skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: MJO Simulation Diagnostics

Abstract

The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) interacts with, and influences, a wide range of weather and climate phenomena (e.g., monsoons, ENSO, tropical storms, mid-latitude weather), and represents an important, and as yet unexploited, source of predictability at the subseasonal time scale. Despite the important role of the MJO in our climate and weather systems, current global circulation models (GCMs) exhibit considerable shortcomings in representing this phenomenon. These shortcomings have been documented in a number of multi-model comparison studies over the last decade. However, diagnosis of model performance has been challenging, and model progress has been difficult to track, due to the lack of a coherent and standardized set of MJO diagnostics. One of the chief objectives of the US CLIVAR MJO Working Group is the development of observation-based diagnostics for objectively evaluating global model simulations of the MJO in a consistent framework. Motivation for this activity is reviewed, and the intent and justification for a set of diagnostics is provided, along with specification for their calculation, and illustrations of their application. The diagnostics range from relatively simple analyses of variance and correlation, to more sophisticated space-time spectral and empirical orthogonal function analyses. These diagnostic techniques are used to detect MJO signals, tomore » construct composite life-cycles, to identify associations of MJO activity with the mean state, and to describe interannual variability of the MJO.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
965080
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-404518
Journal ID: ISSN 0894-8755; JLCLEL; TRN: US200919%%451
DOE Contract Number:  
W-7405-ENG-48
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Journal of Climate
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 22; Journal ID: ISSN 0894-8755
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; CLIMATES; DIAGNOSIS; DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES; MONSOONS; OSCILLATIONS; PERFORMANCE; SIMULATION; SPACE-TIME; SPECIFICATIONS; STORMS; WEATHER

Citation Formats

Waliser, D, Sperber, K, Hendon, H, Kim, D, Maloney, E, Wheeler, M, Weickmann, K, Zhang, C, Donner, L, Gottschalck, J, Higgins, W, Kang, I, Legler, D, Moncrieff, M, Schubert, S, Stern, W, Vitart, F, Wang, B, Wang, W, and Woolnough, S. MJO Simulation Diagnostics. United States: N. p., 2008. Web.
Waliser, D, Sperber, K, Hendon, H, Kim, D, Maloney, E, Wheeler, M, Weickmann, K, Zhang, C, Donner, L, Gottschalck, J, Higgins, W, Kang, I, Legler, D, Moncrieff, M, Schubert, S, Stern, W, Vitart, F, Wang, B, Wang, W, & Woolnough, S. MJO Simulation Diagnostics. United States.
Waliser, D, Sperber, K, Hendon, H, Kim, D, Maloney, E, Wheeler, M, Weickmann, K, Zhang, C, Donner, L, Gottschalck, J, Higgins, W, Kang, I, Legler, D, Moncrieff, M, Schubert, S, Stern, W, Vitart, F, Wang, B, Wang, W, and Woolnough, S. 2008. "MJO Simulation Diagnostics". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/965080.
@article{osti_965080,
title = {MJO Simulation Diagnostics},
author = {Waliser, D and Sperber, K and Hendon, H and Kim, D and Maloney, E and Wheeler, M and Weickmann, K and Zhang, C and Donner, L and Gottschalck, J and Higgins, W and Kang, I and Legler, D and Moncrieff, M and Schubert, S and Stern, W and Vitart, F and Wang, B and Wang, W and Woolnough, S},
abstractNote = {The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) interacts with, and influences, a wide range of weather and climate phenomena (e.g., monsoons, ENSO, tropical storms, mid-latitude weather), and represents an important, and as yet unexploited, source of predictability at the subseasonal time scale. Despite the important role of the MJO in our climate and weather systems, current global circulation models (GCMs) exhibit considerable shortcomings in representing this phenomenon. These shortcomings have been documented in a number of multi-model comparison studies over the last decade. However, diagnosis of model performance has been challenging, and model progress has been difficult to track, due to the lack of a coherent and standardized set of MJO diagnostics. One of the chief objectives of the US CLIVAR MJO Working Group is the development of observation-based diagnostics for objectively evaluating global model simulations of the MJO in a consistent framework. Motivation for this activity is reviewed, and the intent and justification for a set of diagnostics is provided, along with specification for their calculation, and illustrations of their application. The diagnostics range from relatively simple analyses of variance and correlation, to more sophisticated space-time spectral and empirical orthogonal function analyses. These diagnostic techniques are used to detect MJO signals, to construct composite life-cycles, to identify associations of MJO activity with the mean state, and to describe interannual variability of the MJO.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/965080}, journal = {Journal of Climate},
issn = {0894-8755},
number = ,
volume = 22,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jun 02 00:00:00 EDT 2008},
month = {Mon Jun 02 00:00:00 EDT 2008}
}