Horizontal and Vertical Structures of the Northward-Propagating Intraseasonal Oscillation in the South Asian Monsoon Region Simulated by an Intermediate Model*

Abstract

Abstract The structures and mechanism of the northward-propagating boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) in the southern Asian monsoon region are simulated and investigated in a three-dimensional intermediate model (3D model). The horizontal structure of the intraseasonal variability in the 3D model depicts the Kelvin–Rossby wave–type disturbance, which may or may not produce the northward-propagating disturbance in the Indian Ocean, depending on the seasonal-mean background winds. Two experiments are conducted in order to identify what characteristic of seasonal-mean background can induce the northwestward-tilted band in the Kelvin–Rossby wave, whose overall eastward movement gives the impression of the northward propagation at a given longitude. When the prescribed boreal summer mean winds are excluded in the first experiment, the phase difference between the barotropic divergence tendency and convection disappears. Consequently, the Rossby wave–type convection forms a zonally elongated band. As a result, the northward propagation of convection at a given longitude disappears. When the easterly vertical shear is introduced in the second experiment, the horizontal and the vertical structures of BSISO become similar to that of the northward-propagating one. The reoccurrence of the northwestward-directed convective band and the phase difference between the barotropic divergence tendency and the convection suggest that the summer mean zonal winds in the boreal Indian summer monsoon region are a critical condition that causes the horizontal and vertical structures of northward-propagating BSISO in the southern Asian monsoon region.