Possible sources of the observed modulation of the tropical Madden‐Julian oscillation (MJO) by the stratospheric quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO) and the 11‐year solar cycle are investigated using 41 years of reanalysis data and archived climate model data. Larger upward fluxes of extratropical planetary‐scale waves, leading in some cases to sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs), are observed in late fall and early winter during the easterly phase of the QBO than during the westerly phase (the “Holton‐Tan effect”). A similar but smaller increase occurs, on average, during solar minima relative to solar maxima. In addition to the warming at high latitudes, extratropical wave forcing events produce cooling and reduced static stability in the tropical lower stratosphere. Here, it is found that if SSWs occur in early winter (before ∼mid‐January), the reduced static stability produces, on average, a statistically significant, lagged strengthening of the MJO. This therefore represents a possible mechanism for producing, or at least enhancing, the observed QBO and solar modulations of the MJO in boreal winter. An initial analysis of archived climate model data shows that at least one model version with realistic QBO and solar forcing and with 4 X CO2 forcings partly simulates both of these characteristics (QBO/solar modulation of early winter wave forcing and lagged strengthening of the MJO following early winter SSWs). However, the modeled MJO is insufficiently sensitive to QBO‐induced static stability reductions, precluding simulation of the QBO‐MJO connection.
more »
« less
The Global Teleconnection Signature of the Madden‐Julian Oscillation and Its Modulation by the Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation
Recent research has suggested that the tropical and extratropical character of the Madden‐Julian oscillation (MJO) depends on the state of the stratospheric quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO). With this in mind, we use both reanalysis and a global climate model (CESM2‐WACCM) to analyze the global character of upper tropospheric‐lower stratospheric geopotential height anomalies connected with the MJO and quantify dependencies of these teleconnections on the state of the QBO. We find that the global teleconnection signature of the MJO depends upon the state of the QBO. Globally, within reanalysis the fraction of 20‐ to 90‐day 250‐hPa geopotential height variance linked to the MJO is largest during boreal winter and summer for easterly QBO phases and smallest during westerly QBO phases of boreal winter. The difference between QBO phases is mostly driven by changes in the tropical signature of the MJO, although during boreal winter the Northern Hemispheric teleconnections are particularly more prominent during easterly QBO phases. Otherwise, the QBO modulation of extratropical MJO teleconnections is mainly realized through changes in the locations of the teleconnections. A QBO‐MJO relationship is also apparent within CESM2‐WACCM but is weaker than that observed. This extratropical modulation implies that the regions that benefit from increased subseasonal predictability due to the MJO may also change as a function of the QBO. In a broader sense, these findings emphasize that knowledge of the tropical stratospheric state, particularly as it relates to the QBO, is important for understanding the connections between the MJO and the extratropics.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10456576
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
- Volume:
- 125
- Issue:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 2169-897X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
more » « less
Abstract The impact of the quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO) on the prediction of tropical intraseasonal convection, including the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) and Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation (BSISO), is assessed in the WMO Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) forecast database using the real‐time OLR based MJO (ROMI) index. It is shown that the ROMI prediction skill for the boreal winter MJO, measured by the maximum time at which the anomaly correlation coefficient exceeds 0.6, is higher by 5 to 10 days in the QBO easterly phase than its westerly phase. This difference occurs even in models with low tops and poorly resolved stratospheres. MJO predictability, as measured by signal to noise ratio in the S2S ensemble, also shows a similar difference between the two QBO phases, and results from a simple linear regression model show consistent behavior as well. Analysis of the ROMI index derived from observations indicates that the MJO is more coherent and stronger in the QBO easterly phase than in the westerly phase. These results suggest that the skill dependence on QBO phase results from the initial state of the MJO, the regularity of its propagation in the verifying observations, or most likely a combination of the two, but not on an actual stratospheric influence on the MJO within the model simulations. In contrast to the robust QBO‐MJO connection in boreal winter, the BSISO prediction skill exhibited by the S2S models in boreal summer is greater in the QBO
westerly phase than in theeasterly phase during the 1999 to 2010 period. This is consistent with the observation that BSISO OLR anomalies are stronger in the QBO westerly phase during that period. However, this relationship between the QBO and BSISO in boreal summer changes in recent decades: BSISO is weaker in QBO westerly than easterly during 1979–2000. Correspondingly, the QBO impact on BSISO prediction in boreal summer also reverses in that period as well in a statistical model, whereas this statistical model shows a consistent QBO impact on MJO prediction in boreal winter over the past four decades. -
The tropical Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) excites a northward propagating Rossby wave train that largely determines the extratropical surface weather consequences of the MJO. Previous work has demonstrated a significant influence of the tropospheric El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the characteristics of this wave train. Here, composite analyses of ERA-Interim sea level pressure (SLP) and surface air temperature (SAT) data during the extended northern winter season are performed to investigate the additional role of stratospheric forcings [the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and the 11-yr solar cycle] in modifying the wave train and its consequences. MJO phase composites of 20–100-day filtered data for the two QBO phases show that, similar to the cool phase of ENSO, the easterly phase of the QBO (QBOE) produces a stronger wave train and associated modulation of SLP and SAT anomalies. In particular, during MJO phases 5–7, positive SLP and negative SAT anomalies in the North Atlantic/Eurasian sector are enhanced during QBOE relative to the westerly phase of the QBO (QBOW). The opposite occurs during the earliest MJO phases. SAT anomalies over eastern North America are also more strongly modulated during QBOE. Although less certain because of the short data record, there is some evidence that the minimum phase of the solar cycle (SMIN) produces a similar increased modulation of SLP and SAT anomalies. The strongest modulations of SLP and SAT anomalies are produced when two or more of the forcings are superposed (e.g., QBOE/cool ENSO, SMIN/QBOE, etc.).more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Abstract Observational studies show a strong connection between the intraseasonal Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) and the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO): the boreal winter MJO is stronger, more predictable, and has different teleconnections when the QBO in the lower stratosphere is easterly versus westerly. Despite the strength of the observed connection, global climate models do not produce an MJO-QBO link. Here the authors use a current-generation ocean-atmosphere coupled NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies global climate model (Model E2.1) to examine the MJO-QBO link. To represent the QBO with minimal bias, the model zonal mean stratospheric zonal and meridional winds are relaxed to reanalysis fields from 1980-2017. The model troposphere, including the MJO, is allowed to freely evolve. The model with stratospheric nudging captures QBO signals well, including QBO temperature anomalies. However, an ensemble of nudged simulations still lacks an MJO-QBO connection.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Abstract The stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) induces temperature anomalies in the lower stratosphere and tropical tropopause layer (TTL) that are cold when lower-stratospheric winds are easterly and warm when winds are westerly. Recent literature has indicated that these QBO temperature anomalies are potentially important in influencing the tropical troposphere, and particularly in explaining the relationship between the QBO and the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). The authors examine the variability of QBO temperature anomalies across several time scales using reanalysis and observational datasets. The authors find that, in boreal winter relative to other seasons, QBO temperature anomalies are significantly stronger (i.e., colder in the easterly phase of the QBO and warmer in the westerly phase of the QBO) on the equator, but weaker off the equator. The equatorial and subtropical changes compensate such that meridional temperature gradients and thus (by thermal wind balance) equatorial zonal wind anomalies do not vary in amplitude as the temperature anomalies do. The same pattern of stronger on-equatorial and weaker off-equatorial QBO temperature anomalies is found on decadal time scales: stronger anomalies are seen for 1999–2019 compared to 1979–99. The causes of these changes to QBO temperature anomalies, as well as their possible relevance to the MJO–QBO relationship, are not known.more » « less
