Thermodynamics of the Madden–Julian Oscillation in a regional model with constrained moisture

To identify the main thermodynamic processes that sustain the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO), an eddy available potential energy budget analysis is performed on a regional model simulation with moisture constrained by observations. The model realistically simulates the two MJO episodes observed during the winter of 2007/08. Analysis of these two cases shows that instabilities and damping associated with variations in diabatic heating and energy transport work in concert to provide the MJO with its observed characteristics. The results are used to construct a simplified paradigm of MJO thermodynamics. Furthermore, the effect of moisture nudging on the simulation is analyzed to identify the limitations of the model cumulus parameterization. Without moisture nudging, the parameterization fails to provide adequate low-level (upper level) moistening during the early (late) stage of the MJO active phase. The moistening plays a critical role in providing stratiform heating variability that is an important source of eddy available potential energy for the model MJO.

To Access Resource:

Questions? Email Resource Support Contact:

  • opensky@ucar.edu
    UCAR/NCAR - Library

Resource Type publication
Temporal Range Begin N/A
Temporal Range End N/A
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat N/A
Bounding Box South Lat N/A
Bounding Box West Long N/A
Bounding Box East Long N/A
Spatial Representation N/A
Spatial Resolution N/A
Related Links N/A
Additional Information N/A
Resource Format PDF
Standardized Resource Format PDF
Asset Size N/A
Legal Constraints

Copyright 2011 American Meteorological Society (AMS). Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be "fair use" under Section 107 or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law (17 USC, as revised by P.L. 94-553) does not require the Society's permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form on servers, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statements, requires written permission or license from the AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policies, available from the AMS at 617-227-2425 or amspubs@ametsoc.org. Permission to place a copy of this work on this server has been provided by the AMS. The AMS does not guarantee that the copy provided here is an accurate copy of the published work.
Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email opensky@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library
Distributor N/A
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email opensky@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library

Author Hagos, Samson
Leung, L.
Dudhia, Jimy
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2011-09-01T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
Alternate Identifier N/A
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
Progress N/A
Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:49:17.712696
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:12203
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Hagos, Samson, Leung, L., Dudhia, Jimy. (2011). Thermodynamics of the Madden–Julian Oscillation in a regional model with constrained moisture. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d77m08q7. Accessed 21 June 2025.

Harvest Source