Coupled ocean–atmosphere dynamics in the Indian Ocean during 1997–98

Peter J. Webster (), Andrew M. Moore, Johannes P. Loschnigg and Robert R. Leben
Additional contact information
Peter J. Webster: Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Campus Box 311, University of Colorado
Andrew M. Moore: Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Campus Box 311, University of Colorado
Johannes P. Loschnigg: Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Campus Box 311, University of Colorado
Robert R. Leben: Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado

Nature, 1999, vol. 401, issue 6751, 356-360

Abstract: Abstract Climate variability in the Indian Ocean region seems to be, in some aspects, independent of forcing by external phenomena such as the El Niño/Southern Oscillation1,2,3,4. But the extent to which, and how, internal coupled ocean–atmosphere dynamics determine the state of the Indian Ocean system have not been resolved. Here we present a detailed analysis of the strong seasonal anomalies in sea surface temperatures, sea surface heights, precipitation and winds that occurred in the Indian Ocean region in 1997–98, and compare the results with the record of Indian Ocean climate variability over the past 40 years. We conclude that the 1997–98 anomalies—in spite of the coincidence with the strong El Niño/Southern Oscillation event—may primarily be an expression of internal dynamics, rather than a direct response to external influences. We propose a mechanism of ocean–atmosphere interaction governing the 1997–98 event that may represent a characteristic internal mode of the Indian Ocean climate system. In the Pacific Ocean, the identification of such a mode has led to successful predictions of El Niño5; if the proposed Indian Ocean internal mode proves to be robust, there may be a similar potential for predictability of climate in the Indian Ocean region.

Date: 1999
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/43848 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:401:y:1999:i:6751:d:10.1038_43848

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/43848

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().