Abstract
Abstract This paper examines whether or not low-level moisture convergence and surface latent heat flux act as forcing mechanisms of the Madden and Julian oscillation (MJO), as it is proposed by the theories of wave-CISK (conditional instability of the second kind) and evaporation-wind feedback. The mean brightness temperature of cloudy pixels at 11 μm, obtained from five years of International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project data, is used as a proxy for tropical convective activity. Five years of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analyses are used to estimate surface latent heat fluxes and moisture divergence integrated in the low levels of the troposphere. Spectral analysis of latent heat fluxes over the Indian and Pacific Oceans shows significant spectral peaks in the frequency band of the MJO. These peaks are due mainly to the oscillation in the surface wind speed rather than in the specific humidity difference. Principal component analysis and tagged correlation patterns of filte...
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