Abstract
In situ and satellite observations reveal that the tropical intraseasonal oscillation is occasionally associated with large variations in sea surface temperature (SST). The purpose of this paper is to find the physical origin of such strong SST perturbations (up to 3 K) over the Indian Ocean by examining two intraseasonal events in January and March 1999. Analysis of SST data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) and from drifting buoys reveals that these two intraseasonal events deeply modify the SST field between the equator and 108S, while the surface flux perturbation extends over a wide area of the tropical Indian Ocean. Forced ocean general circulation model (OGCM) simulations are successful in reproducing the spatial patterns of this intraseasonal SST variability albeit with a weaker amplitude. The weaker amplitude given by the OGCM is partly related to the absence of warm-layer formation in the model. The model simulation reveals that the background oceanic subsurface structure explains the observed latitudinal distribution of the
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