Air-Sea Interaction during suppressed and active MJO phases in the Indian Ocean

Measurement and mapping of air-sea fluxes of latent heat, sensible heat and momentum were among the primary objectives of the aircraft component of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO) field experiment that was carried out from Nov 11 to Dec 13, 2011. To this end, the NOAA WP-3D N43RF aircraft was equipped with fast-response temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind instrumentation for turbulence measurements. Eddy correlation fluxes were obtained by calculation of covariances of the vertical wind component with the appropriate variables: humidity, potential temperature and horizontal wind components. Results from our analysis will focus on the comparison of air-sea fluxes results obtained during the suppressed phase versus those obtained during the active phase of the MJO which were both captured during the deployment. We will also compare the vertical structure of the boundary layer and the turbulent fluxes to those obtained in the western Pacific warm pool during TOGA COARE.