Impact of the high topography of Madagascar on the structure of the Findlater Jet

Abstract

The cross-equatorial flow over the western Indian Ocean, known as the Findlater Jet, plays an important role in the monsoonal circulation of the region. During the boreal summer, there is southerly flow across the equator that is concentrated along the East African highlands. During the boreal winter, there is a reversal in wind direction across the equator. Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island, with heights in excess of 1 km represents a significant obstacle to the flow whose impact on this jet has not been fully characterized. Here we use diagnostic tools developed to investigate atmospheric flow distortion by Greenland's high topography to study this interaction. We show that there is a bifurcation of the Findlater Jet by Madagascar during the boreal summer and localized tip jets at the island's northern and southern ends. During the boreal winter, the northern tip jet reverses direction and weakens, while the southern tip jet maintains its direction and magnitude. We show that rotational effects are important for these interactions but not dominant and result in an enhancement of the northern tip jet; while allowing for existence of the southern tip jet. As will also be shown, this flow distortion has impacts on the meteorology and oceanography of the region including the forcing of oceanic eddies in the Mozambique Channel, a modulation of the southward displacement of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and a splitting of the boreal summer cross-equatorial mass transport associated with the Findlater Jet into two branches. © 2013 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.