Abstract
The impacts of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) on the South American
monsoon season (December-February) and possible changes during El Niño
(EN) and La Niña (LN) events are analyzed in the UK Met Office Unified
Model Global Ocean Mixed Layer configuration (MetUM-GOML3). Experiments
sixty years long, with and without El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO),
considering different spatial resolutions, are performed to assess if
ENSO influences several MJO characteristics, including the
teleconnections to South America (SA). Simulations without ENSO show:
(i) an extratropical teleconnection triggered by enhanced convection in
the central-east subtropical South Pacific (CSSP) and its strongest
impact on central-east South American precipitation in phase 8, earlier
than in observations (phase 1). (ii) An extratropical teleconnection,
triggered by suppressed convection over the same region, with strongest
impact on South American precipitation in phase 4, with opposite sign.
(iii) Increased resolution enhances the MJO convection and the South
American circulation-precipitation dipole. ENSO affects the basic state
and the MJO convection, which modulate teleconnections to SA in
simulations with ENSO cycles. EN (LN) strengthens (deteriorates) MJO
propagation and its convection. However, both EN and LN produce enhanced
convection over the CSSP in phase 8. The extratropical teleconnections
and their impacts are stronger under ENSO with respect to those in
simulations without ENSO. Hence, both simulated ENSO states generate
forcing that more efficiently triggers teleconnections than simulations
without ENSO, indicating nonlinear ENSO effects on MJO anomalies over
SA.