Mechanisms of asymmetry in sea surface temperature anomalies associated with the Indian Ocean Dipole revealed by closed heat budget.

ABSTRACT: The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is an interannual climate mode of the tropical Indian Ocean. Although it is known that negative sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the eastern pole during the positive IOD are stronger than positive SST anomalies during the negative IOD, no consensus has been reached on the relative importance of various mechanisms that contribute to this asymmetry. Based on a closed mixed layer heat budget analysis using a regional ocean model, here we show for the first time that the vertical mixing plays an important role in causing such asymmetry in SST anomalies in addition to the contributions from the nonlinear advection and the thermocline feedback proposed by previous studies. A decomposition of the vertical mixing term indicates that nonlinearity in the anoma

SUBMITTER: Nakazato M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8617302 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature