Most of Eastern Africa has arid and semi-arid climate with high space-time variability in rainfall. The droughts are very common in this region, and often persist for several years, preceded or followed by extreme floods. Most of the livelihoods and socio-economic activities however remain rain-dependent leading to severe negative impacts during the periods of occurrence of climate extremes. It has been noted that one extreme event was capable of reversing national economic growth made over a period of several years. Thus no sustainable development can be attained in eastern Africa without effective mainstreaming of climate information in the development policies, plans and programmes. Many past studies in the region have focused on rainfall variability at seasonal, annual and decadal scales. Very little work has been done at intraseasonal timescale that is paramount to most agricultural applications. This study aims at filling this research gap, by investigating the structure of rainfall season in terms of the distribution of wet and dry spells and how this distribution varies in space and time at interannual time scale over Equatorial Eastern Africa. Prediction models for use in the early warning systems aimed at climate risk reduction were finally developed. The specific objectives of the study include, delineate and diagnose the some aspects of the distribution of the wet and dry spells at interannual timescale; investigate the linkages between the aspects of the distribution of wet and dry spells identified and dominant large scale climate fields that drive the global climate; and assess the predictability of the various aspects of wet and dry spells for the improvement of the use in the early warning systems of the region.Several datasets spanning a period of 40 years (1961 - 2000) were used. The data included gauged daily rainfall amount for the three Eastern Africa countries namely Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania; Hadley Centre Sea Surface Temperature (SST); re-analysis data and radiosonde observations from Nairobi (Kenya) and Bangui (Central Africa Republic) upper air stations. The indices of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Indian Ocean Dipole and SST gradients which constituted the predefined predictors were also used [...]

O clima na Antártica tem um papel fundamental no balanço de energia global. Estudos sugerem que a atividade convectiva tropical e a circulação estratosférica exercem um papel importante sobre a circulação atmosférica nos extratrópicos. A temperatura do ar é uma variável sensível às mudanças na circulação, no entanto, ainda não foi investigada a importância da escala intra-sazonal na sua variabilidade sobre a Antártica. Neste trabalho estudou-se a variabilidade intra-sazonal da temperatura do ar a superfície na região da Península Antártica enfocando as interações trópicos-extratrópicos e troposfera-estratosfera na modulação de eventos extremos de temperatura naquela região. Foram utilizados dados diários de estações localizadas nos setores leste e oeste da Península Antártica no período de 1986-2002. A análise espectral dos dados ressaltou a importância da escala intra-sazonal na variabilidade da temperatura na Península Antártica, principalmente no período de inverno, primavera e verão. Baseado nestes resultados, os dados foram filtrados na escala intra-sazonal (banda de 20-100 dias) e posteriormente, obteve-se os extremos intra-sazonais frios e quentes para as três estações do ano, através dos quartis da distribuição dos dados. Os eventos extremos intra-sazonais de temperatura (EIT) foram mais intensos no inverno e mais fracos no verão. As características da circulação atmosférica intra-sazonal associada aos EIT foram obtidas através de composições defasadas das anomalias intra-sazonais da altura geopotencial em 200 hPa, vento zonal em 200 hPa e vento meridional em 850 hPa. Nas três estações do ano, observou-se nos eventos extremos intra-sazonais frios (EIF) a persistência de anomalias ciclônicas em altos níveis, a diminuição da intensidade do jato polar e uma advecção de ar frio em baixos níveis sobre a região de estudo. Uma situação oposta foi verificada nos eventos extremos intra-sazonais quentes (EIQ). De forma geral, observou-se um trem de ondas entre latitudes médias e altas no Hemisfério Sul (HS) durante os EIT, particularmente no inverno e primavera. Esta configuração mostrou-se semelhante a tele-conexão conhecida como Pacífico-Sul Americano (PSA). O papel do modo anular do HS sobre os EIT foi analisado através do cálculo de Funções Ortogonais Empíricas das anomalias intra-sazonais da altura geopotencial em 700 hPa ao sul de 20ºS. Sua estrutura foi mais intensa (mais fraca) nos EIF (EIQ) de inverno sobre a região de estudo. A interação troposfera-estratosfera no controle dos EIT foi investigada através do Fluxo Eliassen-Palm. Nas composições das anomalias intra-sazonais deste fluxo (EPIS), observou-se durante os EIF (EIQ) de inverno, um aumento da atividade de onda da baixa estratosfera (alta troposfera) para a alta troposfera (baixa estratosfera) sobre a região de estudo, associado à diminuição (aumento) da intensidade do jato polar. Na primavera, a atividade de onda foi mais intensa e verificou-se uma mudança na direção do fluxo EPIS quando comparado com os EIT de inverno. O fluxo EPIS e as anomalias intra-sazonais do vento zonal foram mais fracos no verão. As anomalias intra-sazonais da circulação atmosférica e da atividade de onda na troposfera e estratosfera foram observadas por cerca de 10 dias antes da observação dos EIT de inverno. Portanto, a atividade intra-sazonal nos extratrópicos e as interações troposfera-estratosfera são fatores relevantes para um melhor entendimento da variabilidade da temperatura sobre a Península Antártica. / The Antarctic climate plays a significant role for the global energy budget. Previous studies suggest that interactions tropics-extratropics and the dynamics of the stratosphere are important factors to understand climate variations in the extratropics. The air temperature near surface responds to changes in circulation in low and upper levels. However, no previous studies have objectively investigated the importance of intraseasonal variations in modulating temperature around the Antarctica Peninsula. The present study examines intraseasonal extreme anomalies of near surface air temperature in the Antarctica Peninsula, and investigates interactions tropics-extratropics and troposphere-stratosphere. Daily temperature data from stations located east and west of the Antarctica Peninsula during 1986-2002 are investigated. Spectral analyses indicate that intraseasonal anomalies in temperature records are statistically significant during summer, winter and spring in all stations. Based on these results, temperatures are band-filtered on intraseasonal timescales (20-100 days) and extreme anomalies are investigated in each season (spring, summer and winter) based on the quartiles of the distributions. Intraseasonal extreme temperature (IET) anomalies are more intense during winter than during summer. Variations in the atmospheric circulation during IET are investigated by performing composites of intraseasonal anomalies of the geopotential height in 200hPa, zonal wind in 200hPa and meridional wind in 850hPa. During the three seasons, cold IET are associated with persistent upper level cyclonic anomalies, easterly anomalies of the polar jet and cold advection in low levels over the Peninsula. Opposite features are observed during warm IET. An extratropical wave-train is observed during all IET with stronger intensity during winter and spring. This feature resembles the Pacific South American (PSA) teleconnection pattern. The Southern Hemisphere Annular mode during the IET, identified as the first Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) of the intraseasonal 700hPa geopotential height anomalies poleward of 20oS, is more intense (weak) during cold (warm) IET events during winter. The stratosphere-troposphere interaction during IET events was examined with composites of the Eliassen-Palm Flux intraseasonal anomalies (EPIS). During spring, the wave activity is more intense and the EPIS direction is opposite to winter. During summer, EPIS are weak. Intraseasonal anomalies in the circulation and the wave activity in the troposphere and stratosphere lead the IET during winter in about 10 days. Therefore, the intraseasonal activity in the extratropics and the interactions stratosphere-troposphere are important factors for a complete understanding of the temperature variability over the Antarctica Peninsula.

No description available.

We study the space-time characteristics of global tropical rainfall. The data used is from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and spans the years 2000-2009. Using anomaly fields constructed by removing a single mean and by subtracting the climatology of the ten year dataset, we extract the dominant modes of variability of tropical rainfall from an Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt at applying the EOF formal-ism to high spatio-temporal resolution global tropical rainfall. Spatial patterns and temporal indices obtained from the EOF analysis with single annual mean removed show large scale patterns associated with the seasonal cycle. Even though the seasonal cycle is dominant, the principal component (PC) time series show fluctuations at subseasonal scales. When the climatological mean is removed, spatial patterns of the dominant modes resemble features associated with tropical intraseasonal variability (ISV). Correspondingly, the signature of a seasonal cycle is relatively suppressed, and the PCs have prominent fluctuations at subseasonal scales. The significance of the leading EOFs is demonstrated by means of a novel ratio plot of the variance captured by the leading EOFs to the variance in the data. This shows that, in regions of high variability (which go hand in hand with high rainfall), the EOF/PC pairs capture a fair amount of the variance (up to 20% for the first EOF/PC pair) in the data. We then pursue an EOF analysis of the finest data resolution available. In particular, we per-form a regional analysis (a global analysis is beyond our present computational resources) of the tropics with 0.25◦×0.25◦, 3-hourly data. The regions we focus on are the Indian region, the Maritime Continent and South America. The spatial patterns obtained reveal a rich hierarchical structure to the leading modes of variability in these regions. Similarly, the PCs associated with these leading spatial modes show variability all the way from 90 days to the diurnal scale. With the results from EOF analysis in hand, we quantify the multiscale spatio-temporal structures encountered in our study. In particular, we examine the power spectra of the PCs and EOFs. A robust feature of the space and time spectra is the distribution of energy or variance across a range of scales. On the temporal front, aside from a seasonal and diurnal peaks, the variance scales as a power-law from a few days to the 90 day period. Similarly, below the planetary scale, from approximately 5000 km to 200 km the spatial spectrum also follows a power-law. Therefore, when trying to understand the variability of tropical rainfall, all scales are important, and it is difficult to justify a focus on isolated space and time scales.

La plus grande partie de l’Afrique orientale présente un climat aride à semi-aride, et une forte variabilité spatio-temporelle des pluies. Les sécheresses sont courantes dans cette région, et persistent souvent sur plusieurs années consécutives, précédées ou suivies par des inondations majeures. La plupart des modes de vie et des activités socio-économiques restent néanmoins dépendants des précipitations, avec des effets extrêmement dommageables en périodes d’extrêmes climatiques. Il a été montré qu’un seul événement extrême suffisait à inverser la croissance économique nationale plusieurs années d’affilée. Aucun développement durable ne peut donc être réalisé en Afrique de l’Est sans une prise en compte effective de l’information climatique dans les politiques, les plans et les programmes de développement. De nombreuses études antérieures sur la région ont été consacrées à la variabilité des pluies aux échelles saisonnière, annuelle et décadaire. Peu de recherches ont porté sur l’échelle intra-saisonnière, qui est déterminante pour la plupart des applications agricoles. Cette étude vise à combler cette lacune, en examinant la structure de la saison des pluies en termes de répartition des épisodes secs et pluvieux, et la façon dont cette répartition varie dans l’espace et le temps, à l’échelle interannuelle à travers l’Afrique est-équatoriale. Des modèles de prévision destinés à être utilisés dans des systèmes d’alerte précoce, en vue d’atténuer les risques liés au climat, sont en outre développés. Les objectifs spécifiques de l’étude incluent : un diagnostic des différents aspects de la répartition des épisodes secs et pluvieux, dans leur variation interannuelle ; une analyse des relations entre les aspects de cette répartition ainsi identifiés et les principaux champs climatiques d’échelle large qui gouvernent le climat global ; une évaluation de la prévisibilité des différents aspects des épisodes secs et pluvieux pour l’amélioration des systèmes d’alerte précoce de la région.Plusieurs bases de données couvrant une période de 40 ans (1961-2000) ont été utilisées. Elles comprennent des séries de précipitations journalières mesurées par pluviomètre dans les trois pays d’Afrique orientale (Kenya, Ouganda, Tanzanie) ; les températures de surface marine (SST) du Hadley Centre ; des données de réanalyses et des stations de radiosondages de Nairobi (Kenya) et de Bangui (République Centrafricaine). Des indices d’El Niño-Oscillation Australe (ENSO), du Dipôle de l’Océan Indien et de gradients de SST, constituant des prédicteurs SST prédéfinis, ont été également utilisés [...] / Most of Eastern Africa has arid and semi-arid climate with high space-time variability in rainfall. The droughts are very common in this region, and often persist for several years, preceded or followed by extreme floods. Most of the livelihoods and socio-economic activities however remain rain-dependent leading to severe negative impacts during the periods of occurrence of climate extremes. It has been noted that one extreme event was capable of reversing national economic growth made over a period of several years. Thus no sustainable development can be attained in eastern Africa without effective mainstreaming of climate information in the development policies, plans and programmes. Many past studies in the region have focused on rainfall variability at seasonal, annual and decadal scales. Very little work has been done at intraseasonal timescale that is paramount to most agricultural applications. This study aims at filling this research gap, by investigating the structure of rainfall season in terms of the distribution of wet and dry spells and how this distribution varies in space and time at interannual time scale over Equatorial Eastern Africa. Prediction models for use in the early warning systems aimed at climate risk reduction were finally developed. The specific objectives of the study include, delineate and diagnose the some aspects of the distribution of the wet and dry spells at interannual timescale; investigate the linkages between the aspects of the distribution of wet and dry spells identified and dominant large scale climate fields that drive the global climate; and assess the predictability of the various aspects of wet and dry spells for the improvement of the use in the early warning systems of the region.Several datasets spanning a period of 40 years (1961 – 2000) were used. The data included gauged daily rainfall amount for the three Eastern Africa countries namely Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania; Hadley Centre Sea Surface Temperature (SST); re-analysis data and radiosonde observations from Nairobi (Kenya) and Bangui (Central Africa Republic) upper air stations. The indices of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Indian Ocean Dipole and SST gradients which constituted the predefined predictors were also used [...]

Around Sri Lanka and to the south of India sea surface temperatures (SST) are cooler compared to the surrounding region during summer monsoon. This region where SSTs are relatively cooler is known as the cold pool. Owing to its possible impact on monsoon variability, some studies have been carried out to understand the evolution of cold pool SST during this period. These studies suggest, coastal upwelling along southern coast of Sri Lanka and eastward advection of cooler water contributes to the decrease in SST during summer monsoon. However, the processes leading to the formation of cold pool, still, remain unknown. In this study, we have investigated the mechanism responsible for the formation and maintenance of southern Bay of Bengal (BOB) cold pool using high resolution satellite data, model simulations and in-situ observations for the year 2009. Our study reveals formation of cold pool is dominated by atmospheric processes, whereas oceanic processes dominate its maintenance. Cooling of SSTs during premonsoon and onset phase acts as a prerequisites for the formation of cold pool, which are linked to the reduction in Net Heat flux (NHFX) during theses periods. The changes in NHFX during premonsoon and onset phase are dominated by reduction in Short-wave (SW) radiation associated with strong convective activity over cold pool. Convective activity over the cold pool are associated with the northward movement of Maximum Cloud Zone (MCZ) that forms over Equatorial Indian Ocean (EIO) during these periods. SST within the cold pool after the steady increase during February-April months, cools first during premonsoon rain event and then during monsoon onset. Analysis of high resolution satellite data for the period 2003-2009 suggest that, these sequence of events occurs with minor amount of inter-annual variability. Lead-lag correlation also made it clear that SST response in 5 days to the corresponding variation in atmospheric processes. SST within the cold pool shows several intraseasonal cooling events during the summer mon-soon. Considering that rainfall above the cold pool is very low during the summer monsoon, these cooling events occurring within the summer should be necessary for maintaining the cold pool. The seasonal evolution of SST shows that it continues to decrease till the end of the summer monsoon. In-situ data collected during CTCZ field program in 2009, at two time series locations (TSL) and model simulations were used to determine the processes responsible for such cooling events. To estimate the contribution from advection to the observed SST tendency at fixed location, a measurement stratergy called ‘opertaion advection’ was used in this study. This stratergy involves measurement of oceanographic parameters along four edges from TSL directod along North, South, East and West for estimation of horizontal temperature gradients. Our results from SST cooling events captured by CTD at two fixed locations suggests that horizontal advection and entrainment dominate the SST evolution. Model temperature equation evaluated near the TSLs are convinient with the observations and suggest that atmospheric forcing is not responsible for intraseasonal cooling events.

Interannual variation of Indian summer (June-September: JJAS) monsoon rainfall (ISMR) depends on its relative intensity during early (June-July: JJ; contribution 52%) and late (August-September: AS; contribution 49%) phases. Apart from variations in sea surface temperature (SST), the primary reasons behind the variability during JJ and AS can be very different due to change in climatic conditions on account of post-onset processes. Here, using a high resolution general circulation model with seasonally varying climatological SST, mechanisms those govern the intensity of rainfall during JJ and AS are investigated. There is no significant relation-ship between intensity of precipitation over Indian region in JJ and AS. Moreover, the factors determining early monsoon (JJ) precipitation are different than that for late monsoon (AS). In absence of interannual SST variation, pre-monsoon soil moisture do not play a significant role for the interannual variation of monsoon precipitation over India. A large scale oscillation of the ITCZ is noticed on interannual time scale spanning from around 60◦E to 150◦E that brings spatially coherent flood and drought over this region. Early monsoon precipitation has a larger dependency on spring snow depth over Eurasia and phase of the upper tropospheric Rossby wave in May. However, late monsoon precipitation over India is mainly governed by the intensity and time scale of the intraseasonally varying convective cloud bands. This study suggests that early monsoon (JJ) precipitation over Indian region is more correlated with pre-monsoon signatures of land-atmosphere parameters. However, in later parts after the onset (AS), the monsoon intensity is primarily driven by its internal dynamics and characteristics of intraseasonal oscillation.

In this thesis we examine intra-seasonal oscillations (ISO) in the aqua-planet setup of the Community Atmospheric Model (CAM) version 5.1, mainly based on July and January climatological sea surface temperature (SST). We investigate mainly two questions -what should be the SST distribution for the existence of (a) northward moving ISO in summer, and (b) eastward moving MJO-like modes in winter. In the first part of the thesis we discuss the northward propagation. A series of experiments were performed with zonally symmetric and asymmetric SST distributions. The basic lower boundary condition is specified from zonally averaged observed July and January SST. The zonally symmetric July SST experiment produced an inter tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) on both sides of the equator. Poleward movement is not clear, and it is confined to the region between the double ITCZ. In July, the Bay of Bengal (BOB) and West Pacific SST is high compared to the rest of the northern tropics. When we impose a zonally asymmetric SST structure with warm SST spanning about 80 of longitude, the model shows a monsoon-like circulation, and some northward propagating convective events. Analysis of these events shows that two adjacent cells with cyclonic and anticyclonic vorticity are created over the warm SST anomaly and to the west. The propagation occurs due to the convective region drawn north in the convergence zone between these vortices. Zonally propagating Madden-Julian oscillations (MJO) are discussed in the second part of the thesis. All the experiments in this part are based on the zonally symmetric SST. The zonally symmetric January SST configuration gives an MJO-like mode, with zonal wave number 1 and a period of 40-90 days. The SST structure has a nearly meridionally symmetric structure, with local SST maxima on either side of the equator, and a small dip in the equatorial region. If we replace this dip with an SST maximum, the time-scale of MJO becomes significantly smaller (20-40 days). The implication is that an SST maximum in the equatorial region reduces the strength of MJO, and a flat SST profile in the equatorial region is required for more energetic of MJO. This result was tested and found to be valid in a series of further experiments.

In this thesis, we have presented a systematic analysis of the change of cloud properties due to variation in aerosol concentration over Indian region using satellite observations, and Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) simulations. The Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) based Microwave Imager (TMI) estimates (2A12) have been used to compare and contrast the characteristics of cloud liquid water and ice over the Indian land region and the surrounding oceans, during the pre-monsoon (May) and monsoon (June–September) seasons. Based on the spatial homogeneity of rainfall, we have selected five regions for our study (three over ocean, two over land). In general, we find that the mean cloud liquid water and cloud ice content of land and oceanic regions are different, with the ocean regions showing higher amount of CLW. A comparison across the ocean regions suggests that the cloud liquid water over the or graphically influenced Arabian Sea (close to the Indian west coast) behaves differently from the cloud liquid water over a trapped ocean (Bay of Bengal) or an open ocean (Equatorial Indian Ocean). Specifically, the Arabian Sea region shows higher liquid water for a lower range of rainfall, whereas the Bay of Bengal and the Equatorial Indian Ocean show higher liquid water for a higher range of rainfall. Apart from geographic differences, we also documented seasonal differences by comparing cloud liquid water profiles between monsoon and pre-monsoon periods, as well as between early and peak phases of the monsoon. We find that the cloud liquid water during the lean periods of rainfall (May or June) is higher than during the peak and late monsoon season (July-September) for raining clouds over central India. However, this is not true over the ocean. As active and break phases are important signatures of the monsoon progression, we also analyzed the differences in cloud liquid water during various phases of the monsoon, namely, active, break, active-to-break (a2b) and break-to-active (b2a) transition phases. We find that the cloud liquid water content during the b2a transition phase is significantly higher than that during the a2b transition phase over central India. We speculate that this could be attributed to higher amount of aerosol loading over this region during the break phase. We lend credence to this aerosol-liquid water/rain association by comparing the central Indian cloud liquid water with Southeast Asia (where the aerosol loading is significantly smaller) and find that in the latter region, there are no significant differences in cloud liquid water during the different phases of their monsoon. The second part of our study involves evaluating the ability of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) to simulate the observed variation of cloud liquid water and rain efficiency. We have used no chemistry option, and the model was run with constant aerosol concentration. The model simulations (at 4.5 km resolution) are done for the month of June–July 2004 since this period was particularly favorable for the study of an active–break cycle of the monsoon. We first evaluate the sensitivity of the model to different parameterizations (microphysical, boundary layer, land surface) on the simulation of rain over central India and Bay of Bengal. This is done to identify an “optimal” combination of parameterizations which reproduces the best correlation with observed rain over these regions. In this default configuration (control run), where the aerosol concentration is kept constant throughout the simulation period, the model is not able to reproduce the observed variations of cloud liquid water during the different phases of an active-break cycle. To this end, we proceeded to modify the model by developing an aerosol-rain relation, using Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) and TRMM 3B42 data that realistically captures the variation of aerosol with rain. It is worth highlighting here that our goal was to primarily isolate the indirect effect of aerosols in determining the observed changes in cloud liquid water (CLW) during the active-break phases of the Indian monsoon, without getting into the complexity of a full chemistry model such as that incorporated in WRF-Chem. Moreover, the proposed modification (modified run) is necessitated by the lack of realistic emission estimates over the Indian region as well as the presence of inherent biases in monsoon simulation in WRF. The main differences we find between the modified and control simulations is in the mean as well as spatial variability of CLW. We find that the proposed modification (i.e., rate of change of aerosol concentration as a function of rain rate) leads to a realistic variation in the CLW during the active-break cycle of Indian monsoon. Specifically, the peak value of CLW in the b2a (a2b) phase is larger (smaller) in the modified as compared to the control run. These results indicate a stronger change in CLW amount in the upper levels between the two transition phases in the modified scheme as compared to the control simulation. More significantly, we also observe a change in sign at the lower levels of the atmosphere, i.e., from a strong positive difference in the control run to a negative difference in the modified simulation, similar to that observed. Additionally, we investigated the impact of the proposed modification, via CLW changes, on cloud coverage, size of clouds and their spatial variability. We find that the transformation of optically thin clouds to thick clouds during the break phase was associated with larger cloud size in modified compared to the control simulation. Moreover, the higher rate of decay of the spatial variability of CLW with grid resolution, using the modified scheme, suggests that clusters of larger clouds are more in the modified compared to control simulation. Taken together, the interactive aerosol loading proposed in this thesis yields model simulations that better mimic the observed CLW variability between the transition phases.

Trabalhos prévios mostram que a variabilidade do gelo marinho antártico em diversas escalas temporais está intimamente relacionada a mecanismos de teleconexões trópicos-extratrópicos. Com base nesta hipótese, este trabalho pretende estabelecer a resposta da passagem dos trens de ondas em latitudes médias, associados a fenômenos de escala intrasazonal (20-100 dias) como a Oscilação de Madden-Julian (Madden-Julian Oscillation ou MJO), nas camadas superiores do Oceano Austral (OA) e impactos no gelo marinho antártico. O período investigado neste estudo é 19892007, com ênfase no inverno e sobre o mar de Ross, localizado no setor Pacífico austral (região diretamente afetada pela passagem dos trens de ondas de latitudes médias). Composições com defasagens (lag composites) de anomalias intrasazonais da tensão de cisalhamento do vento (zonal e meridional) mostram que correntes oceânicas são geradas em resposta a essa forçante atmosférica sobre o oceano no setor Pacífico austral. O transporte zonal e meridional de massa na camada de Ekman oceânica indica que divergência de massa nessa camada precede os eventos extremos intrasazonais de retração do gelo marinho em Ross (EIR). Em contraste, convergência precede períodos de eventos extremos intrasazonais de expansão do gelo marinho em Ross (EIE). A divergência (convergência) de massa na camada de Ekman associada com anomalias intrasazonais do bombeamento de Ekman resulta em ressurgência (subsidência) que precede a ocorrência de EIR (EIE). Alguns trabalhos mostram que águas intermediárias antárticas, que são relativamente mais quentes no inverno em relação às águas superficiais que estão próximas ao ponto de congelamento (ou congeladas), são dirigidas para a superfície do oceano pelo bombeamento de Ekman e ocasionam o derretimento do gelo marinho. Anomalias do transporte meridional de calor na camada de Ekman oceânica mostram que durante os EIR (EIE), calor é transportado para dentro (fora) do mar de Ross entre 15 e 8 dias (12 e 8 dias) precedentes aos EIR (EIE). Anomalias intrasazonais do fluxo de calor na interface ar-mar mostram que precedendo o dia de observação dos EIR (EIE) o fluxo de calor é direcionado da atmosfera para o oceano (do oceano para a atmosfera), sendo essa configuração associada a um ganho (perda) de calor no oceano superior em Ross. Em todas as composições, observa-se a mudança de fase das anomalias nos dias posteriores (lags positivos) ao dia dos EIG e são consistentes com a propagação do modo conhecido como Pacific-South-American (PSA), identificado nesse trabalho por meio de anomalias intrasazonais da altura geopotencial em 200 hPa. Além disso, uma diferença notada em alguns casos nas lag-composities é que em períodos de MJO ativa, as anomalias parecem estar mais deslocadas para o sul do que em períodos de MJO inativa. Em períodos de MJO inativa foram observados 15 (13) eventos de EIR (EIE), enquanto que, em períodos de MJO ativa observou-se 25 (24) eventos de EIR (EIE). Observa-se ainda que há uma maior quantidade de ciclones quando a MJO está presente. Por exemplo, o número de ciclones com duração a partir de 12 horas para períodos sem MJO foi igual a 146 para os EIR e 130 para os EIE. Já o número de ciclones para períodos com MJO foi igual a 311 para os EIR e 278 para os EIE. Com isso, observa-se claramente o papel da MJO na circulação de latitudes média e possíveis associações com o gelo marinho, pois é sabido que a atividade ciclônica está relacionada à advecção de massas de ar sobre o gelo marinho, além da advecção do próprio gelo marinho. Para investigar em detalhes a interação oceano-atmosfera-gelo marinho foram examinados casos persistentes de EIR e EIE. Os casos mais persistentes de EIR (EIE) tiveram durações de 34 e 30 (26 e 25) dias, sendo esses os casos analisados. Mostra-se que as anomalias intrasazonais da circulação atmosférica em baixos níveis (em 850 hPa) estão associadas a advecções quentes (frias) na proporção de aproximadamente 0,5 1 (0,1 1) m.s-1 em períodos precedentes aos EIR (EIE). No geral, anomalias em latitudes médias da circulação atmosférica ciclônicas (anti-ciclônicas) e divergência (convergência) das correntes oceânicas superficiais aparecem relacionadas à ressurgência (subsidência) da ordem de 0,1 0,3 m2.s-1 em algumas pêntadas anteriores a pêntada que corresponde ao início dos supercasos de EIR (EIE). Os padrões mudam de fase com o tempo, o que sugere a propagação de um padrão de onda em escala intrasazonal. Estas anomalias mostram-se abrangendo dimensões espaciais que compreendem grande parte do setor Pacífico austral, incluindo o mar de Ross. Impactos associados a estas anomalias podem ser verificados diretamente no mar de Ross através das análises da concentração do gelo marinho em Ross. Anomalias intrasazonais negativas (positivas) da concentração do gelo marinho predominam sobre o campo do gelo marinho do mar de Ross nas primeiras pêntadas a partir daquela que indica o início dos casos persistentes de EIR (EIE). Durante os períodos de EIR, as anomalias intrasazonais negativas da concentração do gelo mostram-se da ordem de aproximadamente 5% a 10% no interior do mar de Ross e entre 15% a 30% nas bordas do gelo marinho de Ross. Já durante os períodos de EIE, as anomalias intrasazonais positivas da concentração do gelo marinho em Ross mostram-se da ordem de 10% a 30% nas bordas do gelo marinho do mar de Ross. Esse resultado mostra que a resposta do gelo marinho aos padrões atmosféricos e oceânicos em escala intrasazonal possui uma defasagem entre 5 e 1 pêntada(s). No geral, este trabalho cumpriu o objetivo de verificar as respostas do oceano às anomalias da circulação atmosférica e impactos associados no gelo marinho, em escala intrasazonal. / Previous works show that antarctic sea ice variability on several time-scales is close related to tropics-extratropics teleconections mechanisms. Based on this hyphotesis, this work intend to verify the responses in oceanic upper layers of Austral Ocean on intraseasonal time-scale (20-100 days) phenomenom and impacts on sea ice due to anomalous atmospheric circulation associated to the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). The period analysed in this study is from 1989 to 2007, with emphasis on winter season and on Ross Sea (located at austral Pacific sector). Lag composities of zonal and meridional intraseasonal wind stress anomalies show that oceanic currents are generated as a response of these atmospheric forcings on austral Pacific sector. Zonal and meridional mass transport on oceanic Ekman layer, which are perpendicular and to the left of wind stress at Southern Hemisphere (SH), indicate that Ekman mass divergence precedes intraseasonal Ross sea ice extreme retraction (EIR). In contrast, convergence precedes the periods of extreme intraseasonal Ross sea ice expantion (EIE). Divergence (convergence) on oceanic Ekman layer associated to intraseasonal Ekman pumping anomalies results in upwelling (downwelling) wich precedes the occurrence of EIR (EIE). Some works have already shown that intermediate antarctic waters, wich are relatively warmer in the wintertime when compared to superficial waters that are next to the freezing point (or freezed), are headed to ocean surface due to Ekman pumping, generating sea ice melt. Intraseasonal anomalies of sea-air heat flux show that days before EIR (EIE) occurrences, the flux is headed from atmosphere to the ocean (from ocean to the atmosphere), which configuration is associated to the earn (loss) of heat at Ross upper ocean. In all compositions, the change of anomalies phase on the days before EI occurrence (positive lags) is clearly noticed and is consistent to the propagations of the mode known as Pacific South American (PSA), revealed in intraseasonal anomalies of geopotencial height at 200 hPa. Furthermore, in some cases (as in the case of Ekman pumping and Sverdrup transport) the anomalies seem to be deplaced southward in active MJO periods than in inactive MJO periods. In inactive MJO periods were observed 15 (13) EIR (EIE) events, while in active MJO periods were observed 25 (24) EIR (EIE) events. Furthermore, the number of cyclones during EIR periods was bigger than during EIE periods. In addiction, more cyclones were observed when MJO is active. For example, the number of cyclones with duration of 6 (12) hours without MJO was equal to 174 (146) during EIR events and 169 (130) during EIE events. However, the number of cyclones with active MJO was equal to 393 (311) in EIR events and 364 (278) in EIE events. In order to investigate in details the interaction between ocean-atmosphere-sea ice, it was examinated persistents cases of EIR and EIE events. The cases more persistents of EIR (EIE) events had durations of 34 and 30 (26 and 25) days, which were the analised cases. It was observed that intraseasonal anomalies of atmospheric circulation at lower levels (in 850 hPa) and intraseasonal anomalies of superficial ocean currents were associates to hot (cold) advection during periods before EIR (EIR) events. In general, the medium latitude cyclonic (anticyclonic) anomalies of atmospheric circulation and divergence (convergence) of superficial ocean currents seem to be linked to upwelling (downwelling) in some pentads before the pentad which is correspondent to the beggining of EIR (EIE) supercases. The patterns observed change their phases along the time, suggesting the propagation of extratropical intraseasonal wave train pattern. Negatives (positives) intraseasonal anomalies of sea ice concentration were observed above Ross Sea in the first pentads after the beggining of EIR (EIE) persistents cases. This result shows that sea ice response to atmospheric and to oceanic patterns on intraseasonal time-scales has a lag between 5 and 1 pentad(s). In general, this work contributed to better understand the oceanic responses due to anomalies in atmospheric circulation and related impacts on sea ice, on intraseasonal time-scale.