Intraseasonal variations of the tropical easterly jet during the 1979 northern summer

Abstract

Numerous studies have investigated the intraseasonal oscillation of various elements of the Indian monsoon, but the tropical easterly jet has been neglected. The 1979 summer data generated by the FGG III-b analysis of the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts were used to examine the intraseasonal oscillation of this jet. It was found that the jet possesses a distinctive intraseasonal oscillation south of its core. Previous studies suggested that the temporal fluctuation of this jet may be related through cumulus convection to that of the low-level Indian monsoon circulation. It was demonstrated by a streamfunction budget analysis that the intraseasonal oscillation of the tropical easterly jet south of its core is primarily induced by the eastward-propagating intraseasonal oscillation of the planetary-scale divergent circulation.