Review: MJO propagation over the maritime continent

Abstract

This review focuses on the propagation of the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) over the Indo- Pacific Maritime Continent (MC). The MJO tends to detour around the MC into the summer hemisphere. Moreover, the MJOs propagation comes to an end most frequently over the MC, which is often referred to as the MC barrier effect. This peculiar behavior of the MJO in the MC is poorly represented in weather and climate models, partly due to our incomplete understanding of the interaction between the MJO and the MC. The MJO interacts with monsoon circulations, synoptic variability, and the diurnal cycle over the MC. Existing hypotheses for the MJO detour and the MC barrier effect involve the direct disruption of MJO convection by the presence of the MC islands and topography, processes associated with free tropospheric moistening, the diurnal cycle, and the basic state. The exact roles of these processes in the propagation of the MJO through the MC region need to be better understood.