C. Session I: Indian Ocean Climate
The French Project LOTI on the Role of the Indian Ocean in the Tropical Climate Variability
The LOTI project, that involves both modellers and experimentalists, wasinstigated by two laboratories (Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique (LMD) and Laboratoire d'Oceanographie Dynamique et de Climatologie Physique (LODYC)) of the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL) and by the Laboratoired'Etude en Geophysique et Oceanographie Spatial (LEGOS).
Concerning the ISO over the Indian Ocean, the emphasis is put on the role of air-sea interaction on the generation and the propagation of the convective perturbation. We are particularly interested by the influence of the structure of the ocean surface layer (its heat content, the potential influence of barrier layers and bio-optic feedback) on the variability of the SST field at the temporal scale of the ISO. This particular point, together with the tele-induction between convective cloud clusters embedded in the ISO perturbation, is likely to have a large impact in the eastward propagation of the ISO. Concerning the low-frequency variability of the structure of the Indian Ocean, the emphasis is put on the influence of the Indonesian through flow at interannual (ENSO and biennial) time scales. Also, the influence of equatorial and sub-equatorial waves on the variability of the SST field of the Indian Ocean at seasonal and semiannual time scales will be further investigated.
Some preliminary results will be presented at the Symposium. In particular, diagnostic studies on the representation of the ISO by coupled general circulation models (ECHAM-ORCA and LMD-OPA), and results on the characteristics of the cloud convective clusters above the Indian Ocean will be presented.
