Indian Ocean

Composites of NOAA Climate Prediction Center precipitation in mm day-1 broken down by MJO phase for active MJO days for the November 2015 - April 2016 El Niño event.

US precipitation modulated by MJO-ENSO teleconnection interference

September 4, 2020

Subseasonal to seasonal climate forecasts in the US depends heavily on atmospheric and oceanic conditions in the tropical Indian and Pacific Ocean regions. While ENSO dominates seasonal predictability, the primary source of global predictability on subseasonal timescales is the MJO. To understand how ENSO and MJO interact, the authors isolated both MJO and ENSO signals and found that depending on the simultaneous location of the MJO convection and the background state of ENSO, the two signals can either enhance or mask each other.

Subsurface ocean heat content anomalies regressed onto low-pass filtered time series of eastern tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies. The black boxes outline the eastern (10°–20°S, 100°–120°E) and western (10°–20°S, 50°–90°E) Indian Ocean, showing the east–west dipole structure.

Pacific influences decadal Indian Ocean heat content via two distinct mechanisms

September 11, 2018

In two papers, Jin and coauthors investigated how decadal variations of subsurface ocean heat content (50–300 m) in the Indian Ocean respond to conditions in the Pacific region.

Time series of eastern Indian Ocean thermocline depth in an ocean model hindcast

Multidecadal Indian Ocean variability linked to the Pacific

March 1, 2017

In a new paper from Journal of Climate, researchers show that changes in the Indian Ocean subsurface heat content over the last 50 years can be linked to Pacific Ocean variability associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation/Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation.

Changes in conservative temperature (upper panels; a,b) and absolute salinity (lower panels; c,d) for the periods of 2016−2007 (left panels) and 2007−1994 (right panels) in the Antarctic-Australian Basin

Deep southeast Indian Ocean waters see accelerated freshening

February 8, 2017

A recent investigation has shown that in the abyssal southeast Indian Ocean the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) freshening and warming have changed over the last decade. After a third full repeat of line IO8S in the region, GO-SHIP observations suggest strongly accelerated AABW freshening since 2007.

Agulhas Current widens as climate warms

November 17, 2016

New research finds that changes in the strength of the Agulhas Current, since the early 1990s, has not increased, despite expectations based on rapidly warming sea surface temperatures. Instead, its flow has broadened due to more meanders and eddies.

Indo-Pacific tropical rain belt expanded and contracted in the past

October 5, 2016

A new study using a high-resolution stalagmite record from Australia with cave sites in southern China reveal a close coupling of monsoon rainfall on both continents, with numerous synchronous pluvial and drought periods, suggesting that the tropical rain belt expanded and contracted numerous times at multidecadal to centennial scales.

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