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Physical Processes

Madden-Julian Oscillation

Atmospheric and Climatic Processes

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The Madden-Julian Oscillation is the largest source of tropical weather variability on sub-seasonal timescales: an eastward-propagating pulse of enhanced rainfall and cloudiness followed by a suppressed, drier phase, that circles the globe along the tropics over roughly a month to two months, primarily active across the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It modulates monsoon onset, tropical cyclone formation and the timing of El Nino development, and it is named for Roland Madden and Paul Julian, the two American meteorologists who first documented it from tropical Pacific pressure and wind records.

Facts
Process Type
Atmospheric Circulation 1
Timescale
A full cycle takes roughly 30 to 60 days. 1
First Proposed Year
1971 1
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