What is it about?
This article examines how well the teleconnection patterns associated with the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) are represented in General Circulation Models (GCMs). The MJO is a tropical weekly-varying tropical system that impacts much of the world through large-scale atmospheric waves known as teleconnection patterns. In this paper, we find that MJO teleconnections are often poorly simulated. For some models, a key reason is that they have large errors in the mean large-scale circulation.
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Why is it important?
The MJO impacts much of the global weather and climate, including hurricanes, monsoons, rainfall, and temperatures around the world. This suggests that in order to properly simulate global weather and climate, MJO teleconnections must be properly simulated. Proper simulation is important because models are the main tool used in forecasting weather and climate. Models are also often used to better understand the physics that govern our atmosphere.
Perspectives
Scientifically, my hope for this study is that it will help prioritize model improvements in MJO teleconnections. For the general public, I hope this article shows that we are continuously working to understand how well models represent our world and that we are always working hard to improve them.
Stephanie Henderson
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Madden–Julian Oscillation Pacific Teleconnections: The Impact of the Basic State and MJO Representation in General Circulation Models, Journal of Climate, June 2017, American Meteorological Society,
DOI: 10.1175/jcli-d-16-0789.1.
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