Observed and simulated influence of ITF transport
The observed depth-integrated ITF volume transport displays notable variations (Fig. S1A). We categorize the monthly ITF transport into two groups. If the transport anomalies exceed one positive (negative) standard deviation, we designate them as strong (weak) ITF (see Methods). During the boreal winters of 1998–2017, there were 11 MJO events linked with strong ITF and four MJO events associated with weak ITF (Fig. S1A). The composite MJO linked with strong ITF exhibits well-organized eastward propagation (Fig. 1A), while a discontinuity in MJO propagation occurs over the MC for weak ITF (Fig. 1B). The MJO composites for strong and weak ITF resemble the so-called "slow" and "jump" MJO types, respectively33, suggesting that strong ITF transport can bolster the eastward propagation of the boreal-winter MJO, particularly over the MC.
Variations in ITF transport contribute to SST alternation in the Indo-Pacific warm pool region. The composite background SST difference between MJO events correspondingly linked with strong and weak ITF (see Methods) indicates warming in the equatorial Indian Ocean, southern MC, and Indonesian seas, alongside cooling in the equatorial Pacific (Fig. 1C). Moreover, intraseasonal SST during MJO events associated with strong ITF events demonstrates enhancement in the southern MC compared to events with weak ITF (Fig. 1D).
The simulation with full ITF coupling, denoted NESM_OITF, successfully replicates the significant variability of ITF transport as shown in the observation (Fig. S1B). We identified 68 MJO events associated with strong ITF and 22 events with weak ITF during the 100 simulated boreal winters. Model results confirm the observation that strong ITF favors MJO events more than weak ITF. The composite of the 68 MJO events associated with strong ITF depicts a continuous eastward propagation of the MJO, albeit at a slower speed than observed (Fig. 1E). However, the composite for weak ITF transport shows a degraded MJO eastward propagation, with its propagation disturbed over the MC (Fig. 1F).
NESM_OITF also demonstrates a remarkable contrast in both mean and intraseasonal SST between MJO events associated with strong and weak ITF (Figs. 1G and 1H), similar to the observed differences. In comparison to weak ITF, composite of background SST for MJO events linked with strong ITF indicates warming in the southern tropical Indian Ocean, Indonesian seas, northwestern tropical Pacific, and the northeastern region of Australia, as well as cooling in the western tropical Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, and the central equatorial Pacific (Fig. 2G), consistent with previous simulations22. Additionally, the simulation with strong ITF also presents enhanced intraseasonal SST in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean and the southern MC (Fig. 1H).
Due to the barrier effect of the MC, the MJO often weakens, detours, or even dissipates as it propagates eastward over this region34,35. However, the warmer SSTs in the MC increase the temperature gradient between the ocean and the atmosphere, enhancing latent heat release and promoting greater atmospheric instability. This convective instability creates favorable conditions for moisture accumulation and enhances moisture convergence, thereby supporting the maintenance of MJO convection as it moves eastward over the MC, facilitating the completion of a full MJO life cycle.
Both observational and simulation analyses suggest that a strong ITF benefits the maintenance and strengthening of the MJO events and favors the eastward propagation of the MJO over the MC. A strong ITF induces warmer winter SST in the eastern Indian Ocean and enhances the eastward SST gradient (Figs. 1C and 1G), a factor known to enhance MJO eastward propagation20. Furthermore, a strong ITF markedly intensifies intraseasonal SST in the southern MC during boreal winter (Figs. 1D and 1H). This indicates that the ITF can influence the mean and intraseasonal SST in the Indo-Pacific region. Therefore, we conducted two additional sensitivity experiments to delve deeper into how the ITF impacts the eastward propagation of the MJO.
Effects of ITF closure and intraseasonal ITF transport
In comparison with observations and NESM_OITF (Figs. 2A and 2B), the closure of the ITF significantly dampens the eastward propagation of the MJO (Fig. 2C). Based on the continuous eastward propagation of the MJO in observations (Fig. 2A), we computed a metric termed the “MC propagation index” to quantify the MJO’s eastward propagation over the MC (see Methods). This MC propagation index registers at 0.27 in NESM_CITF, much weaker than 0.79 in NESM_OITF (Fig. 2B). Such a result demonstrates that in NESM, the closure of the ITF substantially inhibits the eastward propagation of the MJO by approximately 73% over the MC.
With the ITF open, while eliminating intraseasonal ITF transport by nudging the 3-month running-mean ITF transport, NESM_OITF_NISV can simulate the eastward propagation of the MJO, but with weaker propagation over the MC (Fig. 2D). The MC propagation index measures 0.58 in NESM_OITF_NISV. This indicates that the removal of intraseasonal ITF transport leads to a 42% reduction in MJO’s eastward propagation over the MC compared to NESM_OITF.
Impact of ITF closure
It has been firmly established that the ITF closure can cool the tropical Indo-Pacific by modulating Kelvin and Rossby waves36,37,38,39. Blocking the ITF effectively impedes the southward transport of Rossby waves from the equatorial western Pacific to the southeastern Indian Ocean37,40 and also obstructs the leakage of coastal Kelvin waves into the western Pacific through the Lombok Strait41,42,43. Additionally, the ITF closure amplifies sea-level pressure over the western tropical Pacific while decreasing it over the tropical Indian Ocean44. This process stimulates and intensifies the upwelling of Kelvin waves, transporting cold water to the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean16,19.
Experiments with ocean and coupled general circulation models have consistently shown a robust SST response to the closure of the ITF, resulting in a significant reduction in SST in the tropical Indian Ocean16,17,18,22. Similarly, the closure of the ITF in NESM_CITF showcases a notable decrease in winter-mean SST in the equatorial and southern tropical Indian Ocean, as well as the southern MC (Fig. 3A). Consequently, the vertical-integrated specific humidity from the surface to the upper atmosphere exhibits a similar pattern, with significant reductions observed over areas where SST decreases due to the ITF closure (Fig. 3A).
SST variations are commonly understood to modulate low-level convergence and boundary-layer moisture convergence (BLMC)24,45. NESM_OITF accurately reproduces observed features where BLMC, in relation to MJO precipitation, shows zonal asymmetry relative to the MJO convective center (Fig. S4A). The MJO-associated BLMC expands eastward, extending across the northern MC and the western tropical Pacific from the central Indian Ocean. However, without the influence of the ITF, the MJO-associated BLMC is reduced to the east of the MJO convective center (Fig. S4B). Additionally, NESM_CITF shows a discontinuity of BLMC over the MC, inhibiting the vertical moisture convection to the east of the MJO convective center. In line with the MC cooling due to ITF closure, the mean Walker Circulation is also weakened, and its ascending motion over the MC region is suppressed (Figs. S5A and S5B), posing a negative impact on the development of MJO convection there. The propagation of BLMC further illustrates that closing the ITF induces the BLMC propagates westward (Fig. S4D), contrasting with the eastward propagation of BLMC in NESM_OITF (Fig. S4C).
Closing the ITF also diminishes the intraseasonal variability associated with the MJO in the Indo-Pacific region during boreal winter. In comparison to NESM_OITF, NESM_CITF reduces the variability of MJO–scale (20-70-day) precipitation approximately by 16.8% in the Indo-Pacific warm pool region (90ºE–180º and 15ºS–0º) due to the ITF closure (Fig. S3A). Moreover, there is a reduction of approximately 5.4% in MJO–scale zonal wind at 850hPa (Fig. S3B) and 11.7% in MJO–scale vertical velocity at 500hPa (Fig. S3C). Thus, closing the ITF in NESM_CITF fails to generate the asymmetric structures of moisture, especially in the low troposphere, which is a key factor in the MJO's eastward propagation46,47, compared to NESM_OITF (Fig. 3B). The suppressed deep convection leads to a reduction in low-troposphere moisture to the east of the MJO convective center, which ultimately disrupts the MJO’s eastward propagation. As a result, the resulting SST response to this ITF closure hinders the MJO's eastward propagation due to air-sea interaction8,24,48. This result demonstrates that in NESM, the ITF closure heavily suppresses the eastward propagation of the MJO by about 73% over the MC. The cold equatorial Indian Ocean is a key factor20.
Feedback of intraseasonal ITF transport
When the intraseasonal variability of ITF transport is removed, NESM_OITF_NISV reduces the intensities of intraseasonal precipitation, zonal wind at 850 hPa, and vertical velocity at 500 hPa by 6.1%, 10.9%, and 6.4% over the southern MC (95º-120ºE and 15º-7.5ºS), respectively, compared to NESM_OITF (Figs. S3D-S3F). Furthermore, the removal of intraseasonal ITF transport weakens the ascending of the mean Walker Circulation over the MC (Fig. S5C). Consequently, NESM_OITF_NISV exhibits a 42% reduction in the MJO’s eastward propagation over the MC compared to NESM_OITF.
It is intriguing to observe how the intraseasonal ITF transport feedbacks to the MJO propagation by altering SST. When the ITF is fully active, a portion of the warm water, conveyed by the MJO-changed ITF, flows northwestward into the western South China Sea through the Karimata Strait (Fig. 4A). Simultaneously, the remaining warm water is directed toward the coastal areas west of the Java and Sumatra Islands through the Sunda and Lombok Straits. Additionally, warm water from the Banda Sea is transported southward to the southeastern Indian Ocean via the Ombai Strait and the Timor Passage. Eliminating intraseasonal ITF transport leads to a cooling effect on the seawater east of the MJO convective center, particularly in the southeastern Indian Ocean and the coastal region west of the Sumatra and Java Islands (Fig. 4B). Warm seawater in these southeastern Indian Ocean and Sumatra regions has been evidenced to play a vital role in promoting the MJO's eastward propagation over the MC49. Specifically, the reduction in MJO-associated SST decreases evaporation over the MC region (Fig. S6), which weakens latent heat release into the atmosphere, suppresses convection, and increases atmospheric stability. This creates unfavorable conditions that inhibit the eastward propagation of the MJO over the MC.
The role of intraseasonal ITF transport can be illustrated by analyzing the transection of seawater temperature and ocean currents along a critical path, involving the MJO detouring route around the MC in the Indian Ocean and the ITF pathway (Fig. 4A). With the full operation of the ITF, warm water is transported by the MJO-changed ITF to the southeastern IO and the southwestern coast of Sumatra and Java Islands in the upper ocean (Figs. 4C and 4E). However, the removal of intraseasonal ITF transport generally results in reduced ocean currents throughout the upper ocean, leading to less transport of warm water to the southeastern Indian Ocean (Fig. 4D) and the southwestern coast of Sumatra and Java Islands (Fig. 4F).
We conducted further statistical analysis to examine the impact of intraseasonal SST variability in the southern MC and ITF outflow regions on the eastward propagation of the MJO. In this regard, we utilized results from NESM_OITF. Initially, we calculated the time series of MJO-scale SST by averaging over the area 105º–130ºE and 15º–5ºS during boreal winter. Subsequently, we eliminated the signal associated with MJO-scale SST from the 20–70–day filtered precipitation. Following this, we assessed MJO's eastward propagation using the lead-lag correlation based on the resulting precipitation (refer to Methods). The MC propagation index of the resulting MJO eastward propagation is 0.48, which is smaller than that of NESM_OITF (Fig. S7). Moreover, significant biases are observed in the longitudinal range of the MC when the precipitation associated with the MJO-scale SST variability in the southern MC is removed. These statistical results suggest that intraseasonal SST variability in the southern MC region, induced by intraseasonal ITF transport, plays a role in shaping the MJO’s eastward propagation over the MC.