Decadal changes of the intraseasonal oscillation during 1979-2016

The Intraseasonal Oscillation (ISO) is the cornerstone for 2-8-week subseasonal prediction. Understanding the decadal variation of the ISO is important for improving subseasonal prediction; however, there is still a gap in our knowledge of ISO dynamics. Here, we presented a method, an Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis of 11-year-sliding ISO evolution, to objectively detect decadal variation of the ISO originated from the equatorial Indian Ocean (EIO) during 1979-2016. The results show that the properties of ISO have a notable decadal change since 1998 for both boreal summer and boreal winter seasons, mainly in its evolution rather than in its intensity at origin. During the pre-1998 epoch, the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO), was confined to the Indian Ocean; since 1998, however, it propagated northeastward across the Maritime Continent (MC) and the intraseasonal variability over the western North Pacific was significant enhanced. On the other hand, the boreal-winter ISO, usually known as Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) shows minor changes in MC 'barrier effect' between the two epochs, and continuously propagates eastward across the MC. The MJO only shows suppressed activity over the central equatorial Pacific in the post-1998 epoch. These decadal changes are related to the eastern Pacific cooling during the 'global warming hiatus' period rather than to the four-decade global warming. Results here provide a set of potential precursors for foreseeing ISO propagation under different mean states.

Automated summary

The study found significant decadal changes in the properties of the Intraseasonal Oscillation (ISO) since 1998, mainly in its evolution rather than its intensity. The boreal summer ISO has shown northeastward propagation since 1998, enhancing intraseasonal variability over the western North Pacific. Meanwhile, the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) in boreal winter has shown minor changes in its barrier effect in the Maritime Continent and continues to propagate eastward.