Role of the Maritime Continent in the remote influence of Atlantic Nio on the Pacific
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AbstractAtlantic Nio, a dominant mode of climate variability in the equatorial Atlantic on seasonal-to-interannual timescales, is known to remotely force a La Nia-like response in the tropical Pacific, potentially affecting climate predictions. Using both observations and large-ensemble simulations, this work explores the underlying physical mechanism linking the Atlantic variability to the Pacific. Results persuasively show that the eastward propagating atmospheric Kelvin wave from the Atlantic, through the Indian Ocean, to the Pacific is the primary pathway for the Atlantic-to-Pacific teleconnection. Furthermore, the orography and land friction effects over the Maritime Continent (MC) play an important role in this teleconnection. On one hand, the interaction between MC orography and the Kelvin wave induces orographic moisture convergence, contributing to the generation of a local Walker Cell over the MC-Western Pacific area. On the other hand, land friction over the MC causes Kelvin wave energy to dissipate, affecting the strength of the Bjerknes feedback, and thus the development of the La Nia-like response in the Pacific. The present study indicates that improving the representation of land-atmosphere-ocean interactions over the MC may be critical to realistically simulating Atlantic Nios impact on El Nio-Southern Oscillation. This may have important implications for improving climate predictions.
