Understanding Madden-Julian-Induced sea surface temperature variations in the North Western Australian Basin

International audienceThe strongest large-scale intraseasonal (30-110 day) sea surface temperature (SST) variations in austral summer in the tropics are found in the eastern Indian Ocean between Australia and Indonesia (North-Western Australian Basin, or NWAB). TMI and Argo observations indicate that the temperature signal (std. ~0.4 °C) is most prominent within the top 20 m. This temperature signal appears as a standing oscillation with a 40-50 day timescale within the NWAB, associated with ~40 W m-2 net heat fluxes (primarily shortwave and latent) and ~0.02 N m-2 wind stress perturbations. This signal is largely related to the Madden-Julian Oscillation. A slab ocean model with climatological observed mixed-layer depth and an ocean general circulation model both accurately reproduce the observed intraseasonal SST oscillations in the NWAB. Both indicate that most of the intraseasonal SST variations in the NWAB in austral winter are related to surface heat flux forcing, and that intraseasonal SST variations are largest in austral summer because the mixed-layer is shallow (~20 m) and thus more responsive during that season. The general circulation model indicates that entrainment cooling plays little role in intraseasonal SST variations. The larger intraseasonal SST variations in the NWAB as compared to the widely-studied thermocline-ridge of the Indian Ocean region is explained by the larger convective and air-sea heat flux perturbations in the NWAB