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Updated: Jul 24, 2025

Uncoupling Coriolis Force and Rotating Buoyancy Effects on Full-Field Heat Transfer Properties of a Rotating Channel
Published on: October 5, 2018
QBO deepens MJO convection
Daeho Jin1,2, Daehyun Kim3, Seok-Woo Son4
1University of Maryland - Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Abstract:
The underlying mechanism that couples the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) and the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) has remained elusive, challenging our understanding of both phenomena. A popular hypothesis about the QBO-MJO connection is that the vertical extent of MJO convection is strongly modulated by the QBO. However, this hypothesis has not been verified observationally. Here we show that the cloud-top pressure and brightness temperature of deep convection and anvil clouds are systematically lower in the easterly QBO (EQBO) winters than in the westerly QBO (WQBO) winters, indicating that the vertical growth of deep convective systems within MJO envelopes is facilitated by the EQBO mean state. Moreover, the deeper clouds during EQBO winters are more effective at reducing longwave radiation escaping to space and thereby enhancing longwave cloud-radiative feedback within MJO envelopes. Our results provide robust observational evidence of the enhanced MJO activity during EQBO winters by mean state changes induced by the QBO.
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