Delayed Seasonal Transition of Tropical Wave Activity in the CMIP3 Global Climate Models

This study evaluates the seasonal cycle of the activity of convectively coupled equatorial waves(CCEWs),including mixed Rossby-gravity(MRG) and tropical depression-type(TD-type) waves,based on the twentieth century experiments of 18 global climate models(GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3(CMIP3).The ensemble result of the 18 GCMs shows that the observed seasonal cycle of MRG and TD-type wave activity cannot be well reproduced.The seasonal transition of wave activity from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere is delayed from April in the observations to May in the simulations,indicating that the simulated active season of tropical waves in the northern hemisphere is delayed and shortened.This delayed seasonal transition of tropical wave activity is associated with a delayed seasonal transition of simulated mean precipitation.The mean precipitation in April and May shows a double-ITCZ problem,and the horizontal resolution is important to the delayed seasonal transition of wave activity.Because of the coincident seasonal cycle of MRG and TD-type wave activity and tropical cyclone(TC) geneses,the delayed seasonal transition of wave activity may imply a similar problem of TC genesis in the GCMs,namely,a delayed and shortened TC season in the northern hemisphere.     

On the Mechanism of the Locking of the El Nio Event Onset Phase to Boreal Spring

1. Introduction The observed facts show that the ENSO cycle has obvious phase-locking and oscillates irregularly (An and Wang, 2001; Kaplan et al., 1998). Based on Zibiak and Cane's (1987) model (hereafter, the Z-C model) and simple, coupled ocean-atmosph…     

On the Mechanism of the Locking of the El Nino Event Onset Phase to Boreal Spring

The mechanism of the locking of the E1 Nino event onset phase to boreal spring （from April to June） in an intermediate coupled ocean-atmosphere model is investigated. The results show that the seasonal variation of the zonal wind anomaly over the equatorial Pacific associated with the seasonal variation of the ITCZ is the mechanism of the locking in the model. From January to March of the E1 Nino year, the western wind anomaly over the western equatorial Pacific can excite the downwelling Kelvin wave that propagates eastward to the eastern and middle Pacific by April to June. From April to December of the year before the E1 Nifio year, the eastern wind anomaly over the equatorial Pacific forces the downwelling Rossby waves that modulate the ENSO cycle. The modulation and the reflection at the western boundary modulate the time of the transition from the cool to the warm phase to September of the year before the E1 Nifio year and cause the strongest downwelling Kelvin wave from the reflected Rossby waves at the western boundary to arrive in the middle and eastern equatorial Pacific by April to June of the E1 Nino year. The superposition of these two kinds of downwelling Kelvin waves causes the El Nino event to tend to occur from April to June.     

Rossby wave propagation into the tropics in two GFDL general circulation models

During the northern winter the eastern Pacific is characterized by upper level westerly flow extending from the equator into the midlatitudes of both hemispheres. Theoretical and simple modeling studies suggest that such a region should favor the penetration of Rossby waves into the tropics from higher latitudes. Observational results by Kiladis and Weickmann using 200 mb data indicate that Rossby waves do indeed propagate freely into the tropical eastern Pacific during the northern winter from the Asian jet exit region. They also confirmed that cross-equatorial dispersion of energy from the Northern into the Southern Hemisphere occurs frequently. The present study examines these interactions in climatological runs of two GFDL GCMs. The northern wintertime mean states of these models are characterized by a rather realistically simulated upper level westerly regime in the tropical Pacific. Despite the relative weakness of the Asian jet and wave activity with respect to observations, propagation of Rossby waves into the tropics is present in both models, and these waves are strongly positively tilted as seen in the observations. A momentum budget of the zonal wind and E vector diagnostics over the tropical Pacific indicate that these transients are an important component of the momentum balance of the equatorial westerlies in both the observations and in the models.This paper was presented at the Second International Conference on Modelling of Global Climate Variability, held in Hamburg 7–11 September 1992 under the auspices of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. Guest Editor for these papers is L. Dümenil     

Coupling mechanisms between equatorial waves and cumulus convection in an AGCM

In this study, we focused on the difference in appearances of the convectively coupled equatorial waves (CCEWs) in a simulation with the CCSR/NIES/FRCGC AGCM, between two experiments, one with and the other without implementation of the convective suppression scheme (CSS) in the prognostic Arakawa–Schubert cumulus parameterization. Realistic CCEW modes, i.e., Kelvin, Rossby, mixed Rossby-gravity (MRG), and n = 0 eastward inertio-gravity (EIG) wave modes, were reproduced in the with-CSS experiment, while only Rossby-wave-like signals appeared in the without-CSS experiment.By comparing the structures of the Kelvin wave mode and the Rossby wave mode in two runs, it was suggested that the structural difference between these two modes in conjunction with the difference in the controlling factor of cumulus convection determines the CCEW features. The CSS implemented here is such that cumulus convection is suppressed until the cloud-layer-averaged relative humidity exceeds the threshold of 80%. In the without-CSS model, only Rossby wave modes are coupled with the convection. This is because CAPE controls cumulus convection in this model, and the larger frictional convergence of Rossby wave mode prepares CAPE to generate favorable condition for cumulus convection. In the case of the with-CSS model, on the other hand, cumulus convection is largely controlled by the humidity in the free atmosphere. The convergence associated with the equatorial waves can produce the moisture anomaly to overcome the relative humidity threshold, and maintains the favorable condition for cumulus convection once it starts. In this case, not only Rossby waves but also Kelvin, MRG, and n = 0 EIG waves are reproduced more realistically. It is suggested that inclusion of some kind of mechanism connecting the free tropospheric moisture with the convection under the condition of abundant convective available potential energy could be a key factor for realistic coupling between large-scale atmospheric waves and convection.     

El Nio事件发生和消亡中热带太平洋纬向风应力的动力作用 Ⅱ.模式结果分析

为了分析 ＥＩ Ｎｉｏ事件发生和消亡中热带太平洋纬向风应力的动力作用，建立一个类似于Ｚｅｂｉａｋ的简单热带海洋数值模式，在观测到的风应力异常的强迫下，模拟赤道太平洋地区 １９７１年１月至 １９９８年８月海表温度异常的变化。结果表明，模式对观测的Ｎｉｏ３区海表温度异常（ＳＳＴＡ）有很好的模拟能力。模拟和观测Ｎｉ区ＳＳＴＡ之间的相关系数可达 ０．９０。模式对 Ｅｌ Ｎｉｏ事件期间赤道太平洋海表温度异常随时间变化也有较好的模拟能力。为了分析Ｅｌ Ｎｉｏ期间ＳＳＴＡ的空间分布及其随时间变化的动力学机制，还对１９８６～１９８９年 ＥＮＳＯ循环期间赤道太平洋地区观测的 ＳＳＴＡ的传播特征及其形成机制进行了分析。模式较好地模拟出了观测到的赤道太平洋地区ＳＳＴＡ的传播特征，即从１９８６年底至１９８７年 ４月， ＳＳＴＡ具有向东传播的特征，从 １９８７年 ６月至 １９８８年 ２月具有向西传播的特征。动力学分析的结果表明，赤道中西太平洋地区的缔向风应力异常对 Ｅｌ Ｎｉｏ事件的发生和消亡具有重要作用。赤道中西太平洋地区的西风异常可强迫出东传的Ｋｅｌｖｉｎ波，这个东传的 Ｋｅｌｖｉｎ波对正 ＳＳＴＡ的东传起主要作用，当这个东传的 Ｋｅｌｖ     

El Nino事件发生和消亡中热带太平洋纬向风应力的动力作用 II.模式结果分析

为了分析ElNio事件发生和消亡中热带太平洋纬向风应力的动力作用，建立一个类似于Zebiak的简单热带海洋数值模式，在观测到的风应力异常的强迫下，模拟赤道太平洋地区1971年1月至1998年8月海表温度异常的变化。结果表明，模式对观测的Nio3区海表温度异常(SSTA)有很好的模拟能力。模拟和观测Nio3区SSTA之间的相关系数可达0.90。模式对ElNio事件期间赤道太平洋海表温度异常随时间变化也有较好的模拟能力。为了分析ElNio期间SSTA的空间分布及其随时间变化的动力学机制，还对19861989年ENSO循环期间赤道太平洋地区观测的SSTA的传播特征及其形成机制进行了分析。模式较好地模拟出了观测到的赤道太平洋地区SSTA的传播特征，即从1986年底至1987年4月，SSTA具有向东传播的特征，从1987年6月至1988年2月具有向西传播的特征。动力学分析的结果表明，赤道中西太平洋地区的纬向风应力异常对ElNio事件的发生和消亡具有重要作用。赤道中西太平洋地区的西风异常可强迫出东传的Kelvin波，这个东传的Kelvin波对正SSTA的东传起主要作用，当这个东传的Kelvin波到达东边界，由于东边界的反射作用，在东边界产生西传的Rossby波，这个西传的Rossby波对赤道中东太平洋地区正SSTA的西传起主要作用。东传Kelvin波和反射的Rossby波对ElNio期间赤道东太平洋正SSTA二次峰值的形成具有重要作用。     

An Assessment of MJO and Tropical Waves Simulated by Different Versions of the GAMIL Model

Simulated outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) outputs by two versions of the grid-point atmospheric general circulation model (GAMIL) were analyzed to assess the influences of improvements in cloud microphysics and convective parameterization schemes on the simulation of the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) and other tropical waves. The wavenumber-frequency spectral analysis was applied to isolate dominant modes of convectively coupled equatorial waves, including the MJO, Kelvin, equatorial Rossby (ER), mixed Rossby-gravity (MRG), and inertio-gravity (IG) waves. The performances of different versions of the GAMIL model (version 1.0 (GAMIL1.0) and version 2.0 (GAMIL2.0)) were evaluated by comparing the power spectrum distributions of these waves among GAMIL1.0, GAMIL2.0, and observational data. GAMIL1.0 shows a weak MJO signal, with the maximum variability occurring separately at wavenumbers 1 and 4 rather than being concentrated on wavenumbers 1–3, suggesting that GAMIL1.0 could not effectively capture the intraseasonal variability. However, GAMIL2.0 is able to effectively reproduce both the symmetric and anti-symmetric waves, and the significant spectra of the MJO, Kelvin, and MRG waves are in agreement with observational data, indicating that the ability of GAMIL2.0 to simulate the MJO and other tropical waves is enhanced by improving the cloud microphysics and convective parameterization schemes and implying that such improvements are crucial to further improving this model’s performance.     

The tropical intraseasonal oscillation in SAMIL coupled and uncoupled general circulation models

Simulations of tropical intraseasonal oscillation(TISO) in SAMIL,the Spectral Atmospheric Model from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics(IAP) State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics(LASG) coupled and uncoupled general circulation models were comprehensively evaluated in this study.Compared to the uncoupled model,the atmosphere-ocean coupled model improved the TISO simulation in the following aspects:(1) the spectral intensity for the 30-80-day peak eastward periods was more realistic;(2) the eastward propagation signals over western Pacific were stronger;and(3) the variance distribution and stronger signals of Kelvin waves and mixed Rossby gravity waves were more realistic.Better performance in the coupled run was assumed to be associated with a better mean state and a more realistic relationship between precipitation and SST.In both the coupled and uncoupled runs,the unrealistic simulation of the eastward propagation over the equatorial Indian Ocean might have been associated with the biases of the precipitation mean state over the Indian Ocean,and the unrealistic split of maximum TISO precipitation variance over the Pacific might have corresponded to the exaggeration of the double Intertropical Convergence Zone(ITCZ) structure in precipitation mean state.However,whether a better mean state leads to better TISO activity remains questionable.Notably,the northward propagation over the Indian Ocean during summer was not improved in the mean lead-lag correlation analysis,but case studies have shown some strong cases to yield remarkably realistic northward propagation in coupled runs.     

The Westerly Anomalies over the Tropical Pacific and Their Dynamical Effect on the ENSO Cycles during 1980～1994

ＴｈｅＷｅｓｔｅｒｌｙＡｎｏｍａｌｉｅｓｏｖｅｒｔｈｅＴｒｏｐｉｃａｌＰａｃｉｆｉｃａｎｄＴｈｅｉｒＤｙｎａｍｉｃａｌＥｆｅｃｔｏｎｔｈｅＥＮＳＯＣｙｃｌｅｓｄｕｒｉｎｇ１９８０－１９９４①ＨｕａｎｇＲｏｎｇｈｕｉ（黄荣辉）,ＺａｎｇＸｉａｏｙｕｎ（...     

The westerly anomalies over the tropical pacific and their dynamical effect on the enso cycles during 1980–1994

In this paper, the zonal wind anomalies in the lower troposphere over the tropical Pacific during 1980–1994 are analyzed by using the observed data. The results show that during the formation of the 1982/83, 1986/87 and 1991 / 92 ENSO events, there were the larger westerly anomalies in the lower troposphere over the equatorial Pacific. Moreover, it is explained by using the correlation analyses that the westerly anomalies over the equatorial Pacific could cause the warm episodes of the equatorial central and eastern Pacific. A simple air-sea coupled model is used to discuss theoretically the dynamical effect of the observed westerly anomalies of wind stress near the sea surface of the equatorial Pacific on the ENSO cycle occurred in the period of 1981–1983. It is shown by using the theoretical calculations of the equatorial oceanic Kelvin wave and Rossby waves responding to the forcing of the observed anomalies of zonal wind stress near the sea surface of the equatorial Pacific that the westerly anomalies of wind stress near the sea surface of the equatorial Pacific make significant dynamical effect on the ENSO cycles occurred in the period of 1982–1983.     

Mechanism of Kelvin and Rossby waves during ENSO events

Summary ?The fields of sea-level height anomaly (SLHA) and surface zonal wind anomaly (SZWA) have been analyzed to investigate the typical evolution of spatial patterns during El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Sea surface temperature (SST) changes during ENSO events are represented as an irregular interplay of two dominant modes, low-frequency mode and biennial mode. Cyclostationary principal component (PC) time series of the former variables are regressed onto the PC time series of the two dominant SSTA modes to find the spatial patterns of SLHA and SZWA consistent with the two SSTA modes. The two regressed patterns of SLHA explain a large portion of SLHA total variability. The reconstruction of SLHA using only the two components reasonably depicts major ENSO events. Although the low-frequency component of SST variability is much larger than the biennial component, the former does not induce strong Kelvin and Rossby waves. The biennial mode induces much stronger dynamical ocean response than the low-frequency mode. Further decomposition of the SLHA modes into Kelvin and Rossby components shows how these two types of equatorial waves evolve during typical ENSO events. The propagation and reflection of these waves are clearly portrayed in the regressed patterns leading to a better understanding of the wave mechanism in the tropical Pacific associated with ENSO. A close examination suggests that the delayed action oscillator hypothesis is generally consistent with the analysis results reported here. Rossby wave development in the central Pacific in the initiation stage of ENSO and the subsequent reflection of Kelvin waves at the western boundary seems to be an important mechanism for further development of ENSO. The development of Kelvin waves forced by the surface wind in the far-western Pacific cannot be ruled out as a possible mechanism for the growth of ENSO. While Kelvin waves in the far-western Pacific serve as an intiation mechanism of ENSO, they also cause the termination of existing ENSO condition in the central and eastern Pacific, thereby leading to a biennial oscillation over the tropical Pacific. The Kelvin waves from the western Pacific erode the thermocline structure in the central Pacific preventing further devlopment of ENSO and ultimately terminating it. It should be emphasized that this wave mechanism is clear and active only in the biennial mode. Received August 15, 2001; revised March 6, 2002     

Why were some La Niñas followed by another La Niña?

This paper investigates why some La Niña events are followed by another La Niña and some others are not. We propose two preconditions that result in continuation of a La Niña. The first one is that La Niña must be a strong event (a major La Niña). This ensures that the reflected Rossby wave signal at the eastern boundary of the Pacific has a strong westward propagating cold ocean temperature anomaly over the off-equatorial region. The off-equator cold anomaly may not be conducive to the equatorial recharge process, and as a result, may favor the persistence of cold ocean subsurface temperature anomaly and prevent the transition from La Niña to El Niño. The second precondition is whether there are eastward propagating downwelling Kelvin waves during the decay phase of a major La Niña. Eastward propagating downwelling Kelvin waves could lead to demise for a tendency for a follow-up La Niña. The equatorial Kelvin wave activities are associated with fluctuations of surface wind in the equatorial far-western Pacific. The analysis suggests that both the surface wind in the equatorial far-western Pacific and the recharge/discharge of the equatorial Pacific are indicators for occurrence or no occurrence of a follow-up La Niña event.     

El Ni?o事件发生和消亡中热带太平洋纬向风应力的动力作用 I. 资料诊断和理论分析

通过资料分析,研究了发生在热带西太平洋海表面西风或东风应力异常与El Ni?o事件的关系。分析结果表明,对应着El Ni?o事件从发生到消亡的过程,热带西太平洋纬向风应力存在着从西风应力异常到东风应力异常的变化,并且在这个过程中,西风应力异常向东传,东风应力异常紧接其后也向东传。本文还根据观测资料的分析结果建立了理想风应力,并利用简单热带海洋模式,对热带西太平洋纬向风应力异常及其东传在ENSO循环中的作用进行了动力学分析,指出了它们在El Ni?o事件发生和消亡中起着重要的作用。西风应力异常通过激发出海洋中东传的暖Kelvin波及其在大洋东边界反射产生的暖Rossby波、以及西风应力异常本身东传到赤道东太平洋,引起正的海洋混合层扰动厚度异常,导致了El Ni?o事件的发生;而异常东风应力则通过激发出东传的冷Kelvin波及其在大洋东边界反射产生的冷Rossby波、以及东风应力异常本身东传到赤道东太平洋,引起负的海洋混合层扰动厚度异常,导致了El Ni?o事件的消亡。对于热带西太平洋上风应力异常的形式是东部为异常西风应力而其西部为异常东风应力,并且它们同时向东传时,则大洋东部混合层厚度对异常风应力的响应随异常东风和西风应力的强度不同而不同,它们强度的相对大小对El Ni?o的持续时间具有重要的作用。     

简单热带海气耦合模型中不同扰动形式间的耦合作用

在局地热平衡情况下研究了简单热带海气耦合模式中不同扰动形式间的耦合，依次讨论了由大气准定常Kelvin波与海洋R0ssby波、大气准定常Rossby波与海洋Kelvin波、大气准定常Kelvin波与海洋KelVin波、大气准定常Rossby波与海洋Rossby波组成的耦合系统的性质，并研究了存在于其中的耦合扰动的特征。     

热带大气和海洋运动的频率差异在海气系统演变中的作用

对热带太平洋地区850 hPa纬向风场、海表温度场月平均距平进行了谱分析。结果表明:纬向风距平与海表温度距平的振幅在El Ni?o或La Ni?a期间同时增长。而在其他期间,波振幅随时间呈相反变化趋势。在El Ni?o或La Ni?a事件发展期间,纬向风距平的位相角与海表温度距平位相角的差值在90o左右,而在事件的衰减期间,它们的位相角的差值在0o左右。本文还利用长波近似、海洋对大气加热取局地热力平衡近似时的简单热带海气耦合模式,研究了大气变量和海洋变量位相差随时间变化对海气耦合解的影响。在海气耦合模式中,当大气模式取为非定常时,大气和海洋Kelvin波之间以及Rossby波之间存在着能量转换,使大气和海洋波振幅呈相反变化趋势。此时,耦合波振幅随位相角差的变化没有共同的增长或衰减区间。大气Kelvin波与海洋Rossby波或大气Rossby波与海洋Kelvin波相互作用时,波振幅随位相差的变化存在着相同增长和衰减区间,它们的振幅要么同时增长,要么同时减少。当大气模式取定常时,因为相互作用波之间的位相差是一常数,波振幅随时间无限制增长。本文还在大气模式取为非定常和定常两种情况下,对海气耦合模式进行了数值求解。结果表明,当大气模式取为非定常时,数值解随时间的变化趋势跟观测结果有较好一致性。当大气模式取为定常时,数值解随时间的变化趋势跟观测结果差别较大。     

Effect of basic state on seasonal variation of convectively coupled Rossby wave

Convectively coupled equatorial Rossby (ER) waves display maximum varability over the northern hemisphere during boreal summer and over the southern hemisphere during boreal winter. It suggests that the seasonal variation of ER waves is significantly affected by the annual cycle of basic state. However, which specific environmental factor plays a determining role remains obscure. This study investigates the background influence on the seasonal variation of ER wave by employing an intermediate anomaly atmospheric model. By prescribing boreal summer/winter seasonal mean state as the model’s basic state, the authors found that the model is able to simulate the trapping of the ER wave purtrubation over the northern/southern hemisphere as in observation. Further sensitivity experiments suggest that the moisture distribution plays a major role in modulating the ER wave structure while the mosoonal flows play a minor role.     

Tropical variability and stratospheric equatorial waves in the IPSLCM5 model

The atmospheric variability in the equatorial regions is analysed in the Earth System Model pre-industrial simulation done at IPSL in the framework of CMIP5. We find that the model has an interannual variability of about the right amplitude and temporal scale, when compared to the El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but that is too confined to the western Pacific. At the intra-seasonal periods, the model variability lacks of large-scale organisation, and only produces one characteristic Madden-Julian Oscillation every 10 winters typically. At shorter time-scales and in the troposphere, the model has Rossby and Kelvin Convectively Coupled Equatorial Waves (CCEWs), but underestimates the Kelvin CCEWs signal on OLR. In the model stratosphere, a composite analysis shows that the Temperature and velocities fluctuations due to the Kelvin waves are quite realistic. In the model nevertheless, the stratospheric waves are less related to the convection than in the observations, suggesting that their forcing by the midlatitudes plays a larger role. Still in the model, the Kelvin waves are not predominantly occurring during the life cycle of the tropospheric Kelvin CCEWs, a behaviour that we find to be dominant in the observations. The composite analysis is also used to illustrate how the waves modify the zonal mean-flow, and to show that the model Kelvin waves are too weak in this respect. This illustrates how a model can have a reasonable Kelvin waves signal on the velocities and temperature, but can at the same time underestimate their amplitude to modify the mean flow. We also use this very long simulation to establish that in the model, the stratospheric equatorial waves are significantly affected by ENSO, hence supporting the idea that the ENSO can have an influence on the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation.