'Rare' new kind of cyclone found in Indian Ocean

Australian researchers have discovered a new kind of cyclone in the Indian Ocean.

Flinders University scientists observed the new variety of storm while researching the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD).

Flinders graduate Dr Ankit Kavi and his PhD supervisor Associate Professor Jochen Kaempf say the newly described South-East Tropical Indian Ocean (SETIO) cyclones comprise westerly equatorial wind bursts and north-westerly winds along Sumatra's west coast.

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They found SETIO cyclones are short-lived weather-like events that develop frequently during the winter and spring months, and operate to maintain a warm surface ocean in the region.

"Dramatic changes happen in some years when SETIO cyclones fail to develop, and ambient winds trigger the appearance of cold seawater in a vast area strongly disturbing both winds and rainfall patterns over the Indian Ocean," Kaempf said.

"In the natural sciences, it is of uttermost importance to identify so-called trigger processes, such as SETIO cyclones, that link the cause to an effect.

"This is a rare new discovery that sheds new light into the functioning of the IOD."

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The IOD is a coupled atmosphere-ocean interaction in the tropical Indian Ocean that strongly affects the climate and rainfall variability of surrounding countries including Australia.

Kaempf hoped that this work would attract future research funding to investigate the formation of SETIO cyclones in more detail as to improve the forecasting of the IOD.

The study has been published in the Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science.