Moist static energy and moisture budget of the DYNAMO MJO events simulated using a regional model

The two MJO events observed during the first 2.5 months of the DYNAMO (Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation) field campaign are simulated using a convective permitting regional model. Model simulated precipitation, surface fluxes, and radiation anomalies compare favorably with observations. To investigate the source of the intraseasonal variations associated with the MJO events, column-integrated moist static energy and moisture budget is analyzed using the best tuned model simulation. Gross moist stability, a key quantity in thermodynamic theories of tropical precipitation, is found to be small or negative during the MJO initialization stage, in line with the moist mode theories of the MJO. Results of the budget analysis are also compared against those estimated from the two sounding arrays deployed during the DYNAMO. To evaluate contribution from multiple scale processes involved in the MJO life cycle, we further perform a scale decomposition analysis of budget terms at meso-, synoptic- and large-scales. Result from this analysis will also be discussed.