Atmospheric Intraseasonal Variability at the Surface in the Tropical Western Pacific Ocean

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Abstract
Observations from the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) moored buoy array provide an unprecedented opportunity to explore the atmospheric variability at the tropical sea surface. Three years of data from the TAO buoys in the western Pacific are analyzed to document surface intraseasonal fluctuations and their relationships to the tropical interseasonal oscillation (ISO) in the troposphere above the boundary layer. The most robust intraseasonal variations at the surface are observed in zonal wind, wind speed, relative humidity, sea surface temperature (SST), surface turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes, and air–sea temperature and humidity differences. Less robust intraseasonal signals are found in surface meridional wind, specific humidity, and equivalent potential temperature. Observed signals in surface air temperature and wind divergence are the weakest. Positive anomalies of atmospheric deep convection associated with the ISO tend to occur in regimes of surface westerly perturbations, wher... Abstract Observations from the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) moored buoy array provide an unprecedented opportunity to explore the atmospheric variability at the tropical sea surface. Three years of data from the TAO buoys in the western Pacific are analyzed to document surface intraseasonal fluctuations and their relationships to the tropical interseasonal oscillation (ISO) in the troposphere above the boundary layer. The most robust intraseasonal variations at the surface are observed in zonal wind, wind speed, relative humidity, sea surface temperature (SST), surface turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes, and air–sea temperature and humidity differences. Less robust intraseasonal signals are found in surface meridional wind, specific humidity, and equivalent potential temperature. Observed signals in surface air temperature and wind divergence are the weakest. Positive anomalies of atmospheric deep convection associated with the ISO tend to occur in regimes of surface westerly perturbations, wher...