Extended Abstract (596K)J1.1
The impact of the MJO-bridging the gap between weather and climate
Alexis Donald, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Toowoomba, Qld, Australia; and S. M. Lennox, H. Meinke, and N. C. White
The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a tropical atmospheric phenomenon, associated with periods of active convection in the eastern hemisphere tropics. The MJO's temporal scale (events happen at intervals from 22-90 days) coincides with a gap between weather and climate forecasts. Application of MJO data begins to address this gap. The RMM Index is an MJO proxy and indicates the amplitude and location (Phases 1-8) of MJO active convection. Analysis demonstrates that the MJO influences weather well beyond the tropics, on this intraseasonal timescale. We analysed global rainfall data (summer/winter rainfall patterns) with respect to the RMM Index phases of the MJO. Observed MSLP frequencies are at least partially explained by the MJO and advance a causal relationship between the tropical MJO and tropical and extra-tropical rainfall and MSLP anomalies.
Joint Session 1, Analyses and applications spanning broad time and space scales (Joint Session between the 19th Conference on Climate Variability and Change and the 16th Conference on Applied Climatology)
Wednesday, 17 January 2007, 8:30 AM-11:30 AM, 214C
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