Origins of Moist Air in Global Lagrangian Simulations of the Madden–Julian Oscillation
Many recent studies have characterized the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) as a moisture mode, suggesting that its amplification and eastward propagation result from processes that build up moisture to the east of the MJO’s convective center, including frictionally driven boundary layer convergence,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2017-08-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/8/9/158 |
| _version_ | 1818081826541928448 |
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| author | Patrick Haertel William R. Boos Katherine Straub |
| author_facet | Patrick Haertel William R. Boos Katherine Straub |
| author_sort | Patrick Haertel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Many recent studies have characterized the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) as a moisture mode, suggesting that its amplification and eastward propagation result from processes that build up moisture to the east of the MJO’s convective center, including frictionally driven boundary layer convergence, surface fluxes, and shallow convection. Discussions of MJO moistening under this theory often implicitly assume an Eulerian framework; i.e., that local increases in moisture result from physical processes acting in the same location as the moistening is observed. In this study, the authors examine MJO moistening in a Lagrangian framework using a model that simulates atmospheric circulations by predicting the motions of individual air parcels. Back trajectories are presented for parcels in moist convecting regions of the MJO, and the effects of different physical processes on their moisture and moist static energy budgets are quantified. The Lagrangian MJO simulations suggest that much of the low-level moist air in heavily precipitating regions of the MJO arrives via the mid troposphere, coming from nearby equatorial regions, where it has been moistened largely by convective processes. Consequently, a thorough understanding of MJO moistening requires knowledge of the origin of the moist air and information about remote moisture sources. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T19:12:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9b880ef3536348b88d65238b3fca59e4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T19:12:23Z |
| publishDate | 2017-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-9b880ef3536348b88d65238b3fca59e42022-12-22T01:36:41ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332017-08-018915810.3390/atmos8090158atmos8090158Origins of Moist Air in Global Lagrangian Simulations of the Madden–Julian OscillationPatrick Haertel0William R. Boos1Katherine Straub2Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USAGeology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USAEarth and Environmental Sciences, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA 17870, USAMany recent studies have characterized the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) as a moisture mode, suggesting that its amplification and eastward propagation result from processes that build up moisture to the east of the MJO’s convective center, including frictionally driven boundary layer convergence, surface fluxes, and shallow convection. Discussions of MJO moistening under this theory often implicitly assume an Eulerian framework; i.e., that local increases in moisture result from physical processes acting in the same location as the moistening is observed. In this study, the authors examine MJO moistening in a Lagrangian framework using a model that simulates atmospheric circulations by predicting the motions of individual air parcels. Back trajectories are presented for parcels in moist convecting regions of the MJO, and the effects of different physical processes on their moisture and moist static energy budgets are quantified. The Lagrangian MJO simulations suggest that much of the low-level moist air in heavily precipitating regions of the MJO arrives via the mid troposphere, coming from nearby equatorial regions, where it has been moistened largely by convective processes. Consequently, a thorough understanding of MJO moistening requires knowledge of the origin of the moist air and information about remote moisture sources.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/8/9/158Madden–Julian oscillationmoisture budgetLagrangian atmospheric model |
| spellingShingle | Patrick Haertel William R. Boos Katherine Straub Origins of Moist Air in Global Lagrangian Simulations of the Madden–Julian Oscillation Atmosphere Madden–Julian oscillation moisture budget Lagrangian atmospheric model |
| title | Origins of Moist Air in Global Lagrangian Simulations of the Madden–Julian Oscillation |
| title_full | Origins of Moist Air in Global Lagrangian Simulations of the Madden–Julian Oscillation |
| title_fullStr | Origins of Moist Air in Global Lagrangian Simulations of the Madden–Julian Oscillation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Origins of Moist Air in Global Lagrangian Simulations of the Madden–Julian Oscillation |
| title_short | Origins of Moist Air in Global Lagrangian Simulations of the Madden–Julian Oscillation |
| title_sort | origins of moist air in global lagrangian simulations of the madden julian oscillation |
| topic | Madden–Julian oscillation moisture budget Lagrangian atmospheric model |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/8/9/158 |
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