Abstract
A case study of the MJO event observed during January and February 2017 is conducted to understand its propagation through the Maritime Continent (MC) region. Ensemble cloud-permitting numerical simulations are performed to test the effects of the islands over MC on this MJO event. The control simulation reasonably captures the large-scale mean state, eastward propagation and diurnal cycle over islands of this MJO event. Sensitivity experiments are conducted to test the impact of topography, friction, and land-sea contrast on this MJO event. Eliminating the topography around the MC region leads to reduced precipitation over the islands while changes in eastward propagation are small. When friction is further removed, results are similar except that the low-level wind is stronger, and the MJO precipitation propagation is not essentially different. Land-sea contrast is further eliminated by replacing land with ocean, and the MJO is stronger and displays smoother eastward propagation. Diagnosis of moist static energy budget indicates that both the surface flux feedback and horizontal advection (especially the zonal advection) are greatly strengthened without land-sea contrast, which enhance the convection over the sea and facilitate the eastward propagation of the MJO.
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Availability of data and code
The TRMM 3B42 data (version 7, https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datasets/TRMM_3B42_7/summary) are available from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The ERA-Interim reanalysis data (https://apps.ecmwf.int/datasets) are provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The OMI (https://psl.noaa.gov/mjo/mjoindex) and RMM index (http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/mjo) are available online from the developers. The code and modeling data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request from the authors.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the funding support of National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 41875067 and No. 41875066. The authors are grateful for three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments. Y. Zhou thanks Li Zhuo, Leyi Wang and Jianping Tang for their help on the simulations and data storage.
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This work is supported by NSFC # 41875067, 41875066.
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SW designed the study. YZ conducted the numerical simulations and carried the analysis. YZ wrote the first draft. All authors contributed to interpreting and discussing the results, and to writing the manuscript.
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Zhou, Y., Fang, J. & Wang, S. Impact of islands on the MJO propagation across the maritime continent: a numerical modeling study of an MJO event. Clim Dyn 57, 2921–2935 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05849-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05849-y