGCM used here is the Scale Interaction Experiment-Frontier Research Center for Global Change (SINTEX-F1) model, which consists of a version of the European Community–Hamburg (ECHAM4.6) atmospheric model and a version of the Ocean Parallelise (OPA8.2) ocean general circulation model. This model reproduces reasonably well the present-day climatology and interannual signals of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The main characteristics of the intraseasonal disturbances (ISDs)/oscillations are also fairly well captured by this model. However, the eastward propagation of ISDs in the model is relatively fast in the Indian Ocean and stationary in the Pacific compared to observations. A sudden reversal of equatorial zonal winds is observed, as a result of significant intraseasonal disturbances in the equatorial Indian Ocean in November–December of IOD events,...

Influence of Indian Ocean Dipole on Poleward Propagation of Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillations

Abstract The influence of the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) on the poleward propagation of boreal summer intraseasonal oscillations (BSISOs) is examined using observed datasets. This study finds that coherent (incoherent) poleward propagation of precipitation anomalies from 5°S to 25°N are observed during negative (positive) IOD years. Disorganized poleward propagation of BSISO in the south equatorial Indian Ocean is observed during positive IOD years. The rationale behind such an anomaly in the poleward propagation of BSISO in contrasting IOD years is identified based on the theory of northward-propagating BSISO, which suggests the influential role of air–sea interaction on the genesis and propagation of BSISO. It is found that the mean structure of moisture convergence and meridional specific humidity distribution undergoes radical changes in contrasting IOD years, which in turn influences the meridional propagation of BSISO. This study assumes significance, considering the critical role of BSISO in modulat...