The Madden-Julian Oscillation in the Energy Exascale Earth System Model
Version 1
Abstract
The present study examines the characteristics of the MJO events
represented in the Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 1
(E3SMv1), DOE’s new Earth system model. The coupled E3SMv1 realistically
simulates the eastward propagation of precipitation and Moist Static
Energy (MSE) anomalies associated with the MJO. As in observation,
horizontal moisture advection and longwave radiative feedback are found
to be the dominant processes in E3SMv1 that lead to the eastward
movement and maintenance of the MSE anomalies, respectively. Modulation
of the diurnal cycle of precipitation in the Maritime Continent region
by the MJO is also well represented in the model despite systematic
biases in the magnitude and phase of the diurnal cycle. On the
midlatitude impact of the MJO, E3SMv1 reasonably captures the pattern of
the MJO teleconnection across the North Pacific and North America, with
improvement in the performance in a high-resolution version, despite the
magnitude being a bit weaker than the observed feature. About
interannual variability of the MJO, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation
(ENSO) modulation of the zonal extent of MJO’s eastward propagation, as
well as associated changes in the mean state moisture gradient in the
tropical west Pacific, is well reproduced in the model. However, MJO in
E3SMv1 exhibits no sensitivity to the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO),
with the MJO propagation characteristics being almost identical between
easterly QBO and westerly QBO years. Processes that have been suggested
as critical to MJO simulation are also examined by utilizing recently
developed process-oriented diagnostics.