Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation Research Articles

Predictability and prediction skill of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation in the Intraseasonal Variability Hindcast Experiment

Boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) is one of the dominant modes of intraseasonal variability of the tropical climate system, which has fundamental impacts on regional summer monsoons, tropical storms, and extra-tropical climate variations. Due to its distinctive characteristics, a specific metric for characterizing observed BSISO evolution and assessing numerical models’ simulations has previously been proposed (Lee et al. in Clim Dyn 40:493–509, 2013). However, the current dynamical model’s prediction skill and predictability have not been investigated in a multi-model framework. Using six coupled models in the Intraseasonal Variability Hindcast Experiment project, the predictability estimates and prediction skill of BSISO are examined. The BSISO predictability is estimated by the forecast lead day when mean forecast error becomes as large as the mean signal under the perfect model assumption. Applying the signal-to-error ratio method and using ensemble-mean approach, we found that the multi-model mean BSISO predictability estimate and prediction skill with strong initial amplitude (about 10 % higher than the mean initial amplitude) are about 45 and 22 days, respectively, which are comparable with the corresponding counterparts for Madden–Julian Oscillation during boreal winter (Neena et al. in J Clim 27:4531–4543, 2014a). The significantly lower BSISO prediction skill compared with its predictability indicates considerable room for improvement of the dynamical BSISO prediction. The estimated predictability limit is independent on its initial amplitude, but the models’ prediction skills for strong initial amplitude is 6 days higher than the corresponding skill with the weak initial condition (about 15 % less than mean initial amplitude), suggesting the importance of using accurate initial conditions. The BSISO predictability and prediction skill are phase and season-dependent, but the degree of dependency varies with the models. It is important to note that the estimation of prediction skill depends on the methods that generate initial ensembles. Our analysis indicates that a better dispersion of ensemble members can considerably improve the ensemble mean prediction skills.

Impact of Subdaily Air–Sea Interaction on Simulating Intraseasonal Oscillations over the Tropical Asian Monsoon Region

Abstract The off-equatorial boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) is closely linked to the onset, active, and break phases of the tropical Asian monsoon, but the accurate simulation of the eastward-propagating low-frequency ISO by current models remains a challenge. In this study, an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM)–ocean mixed layer coupled model with high (10 min) coupling frequency (DC_10m) shows improved skill in simulating the ISO signal in terms of period, intensity, and propagation direction, compared with the coupled runs with low (1 and 12 h) coupling frequency and a stand-alone AGCM driven by the daily sea surface temperature (SST) fields. In particular, only the DC_10m is able to recreate the observed lead–lag phase relationship between SST (SST tendency) and precipitation at intraseasonal time scales, indicating that the ISO signal is closely linked to the subdaily air–sea interaction. During the ISO life cycle, air–sea interaction reduces the SST underlying the convection via wind–evaporation and cloud–radiation feedbacks, as well as wind-induced oceanic mixing, which in turn restrains convection. However, to the east of the convection, the heat-induced atmospheric Gill-type response leads to downward motion and a reduced surface westerly background flow because of the easterly anomalies. The resultant decreased oceanic mixing, together with the increased shortwave flux, tends to warm the SST and subsequently trigger convection. Therefore, the eastward-propagating ISO may result from an asymmetric east–west change in SST induced mainly by multiscale air–sea interactions.

Trend analysis of tropical intraseasonal oscillations in the summer and winter during 1982–2009

ABSTRACTBased on the daily outgoing long‐wave radiation data of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 1979 to 2012, we investigated the intensity changes of the 20‐ to 70‐day boreal summer (June–September, JJAS) intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) and winter (December–February, DJF) intraseasonal oscillation, also known as the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO). The results showed that the intensity of the BSISO has a significant intensifying trend during 1982–2009. On the other hand, little trend was found for boreal winter MJO during this period. The wavenumber‐frequency analysis was applied to separate ISO into westward propagation and eastward propagation parts. The significant intensified trend was observed over tropical Indian Ocean for the eastward propagation BSISO. The weakened but not significant trend was observed over southern tropical Indian Ocean for the eastward propagation MJO. To gain insight into the different ISO characteristics, the tendencies of sea surface temperature (SST) and the vertical shear of zonal wind were analysed. The results showed that in both seasons from 1982 to 2009, the global SST trends were similar, and thus they could not be used to explain the BSISO upward trend. However, lower tropospheric easterly shear in boreal summer over tropical Indian Ocean had a decreasing trend, while the easterly vertical shear over maritime continent was enhanced in winter. It is proposed that the reduced easterly vertical shear over tropical Indian Ocean favoured the amplification of the eastward propagating Kelvin wave, which led to the intensified eastward propagating BSISO. The enhanced easterly vertical shear over maritime continent might be unfavourable to the amplification of the eastward propagating Kelvin wave, but its impact was offset by the enhanced upward motion over maritime continent. As a result, there was little trend of the MJO in boreal winter. The above hypothesis was further verified by intermediate model results.

Predicting the Cloud Patterns for the Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation Through a Low-Order Stochastic Model

AbstractWe assess the predictability limits of the large-scale cloud patterns in the boreal summer intraseasonal variability (BSISO), which are measured by the infrared brightness temperature, a proxy for convective activity. A recent developed nonlinear data analysis technique, nonlinear Laplacian spectrum analysis (NLSA), is applied to the brightness temperature data, defining two spatial modes with high intermittency associated with the BSISO time series. Then a recent developed data-driven physics-constrained low-ordermodeling strategy is applied to these time series. The result is a four dimensional system with two observed BSISO variables and two hidden variables involving correlated multiplicative noise through the nonlinear energyconserving interaction. With the optimal parameters calibrated by information theory, the non-Gaussian fat tailed probability distribution functions (PDFs), the autocorrelations and the power spectrum of the model signals almost perfectly match those of the observed data. An ensemble prediction scheme incorporating an effective on-line data assimilation algorithm for determining the initial ensemble of the hidden variables shows the useful prediction skill in the non-El Niño years is at least 30 days and even reaches 55 days in those years with regular oscillations and the skillful prediction lasts for 18 days in the strong El Niño year (year 1998). Furthermore, the ensemble spread succeeds in indicating the forecast uncertainty. Although the reduced linear model with time-periodic stable-unstable damping is able to capture the non-Gaussian fat tailed PDFs, it is less skillful in forecasting the BSISO in the years with irregular oscillations. The failure of the ensemble spread to include the truth also indicates failure in quantification of the uncertainty. In addition, without the energy-conserving nonlinear interactions, the linear model is sensitive with parameter variations. mcwfnally, the twin experiment with nonlinear stochastic model has comparable skill as the observed data, suggesting the nonlinear stochastic model has significant skill for determining the predictability limits of the large-scale cloud patterns of the BSISO.

A case study of the impact of boreal summer intraseasonal oscillations on Yangtze rainfall

The impact on Yangtze rainfall of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillations (BSISOs) over the entire Asian summer monsoon region during summer 1996 was investigated using the APHRODITE gridded rainfall and the NCEP–DOE reanalysis II products. Wavelet analyses suggest that the ISOs of Yangtze rainfall were regulated mainly by both 30–60- and 10–25-day oscillations, respectively linked to BSISO1 and BSISO2 activity. Phase locking of the wet phases of these two ISOs resulted in a prolonged wet episode from late June to mid-July. The circulation evolution of the BSISO1 mode showed that active convection accompanied by strong convergence of anomalous zonal winds first developed over the equatorial Indian Ocean, with suppressed convection over the South China Sea (SCS)–Philippine Sea and with active convection over the Yangtze Basin. The triple convection anomaly that aligned meridionally in the East Asian sector arose from a local meridional–vertical cell associated with a Rossby wave-like coupled circulation–convection system. The opposite flow patterns occurred during the dry phase of Yangtze rainfall. The composite BSISO2 cases demonstrated a weak convective anomaly initially appeared around the Maritime Continent, with a huge anomalous anticyclone accompanied by suppressed convection over the SCS–Philippine Sea. The low-level convergence of the anomalous southwesterlies on the northwestern side of the anticyclone and the consequent ascent led to positive rainfall anomalies over the Yangtze Basin. When the entire SCS was dominated by an anomalous cyclone resulting from interaction with upstream systems, convection over the Yangtze Basin was suppressed.

Multi-week prediction of South-East Asia rainfall variability during boreal summer in CFSv2

In this paper we analyze the multi-week prediction bias and skill from the National Centers for Environment Prediction (NCEP) Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2) based on its hindcasts for 1999–2012. The analyses focus on the prediction of the rainfall variability over South-East Asia during boreal warm seasons and the dependence of the prediction on the activity of intrasesaonal leading modes. It is shown that the prediction skill measured by anomaly correlation is comparable between the total anomalies and intraseasonal anomalies during the first 2 weeks. After week 2, the prediction skill drops substantially and the skill for total anomalies is largely from the prediction for the interannual variability. Moreover, the forecast skill tends to be higher when the amplitude of the Madden–Julian Oscillation and the Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation (BSISO) is larger, especially for the BSISO. It is noted that the prediction skill over South-East Asia depends on the phase of the BSISO. One deficiency in the CFSv2 is that the northward propagation of the forecast BSISO is generally slower than the observed.

The Potential Roles of Background Surface Wind in the SST Variability Associated with Intraseasonal Oscillations

Abstract The current study is aimed at exploring the potential roles of the seasonally altering background surface wind in the seasonality of the intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs) with a focus on the sea surface temperature (SST) variability. A composite analysis of the ocean mixed layer heat budget in term of ISO phases with various satellite data is performed for boreal winter and summer. The scalar wind is found to be a dominant factor that accounts for the ocean surface heat budget, implying that the background surface wind as well as its anomaly is important for the SST variability. An easterly anomaly to the east of convection diminishes scalar wind, and thus latent heat flux, when superposed onto a background westerly wind, implying that the presence of basic westerly wind is important for the development of a warm SST anomaly ahead of the ISO convection. On the other hand, an easterly anomaly in combination with basic easterly wind magnifies scalar wind and latent heat flux and cancels out the shortwave heat flux anomaly. The seasonal migration of the background westerly wind, which is confined to a southern equatorial belt in boreal winter but spread across the northern Indian Ocean in boreal summer, may offer a mechanism that partly accounts for the seasonal characteristics of ISO propagation. The northward propagation of the SST variability associated with the boreal summer ISO is found to also involve a similar mechanism with the meridional wind modulation of scalar wind.

Role of SST meridional structure in coupling the Kelvin and Rossby waves of the intraseasonal oscillation

The intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) is one of the most important modes of the tropical atmosphere, which influences global livelihood of hundreds of millions of people. The meridional structure of sea surface temperature (SST) has been found to be important for the ISO simulation in general circulation models (GCMs). Using a theoretical frictional skeleton model for the ISO, we investigate the effects of different SST structures on the ISO in this study. The model results show that the observed Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO), boreal summer ISO (BSISO) and quasi-biweekly oscillation can be simulated in this model with different SST structures. The Ekman pumping of the boundary layer associated with equatorially trapped SST favors the growth of eastward propagating Kelvin waves and prefers the fast eastward propagating signal. A broad SST provides a strong instability source for the Rossby waves, which will slow down the MJO. In the boreal summer, the high SST center in the off-equatorial region can trigger strong off-equatorial moisture pumping from the boundary layer, which enhances the Rossby waves and can simulate the northwest-southeast tilted rain band associated with the BSISO. When the Rossby component overwhelms the Kelvin component, the low-frequency westward component of the BSISO and the higher-frequency quasi-biweekly oscillation can be simulated.

Simulations of Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillations with the Climate Forecast System, version 2, over India and the Western Pacific: Role of Air–Sea Coupling

In this study, we examine the characteristics of the boreal summer monsoon intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) using the second version of the Climate Forecast System (CFSv2) and revisit the role of air–sea coupling in BSISO simulations. In particular, simulations of the BSISO in two carefully designed model experiments are compared: a fully coupled run and an uncoupled atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) run with prescribed sea surface temperatures (SSTs). In these experiments an identical AGCM is used, and the daily mean SSTs from the coupled run are prescribed as a boundary condition in the AGCM run. Comparisons indicate that air–sea coupling plays an important role in realistically simulating the BSISO in CFSv2. Compared with the AGCM run, the coupled run not only simulates the spatial distributions of intraseasonal rainfall variations better but also shows more realistic spectral peaks and northward and eastward propagation features of the BSISO over India and the western Pacific. This study indicates that including an air–sea feedback mechanism may have the potential to improve the realism of the mean flow and intraseasonal variability in the Indian and western Pacific monsoon region.

The boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation simulated by four Chinese AGCMs participating in the CMIP5 project

The performances of four Chinese AGCMs participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) in the simulation of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) are assessed. The authors focus on the major characteristics of BSISO: the intensity, significant period, and propagation. The results show that the four AGCMs can reproduce boreal summer intraseasonal signals of precipitation; however their limitations are also evident. Compared with the Climate Prediction Center Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) data, the models underestimate the strength of the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) over the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean (IO) during the boreal summer (May to October), but overestimate the intraseasonal variability over the western Pacific (WP). In the model results, the westward propagation dominates, whereas the eastward propagation dominates in the CMAP data. The northward propagation in these models is tilted southwest-northeast, which is also different from the CMAP result. Thus, there is not a northeast-southwest tilted rain belt revolution off the equator during the BSISO’s eastward journey in the models. The biases of the BSISO are consistent with the summer mean state, especially the vertical shear. Analysis also shows that there is a positive feedback between the intraseasonal precipitation and the summer mean precipitation. The positive feedback processes may amplify the models’ biases in the BSISO simulation.

Impact of Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation on Environment of Tropical Cyclone Genesis over the Western North Pacific

Impact of Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation on Environment of Tropical Cyclone Genesis over the Western North Pacific

Influence of Madden-Julian Oscillation on water budget transported by the Somali low-level jet and the associated Indian summer monsoon rainfall

[1] Recent studies suggest that there is a strong linkage between the moisture uptake over the equatorial area of the Somali low level jet (SLLJ) and the rainfall variability over most of continental India. Additionally, the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) strongly modulates the intraseasonal variability of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall, since the northward propagation of the boreal summer MJO is closely associated with the active and break phases of monsoon rainfall. But a question remains open: is there a relationship between the moisture transported by the SLLJ and the MJO evolution? In this paper, a Lagrangian approach is used to track the evaporation minus precipitation (E − P) evolution along trajectories of particles initially situated over the equatorial region of SLLJ. The impact of the MJO on the water budget transport of the SLLJ is examined by making composites of the obtained (E-P) fields for the different MJO phases. The spatial structures of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation are revealed in our results, which strongly suggest that the main responsible for the rainfall variability associated to the MJO in these regions are the changes in the moisture advected by the SLLJ. In order to assess the MJO-SLLJ interaction, an analysis of the total-column mass and the total-column specific humidity transported by the SLLJ during the MJO life cycle is performed. While a systematic difference between air mass advected to India during active and break phases of MJO is not detected, changes in the moisture of particles are found, with wet (dry) anomalies over enhanced (suppressed) convection region. This result implicitly leads to assume air-sea interaction processes.

Evaluation of mean and intraseasonal variability of Indian summer monsoon simulation in ECHAM5: identification of possible source of bias

The performance of ECHAM5 atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) is evaluated to simulate the seasonal mean and intraseasonal variability of Indian summer monsoon (ISM). The model is simulated at two different vertical resolutions, with 19 and 31 levels (L19 and L31, respectively), using observed monthly mean sea surface temperature and compared with the observation. The analyses examine the biases present in the internal dynamics of the model in simulating the mean monsoon and the evolution of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) and attempts to unveil the reason behind them. The model reasonably simulates the seasonal mean-state of the atmosphere during ISM. However, some notable discrepancies are found in the simulated summer mean moisture and rainfall distribution. Both the vertical resolutions, overestimate the seasonal mean precipitation over the oceanic regions, but underestimate the precipitation over the Indian landmass. The performance of the model improves with the increment of the vertical resolution. The AGCM reasonably simulates some salient features of BSISO, but fails to show the eastward propagation of the convection across the Maritime Continent in L19 simulation. The propagation across the Maritime Continent and tilted rainband structure improve as one moves from L19 to L31. The model unlikely shows prominent westward propagation that originates over the tropical western Pacific region. L31 also produces some of the observed characteristics of the northward propagating BSISOs. However, the northward propagating convection becomes stationary in phase 5–7. The simulation of shallow diabatic heating structure and the heavy rainfall activity over the Bay of Bengal indicate the abundance of the premature convection-generated precipitation events in the model. It is found that the moist physics is responsible for the poor simulation of the northward propagating convection anomalies.

Intraseasonal Forecasting of the Asian Summer Monsoon in Four Operational and Research Models*

Abstract The boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) is a dominant tropical mode with a period of 30–60 days, which offers an opportunity for intraseasonal forecasting of the Asian summer monsoon. The present study provides a preliminary, yet up-to-date, assessment of the prediction skill of the BSISO in four state-of-the-art models: the ECMWF model, the University of Hawaii (UH) model, the NCEP Climate Forecast System, version 2 (CFSv2), and version 1 for the 2008 summer (CFSv1), which is a common year of two international programs: the Year of Tropical Convection (YOTC) and Asian Monsoon Years (AMY). The mean prediction skill over the global tropics and Southeast Asia for first three models reaches about 1–2 (3) weeks for BSISO-related rainfall (850-hPa zonal wind), measured as the lead time when the spatial anomaly correlation coefficient drops to 0.5. The skill of CFSv1 is consistently lower than the other three. The strengths and weaknesses of the CFSv2, UH, and ECMWF models in forecasting the BSISO for this specific year are further revealed. The ECMWF and UH have relatively better performance for northward-propagating BSISO when the initial convection is near the equator, although they suffer from an early false BSISO onset when initial convection is in the off-equatorial monsoon trough. However, CFSv2 does not have a false onset problem when the initial convection is in monsoon trough, but it does have a problem with very slow northward propagation. After combining the forecasts of CFSv2 and UH into an equal-weighted multimodel ensemble, the resultant skill is slightly better than that of individual models. An empirical model shows a comparable skill with the dynamical models. A combined dynamical–empirical ensemble advances the intraseasonal forecast skill of BSISO-related rainfall to three weeks.

Examination of multi-perturbation methods for ensemble prediction of the MJO during boreal summer

The impact of initialization and perturbation methods on the ensemble prediction of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation was investigated using 20-year hindcast predictions of a coupled general circulation model. The three perturbation methods used in the present study are the lagged-averaged forecast (LAF) method, the breeding method, and the empirical singular vector (ESV) method. Hindcast experiments were performed with a prediction interval of 10 days for extended boreal summer (May–October) seasons over a 20 year period. The empirical orthogonal function (EOF) eigenvectors of the initial perturbations depend on the individual perturbation method used. The leading EOF eigenvectors of the LAF perturbations exhibit large variances in the extratropics. Bred vectors with a breeding interval of 3 days represent the local unstable mode moving northward and eastward over the Indian and western Pacific region, and the leading EOF modes of the ESV perturbations represent planetary-scale eastward moving perturbations over the tropics. By combining the three perturbation methods, a multi-perturbation (MP) ensemble prediction system for the intraseasonal time scale was constructed, and the effectiveness of the MP prediction system for the Madden and Julian oscillation (MJO) prediction was examined in the present study. The MJO prediction skills of the individual perturbation methods are all similar; however, the MP‐based prediction has a higher level of correlation skill for predicting the real-time multivariate MJO indices compared to those of the other individual perturbation methods. The predictability of the intraseasonal oscillation is sensitive to the MJO amplitude and to the location of the dominant convective anomaly in the initial state. The improvement in the skill of the MP prediction system is more effective during periods of weak MJO activity.

Simulation of boreal summer intraseasonal oscillations in the latest CMIP5 coupled GCMs

AbstractThe simulation of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) has been analyzed in the historical run of the 32 models, which participated in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase5 (CMIP5), and it is shown that the current state‐of‐the‐art general circulation models (GCMs) still have difficulties to properly simulate the BSISO. Compared to CMIP3 models, more CMIP5 models simulated the northward propagation of BSISO. The majority of the models could not simulate the spatial pattern of BSISO variance over the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) region and many of them failed to capture all the three peak centers of BSISO variance over the Indian summer monsoon region. Many of the models underestimated the BSISO variance over the equatorial Indian Ocean, and it is associated with the seasonal mean dry biases over this region. A reasonable representation of the intraseasonal sea surface temperature and its coupling to the convection over the equatorial Indian Ocean and an equatorial eastward propagation of convective anomalies beyond 100°E assure realistic simulation of BSISO over the ASM domain. We found that the models MIROC5, IPSL‐CM5A‐LR, GFDL‐CM3, CMCC‐CM, and MPI‐ESM‐LR are able to represent reasonable BSISO characteristics and can be used to unravel the modulation of BSISO characteristics due to various projected climate changes.

Performance of FGOALS-s2 in simulating intraseasonal oscillation over the south Asian monsoon region

The capability of the current version of the air-sea coupled climate model, the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model, Spectral Version 2 (FGOALS-s2), in simulating the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) over the south Asian monsoon (SAM) region is diagnosed, in terms of dominant period, propagation direction, and vertical structure. Results show that the coupled model can reasonably simulate the main features of observed ISO propagation compared to the chosen AGCM. These features include the eastward movement of intraseasonal 850-hPa zonal wind over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, the vertical structure in active phases, and the realistic phase relationship between ISO and underlying SST. However, the eastward propagation cannot be reproduced in the uncoupled model. This suggests that air-sea interaction is important in generating intraseasonal variability over the SAM region. Nevertheless, some deficiencies remain in the coupled model, which may relate to physical processes depicted by the cumulus parameterization and PBL schemes within its atmospheric component.

Northward Propagation Mechanisms of the Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation in the ERA-Interim and SP-CCSM

AbstractMechanisms for the northward propagation (NP) of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) and associated Asian summer monsoon (ASM) are investigated using data from the interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim, herein called ERAI) and the superparameterized Community Climate System Model (SP-CCSM). Analyzed mechanisms are 1) destabilization of the lower troposphere by sea surface temperature anomalies, 2) boundary layer moisture advection, and boundary layer convergence associated with 3) SST gradients and 4) barotropic vorticity anomalies. Mechanism indices are regressed onto filtered OLR anomaly time series to study their relationships to the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) and to equatorial Rossby (ER) waves.Northward propagation in ERAI and SP-CCSM is promoted by several mechanisms, but is dominated by boundary layer moisture advection and the barotropic vorticity effect. SST-linked mechanisms are of secondary importance but are nonnegligible. The magnitudes of NP mechanisms vary from the Indian Ocean to the west Pacific Ocean, implying that NP is accomplished by different mechanisms across the study area.SP-CCSM correctly simulates observed NP mechanisms over most of the ASM domain except in the Arabian Sea during the early stages of the monsoon life cycle. Reduced NP in the Arabian Sea arises from weaker-than-observed easterly shear, reducing the effectiveness of the barotropic vorticity mechanism. The ability of SP-CCSM to correctly simulate NP mechanisms in other regions results from the model’s ability to simulate reasonable mean wind and moisture fields, a realistic spectrum of variability, and the capability of convection to respond to boundary layer changes induced by large-scale NP mechanisms.

Real-time multivariate indices for the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation over the Asian summer monsoon region

The boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) is one of the most prominent sources of short-term climate variability in the global monsoon system. Compared with the related Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) it is more complex in nature, with prominent northward propagation and variability extending much further from the equator. In order to facilitate detection, monitoring and prediction of the BSISO we suggest two real-time indices: BSISO1 and BSISO2, based on multivariate empirical orthogonal function (MV-EOF) analysis of daily anomalies of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and zonal wind at 850 hPa (U850) in the region 10°S–40°N, 40°–160°E, for the extended boreal summer (May–October) season over the 30-year period 1981–2010. BSISO1 is defined by the first two principal components (PCs) of the MV-EOF analysis, which together represent the canonical northward propagating variability that often occurs in conjunction with the eastward MJO with quasi-oscillating periods of 30–60 days. BSISO2 is defined by the third and fourth PCs, which together mainly capture the northward/northwestward propagating variability with periods of 10–30 days during primarily the pre-monsoon and monsoon-onset season. The BSISO1 circulation cells are more Rossby wave like with a northwest to southeast slope, whereas the circulation associated with BSISO2 is more elongated and front-like with a southwest to northeast slope. BSISO2 is shown to modulate the timing of the onset of Indian and South China Sea monsoons. Together, the two BSISO indices are capable of describing a large fraction of the total intraseasonal variability in the ASM region, and better represent the northward and northwestward propagation than the real-time multivariate MJO (RMM) index of Wheeler and Hendon.

Teleconnections associated with Northern Hemisphere summer monsoon intraseasonal oscillation

The boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) has strong convective activity centers in Indian (I), Western North Pacific (WNP), and North American (NA) summer monsoon (SM) regions. The present study attempts to reveal BSISO teleconnection patterns associ- ated with these dominant intraseasonal variability centers. During the active phase of ISM, a zonally elongated band of enhanced convection extends from India via the Bay of Bengal and Philippine Sea to tropical central Pacific with suppressed convection over the eastern Pacific near Mexico. The corresponding extratropical circulation anomalies occur along the waveguides generated by the North African-Asian jet and North Atlantic-North Euro- pean jet. When the tropical convection strengthens over the WNPSM sector, a distinct great circle-like Rossby wave train emanates from the WNP to the western coast of United States (US) with an eastward shift of enhanced meridional circulation. In the active phase of NASM, large anticyclonic anomalies anchor over the western coast of US and eastern Canada and the global teleconnection pattern is similar to that during a break phase of the ISM. Exami- nation of the evolution of the BSISO teleconnection reveals quasi-stationary patterns with preferred centers of tele- connection located at Europe, Russia, central Asia, East Asia, western US, and eastern US and Canada, respec- tively. Most centers are embedded in the waveguide along the westerly jet stream, but the centers at Europe and Russia occur to the north of the jet-induced waveguide. Eastward propagation of the ISO teleconnection is evident over the Pacific-North America sector. The rainfall anom- alies over the elongated band near the monsoon domain over the Indo-western Pacific sector have an opposite ten- dency with that over the central and southern China, Mexico and southern US, providing a source of intrasea- sonal predictability to extratropical regions. The BSISO teleconnection along and to the north of the subtropical jet provides a good indication of the surface sir temperature anomalies in the NH extratropics.