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Modulation of the MJO intensity over the equatorial western Pacific by two types of El Niño

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Abstract

The modulation of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) intensity by eastern Pacific (EP) type and central Pacific (CP) type of El Niño was investigated using observed data during the period of 1979–2013. MJO intensity is weakened (strengthened) over the equatorial western Pacific from November to April during EP (CP) El Niño. The difference arises from distinctive tendencies of column-integrated moist static energy (MSE) anomaly in the region. A larger positive MSE tendency was found during the convection developing period in the CP MJO than the EP MJO. The tendency difference is mainly caused by three meridional moisture advection processes: the advection of the background moisture by the intraseasonal wind anomaly, the advection of intraseasonal moisture anomaly by the mean wind and the nonlinear eddy advection. The advections’ differences are primarily caused by different intraseasonal perturbations and high-frequency activity whereas the background flow and moisture gradient are similar. The amplitudes in the intraseasonal suppressed convection anomaly over the central Pacific is critical in modulating the three meridional moisture advection processes. The influences on the central Pacific convection anomaly from seasonal mean moisture in two types of El Niños are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Key R&D Program 2017YFA0603802/2015CB453200, NSFC 41705059/41630423/41475084/41575043 /41405075, NSF AGS-1643297, Jiangsu project BK20150062 and R2014SCT00, JAMSTEC JIJI Theme 1 project and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD). This is SOEST contribution number 10245, IPRC contribution number 1290, and ESMC contribution 188.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education (KLME), Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Change (ILCEC), Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters (CIC-FEMD), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

    Lu Wang, Tim Li & Lin Chen

  2. Department of Atmospheric Sciences, International Pacific Research Center, and School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Lu Wang, Tim Li & Lin Chen

  3. Application Laboratory, JAMSTEC, Yokohama, Japan

    Swadhin K. Behera

  4. Department of Seamless Environmental Prediction Research, JAMSTEC, Yokohama, Japan

    Tomoe Nasuno

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  1. Lu Wang
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  2. Tim Li
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  3. Lin Chen
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  4. Swadhin K. Behera
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Correspondence to Tim Li.

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Wang, L., Li, T., Chen, L. et al. Modulation of the MJO intensity over the equatorial western Pacific by two types of El Niño. Clim Dyn 51, 687–700 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3949-6

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