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The Indian Ocean SST dipole simulated in a coupled general circulation model
Author(s) -
Iizuka Satoshi,
Matsuura Tomonori,
Yamagata Toshio
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2000gl011484
Subject(s) - sea surface temperature , climatology , equator , general circulation model , walker circulation , ocean general circulation model , ocean current , mode (computer interface) , subtropical indian ocean dipole , climate model , indian ocean dipole , environmental science , dipole , atmospheric sciences , atmosphere (unit) , flux (metallurgy) , indian ocean , latitude , geology , oceanography , climate change , meteorology , physics , quantum mechanics , materials science , geodesy , computer science , metallurgy , operating system
We are successful in simulating the recently discovered ocean‐atmosphere coupled phenomenon called the Indian Ocean Dipole for the first time, using a coupled general circulation model without flux correction. During the analyzed 50 years of model integration, the anomalous climate events have appeared 8 times over the Indian Ocean (IO). They are characterized by the cooling of the sea surface temperature (SST) in the southeastern tropical IO and the warming of the SST in the western tropical IO, associated with the anomalous easterly winds along the equator. The spatial pattern of the anomalous SST shows an east‐west dipole mode (DM) structure that is similar to the recent reports. The simulated DM events are independent of the El Ni ñ o simulated in the same model. The heat budget analysis shows that the tropical air‐sea interaction, which is strongly influenced by ocean dynamics, is crucial in generating the model DM events.