A Decade of Eastern Tropical Indian Ocean Observation Network (TIOON)

Author(s):  
Lili Zeng ◽  
Gengxin Chen ◽  
Ke Huang ◽  
Ju Chen ◽  
Yunkai He ◽  
...  

AbstractAs an important part of the Indo-pacific warm pool, the Indian Ocean has great significance for research on the Asian monsoon system and global climate change. From the 1960s onwards, several international and regional programs have led to important new insights into the Indian Ocean. The eastern Tropical Indian Ocean Observation Network (TIOON) was established in 2010. The TIOON consists of two parts: large-scope observations and moored measurements. Large-scope observations are performed by the eastern tropical Indian Ocean Comprehensive Experiment Cruise (TIO-CEC). Moored measurements are executed by the TIOON mooring array and the hydrological meteorological buoy. By 2019, ten successful TIOON TIO-CEC voyages had been accomplished, making this mission the most comprehensive scientific investigation in China. The ten years of TIO-CEC voyages have collected approximately 1,006 temperature/salinity profiles, 703 GPS radiosonde profiles and numerous other observations in the Indian Ocean. To supplement the existing buoy array in the Indian Ocean, an enhanced TIOON mooring array consisting of eight sub-thermocline acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) moorings, was established since 2013. The TIOON mooring equipped with both upward-looking and downward-looking WHLS75K ADCP provide valuable current monitoring information to depth of 1,000 m in the Indian Ocean. To improve air-sea interaction monitoring, two real-time hydrological meteorological buoys were launched in 2019 and 2020 in the equatorial Indian Ocean. A better understanding of the Indian Ocean requires continuous and long-term observations. The TIOON program and other aspiring field investigation programs will be promoted in the future.

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (21) ◽  
pp. 8447-8468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiqing Han ◽  
Gerald A. Meehl ◽  
Aixue Hu ◽  
Jian Zheng ◽  
Jessica Kenigson ◽  
...  

Previous studies have investigated the centennial and multidecadal trends of the Pacific and Indian Ocean Walker cells (WCs) during the past century, but have obtained no consensus owing to data uncertainties and weak signals of the long-term trends. This paper focuses on decadal variability (periods of one to few decades) by first documenting the variability of the WCs and warm-pool convection, and their covariability since the 1960s, using in situ and satellite observations and reanalysis products. The causes for the variability and covariability are then explored using a Bayesian dynamic linear model, which can extract nonstationary effects of climate modes. The warm-pool convection exhibits apparent decadal variability, generally covarying with the Indian and Pacific Ocean WCs during winter (November–April) with enhanced convection corresponding to intensified WCs, and the Indian–Pacific WCs covary. During summer (May–October), the warm-pool convection still highly covaries with the Pacific WC but does not covary with the Indian Ocean WC, and the Indian–Pacific WCs are uncorrelated. The wintertime coherent variability results from the vital influence of ENSO decadal variation, which reduces warm-pool convection and weakens the WCs during El Niño–like conditions. During summer, while ENSO decadal variability still dominates the Pacific WC, decadal variations of ENSO, the Indian Ocean dipole, Indian summer monsoon convection, and tropical Indian Ocean SST have comparable effects on the Indian Ocean WC overall, with monsoon convection having the largest effect since the 1990s. The complex causes for the Indian Ocean WC during summer result in its poor covariability with the Pacific WC and warm-pool convection.


2021 ◽  
Vol 925 (1) ◽  
pp. 012007
Author(s):  
P A Utari

Abstract The evolution of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) events in 2006 and 2010 is investigated using observational data products that are made to understand several processes in the positive (negative) phase of IOD events. Two Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) moorings mounted at 90°E and 80.5°E along the equator were used to evaluate the zonal current variation during two contrasting Indian Ocean Dipole (IO) events. Westward anomalies of the zonal current were observed at 0°, 80.5°E during the peak phase of the positive IOD event from October to December 2006. Meanwhile, the observed zonal currents at 0°, 90°E only showed the short-term westward anomalies during October 2006. On the other hand, during the negative IOD event in 2010, the observed zonal current at both mooring locations indicated strong intraseasonal variations of the eastward anomalies from August to December 2010. Strong easterly (westerly) anomalies of the surface zonal winds were observed during the peak phase of the positive (negative) IOD event in 2006 (2010). These easterly (westerly) anomalies forced upwelling (downwelling) equatorial Kelvin waves indicated by the negative (positive) sea surface height anomalies. Strengthening (weakening) of upwelling (downwelling) along the equatorial Indian Ocean would be a significant factor for further understanding of IOD evolution.


Author(s):  
Neethu Chacko ◽  
M M Ali

This study examines the effect of surface currents on the bulk algorithm calculation of wind stress estimated using the scatterometer data during 2007-2020 in the Indian Ocean. In the study region as a whole the wind stress decreased by 5.4% by including currents into the wind stress equation. The most significant reduction in the wind stress is found along the most energetic regions with strong currents such as Somali Current, Equatorial Jets and Aghulhas retroflection. A highest reduction of 11.5% is observed along the equator where the Equatorial Jets prevail. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out for the study region and for different seasons to assess the relative impact of winds and currents in the estimation of wind stress by changing the winds while keeping the currents constants and vice versa. The inclusion of currents decreased the wind stress and this decrease is prominent when the currents are stronger. This study showed that equatorial Indian Ocean is the most sensitive region where the current can impact on wind stress estimation. The results showed that uncertainties in the wind stress estimations are quite large at regional levels and hence better representation of wind stress incorporating ocean currents should be considered in the ocean/climatic models for accurate air-sea interaction studies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. eaat9658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro N. DiNezio ◽  
Jessica E. Tierney ◽  
Bette L. Otto-Bliesner ◽  
Axel Timmermann ◽  
Tripti Bhattacharya ◽  
...  

The mechanisms driving glacial-interglacial changes in the climate of the Indo-Pacific warm pool are poorly understood. Here, we address this question by combining paleoclimate proxies with model simulations of the Last Glacial Maximum climate. We find evidence of two mechanisms explaining key patterns of ocean cooling and rainfall change interpreted from proxy data. Exposure of the Sahul shelf excites a positive ocean-atmosphere feedback involving a stronger surface temperature gradient along the equatorial Indian Ocean and a weaker Walker circulation—a response explaining the drier/wetter dipole across the basin. Northern Hemisphere cooling by ice sheet albedo drives a monsoonal retreat across Africa and the Arabian Peninsula—a response that triggers a weakening of the Indian monsoon via cooling of the Arabian Sea and associated reductions in moisture supply. These results demonstrate the importance of air-sea interactions in the Indian Ocean, amplifying externally forced climate changes over a large part of the tropics.


Author(s):  
Neethu Chacko ◽  
M M Ali

This study examines the effect of surface currents on the bulk algorithm calculation of wind stress estimated using the scatterometer data during 2007-2020 in the Indian Ocean. In the study region as a whole the wind stress decreased by 5.4% by including currents into the wind stress equation. The most significant reduction in the wind stress is found along the most energetic regions with strong currents such as Somali Current, Equatorial Jets and Aghulhas retroflection. A highest reduction of 11.5% is observed along the equator where the Equatorial Jets prevail. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out for the study region and for different seasons to assess the relative impact of winds and currents in the estimation of wind stress by changing the winds while keeping the currents constants and vice versa. The inclusion of currents decreased the wind stress and this decrease is prominent when the currents are stronger. This study showed that equatorial Indian Ocean is the most sensitive region where the current can impact on wind stress estimation. The results showed that uncertainties in the wind stress estimations are quite large at regional levels and hence better representation of wind stress incorporating ocean currents should be considered in the ocean/climatic models for accurate air-sea interaction studies.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (22) ◽  
pp. 8501-8509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew Koll Roxy ◽  
Kapoor Ritika ◽  
Pascal Terray ◽  
Sébastien Masson

Abstract Recent studies have pointed out an increased warming over the Indian Ocean warm pool (the central-eastern Indian Ocean characterized by sea surface temperatures greater than 28.0°C) during the past half-century, although the reasons behind this monotonous warming are still debated. The results here reveal a larger picture—namely, that the western tropical Indian Ocean has been warming for more than a century, at a rate faster than any other region of the tropical oceans, and turns out to be the largest contributor to the overall trend in the global mean sea surface temperature (SST). During 1901–2012, while the Indian Ocean warm pool went through an increase of 0.7°C, the western Indian Ocean experienced anomalous warming of 1.2°C in summer SSTs. The warming of the generally cool western Indian Ocean against the rest of the tropical warm pool region alters the zonal SST gradients, and has the potential to change the Asian monsoon circulation and rainfall, as well as alter the marine food webs in this biologically productive region. The current study using observations and global coupled ocean–atmosphere model simulations gives compelling evidence that, besides direct contribution from greenhouse warming, the long-term warming trend over the western Indian Ocean during summer is highly dependent on the asymmetry in the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnection, and the positive SST skewness associated with ENSO during recent decades.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang-Ki Lee ◽  
Hosmay Lopez ◽  
Gregory Foltz ◽  
Dongmin Kim ◽  
Sarah Larson ◽  
...  

Abstract A phenomenon referred to here as Java-Sumatra Niño/Niña (JSN or JS Niño/Niña) is characterized by the appearance of warm/cold sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) in the coastal upwelling region off Java-Sumatra in the southeastern equatorial Indian Ocean. JSN develops in July-September and sometimes as a precursor to the Indian Ocean Dipole, but often without corresponding SSTAs in the western equatorial Indian Ocean. Although its spatiotemporal evolution varies considerably between individual events, JSN is essentially an intrinsic mode of variability driven by local atmosphere-ocean positive feedback, and thus does not rely on remote forcing from the Pacific for its emergence. JSN is an important driver of climate variability over the tropical Indian Ocean and the surrounding continents. Notably, JS Niña events developing in July-September project onto the South and Southeast Asian summer monsoons, increasing the probability of heavy rainfall and flooding across the most heavily populated regions of the world.


2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 3428-3449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert S. Fischer ◽  
Pascal Terray ◽  
Eric Guilyardi ◽  
Silvio Gualdi ◽  
Pascale Delecluse

Abstract The question of whether and how tropical Indian Ocean dipole or zonal mode (IOZM) interannual variability is independent of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability in the Pacific is addressed in a comparison of twin 200-yr runs of a coupled climate model. The first is a reference simulation, and the second has ENSO-scale variability suppressed with a constraint on the tropical Pacific wind stress. The IOZM can exist in the model without ENSO, and the composite evolution of the main anomalies in the Indian Ocean in the two simulations is virtually identical. Its growth depends on a positive feedback between anomalous equatorial easterly winds, upwelling equatorial and coastal Kelvin waves reducing the thermocline depth and sea surface temperature off the coast of Sumatra, and the atmospheric dynamical response to the subsequently reduced convection. Two IOZM triggers in the boreal spring are found. The first is an anomalous Hadley circulation over the eastern tropical Indian Ocean and Maritime Continent, with an early northward penetration of the Southern Hemisphere southeasterly trades. This situation grows out of cooler sea surface temperatures in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean left behind by a reinforcement of the late austral summer winds. The second trigger is a consequence of a zonal shift in the center of convection associated with a developing El Niño, a Walker cell anomaly. The first trigger is the only one present in the constrained simulation and is similar to the evolution of anomalies in 1994, when the IOZM occurred in the absence of a Pacific El Niño state. The presence of these two triggers—the first independent of ENSO and the second phase locking the IOZM to El Niño—allows an understanding of both the existence of IOZM events when Pacific conditions are neutral and the significant correlation between the IOZM and El Niño.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 11973-11990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Fiehn ◽  
Birgit Quack ◽  
Irene Stemmler ◽  
Franziska Ziska ◽  
Kirstin Krüger

Abstract. Oceanic very short-lived substances (VSLSs), such as bromoform (CHBr3), contribute to stratospheric halogen loading and, thus, to ozone depletion. However, the amount, timing, and region of bromine delivery to the stratosphere through one of the main entrance gates, the Indian summer monsoon circulation, are still uncertain. In this study, we created two bromoform emission inventories with monthly resolution for the tropical Indian Ocean and west Pacific based on new in situ bromoform measurements and novel ocean biogeochemistry modeling. The mass transport and atmospheric mixing ratios of bromoform were modeled for the year 2014 with the particle dispersion model FLEXPART driven by ERA-Interim reanalysis. We compare results between two emission scenarios: (1) monthly averaged and (2) annually averaged emissions. Both simulations reproduce the atmospheric distribution of bromoform from ship- and aircraft-based observations in the boundary layer and upper troposphere above the Indian Ocean reasonably well. Using monthly resolved emissions, the main oceanic source regions for the stratosphere include the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal in boreal summer and the tropical west Pacific Ocean in boreal winter. The main stratospheric injection in boreal summer occurs over the southern tip of India associated with the high local oceanic sources and strong convection of the summer monsoon. In boreal winter more bromoform is entrained over the west Pacific than over the Indian Ocean. The annually averaged stratospheric injection of bromoform is in the same range whether using monthly averaged or annually averaged emissions in our Lagrangian calculations. However, monthly averaged emissions result in the highest mixing ratios within the Asian monsoon anticyclone in boreal summer and above the central Indian Ocean in boreal winter, while annually averaged emissions display a maximum above the west Indian Ocean in boreal spring. In the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone bromoform atmospheric mixing ratios vary by up to 50 % between using monthly averaged and annually averaged oceanic emissions. Our results underline that the seasonal and regional stratospheric bromine injection from the tropical Indian Ocean and west Pacific critically depend on the seasonality and spatial distribution of the VSLS emissions.


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