Influence of the Maritime Continent on the Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation

Abstract

The effect of the Maritime Continent (MC) on the propagation characteristics of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) over the Indo-western Pacific region were investigated by performing high-resolution (T159) atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) simulations that remove and retain the MC. The most significant difference, as revealed by a finite domain wavenumber-frequency spectral analysis is the weakening of the northward propagation of ISO over the Asian monsoon region (65° -160°E) when the MC is removed; a less significant difference is the enhancement of the eastward propagation along the equator. The diagnosis of the vertical structure of the simulated ISO and the model mean flow indicates that the weakening of the northward propagation is primarily attributed to the reduction of the background easterly shear, low-level southerly and meridional humidity gradient, all of which contribute to the weakening of meridional asymmetries of vorticity and humidity fields with respect to the ISO convection center. The enhanced eastward propagation is possibly attributed to the strengthening of the mean convection over the MC in association with the increase of the local surface moisture and moist static energy.