Zhou et al. (2025) Role of Diurnal Cycle of Insolation on the MJO Propagation in the Maritime Continent

⚠️ 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: 2025-12-10
• Authors: Xin Zhou, Pallav Ray, Jimy Dudhia, Samson Hagos, Nathaniel C. Johnson, Efthymios Nikolopoulos, Bradford S. Barrett
• DOI: 10.1029/2025jd044257

Research Groups

Not available from the abstract.

Short Summary

This study uses a regional model to test the hypothesis that the diurnal cycle of convection in the Maritime Continent acts as a barrier to Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) propagation, finding that the absence of the diurnal cycle allows for more continuous eastward MJO propagation.

Objective

• To test the hypothesis that the diurnal cycle of convection in the Maritime Continent acts as a barrier to the eastward propagation of the Madden-Julian oscillation.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Maritime Continent
• Temporal Scale: Boreal spring of 2013 (a specific MJO event)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Regional model
• Data sources: Simulated MJO event from the regional model; large-scale precipitation tracking method for MJO identification.

Main Results

• The absence of the diurnal cycle of insolation (NO_DC simulation) reduced land precipitation, enabling more continuous eastward MJO propagation.
• MJO maintenance in the NO_DC simulation was attributed to increased longwave heating and reduced advection.
• Persistent MJO propagation in the NO_DC simulation was due to increased advection and reduced longwave heating and surface latent heat flux.
• These processes may vary across different parts of the Maritime Continent, highlighting the complexity of MJO propagation.

Contributions

• Provides a direct test of the diurnal cycle barrier hypothesis for MJO propagation over the Maritime Continent using a regional model with a realistic MJO event.
• Utilizes a large-scale precipitation tracking method to distinguish MJO propagation from non-propagation, offering an alternative to standard methods.
• Offers a detailed moist static energy budget analysis to explain the mechanisms behind MJO maintenance and propagation in the absence of the diurnal cycle.

Funding

Not available from the abstract.

Citation

@article{Zhou2025Role,
  author = {Zhou, Xin and Ray, Pallav and Dudhia, Jimy and Hagos, Samson and Johnson, Nathaniel C. and Nikolopoulos, Efthymios and Barrett, Bradford S.},
  title = {Role of Diurnal Cycle of Insolation on the MJO Propagation in the Maritime Continent},
  journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1029/2025jd044257},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025jd044257}
}