Why Bother about Climate Variability in the Indian Ocean Sector
- A Few Thoughts -
Saji Hameed
Frontier Research System for Global Change (FRSGC)
Tokyo, Japan
On the average, every square kilometer of atmosphere over the Indian Ocean fluctuates with more intensity than that over the Pacific. These fluctuations are well organised in time and space and maybe described as the modulations of the local Walker Circulation. We demonstrate that these atmospheric fluctuations are tightly coupled to the underlying zonal SST gradient and vice versa. There is some indication that this combined ocean-atmosphere fluctuation is self-sustained. Since tropical convective variability is of great consequence to the global climate, we have explored the teleconnection patterns associated with this mode. The results of the analysis are interesting and point out to the possibility of a potential enhancement of predictability of global climate variability.
