Rodrigo et al. (2025) Mechanisms of the QBO Influence on the Tropical Troposphere: Climatological SST Conditions

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-22
• Authors: Mario Rodrigo, Jorge L. García‐Franco, Javier García‐Serrano, Ileana Bladé, Froila M. Palmeiro
• DOI: 10.1029/2025jd044183

Research Groups

Information not available in the provided abstract.

Short Summary

This study isolates the tropospheric impact of the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) using an atmosphere-only experiment, revealing its seasonal modulation of deep tropical convection, Walker and Hadley circulations, particularly over the Indo-Pacific region, primarily driven by changes in static stability.

Objective

• To isolate and characterize the tropospheric impact of the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) on tropical circulation and convection, disentangling it from the dominant effects of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
• To analyze the QBO modulation of temperature and zonal wind in the upper troposphere-lower stratosphere (UTLS) and its accompanying effects on static stability, wind shear, and vorticity.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Tropical troposphere, upper troposphere-lower stratosphere (UTLS), Maritime Continent region, Indo-Pacific region.
• Temporal Scale: Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) period, seasonal (strongest effects in summer and autumn).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Atmosphere-only experiment.
• Data sources: Climatological sea surface temperature (SST) used as a boundary condition for the atmosphere-only experiment.

Main Results

• The QBO significantly modifies deep tropical convection over the Maritime Continent region.
• The QBO affects both the zonal Walker circulation and, more notably, the meridional Hadley circulation.
• These QBO impacts are highly seasonal, with the strongest effects observed in summer and autumn.
• A zonal asymmetry in the vertical structure of the QBO signal and its influence on tropical circulation is identified, with anomalies descending into the upper troposphere over the Indo-Pacific region.
• The timing of this teleconnection is primarily associated with QBO-induced changes in static stability, which exhibit a strong correlation with precipitation and arrive first at the UTLS, followed by changes in wind shear and vorticity.

Contributions

• Isolation of the QBO's tropospheric impact by disentangling it from ENSO effects through an atmosphere-only experiment with climatological SST.
• Detailed characterization of QBO modulation on deep tropical convection, Walker and Hadley circulations, and UTLS dynamics (temperature, zonal wind, static stability, wind shear, vorticity).
• Identification of seasonal dependency and zonal asymmetry in QBO teleconnections, particularly over the Indo-Pacific region.
• Elucidation of the timing mechanism, highlighting static stability changes as the primary driver for QBO-induced precipitation and circulation anomalies.

Funding

Information not available in the provided abstract.

Citation

@article{Rodrigo2025Mechanisms,
  author = {Rodrigo, Mario and García‐Franco, Jorge L. and García‐Serrano, Javier and Bladé, Ileana and Palmeiro, Froila M.},
  title = {Mechanisms of the QBO Influence on the Tropical Troposphere: Climatological SST Conditions},
  journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1029/2025jd044183},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025jd044183}
}