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Critical roles of convective momentum transfer in sustaining the multi-scale Madden–Julian oscillation

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Abstract

To understand the nature and role of multi-scale interaction involved in the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), a dynamical model is built based on two essential processes: the convective complex of the MJO modulates the strength and location of synoptic-scale motions, which in turn feed back to the MJO through the convective momentum transfer (CMT). Our results exhibit that: (1) The lower tropospheric easterly CMT coming from the 2-day waves slows down the MJO dramatically; (2) although the lower tropospheric westerly CMT coming from the superclusters can produce the horizontal quadrupole vortex and vertical westerly wind-burst structures of the MJO, it drives the large-scale motions to propagate eastward too fast; (3) the planetary boundary layer provides an instability source for the MJO and pulls the MJO to propagate eastward at a speed of 0∼10 ms−1; and (4) the optimal structure of the multi-scale MJO should be: the stronger superclusters/2-day waves prevail in the rear/front part of the MJO and produce lower tropospheric westerly/easterly CMT there. These theoretical results emphasize the role of CMT and encourage further observations in the multi-scale MJO.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2011CB309704), Special Scientific Research Project for Public Interest (grant no. GYHY201006021), National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 40890155, 40775051, U0733002, 40906014, and 40976015), and the Youth Marine Science Foundation of State Oceanic Administration (2010218).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment Research for Temperate East Asia, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Fei Liu & Gang Huang

  2. International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Fei Liu

  3. National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center, Beijing, 100081, China

    Licheng Feng

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  1. Fei Liu
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  2. Gang Huang
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  3. Licheng Feng
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Correspondence to Gang Huang.

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Liu, F., Huang, G. & Feng, L. Critical roles of convective momentum transfer in sustaining the multi-scale Madden–Julian oscillation. Theor Appl Climatol 108, 471–477 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-011-0541-6

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