Convection over the Pacific Warm Pool in relation to the Atmospheric Kelvin-Rossby Wave*

Abstract

Abstract Deep convection over the western tropical Pacific warm pool is analyzed in terms of its relation to the atmospheric Kelvin–Rossby wave, which dominates the large-scale flow during the austral summer. The study uses Doppler radar data collected by aircraft and ship radars during different time periods in the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment to characterize the mesoscale circulations of organized convective cloud systems occurring throughout the season. The study focuses on convection in two contrasting phases of the wave: the “westerly onset region” just west of the point within the wave where low-level easterlies change to westerlies, and the “strong westerly region” (or “westerly wind burst”) lying between the large-scale counterrotating gyres of the Kelvin–Rossby wave. In the westerly onset region the zonal wind component had midlevel easterlies overlying low-level westerlies. In the strong westerly region a deep layer of westerlies extended from the...