Presented on September 10, 2025,  by

Professor Tim Li
Atmospheric Sciences Department
University of Hawaii at Manoa

ABSTRACT:

The madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a large-scale low-frequency mode in the tropical atmosphere, and it represents a major predictability source for sub-seasonal forecast. Many current state-of-the-art climate models have difficulty in reproducing the MJO eastward propagation. In this talk, I will briefly review the observed structure and evolution characteristics and the existing propagation theories of MJO. Then I will introduce two distinctive types of the moisture mode theory, with the first type emphasizing the zonal asymmetry of boundary-layer moisture anomaly and the second type emphasizing the zonal asymmetry of column integrated moist static energy (MSE) anomaly. Finally, I will discuss controversy issues related to the roles of MSE vertical advection and Rossby wave component in MJO eastward propagation.