An Introduction to the

Indian Ocean Dipole

Zhuomin Chen
zchen@marine.rutgers.edu
What is IOD?
First described by Dr. Saji et al. in 1999
Second mode of EOF, explains about 12% of the total
variation of anomalous Indian Ocean sea-surface
temperatures
Dipole Mode Index (DMI)
Evolution of a Dipole Mode Event
An IOD event usually starts around May or Jun, intensifies in
the following months and peaks between Aug and Oct and then
rapidly decays.
Positive & Negative Phases of IOD


Positive: cooler in the tropical eastern Indian Ocean and
warmer in the tropical western Indian Ocean
Negative: warmer in the tropical eastern Indian Ocean and
cooler in the tropical western Indian Ocean
Positive IOD Phase Negative IOD Phase
IOD Influence on Surrounding Climate
A positive phase of the IOD tends to cause droughts in
East Asia and Australia, and flooding in parts of the
Indian subcontinent and East Africa.
Australian droughts
A 2009 study by Ummenhofer et al. at the University of New
South Wales Climate Change Research Centre, has
demonstrated a significant correlation between the IOD and
drought in the southern half of Australia, in particular the south-
east.
Floods in Kenya, Eastern Africa
Preconditioned major wildfires in southeast Australia
Caused coral reef death across western Sumatra
Exacerbated malaria outbreaks in East Africa

A better understanding of the relationship between the
Indian Ocean Dipole and extreme weather events
However many problems still remain unsolved.
have not reached an agreement on how IOD formed;
have questions about the relationship between ENSO and IOD;
and how they affect the climate together
More Effort Counts!
Summary
Thank you!