Relationships between the Extratropical ENSO Precursor and Leading Modes of Atmospheric Variability in the Southern Hemisphere

Previous studies suggest that the atmospheric precursor of El Ni ?no–Southern Oscillation(ENSO) in the extratropical Southern Hemisphere(SH) might trigger a quadrapole sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA) in the South Pacific and subsequently influence the following ENSO. Such a quadrapole SSTA is referred to as the South Pacific quadrapole(SPQ).The present study investigated the relationships between the atmospheric precursor signal of ENSO and leading modes of atmospheric variability in the extratropical SH [including the SH annular mode(SAM), the first Pacific–South America(PSA1) mode, and the second Pacific–South America(PSA2) mode]. The results showed that the atmospheric precursor signal in the extratropical SH basically exhibits a barotropic wavenumber-3 structure over the South Pacific and is significantly correlated with the SAM and the PSA2 mode during austral summer. Nevertheless, only the PSA2 mode was found to be a precursor for the following ENSO. It leads the SPQ-like SSTA by around one month, while the SAM and the PSA1 mode do not show any obvious linkage with either ENSO or the SPQ. This suggests that the PSA2 mode may provide a bridge between the preceding circulation anomalies over the extratropical SH and the following ENSO through the SPQ-like SSTA.     

Influence of the Preceding Austral Summer Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode on the Amplitude of ENSO Decay

There is increasing evidence of the possible role of extratropical forcing in the evolution of ENSO.The Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode(SAM) is the dominant mode of atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere extratropics.This study shows that the austral summer(December–January–February; DJF) SAM may also influence the amplitude of ENSO decay during austral autumn(March–April–May;MAM).The mechanisms associated with this SAM–ENSO relationship can be briefly summarized as follows:The SAM is positively(negatively) correlated with SST in the Southern Hemisphere middle(high) latitudes.This dipole-like SST anomaly pattern is referred to as the Southern Ocean Dipole(SOD).The DJF SOD,caused by the DJF SAM,could persist until MAM and then influence atmospheric circulation,including trade winds,over the Nio3.4 area.Anomalous trade winds and SST anomalies over the Nio3.4 area related to the DJF SAM are further developed through the Bjerkness feedback,which eventually results in a cooling(warming) over the Nio3.4 area followed by the positive(negative) DJF SAM.     

Seasonal prediction skill of ECMWF System 4 and NCEP CFSv2 retrospective forecast for the Northern Hemisphere Winter

The seasonal prediction skill for the Northern Hemisphere winter is assessed using retrospective predictions (1982–2010) from the ECMWF System 4 (Sys4) and National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) CFS version 2 (CFSv2) coupled atmosphere–ocean seasonal climate prediction systems. Sys4 shows a cold bias in the equatorial Pacific but a warm bias is found in the North Pacific and part of the North Atlantic. The CFSv2 has strong warm bias from the cold tongue region of the eastern Pacific to the equatorial central Pacific and cold bias in broad areas over the North Pacific and the North Atlantic. A cold bias in the Southern Hemisphere is common in both reforecasts. In addition, excessive precipitation is found in the equatorial Pacific, the equatorial Indian Ocean and the western Pacific in Sys4, and in the South Pacific, the southern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific in CFSv2. A dry bias is found for both modeling systems over South America and northern Australia. The mean prediction skill of 2 meter temperature (2mT) and precipitation anomalies are greater over the tropics than the extra-tropics and also greater over ocean than land. The prediction skill of tropical 2mT and precipitation is greater in strong El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) winters than in weak ENSO winters. Both models predict the year-to-year ENSO variation quite accurately, although sea surface temperature trend bias in CFSv2 over the tropical Pacific results in lower prediction skill for the CFSv2 relative to the Sys4. Both models capture the main ENSO teleconnection pattern of strong anomalies over the tropics, the North Pacific and the North America. However, both models have difficulty in forecasting the year-to-year winter temperature variability over the US and northern Europe.     

利用混合海气耦合模式的气候异常预报试验

用混合海气耦合模式长期积分的模拟结果, 分析了模式大气的年际变化性; 用1979~1994年间的“回报”个例, 探讨了该模式对ENSO引起的全球气候异常的预报。结果表明:模式能较好地再现与ENSO相关的全球大气环流的年际变化特征; 对预报而言, 模式较高的预报技巧主要分布在热带地区, 全球热带大气具有较稳定的1年左右的可预报时效; 基本上可预报中、高纬地区由ENSO引起的冬、夏季大气环流异常 (包括气温和降水), 超前时间可达9个月至1年。     

Comparison of Wintertime North American Climate Impacts Associated with Multiple ENSO Indices

This analysis compares the climate impacts over North America during winter associated with various El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indices, including the Niño 3.4 index, the leading tropical Pacific outgoing longwave radiation and sea surface temperature (OLR-SST) covariability, and the eastern Pacific (EP) and central Pacific (CP) types of ENSO identified from both partial-regression–empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and regression–EOF approaches. The traditional Niño 3.4 SST index is found to be optimal for monitoring the tropical Pacific OLR-SST covariability and for the tropical SST impact on North America. The circulation anomalies associated with the Niño 3.4 index project on both the Pacific/North American (PNA) and Tropical/Northern Hemisphere (TNH) patterns. The ENSO associated with the PNA tends to come from both the EP and CP ENSOs, whereas that associated with the TNH comes more from the EP ENSO. The variability of ENSO significantly affects North American temperature and precipitation, as well as temperature and precipitation extremes. For either the EP or CP types of ENSO, qualitatively similar patterns of climate and climate extreme anomalies are apparent associated with the indices identified by the two EOF approaches, with differences mainly in the anomalous amplitude. The anomalous patterns are generally field significant over North America for the EP ENSO but not field significant for the CP ENSO.

The circulation anomalies associated with ENSO are reinforced and maintained by synoptic vorticity fluxes in the upper troposphere. The anomalous surface temperature is mainly determined by the anomalies in surface radiative heating in the face of upward surface longwave radiative damping. The precipitation anomalies are supported by the vertically integrated moisture transport. The differences in atmospheric circulation, surface temperature, and precipitation among the various ENSO indices, including the intensity and spatial structure of the fields, can be attributed to the corresponding differences in synoptic eddy vorticity forcing, surface radiative heating, and vertically integrated moisture transport.     

Understanding the SAM influence on the South Pacific ENSO teleconnection

The relationship between the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) is examined, with the goal of understanding how various strong SAM events modulate the ENSO teleconnection to the South Pacific (45°–70°S, 150°–70°W). The focus is on multi-month, multi-event variations during the last 50 years. A significant (p < 0.10) relationship is observed, most marked during the austral summer and in the 1970s and 1990s. In most cases, the significant relationship is brought about by La Niña (El Niño) events occurring with positive (negative) phases of the SAM more often than expected by chance. The South Pacific teleconnection magnitude is found to be strongly dependent on the SAM phase. Only when ENSO events occur with a weak SAM or when a La Niña (El Niño) occurs with a positive (negative) SAM phase are significant South Pacific teleconnections found. This modulation in the South Pacific ENSO teleconnection is directly tied to the interaction of the anomalous ENSO and SAM transient eddy momentum fluxes. During La Niña/SAM+ and El Niño/SAM? combinations, the anomalous transient momentum fluxes in the Pacific act to reinforce the circulation anomalies in the midlatitudes, altering the circulation in such a way to maintain the ENSO teleconnections. In La Niña/SAM? and El Niño/SAM+ cases, the anomalous transient eddies oppose each other in the midlatitudes, overall acting to reduce the magnitude of the high latitude ENSO teleconnection.     

PRINCIPAL MODES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC SSTA IN JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST AND THEIR RELATIONS TO ENSO AND SAM

The relationships of variations of sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in the South Pacific with ENSO and Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) are examined in the present article by employing the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis from 1951 to 2006. Two principal modes of South Pacific SSTA are obtained using the EOF (Empirical Orthogonal Function) analysis for austral winter (June, July and August). Our results suggest that EOF1 is closely related with ENSO and EOF2 links to SAM. The EOF1 varies largely on an interannual and EOF2 on a decadal scale. The time series of coefficients of EOF1 is highly correlated simultaneously with Nino3 index. However, the time series of coefficients of EOF2 is significantly correlated with the March-April-May mean SAM index. Both the EOF1 and EOF2 are found in significant correlation to summer precipitation over China. With higher-than-normal SSTs in the eastern South Pacific and simultaneously lower SSTs in the western South Pacific in June-July-August, the summertime rainfall is found to be less than normal in northern China. As displayed in EOF2 of SSTA, in years with lower-than-normal SSTs in mid-latitude southern and equatorial eastern Pacific and higher-than-normal SSTs in the equatorial middle Pacific in March-April-May, the summer precipitation in August tends to be more than normal in regions south of Yangtze River.     

A global analysis of austral summer ocean wave variability during SAM–ENSO phase combinations

Anticipating and mitigating wave-related hazards rely heavily on understanding wave variability drivers. Here, we describe wave conditions related to concurrent Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases during the austral summer. To identify such conditions, significant wave height (Hs) and peak wave period (Tp) daily anomalies were composited during different SAM–ENSO phase combinations over the last four decades (1979–2018). Surface wind anomalies were also composited to assist in the interpretation of wave conditions. The composites show significant wave variability across all ocean basins and in several semi-enclosed seas throughout the different SAM–ENSO phase combinations. The Southern, Indian, and Pacific Oceans generally experience the strongest Tp anomalies during combinations of SAM phases with El Niño, and the weakest Tp anomalies during combinations of SAM phases with La Niña. The anomalously large waves observed in the south-western Pacific, Tasman Sea, and the Southern Ocean, previously ascribed to ENSO conditions, seem to be instead associated with the SAM variability. SAM-related atmospheric conditions are found to be able to modulate the intensity of ENSO-related winds over the South China Sea, which, in turn, alter the magnitude of waves in that region. These and other wave anomaly structures described here, especially those contrasting the behaviour expected for a given ENSO phase, such as the one found along the California coast, stress the importance of understanding relationships between wave parameters and climate patterns interactions.     

Southern Hemisphere extra-tropical forcing: a new paradigm for El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation

The main goal of this paper is to shed additional light on the reciprocal dynamical linkages between mid-latitude Southern Hemisphere climate and the El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) signal. While our analysis confirms that ENSO is a dominant source of interannual variability in the Southern Hemisphere, it is also suggested here that subtropical dipole variability in both the Southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans triggered by Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude variability may also provide a controlling influence on ENSO in the equatorial Pacific. This subtropical forcing operates through various coupled air?Csea feedbacks involving the propagation of subtropical sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies into the deep tropics of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans from boreal winter to boreal spring and a subsequent dynamical atmospheric response to these SST anomalies linking the three tropical basins at the beginning of the boreal spring. This atmospheric response is characterized by a significant weakening of the equatorial Atlantic and Indian Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). This weakened ITCZ forces an equatorial ??cold Kelvin wave?? response in the middle to upper troposphere that extends eastward from the heat sink regions into the western Pacific. By modulating the vertical temperature gradient and the stability of the atmosphere over the equatorial western Pacific Ocean, this Kelvin wave response promotes persistent zonal wind and convective anomalies over the western equatorial Pacific, which may trigger El Ni?o onset at the end of the boreal winter. These different processes explain why South Atlantic and Indian subtropical dipole time series indices are highly significant precursors of the Ni?o34 SST index several months in advance before the El Ni?o onset in the equatorial Pacific. This study illustrates that the atmospheric internal variability in the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere may significantly influence ENSO variability. However, this surprising relationship is observed only during recent decades, after the so-called 1976/1977 climate regime shift, suggesting a possible linkage with global warming or decadal fluctuations of the climate system.     

Simulation of the summer circulation over South America by two regional climate models. Part II: A comparison between 1997/1998 El Niño and 1998/1999 La Niña events

Summary This study investigates the capabilities of two regional models (the ICTP RegCM3 and the climate version of the CPTEC Eta model – EtaClim) in simulating the summer quasi-stationary circulations over South America during two extreme cases: the 1997–1998 El Ni?o and 1998–1999 La Ni?a. The results showed that both the models are successful in simulating the interannual variability of summer quasi-stationary circulation over South America. Both the models simulated the intensification of subtropical jet stream during the El Ni?o event, which favoured the blocking of transient systems and increased the precipitation over south Brazil. The models simulated the increase (decrease) of precipitation over north (west) Amazonia during the La Ni?a (El Ni?o) event. The upper level circulation is in agreement with the simulated distribution of precipitation. In general, the results showed that both the models are capable of capturing the main changes of the summer climate over South America during these two extreme cases and consequently they have potential to predict climate anomalies.     

Variability of seasonal-mean fields arising from intraseasonal variability. Part 3: Application to SH winter and summer circulations

A study has been made, using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and National Center for Atmospheric Research re-analysis 500 hPa geopotential height data, to determine how intraseasonal variability influences, or can generate, coherent patterns of interannual variability in the extratropical summer and winter Southern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation. In addition, by separating this intraseasonal component of interannual variability, we also consider how slowly varying external forcings and slowly varying (interannual and longer) internal dynamics might influence the interannual variability of the Southern Hemisphere circulation. This slow component of interannual variation is more likely to be potentially predictable. How sea surface temperatures are related to the slow components is also considered. The four dominant intraseasonal modes of interannual variability have horizontal structures similar to those seen in both well-known intraseasonal dynamical modes and statistical modes of intraseasonal variability. In particular, they reflect intraseasonal variability in the high latitudes associated with the Southern Annular Mode, and wavenumber 4 (summer) and wavenumber 3 (winter) patterns associated with south Pacific regions of persistent anomalies and blocking, and possibly variability related to the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). The four dominant slow components of interannual variability, in both seasons, are related to high latitude variability associated with the Southern Annular Mode, El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability, and South Pacific Wave variability associated with Indian Ocean SSTs. In both seasons, there are strong linear trends in the first slow mode of high latitude variability and these are shown to be related to similar trends in the Indian Ocean. Once these are taken into account there is no significant sea surface temperature forcing of these high latitude modes. The second and third ENSO related slow modes, in each season, have high correlations with tropical sea surface temperature variability in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, both contemporaneously and at one season lag. The fourth slow mode has a characteristic South Pacific wave structure of either a wavenumber 4 (summer) or wavenumber 3 (winter) pattern, with strongest loadings in the South Pacific sector, and an association simultaneously with a dipole SST temperature gradient in the subtropical Indian Ocean.     

气候系统模式对Hadley环流的模拟和未来变化预估

针对全球变暖背景下未来Hadley环流将如何变化这一问题,评估了气候系统模式对1970~1999年Hadley环流时空特征的模拟效能,并在此基础上选取能合理模拟Hadley环流空间结构、强度指数和边界指数变化的3个模式,通过多模式集合方法预估了未来Hadley环流在A1B排放情景下的可能演变。预估结果表明,在全球变暖背景下,相比于1970~1999年,到本世纪末期(2070~2099年),北半球Hadley环流在4个季节都将减弱,春季变化幅度相对较弱;南半球Hadley环流在冬季和夏季也会减弱,而在春季和秋季的变化不明显。另外,北半球Hadley环流的北边界除在夏季向南收缩外,在其它3个季节均向北伸展;南半球Hadley环流的南边界在4个季节均向极地方向移动。两个半球的Hadley环流在垂直方向还将向对流层上层伸展。       

Modes of variability of Southern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation estimated by AGCMs

The seasonal mean variability of the atmospheric circulation is affected by processes with time scales from less than seasonal to interannual or longer. Using monthly mean data from an ensemble of Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM) realisations, the interannual variability of the seasonal mean is separated into intraseasonal, and slowly varying components. For the first time, using a recently developed method, the slowly varying component in multiple AGCM ensembles is further separated into internal and externally forced components. This is done for Southern Hemisphere 500?hPa geopotential height from five AGCMs in the CLIVAR International Climate of the Twentieth Century project for the summer and winter seasons. In both seasons, the intraseasonal and slow modes of variability are qualitatively well reproduced by the models when compared with reanalysis data, with a relative metric finding little overall difference between the models. The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is by far the dominant mode of slowly varying internal atmospheric variability. Two slow-external modes of variability are related to El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability, and a third is the atmospheric response to trends in external forcing. An ENSO-SAM relationship is found in the model slow modes of variability, similar to that found by earlier studies using reanalysis data. There is a greater spread in the representation of model slow-external modes in winter than summer, particularly in the atmospheric response to external forcing trends. This may be attributable to weaker external forcing constraints on SH atmospheric circulation in winter.     

我国四季极端雨日数时空变化及其与海表温度异常的关系

利用1960—2004年我国586个气象站的逐日降水观测资料,对每个季节和每个站点,以雨日降水量升序排列的第90个百分位值定义极端日降水阈值,分析揭示了我国四季极端雨日数的时空变化特征、与海表温度异常的关系以及相联系的大气环流异常型。结果表明,我国长江流域极端雨日数在冬季和夏季呈显著增加趋势,华北地区极端雨日数在冬季显著增加、而在夏季显著减少,华南地区极端雨日数在春季显著增加,东北地区极端雨日数在冬季和春季显著增加,而西北地区极端雨日数在四季均显著增加。各季极端雨日数在线性趋势变化之上表现年际和年代际变化特征,并且其典型异常型明显不同,春、秋季表现为长江以南与以北地区反位相的"偶极型"变化,夏季表现为长江流域与华南、华北地区反位相的"三极型"变化,冬季表现为全国大部分地区同位相的"单极型"变化。我国季节极端雨日数与印度洋-太平洋海表温度异常的关系主要表现为与ENSO的关系,而ENSO影响我国极端降水异常是通过相应的大气环流异常型来实现的。     

Simulation of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere Annular Modes by CAMS-CSM

As leading modes of the planetary-scale atmospheric circulation in the extratropics, the Northern Hemisphere(NH)annular mode(NAM) and Southern Hemisphere(SH) annular mode(SAM) are important components of global circulation, and their variabilities substantially impact the climate in mid-high latitudes. A 35-yr(1979-2013) simulation by the climate system model developed at the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences(CAMS-CSM) was carried out based on observed sea surface temperature and sea ice data. The ability of CAMS-CSM in simulating horizontal and vertical structures of the NAM and SAM, relation of the NAM to the East Asian climate, and temporal variability of the SAM is examined and validated against the observational data. The results show that CAMS-CSM captures the zonally symmetric and out-of-phase variations of sea level pressure anomaly between the midlatitudes and polar zones in the extratropics of the NH and SH. The model has also captured the equivalent barotropic structure in tropospheric geopotential height and the meridional shifts of the NH and SH jet systems associated with the NAM and SAM anomalies. Furthermore, the model is able to reflect the variability of northern and southern Ferrel cells corresponding to the NAM and SAM anomalies. The model reproduces the observed relationship of the boreal winter NAM with the East Asian trough and air temperature over East Asia. It also captures the upward trend of the austral summer SAM index during recent decades. However, compared with the observation, the model shows biases in both the intensity and center locations of the NAM's and SAM's horizontal and vertical structures. Specifically, it overestimates their intensities.     

Contributions to the Interannual Summer Rainfall Variability in the Mountainous Area of Central China and Their Decadal Changes

Using a high-resolution precipitation dataset,the present study detected that the mountainous area of central China(MACA)is a hotspot of ENSO’s impact on the summer rainfall variability.Further analysis suggests that both ENSO and atmospheric forcing make contributions to the summer rainfall variability in MACA.The dominant rainfall-related SST mode features as a seasonal transition from an El Niño-like warming in the preceding winter to a La Nina-like cooling in the following autumn,and it explains about 29%of the total variance of the rainfall during 1951–2018.It indicates that ENSO with a rapid phase transition is responsible for inducing summer rainfall anomalies in MACA.Besides,an upperlevel circumglobal wave mode in the Northern Hemisphere during summer also explains about 29%of the summer rainfall variance.Contributions of both the SST and the atmospheric modes have experienced interdecadal changes.The influence of the SST mode gradually increases and plays a dominant role in the recent decades,suggesting that ENSO with a rapid phase transition becomes more important for rainfall prediction in MACA.     

春季南半球环状模与长江流域夏季降水的关系：Ⅱ 印度洋和南海海温的“海洋桥”作用

用回归、合成、相关、ESVD等方法分析了春夏季印度洋、南海海温异常在春季南半球环状模(SAM)与夏季长江中下游降水关系中的作用.研究发现春季南半球环状模指数(SAMI)正(负)异常时,同期南印度洋中高纬、北印度洋海域海温出现了明显正(负)异常,这种海温的正(负)异常在夏季依然存在,并且北印度洋的海温异常得到加强.对印度洋和南海海域详细划分区域后的进一步分析表明春季南半球热带外大气环流(SAM)异常可以强迫南印度洋中高纬海域海温发生明显异常.这种异常可以持续到夏季,而且表现出传播特性,即南印度洋中高纬海温异常可以传播到北印度洋(包括阿拉伯海和孟加拉湾)和南海海域,加强这些海域的海温异常.对东亚夏季风与夏季海温关系的分析表明东亚夏季风异常对应的夏季北印度洋、南海海温异常与春季SAM异常对应的夏季北印度洋、南海海温异常的形势相似,符号相反.说明印度洋、南海海温是春季SAM影响夏季长江中下游降水的一个"桥梁".基本思路为强(弱)春季SAM可以引起南印度洋中高纬海域海温的偏高(偏低);南印度洋中高纬海域偏高(偏低)的海温从春季持续到夏季并且传播到阿拉伯海、孟加拉湾、南海海域;这些海区偏高(偏低)的海温可以导致东亚夏季风减弱(加强),而东亚夏季风减弱(加强)是长江中下游降水偏多(偏少)的一种有利条件.     

IPCC-AR4 climate simulations for the Southwestern US: the importance of future ENSO projections

Future climate trends for the Southwestern US, based on the climate models included in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report, project a more arid climate in the region during the 21st century. However, future climate variability associated with El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)—an important driver for winter climate variability in the region—have not been addressed. In this work we evaluate future winter ENSO projections derived from two selected IPCC models, and their effect on Southwestern US climate. We first evaluate the ability of the IPCC coupled models to represent the climate of the Southwest, selecting the two models that best capture seasonal precipitation and temperature over the region and realistically represent ENSO variability (Max Planck Institute’s ECHAM5 and the UK Met Office HadCM3). Our work shows that the projected future aridity of the region will be dramatically amplified during La Niña conditions, as anomalies over a drier mean state, and will be characterized by higher temperatures (~0.5°C) and lower precipitation (~3 mm/mnt) than the projected trends. These results have important implications for water managers in the Southwest who must prepare for more intense winter aridity associated with future ENSO conditions.     

观测分析非洲南部地区土壤湿度异常对南半球大气环流的显著影响

本文基于44年ERA40再分析月平均土壤湿度资料和大气环流变量场资料,去除ENSO遥相关以及趋势影响后,利用滞后最大协方差方法分析非洲南部地区土壤湿度分布与南半球大气环流异常之间的线性耦合。第一最大协方差模态的结果表明:在南半球冬季（Jun-Jul-Aug,6～8月）和夏季（Jan-Feb-Mar,1～3月）,大气中类似南极涛动（Antarctic Oscillation,简称AAO）正位相的环流型与超前月份（最长时间达到5个月）的非洲南部地区土壤湿度的异常分布显著相关。基于土壤湿度变率中心的线性回归分析方法证实非洲南部地区其北部土壤湿度正异常、中南部土壤湿度负异常的空间分布对后期夏季和冬季的大气有显著的反馈作用。诊断结果显示由于夏秋季节和春季初夏非洲南部地区土壤湿度异常均有显著的持续性,同时对后期AAO产生持续增强作用,所以滞后最大协方差方法可以检测出它们对后期AAO的显著影响。以上非洲南部地区土壤湿度异常超前于南极涛动的信号,将有助于加强对土壤湿度反馈机制及其对南半球大尺度环流变率影响的认识。     

Interdecadal change in the Northern Hemisphere seasonal climate prediction skill: part I. The leading forced mode of atmospheric circulation

Using observations and 1-month lead hindcast data from six coupled atmosphere–ocean climate models, this study investigates the interdecadal change in the leading maximum covariance analysis mode (MCA1) of atmospheric circulation in response to the changes in the El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) occurred around late 1970s. We focus on boreal winter climate variability and predictability over the North Pacific–North American (NPNA) region using December–January–February prediction initiated from November 1st in the period of 1960–1980 (P1) and 1981–2001 (P2). Observed analysis reveals that ENSO variability, the related tropical convective activity, and thus the MCA1 are considerably enhanced from P1 to P2. As a result, surface climate anomalies over the NPNA are more significantly correlated with the MCA1 in P2 than P1, particularly over North America. The six coupled models and their multi-model ensemble not only are capable of capturing the interdecadal change of the MCA1 and its relationship with surface air temperature and precipitation over the NPNA regions but also have significantly higher forecast skills for the MCA1 and the surface climate anomalies in P2 than P1. However, models have systematic biases in the spatial distribution of the MCA1. It is demonstrated that the interdecadal change in the MCA1 should contribute to the improved forecast skill of the NPNA climate during recent epoch.