Summer monsoon circulation and precipitation over the tropical Indian Ocean during ENSO in the NCEP climate forecast system

This study investigates the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnections to tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) and their relationship with the Indian summer monsoon in the coupled general circulation model climate forecast system (CFS). The model shows good skill in simulating the impact of El Niño over the Indian Oceanic rim during its decay phase (the summer following peak phase of El Niño). Summer surface circulation patterns during the developing phase of El Niño are more influenced by local Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomalies in the model unlike in observations. Eastern TIO cooling similar to that of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is a dominant model feature in summer. This anomalous SST pattern therefore is attributed to the tendency of the model to simulate more frequent IOD events. On the other hand, in the model baroclinic response to the diabatic heating anomalies induced by the El Niño related warm SSTs is weak, resulting in reduced zonal extension of the Rossby wave response. This is mostly due to weak eastern Pacific summer time SST anomalies in the model during the developing phase of El Niño as compared to observations. Both eastern TIO cooling and weak SST warming in El Niño region combined together undermine the ENSO teleconnections to the TIO and south Asia regions. The model is able to capture the spatial patterns of SST, circulation and precipitation well during the decay phase of El Niño over the Indo-western Pacific including the typical spring asymmetric mode and summer basin-wide warming in TIO. The model simulated El Niño decay one or two seasons later, resulting long persistent warm SST and circulation anomalies mainly over the southwest TIO. In response to the late decay of El Niño, Ekman pumping shows two maxima over the southern TIO. In conjunction with this unrealistic Ekman pumping, westward propagating Rossby waves display two peaks, which play key role in the long-persistence of the TIO warming in the model (for more than a season after summer). This study strongly supports the need of simulating the correct onset and decay phases of El Niño/La Niña for capturing the realistic ENSO teleconnections. These results have strong implications for the forecasting of Indian summer monsoon as this model is currently being adopted as an operational model in India.     

Impact of Indian monsoon on the coupled atmosphere/ocean system in the tropical pacific

Summary This study addresses the relationship between the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) and the coupled atmosphere/ocean system in the tropical Pacific on the interannual time scales. High positive correlations are found between ISM rainfall and both mixed layer sea water temperature (SWT) and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies of the tropical western Pacific in the following winter. Negative correlations between ISM rainfall and SST in the central/eastern Pacific also appear to be most significant in the following winter. These parameters are correlated with each other mainly on a biennial time scale. Lag-correlations between the zonal wind and SST along the the equatorial Pacific show that the westerly (easterly) surface wind stress anomalies over the central/western Pacific are greatly responsible for the formation of negative (positive) SST/SWT anomalies in the western Pacific and positive (negative) SST/SWT anomalies in the central/eastern Pacific. Furthermore, it is evidenced that these lagcorrelations are physically based on the anomalies in the large-scale convection over the Asian monsoon region and the associated east-west circulation over the tropical Pacific, which first appear during the Indian summer monsoon season and evolve during the following autumn and winter. These results strongly suggest that the Asian summer monsoon may have an active, rather than a passive, role on the interannual variability, including the ENSO events, of the coupled atmosphere/ocean system over the tropical Pacific.With 9 Figures     

年代际气候预测系统IAP DecPreS的海洋同化试验在西北太平洋的海温偏差及其对亚洲夏季风的影响

本文分析了中国科学院大气物理研究所年代际气候预测系统IAP DecPreS的海洋同化试验（简称EnOI-IAU试验）在西北太平洋地区的海表面温度（SST）年循环的模拟技巧,并通过对比IAP DecPreS系统自由耦合历史气候模拟试验结果,在包含海气耦合过程的框架下讨论了耦合模式中西北太平洋夏季SST模拟差异,及其对亚洲季风区夏季季风降水模拟的影响。结果表明,EnOI-IAU试验较好地模拟出了西北太平洋各个季节的SST空间分布,并显著减小了原存在于历史气候模拟试验中持续全年的SST冷偏差。混合层热收支诊断分析表明,包含同化过程在内的海洋过程的模拟差异对西北太平洋海温的模拟提升有重要贡献。夏季,EnOI-IAU试验模拟的印度季风伴随的低层西风较观测偏东、偏强,且高估了赤道西太平洋区域的降水量值、低估了印度洋区域的降水量值。水汽收支分析显示,气旋式环流异常造成的水汽辐合异常是造成亚洲季风区降水模拟差异的主要原因。研究表明,较之历史模拟试验,EnOI-IAU试验中夏季西北太平洋地区SST增暖造成局地对流增强,进而使得局地产生异常上升运动,水汽辐合增强,造成西北太平洋地区降水模拟偏多,激发出低层西风异常及赤道外气旋式环流异常。该低层西风异常导致了北印度洋地区低层辐散异常,减小了原存在于历史试验中印度洋地区的正降水偏差。西北太平洋气旋式环流异常一方面增强了印度夏季风伴随的低层西风,使得更多的水汽从阿拉伯海输送到西太平洋暖池区域,增强了该区域的降水量;另一方面,该气旋式环流异常减小了历史模拟试验中中国南部区域偏强的低层风速,进而提升了模式对东亚低层西南风的模拟能力。     

Why Does Extreme Rainfall Occur in Central China during the Summer of 2020 after a Weak El Ni?o?

In summer 2020, extreme rainfall occurred throughout the Yangtze River basin, Huaihe River basin, and southern Yellow River basin, which are defined here as the central China (CC) region. However, only a weak central Pacific (CP) El Ni?o happened during winter 2019/20, so the correlations between the El Ni?o–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indices and ENSO-induced circulation anomalies were insufficient to explain this extreme precipitation event. In this study, reanalysis data and numerical experiments are employed to identify and verify the primary ENSO-related factors that cause this extreme rainfall event. During summer 2020, unusually strong anomalous southwesterlies on the northwest side of an extremely strong Northwest Pacific anticyclone anomaly (NWPAC) contributed excess moisture and convective instability to the CC region, and thus, triggered extreme precipitation in this area. The tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) has warmed in recent decades, and consequently, intensified TIO basinwide warming appears after a weak El Ni?o, which excites an extremely strong NWPAC via the pathway of the Indo-western Pacific Ocean capacitor (IPOC) effect. Additionally, the ENSO event of 2019/20 should be treated as a fast-decaying CP El Ni?o rather than a general CP El Ni?o, so that the circulation and precipitation anomalies in summer 2020 can be better understood. Last, the increasing trend of tropospheric temperature and moisture content in the CC region after 2000 is also conducive to producing heavy precipitation.     

亚澳季风异常与ENSO准四年变化的联系分析

分析了赤道地区纬向风的年际变化特征，以及亚澳季风与ENSO在各个位相的联系。结果表明：赤道纬向风变化与中东太平洋海温变化在准四年周期上是强烈耦合的；在El Eino期间东亚冬季风弱，夏季风强，而南亚夏季风弱，反之，在La Nina期间东亚冬季风强，夏季风弱，而南亚夏季风强；东亚地区的异常北风有利于西太平洋西风异常爆发，使得东太平洋海温升高，但只有随后在中东太平洋出现持续性西风异常，El Nino才能发展，其中来自太平洋中部的异常北风（并不是来自东亚大陆地区）和南太平洋中部的异常南风的辐合对中东太平洋出现持续性西风异常起重要的作用，尤其是澳大利亚东北部的季风异常的影响更为显。     

North-East monsoon rainfall extremes over the southern peninsular India and their association with El Niño

The present study investigates the relationship between extreme north-east (NE) monsoon rainfall (NEMR) over the Indian peninsula region and El Niño forcing. This turns out to be a critical science issue especially after the 2015 Chennai flood. The puzzle being while most El Niños favour good NE monsoon, some don’t. In fact some El Niño years witnessed deficit NE monsoon. Therefore two different cases (or classes) of El Niños are considered for analysis based on standardized NEMR index and Niño 3.4 index with case-1 being both Niño-3.4 and NEMR indices greater than +1 and case-2 being Niño-3.4 index greater than +1 and NEMR index less than −1. Composite analysis suggests that SST anomalies in the central and eastern Pacific are strong in both cases but large differences are noted in the spatial distribution of SST over the Indo-western Pacific region. This questions our understanding of NEMR as mirror image of El Niño conditions in the Pacific. It is noted that the favourable excess NEMR in case-1 is due to anomalous moisture transport from Bay of Bengal and equatorial Indian Ocean to southern peninsular India. Strong SST gradient between warm western Indian Ocean (and Bay of Bengal) and cool western Pacific induced strong easterly wind anomalies during NE monsoon season favour moisture transport towards the core NE monsoon region. Further anomalous moisture convergence and convection over the core NE monsoon region supported positive rainfall anomalies in case-1. While in case-2, weak SST gradients over the Indo-western Pacific and absence of local low level convergence over NE monsoon region are mainly responsible for deficit rainfall. The ocean dynamics in the Indian Ocean displayed large differences during case-1 and case-2, suggesting the key role of Rossby wave dynamics in the Indian Ocean on NE monsoon extremes. Apart from the large scale circulation differences the number of cyclonic systems land fall for case-1 and case-2 have also contributed for variations in NE monsoon rainfall extremes during El Niño years. This study indicates that despite having strong warming in the central and eastern Pacific, NE monsoon rainfall variations over the southern peninsular India is mostly determined by SST gradient over the Indo-western Pacific region and number of systems formation in the Bay of Bengal and their land fall. The paper concludes that though the favourable large scale circulation induced by Pacific is important in modulating the NE monsoon rainfall the local air sea interaction plays a key role in modulating or driving rainfall extremes associated with El Niño.     

热带西北太平洋10~30 d振荡对南海夏季风影响

采用1958—2011年NCEP/NCAR再分析资料以及ERSST海温资料,分析热带西太平洋夏季对流10~30 d振荡对南海夏季风的影响。在年际变化尺度上,热带西北太平洋夏季10~30 d振荡强度指数 (TWPI) 与南海夏季风强度有很好的正相关关系。在TWPI增强年份,海温主要呈El Ni?o分布,南海周边区域增强的异常西风产生强的正涡度切变,导致异常气旋性环流,为季风槽的增强提供了热量和水汽,从而增强南海夏季风强度。反之,在TWPI减弱年份,海温主要呈La Ni?a分布,南海夏季风强度减弱。在不同的年代际背景下,垂直切变和水汽-对流的总体变化是影响TWPI总体变化的重要因子,但不能影响南海夏季风强度的总体变化。海陆热力对比的总体变化是导致南海夏季风强度总体变化的主要影响因素。     

Role of TBO and ENSO scale ocean–atmosphere interaction in the Indo-Pacific region on Asian summer monsoon variability

Interannual variability of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall has two dominant periodicities, one on the quasi-biennial (2–3 year) time scale corresponding to tropospheric biennial oscillation (TBO) and the other on low frequency (3–7 year) corresponding to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In the present study, the spatial and temporal patterns of various atmospheric and oceanic parameters associated with the Indian summer monsoon on the above two periodicities were investigated using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data sets for the period 1950–2005. Influences of Indian and Pacific Ocean SSTs on the monsoon season rainfall are different for both of the time scales. Seasonal evolution and movement of SST and Walker circulation are also different. SST and velocity potential anomalies are southeast propagating on the TBO scale, while they are stationary on the ENSO scale. Latent heat flux and relative humidity anomalies over the Indian Ocean and local Hadley circulation between the Indian monsoon region and adjacent oceans have interannual variability only on the TBO time scale. Local processes over the Indian Ocean determine the Indian Ocean SST in biennial periodicity, while the effect of equatorial east Pacific SST is significant in the ENSO periodicity. TBO scale variability is dependent on the local factors of the Indian Ocean and the Indian summer monsoon, while the ENSO scale processes are remotely controlled by the Pacific Ocean.     

An analysis on the physical process of the influence of AO on ENSO

The influence of the spring AO on ENSO has been demonstrated in several recent studies. This analysis further explores the physical process of the influence of AO on ENSO using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data over the period 1958–2010. We focus on the formation of the westerly wind burst in the tropical western Pacific, and examine the evolution and formation of the atmospheric circulation, atmospheric heating, and SST anomalies in association with the spring AO variability. The spring AO variability is found to be independent from the East Asian winter monsoon activity. The spring AO associated circulation anomalies are supported by the interaction between synoptic-scale eddies and the mean-flow and its associated vorticity transportation. Surface wind changes may affect surface heat fluxes and the oceanic heat transport, resulting in the SST change. The AO associated warming in the equatorial SSTs results primarily from the ocean heat transport in the face of net surface heat flux damping. The tropical SST warming is accompanied by anomalous atmospheric heating in the subtropical north and south Pacific, which sustains the anomalous westerly wind in the equatorial western Pacific through a Gill-like atmospheric response from spring to summer. The anomalous westerly excites an eastward propagating and downwelling equatorial Kelvin wave, leading to SST warming in the tropical central-eastern Pacific in summer-fall. The tropical SST, atmospheric heating, and atmospheric circulation anomalies sustain and develop through the Bjerknes feedback mechanism, which eventually result in an El Niño-like warming in the tropical eastern Pacific in winter.     

Teleconnected influence of North Atlantic sea surface temperature on the El Ni?o onset

Influence of North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies on tropical Pacific SST anomalies is examined. Both summer and winter North Atlantic SST anomalies are negatively related to central-eastern tropical Pacific SST anomalies in the subsequent months varying from 5 to 13?months. In particular, when the North Atlantic is colder than normal in the summer, an El Ni?o event is likely to be initiated in the subsequent spring in the tropical Pacific. Associated with summer cold North Atlantic SST anomalies is an anomalous cyclonic circulation at low-level over the North Atlantic from subsequent October to April. Corresponded to this local response, an SST-induced heating over the North Atlantic produces a teleconnected pattern, similar to the East Atlantic/West Russia teleconnection. The pattern features two anticyclonic circulations near England and Lake Baikal, and two cyclonic circulations over the North Atlantic and near the Caspian Sea. The anticyclonic circulation near Lake Baikal enhances the continent northerlies, and strengthens the East-Asian winter monsoon. These are also associated with an off-equatorial cyclonic circulation in the western Pacific during the subsequent winter and spring, which produces equatorial westerly wind anomalies in the western Pacific. The equatorial westerly wind anomalies in the winter and spring can help initiate a Pacific El Ni?o event following a cold North Atlantic in the summer.     

西北太平洋低空环流与海温异常关系的季节性差异

通过资料分析与数值模拟研究了西北太平洋低空环流特征及其与海面温度（SST）异常关系的季节性差异,得到如下结论：1）西北太平洋低空环流的空间尺度和位置在春季和夏季存在明显差异,从春季到夏季,异常环流范围缩小且中心位置向西北偏移;2）西北太平洋低空环流与西北太平洋局地海温的相互作用存在季节差异,春季西北太平洋冷海温与上空反气旋异常之间存在相互作用,而夏季则以大气影响海洋为主,异常的反气旋/气旋可以加热/冷却其下垫面的海温,大气超前3～4 d影响海洋;3）夏季异常反气旋环流（WNPAC）的维持主要来自非局地海温异常（北印度洋暖海温与中太平洋冷海温异常）的强迫,这两个海区对WNPAC的影响也存在季节性差异,北印度洋的影响主要体现在晚春至盛夏,而中太平洋则主要在晚夏发挥作用。     

Contrasting Indian Ocean SST variability with and without ENSO influence: A coupled atmosphere-ocean GCM study

Summary In this study, we perform experiments with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (CGCM) to examine ENSO’s influence on the interannual sea-surface temperature (SST) variability of the tropical Indian Ocean. The control experiment includes both the Indian and Pacific Oceans in the ocean model component of the CGCM (the Indo-Pacific Run). The anomaly experiment excludes ENSO’s influence by including only the Indian Ocean while prescribing monthly-varying climatological SSTs for the Pacific Ocean (the Indian-Ocean Run). In the Indo-Pacific Run, an oscillatory mode of the Indian Ocean SST variability is identified by a multi-channel singular spectral analysis (MSSA). The oscillatory mode comprises two patterns that can be identified with the Indian Ocean Zonal Mode (IOZM) and a basin-wide warming/cooling mode respectively. In the model, the IOZM peaks about 3–5 months after ENSO reaches its maximum intensity. The basin mode peaks 8 months after the IOZM. The timing and associated SST patterns suggests that the IOZM is related to ENSO, and the basin-wide warming/cooling develops as a result of the decay of the IOZM spreading SST anomalies from western Indian Ocean to the eastern Indian Ocean. In contrast, in the Indian-Ocean Run, no oscillatory modes can be identified by the MSSA, even though the Indian Ocean SST variability is characterized by east–west SST contrast patterns similar to the IOZM. In both control and anomaly runs, IOZM-like SST variability appears to be associated with forcings from fluctuations of the Indian monsoon. Our modeling results suggest that the oscillatory feature of the IOZM is primarily forced by ENSO.     

Different Relationships Between Spring SST in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and Summer Precipitation in China

Observational and reanalysis data are used to investigate the different relationships between boreal spring sea surface temperature （SST） in the Indian and Pacific oceans and summer precipitation in China. Partial correlation analysis reveals that the effects of spring Indian Ocean SST （IO SST） and Pacific SST （PSST） anomalies on summer precipitation in China are qualitatively opposite. When IO SST anomalies are considered independently of PSST anomalies, precipitation decreases south of the Yangtze River, in most areas of Inner Mongolia, and in some parts of Liaoning Province, and increases in the Yangtze River valley, parts of southwestern and northern China, northeastern Inner Mongolia, and Heilongjiang Province. This results in a negative-positive-negative-positive pattern of precipitation anomalies in China from south to north. When PSST anomalies （particularly those in the Nin o3.4 region） are considered independently of IO SST anomalies, the pattern of precipitation anomalies in China is positive-negative-positive-negative from south to north. The genesis of summer precipitation anomalies in China is also examined when El Nin o-Southern Oscillation （ENSO） signals are removed from the ocean and atmosphere. An anticyclonic low-level wind anomaly forms in the South China Sea-Northwest Pacific area when the IO SST anomaly （SSTA） is warm and the Northwest Pacific SSTA is cold. This anticyclonic anomaly substantially influences summer precipitation in China. Anomalous warming of tropical IO SST induces positive geopotential height anomalies in the subtropics and an east-west dipole pattern in midlatitudes over Asia. These anomalies also affect summer precipitation in China.     

A recipe for simulating the interannual variability of the Asian summer monsoon and its relation with ENSO

This study investigates how accurately the interannual variability over the Indian Ocean basin and the relationship between the Indian summer monsoon and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can be simulated by different modelling strategies. With a hierarchy of models, from an atmospherical general circulation model (AGCM) forced by observed SST, to a coupled model with the ocean component limited to the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans, the role of heat fluxes and of interactive coupling is analyzed. Whenever sea surface temperature anomalies in the Indian basin are created by the coupled model, the inverse relationship between the ENSO index and the Indian summer monsoon rainfall is recovered, and it is preserved if the atmospherical model is forced by the SSTs created by the coupled model. If the ocean model domain is limited to the Indian Ocean, changes in the Walker circulation over the Pacific during El-Niño years induce a decrease of rainfall over the Indian subcontinent. However, the observed correlation between ENSO and the Indian Ocean zonal mode (IOZM) is not properly modelled and the two indices are not significantly correlated, independently on season. Whenever the ocean domain extends to the Pacific, and ENSO can impact both the atmospheric circulation and the ocean subsurface in the equatorial Eastern Indian Ocean, modelled precipitation patterns associated both to ENSO and to the IOZM closely resemble the observations.     

Role of the southern Indian Ocean in the transitions of the monsoon-ENSO system during recent decades

The focus of this study is to document the possible role of the southern subtropical Indian Ocean in the transitions of the monsoon-ENSO system during recent decades. Composite analyses of sea surface temperature (SST) fields prior to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Indian summer monsoon (ISM), Australian summer monsoon (AUSM), tropical Indian Ocean dipole (TIOD) and Maritime Continent rainfall (MCR) indices reveal the southeast Indian Ocean (SEIO) SSTs during late boreal winter as the unique common SST precursor of these various phenomena after the 1976–1977 regime shift. Weak (strong) ISMs and AUSMs, El Niños (La Niñas) and positive (negative) TIOD events are preceded by significant negative (positive) SST anomalies in the SEIO, off Australia during boreal winter. These SST anomalies are mainly linked to subtropical Indian Ocean dipole events, recently studied by Behera and Yamagata (Geophys Res Lett 28:327–330, 2001). A wavelet analysis of a February–March SEIO SST time series shows significant spectral peaks at 2 and 4–8 years time scales as for ENSO, ISM or AUSM indices. A composite analysis with respect to February–March SEIO SSTs shows that cold (warm) SEIO SST anomalies are highly persistent and affect the westward translation of the Mascarene high from austral to boreal summer, inducing a weakening (strengthening) of the whole ISM circulation through a modulation of the local Hadley cell during late boreal summer. At the same time, these subtropical SST anomalies and the associated SEIO anomalous anticyclone may be a trigger for both the wind-evaporation-SST and wind-thermocline-SST positive feedbacks between Australia and Sumatra during boreal spring and early summer. These positive feedbacks explain the extraordinary persistence of the SEIO anomalous anticyclone from boreal spring to fall. Meanwhile, the SEIO anomalous anticyclone favors persistent southeasterly wind anomalies along the west coast of Sumatra and westerly wind anomalies over the western Pacific, which are well-known key factors for the evolution of positive TIOD and El Niño events, respectively. A correlation analysis supports these results and shows that SEIO SSTs in February–March has higher predictive skill than other well-established ENSO predictors for forecasting Niño3.4 SST at the end of the year. This suggests again that SEIO SST anomalies exert a fundamental influence on the transitions of the whole monsoon-ENSO system during recent decades.     

Asian summer monsoon prediction in ECMWF System 4 and NCEP CFSv2 retrospective seasonal forecasts

The seasonal prediction skill of the Asian summer monsoon is assessed using retrospective predictions (1982–2009) from the ECMWF System 4 (SYS4) and NCEP CFS version 2 (CFSv2) seasonal prediction systems. In both SYS4 and CFSv2, a cold bias of sea-surface temperature (SST) is found over the equatorial Pacific, North Atlantic, Indian Oceans and over a broad region in the Southern Hemisphere relative to observations. In contrast, a warm bias is found over the northern part of North Pacific and North Atlantic. Excessive precipitation is found along the ITCZ, equatorial Atlantic, equatorial Indian Ocean and the maritime continent. The southwest monsoon flow and the Somali Jet are stronger in SYS4, while the south-easterly trade winds over the tropical Indian Ocean, the Somali Jet and the subtropical northwestern Pacific high are weaker in CFSv2 relative to the reanalysis. In both systems, the prediction of SST, precipitation and low-level zonal wind has greatest skill in the tropical belt, especially over the central and eastern Pacific where the influence of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is dominant. Both modeling systems capture the global monsoon and the large-scale monsoon wind variability well, while at the same time performing poorly in simulating monsoon precipitation. The Asian monsoon prediction skill increases with the ENSO amplitude, although the models simulate an overly strong impact of ENSO on the monsoon. Overall, the monsoon predictive skill is lower than the ENSO skill in both modeling systems but both systems show greater predictive skill compared to persistence.     

Roles of Indian and Pacific Ocean air–sea coupling in tropical atmospheric variability

Sea surface temperature (SST) variations include negative feedbacks from the atmosphere, whereas SST anomalies are specified in stand-alone atmospheric general circulation simulations. Is the SST forced response the same as the coupled response? In this study, the importance of air–sea coupling in the Indian and Pacific Oceans for tropical atmospheric variability is investigated through numerical experiments with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model. The local and remote impacts of the Indian and Pacific Ocean coupling are obtained by comparing a coupled simulation with an experiment in which the SST forcing from the coupled simulation is specified in either the Indian or the Pacific Ocean. It is found that the Indian Ocean coupling is critical for atmospheric variability over the Pacific Ocean. Without the Indian Ocean coupling, the rainfall and SST variations are completely different throughout most of the Pacific Ocean basin. Without the Pacific Ocean coupling, part of the rainfall and SST variations in the Indian Ocean are reproduced in the forced run. In regions of large mean rainfall where the atmospheric negative feedback is strong, such as the North Indian Ocean and the western North Pacific in boreal summer, the atmospheric variability is significantly enhanced when air–sea coupling is replaced by specified SST forcing. This enhancement is due to the lack of the negative feedback in the forced SST simulation. In these regions, erroneous atmospheric anomalies could be induced by specified SST anomalies derived from the coupled model. The ENSO variability is reduced by about 20% when the Indian Ocean air–sea coupling is replaced by specified SST forcing. This change is attributed to the interfering roles of the Indian Ocean SST and Indian monsoon in western and central equatorial Pacific surface wind variations.     

夏季北印度洋海温异常对西北太平洋低层反气旋异常的影响

采用1957—2002年850 hPa风场的ERA-40再分析资料,分析得知西北太平洋低层环流存在着明显的年际变化。这种年际变化表征了西北太平洋夏季风的年际变化,并且会影响东亚夏季风的变化。用Hadley海表面气压以及海表温度资料诊断得到,这种夏季西北太平洋反气旋异常（WPAC,northwest Pacific anomalous anticyclone）的年际变化与北印度洋同期海表温度变化存在很好的相关。用偏相关方法消除N ino3.4信号的同期线性影响,这种同期相关更加显著,而西南热带印度洋的同期海温与WPAC的相关并不显著。数值试验结果表明,北印度洋存在正海温异常时,北印度洋降水偏多,同时伴随着西北太平洋反气旋异常。当只有西南热带印度洋有正海温异常时,北印度洋会出现东风异常且降水减少,而西北太平洋有弱的气旋异常。数值模式结果与观测数据的诊断结果相吻合,说明当夏季北印度洋海表温度为正异常时,可能会产生西北太平洋反气旋异常。     

印度洋对ENSO事件的响应:观测与模拟

观测事实显示,在El Ni(n～)o期间,伴随着赤道中东太平洋表层海温(SST)的升高,热带印度洋SST出现正距平.作者利用海气耦合模式模拟了印度洋对ENSO事件的上述响应,并进而讨论了其物理机制.所用模式为法国国家科研中心Pierre-Simon-Laplace 全球环境科学联合实验室(IPSL)发展的全球海气耦合模式.该模式成功地控制了气候漂移,能够合理再现印度洋的基本气候态.观测中与ENSO相关的热带印度洋SST变化,表现为全海盆一致的正距平,并且这种变化要滞后赤道中东太平洋SST变化大约一个季度,意味着它主要是对东太平洋SST强迫的一种遥响应,模式结果也支持这一机制,尽管模式中的南方涛动现象被夸大了,使得模拟的与ENSO相关联的SST正距平的位置南移,阿拉伯海和孟加拉湾被负距平(而不是正距平)所控制.研究表明,东太平洋主要通过大气桥影响潜热释放来影响印度洋SST变化.赤道东太平洋El Ni(n～)o事件的发展,导致印度洋上空风场异常自东而西传播;伴随着风场的变化,潜热发生相应变化,并最终导致SST异常的发生.非洲东海岸受索马里急流控制的海域,其SST的变化不能简单地利用热通量的变化来解释.证据显示,印度洋的增暖是ENSO事件发生的结果而不是其前期信号.     

一种新的El Niño海气耦合指数

利用1980～2010 年月平均Hadley中心海表温度、美国全球海洋资料同化系统(GODAS)海洋温度和NCEP/NCAR 大气环流再分析资料,通过对2 个海洋要素(海表温度SST、上层热含量HC)和5 个大气要素(海平面气压SLP、850 hPa 风场、200 hPa 速度势和对外长波辐射OLR)的多变量经验正交函数展开(multivariate EOF,简称MV-EOF)探讨了热带太平洋的主要海气耦合特征。结果表明,MV-EOF 分析的前两个耦合模态分别很好地对应了传统型El Ni?o 和El Ni?o Modoki 的海气耦合特征:传统型El Ni?o 期间,伴随着赤道中东太平洋SST 的异常增温,HC、SLP、200 hPa 速度势等要素总体呈东西反相的“跷跷板”变化,低层850 hPa 赤道中太平洋出现较强西风距平,西北太平洋上空为反气旋性异常环流;El Ni?o Modoki 期间,SST 持续增温和HC 正异常中心均显著西移至中太平洋,低层SLP 和高空200 hPa 速度势均呈现纬向三极型异常分布,低层异常强西风向西移至暖池东部,西北太平洋上空呈现气旋性异常环流。两类El Ni?o 的海气耦合特征存在显著差异,较优的El Ni?o 指数应不仅可以客观描述和区分El Ni?o 现象本身,更要紧密联系两类事件所产生的大气响应。以往定量表征El Ni?o 年际变化的指标大多立足于SST 或SLP,本文选取HC 作为研究指标,定义了一组新的El Ni?o 指数HCEI 和HCEMI。较以往基于SST 的El Ni?o 指数,HCEI 和HCEMI 不仅能更清楚地表征和区分两类El Ni?o(如1993 年的传统型El Ni?o 和2006 年的El Ni?o Modoki),而且能更好地反映和区分两类El Ni?o 与大气间的海气耦合特征,为El Ni?o的监测和短期气候预测工作提供了一个新工具。