INTERDECADAL VARIABILITY IN A MODEL ATMOSPHERE

By using the simulation results of an AGCM, which had been run from 1945 to 1993 forced by COADS SST, the interdecadal variability of the model atmosphere was investigated and compared with that of NCEP reanalysis data. It was found that, interdecadal variability exists significantly in both the tropical Pacific wind fields and the mid-high latitude atmospheric circulation of the model atmosphere. The tendency of time variation and spatial distributions of the interdecadal variability of the model atmosphere are basically consistent with observation. Relative to the mid-high latitude atmospheric circulation, the simulation of tropical Pacific wind is more satisfying, which suggests that anomalous variation of SST is still the main factor for the interdecadal variability of tropical Pacific wind. It might have more significant influence on the tropical wind than on the mid-high latitude atmosphere. However, there is still obvious difference between the simulation and observation. They could be attributed to both the simulation capability of the model and absence of other factors in the model which are important for the interdecadal climate variation.     

全球海气系统年际和年代际变化的时空特征分析

本文利用从1950－1998年共计49年的马里兰（Maryland）大学全球海洋同化分析资料和NCEP全球大气再分析资料，分析了全球海气系统年际和年代际变化的主要时空特征，结果表明：1）全球上层海洋年际变化的主要模态是位于热带太平洋的ENSO模态，海洋年代际变化的最显著区域为南半球高纬度及中纬度海洋特别是赤道以外区域的热带东太平洋和大西洋；2）全球大气年际和年代际变化都主要位于中高纬度地区尤其是两极地区，在年际时间尺度上，气温异常和气压异常没有明显的对应关系，但在年代际时间尺度上，气温增暖（变冷）常常伴随着气压的降低（升高）；3）在年际时间尺度上，发生在中高纬度陆地地区的大气年际变化和主要发生热带海洋上层海洋年际变化没有一致性的内在联系，前者主要表现为大气的内部（浑沌）变化，而后者主要为热带海气相互作用产生的ENSO变化；4）在年代际时间尺度上，全球海洋大气系统大约在70年代前后，均一致性地经历了一次跃变，其结果是导致80年代以来，全球大范围地区（尤其是两极和西伯利亚地区）气温明显偏暖，赤道两侧的热带东太平洋、北美和南美西海岸、及非洲西海岸等海域海表面温度偏高，伴随着这种全球大范围背景增暖现象，青藏高原北部和格陵兰岛区域气温具有变冷的趋势，而南半球高纬度海域海表温度也表现为降低。     

Interdecadal variations of ENSO around 1999/2000

This paper discusses the interdecadal changes of the climate in the tropical Pacific with a focus on the corresponding changes in the characteristics of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Compared with 1979–1999, the whole tropical Pacific climate system, including both the ocean and atmosphere, shifted to a lower variability regime after 1999/2000. Meanwhile, the frequency of ENSO became less regular and was closer to a white noise process. The lead time of the equatorial Pacific's subsurface ocean heat content in preceding ENSO decreased remarkably, in addition to a reduction in the maximum correlation between them. The weakening of the correlation and the shortening of the lead time pose more challenges for ENSO prediction, and is the likely reason behind the decrease in skill with respect to ENSO prediction after 2000. Coincident with the changes in tropical Pacific climate variability, the mean states of the atmospheric and oceanic components also experienced physically coherent changes. The warm anomaly of SST in the western Pacific and cold anomaly in the eastern Pacific resulted in an increased zonal SST gradient, linked to an enhancement in surface wind stress and strengthening of the Walker circulation, as well as an increase in the slope of the thermocline. These changes were consistent with an increase (a decrease) in precipitation and an enhancement (a suppression) of the deep convection in the western (eastern) equatorial Pacific. Possible connections between the mean state and ENSO variability and frequency changes in the tropical Pacific are also discussed.     

Pacific interdecadal variability driven by tropical–extratropical interactions

Interactions between the tropical and subtropical northern Pacific at decadal time scales are examined using uncoupled oceanic and atmospheric simulations. An atmospheric model is forced with observed Pacific sea surface temperatures (SST) decadal anomalies, computed as the difference between the 2000–2009 and the 1990–1999 period. The resulting pattern has negative SST anomalies at the equator, with a global pattern reminiscent of the Pacific decadal oscillation. The tropical SST anomalies are responsible for driving a weakening of the Hadley cell and atmospheric meridional heat transport. The atmosphere is then shown to produce a significant response in the subtropics, with wind-stress-curl anomalies having the opposite sign from the climatological mean, consistent with a weakening of the oceanic subtropical gyre (STG). A global ocean model is then forced with the decadal anomalies from the atmospheric model. In the North Pacific, the shallow subtropical cell (STC) spins down and the meridional heat transport is reduced, resulting in positive tropical SST anomalies. The final tropical response is reached after the first 10 years of the experiment, consistent with the Rossby-wave adjustment time for both the STG and the STC. The STC provides the connection between subtropical wind stress anomalies and tropical SSTs. In fact, targeted simulations show the importance of off-equatorial wind stress anomalies in driving the oceanic response, whereas anomalous tropical winds have no role in the SST signal reversal. We further explore the connection between STG, STC and tropical SST with the help of an idealized model. We argue that, in our models, tropical SST decadal variability stems from the forcing of the Pacific subtropical gyre through the atmospheric response to ENSO. The resulting Ekman pumping anomaly alters the STC and oceanic heat transport, providing a negative feedback on the SST. We thus suggest that extratropical atmospheric responses to tropical forcing have feedbacks onto the ocean dynamics that lead to a time-delayed response of the tropical oceans, giving rise to a possible mechanism for multidecadal ocean-atmosphere coupled variability.     

Atmospheric anomalies related to interdecadal variability of SST in the North Pacific

Anomalous patterns of the atmospheric circulation and climate are studied corresponding to the two basic interdecadal variation modes of sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Pacific, namely, the 25-35-year mode and the 7-10-year mode. Results clearly indicate that corresponding to the positive and negative phases of the interdecadal modes of SST anomaly (SSTA) in the North Pacific, the anomalous patterns of the atmospheric circulation and climate are approximately out of phase, fully illustrating the important role of the interdecadal modes of SST. Since the two interdecadal modes of SSTA in the North Pacific have similar horizontal structures, their impacts on the atmospheric circulation and climate are also analogous. The impact of the interdecadal modes of the North Pacific SST on the atmospheric circulation is barotropic at middle latitudes and baroclinic in tropical regions.     

全球海洋蒸发量年代际变化归因：动力因子分析

本文基于动力调整方法,利用客观分析海气通量（OAFlux）资料研究了1958～2016年全球海洋蒸发量变化及其动力作用和辐射强迫分量的变化,发现海洋蒸发量及其动力作用分量具有一致性年代际变化特征,特别是在20世纪70年代及90年代末期存在明显的年代际转折。进一步分析发现:主要动力因子有太平洋—北美遥相关型（PNA）、北极涛动（AO）、北大西洋涛动（NAO）、厄尔尼诺—南方涛动（ENSO）和阿留申低压（AL）,并受到太平洋年代际振荡（PDO）的影响,其中,1970年代末期的转折与PNA、PDO、ENSO和AL密切相关,而1990年代末期的转折还与NAO变化有关。动力作用分量的前六个模态解释方差达到67.5%,其中,低纬北太平洋和印度洋蒸发异常主要与海表温度（SST）及其引起的环流异常有关,南太平洋、中纬北太平洋和北大西洋蒸发异常与环流异常直接相关。ENSO与PDO在全球海洋蒸发量上的影响要大于NAO。单因子相关分析发现南方涛动指数（SOI）、NAO和PDO与海洋蒸发年代际变化密切相关。总体来说,动力作用分量在海洋蒸发的年代际变化中起主导作用,其中,以ENSO、NAO和PDO的影响最大。     

Interdecadal aridity variations in Central Asia during 1950–2016 regulated by oceanic conditions under the background of global warming

As a typical inland arid and semiarid region, Central Asia (CA) is vulnerable to the forced global warming (FGW) due to anthropogenic activity. Aiming at the interdecadal variation of the FGW-forced aridity pattern (FAP) in CA, we try to extract the associated oceanic and atmospheric modes by analyzing observations, reanalysis data and multi-model simulations during 1950–2016. The FAP in CA features a tripolar pattern with wetting–drying-wetting responses arranging from southeast to northwest and shows strong interdecadal-to-interannual amplitude variations. It is found that the sea surface temperature (SST) in the tropical South Atlantic (TSA) well correlates with the amplitude variation of FAP on interdecadal time scale, possibly through modulating the interannual SST modes characterized by the North Atlantic horseshoe-like dipole (NAHD) and the El Ninõ and South Oscillation (ENSO). Corresponding to the enhancing FAP from the middle 1970s to early 2000s, the TSA-modulated NAHD and ENSO, together with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation-modulated Indian Ocean Dipole-like mode, show connections with an Eurasian middle-latitude wave train coupled with the North Arctic Oscillation and equatorial low, which favors the moisture transport to strengthen the tripolar FAP by forming a local circulation dipole with positive/negative anomaly over the northwest/southeast CA. But after the early 2000s, the increasing FAP amplitude is decelerated due to the interdecadal decline of TSA accompanied by the weakened/reversed relationship between FAP and the NAHD/ENSO. Because of the corresponding breakdown of the wave train, the favorable local circulation is unavailable to support the sustained enhancement of FAP. Therefore, the multiscale coupling between the above oceanic and atmospheric modes is significantly related to the characteristic of stage of the forced aridity change in CA under the background of global warming.

     

ENSO in a hybrid coupled model. Part I: sensitivity to physical parametrizations

 A hybrid coupled model (HCM) for the tropical Pacific ocean-atmosphere system is used to test the effects of physical parametrizations on ENSO simulation. The HCM consists of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory ocean general circulation model coupled to an empirical atmospheric model based on the covariance matrix of observed SST and wind stress anomaly fields. In this two-part work, part I describes the effects of ocean vertical mixing schemes and atmospheric spin-up time on ENSO period. Part II addresses ENSO prediction using the HCM and examines the impact of initialization schemes. The standard version of the HCM exhibits spatial and temporal evolution that compare well to observations, with irregular cycles that tend to exhibit 3- and 4-year frequency-locking behavior. Effects in the vertical mixing parametrization that produce stronger mixing in the surface layer give a longer inherent ENSO period, suggesting model treatment of vertical mixing is crucial to the ENSO problem. Although the atmospheric spin-up time scale is short compared to ENSO time scales, it also has a significant effect in lengthening the ENSO period. This suggests that atmospheric time scales may not be truly negligible in quantitative ENSO theory. Overall, the form and evolution mechanism of the ENSO cycle is robust, even though the period is affected by these physical parametrizations. Received: 17 April 1998 / Accepted: 22 July 1999     

A Hybrid Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Model and Its Simulation of ENSO and Atmospheric Responses

A new hybrid coupled model(HCM) is presented in this study, which consists of an intermediate tropical Pacific Ocean model and a global atmospheric general circulation model. The ocean component is the intermediate ocean model(IOM)of the intermediate coupled model(ICM) used at the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences(IOCAS). The atmospheric component is ECHAM5, the fifth version of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology atmospheric general circulation model. The HCM integrates its atmospheric and oceanic components by using an anomaly coupling strategy. A100-year simulation has been made with the HCM and its simulation skills are evaluated, including the interannual variability of SST over the tropical Pacific and the ENSO-related responses of the global atmosphere. The model shows irregular occurrence of ENSO events with a spectral range between two and five years. The amplitude and lifetime of ENSO events and the annual phase-locking of SST anomalies are also reproduced realistically. Despite the slightly stronger variance of SST anomalies over the central Pacific than observed in the HCM, the patterns of atmospheric anomalies related to ENSO,such as sea level pressure, temperature and precipitation, are in broad agreement with observations. Therefore, this model can not only simulate the ENSO variability, but also reproduce the global atmospheric variability associated with ENSO, thereby providing a useful modeling tool for ENSO studies. Further model applications of ENSO modulations by ocean–atmosphere processes, and of ENSO-related climate prediction, are also discussed.     

The role of ocean dynamics in producing decadal climate variability in the North Pacific

 Decadal time scale climate variability in the North Pacific has implications for climate both locally and over North America. A crucial question is the degree to which this variability arises from coupled ocean/atmosphere interactions over the North Pacific that involve ocean dynamics, as opposed to either purely thermodynamic effects of the oceanic mixed layer integrating in situ the stochastic atmospheric forcing, or the teleconnected response to tropical variability. The part of the variability that is coming from local coupled ocean/atmosphere interactions involving ocean dynamics is potentially predictable by an ocean/atmosphere general circulation model (O/A GCM), and such predictions could (depending on the achievable lead time) have distinct societal benefits. This question is examined using the results of fully coupled O/A GCMs, as well as targeted numerical experiments with stand-alone ocean and atmosphere models individually. It is found that coupled ocean/atmosphere interactions that involve ocean dynamics are important to determining the strength and frequency of a decadal-time scale peak in the spectra of several oceanic variables in the Kuroshio extension region off Japan. Local stochastic atmospheric heat flux forcing, integrated by the oceanic mixed layer into a red spectrum, provides a noise background from which the signal must be extracted. Although teleconnected ENSO responses influence the North Pacific in the 2–7 years/cycle frequency band, it is shown that some decadal-time scale processes in the North Pacific proceed without ENSO. Likewise, although the effects of stochastic atmospheric forcing on ocean dynamics are discernible, a feedback path from the ocean to the atmosphere is suggested by the results. Received: 23 January 2000 / Accepted: 10 January 2001     

近50年中国冬季气温对ENSO响应的时空稳定性分析研究

根据1962~2010年中国160站的月平均气温资料、Ni?o3.4区海洋Ni?o指数(ONI)资料以及相应的NECP/NCAR再分析资料,采用相关分析、滑动相关分析、滑动t检验、合成分析等方法,探讨了最近50年中国冬季气温对ENSO响应的时空稳定性问题。结果表明:中国冬季气温异常对ENSO的响应有着显著的地域性差异以及年代际变化,其中东北和西南地区的相关关系不稳定度比较大,而在中国东部地区则比较稳定。东北与西南地区在20世纪70年代中后期以后,冬季气温对ENSO的响应迅速减弱,甚至发生了反向变化,而东部地区这种关系近50年并没有较强的突变。相应的亚洲高空大气环流对ENSO的响应也具有明显的空间差异和阶段性变化,其特征与中国冬季气温对ENSO的响应特征基本对应。从大气环流角度解释中国冬季气温对ENSO的响应发生阶段性减弱的可能机制:ENSO通过经向Hadley环流影响中高纬度大气环流,由于70年代中后期以后亚洲经向Hadley环流的下沉支发生显著减弱,使得东亚大气环流对ENSO的响应减弱,进而导致中国冬季气温对ENSO的响应减弱。     

全球增暖对ENSO影响的数值模拟研究

利用日本东京大学气候系统研究所、日本环境研究所和日本地球环境研究中心联合开发的海气耦合模式MIROC3.2，研究了全球变暖对ENSO年际变率的影响。该模式较好地模拟了ENSO循环的不同阶段表层和次表层海水温度变化，海表温度最大振幅出现在120°W以东，与观测一致，表明模式可以较好反映热带地区大气、海洋的动力、热力特征。研究还比较了控制试验和CO2浓度年增长1%的瞬时试验，结果表明，在全球变暖的大环境下ENSO事件发生频率没有显著变化，但ENSO事件强度增大，年际变率变大；热带太平洋呈现整体增暖趋势，表层温度尤其是热带中太平洋地区温度升高显著。敏感性分析表明，年际ENSO变率的振幅增大的主要贡献来自于海洋。海水增温导致热带太平洋海温垂直梯度增大，在热带西太平洋海温垂直温度梯度变化最为明显；次表层海温对单位大气风应力变化的响应大于表层海温响应。当这种响应与热带太平洋赤道地区径向温度梯度变化的共同作用导致温室效应下ENSO振幅增大。     

On the phase propagation and relationship of interannual variability in the tropical Pacific climate system

—Upper ocean thermal data and surface marine observations are used to describe the three-dimensional, basinwide co-evolution of interannual variability in the tropical Pacific climate system. The phase propagation behavior differs greatly from atmosphere to ocean, and from equatorial to off-equatorial and from sea surface to subsurface depths in the ocean. Variations in surface zonal winds and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) exhibit a standing pattern without obvious zonal phase propagation. A nonequilibrium ocean response at subsurface depths is evident, characterized by coherent zonal and meridional propagating anomalies around the tropical North Pacific: eastward on the equator but westward off the equator. Depending on geographic location, there are clear phase relations among various anomaly fields. Surface zonal winds and SSTs in the equatorial region fluctuate approximately in-phase in time, but have phase differences in space. Along the equator, zonal mean thermocline depth (or heat content) anomalies are in nonequilibrium with the zonal wind stress forcing. Variations in SSTs are not in equilibrium either with subsurface thermocline changes in the central and western equatorial Pacific, with the former lagging the latter and displaced to the east. Due to its phase relations to SST and winds, the basinwide temperature anomaly evolution at thermocline depths on an interannual time scale may determine the slow physics of ENSO, and play a central role in initiating and terminating coupled air-sea interaction. This observed basinwide phase propagation of subsurface anomaly patterns can be understood partially as water discharge processes from the western Pacific to the east and further to high latitudes, and partially by the modified delayed oscillator physics. Received: 17 January 1997 / Accepted: 10 March 1998     

加利福尼亚附近的海温强迫及其与北太平洋年代际振荡的可能联系

本文利用1958～2018年期间海表面温度（SST）异常和湍流热通量异常变化的关系,探讨了其与北太平洋年代际振荡（PDO）相关的年际和年代际时间尺度上在不同海域的海气相互作用特征。结果表明:在年际尺度上,黑潮—亲潮延伸区（KOE）表现为显著大气强迫海洋,赤道中东太平洋表现为显著海洋强迫大气;在年代际尺度上,PDO北中心表现为大气强迫海洋,加利福尼亚附近则表现为显著海洋强迫大气。进一步分析表明:加利福尼亚附近区域是北太平洋准12年振荡的关键区域之一,与PDO准十年的周期类似,加利福尼亚附近的冷（暖）海温对应其上有反气旋（气旋）型环流,赤道中太平洋海水上翻和北太平洋东部副热带区域经向风应力的变化是北太平洋准12年振荡的另外两个重要环节。     

A review of interdecadal changes in the nonlinearity of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation

Many features of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) display significant interdecadal changes. These include general characteristics such as amplitude, period, and developing features, and also nonlinearities, especially the El Niño-La Niña asymmetry. A review of previous studies on the interdecadal changes in the ENSO nonlinearities is provided. In particular, the methods for measuring ENSO nonlinearities, their possible driving mechanisms, and their interdecadal changes are discussed. Two methods for measuring ENSO nonlinearities are introduced; the maximum potential intensity, which refers to the upper and lower bounds of the cold tongue temperature, and the skewness, which represents the asymmetry of a probability density function. For example, positive skewness (a strong El Niño vs. a weak La Niña) of the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies is dominant over the eastern tropical Pacific, with an increase seen during recent decades (e.g., 1980–2000). This positive skewness can be understood as a result of several nonlinear processes. These include the warming effect on both El Niño and La Niña by nonlinear dynamic heating (NDH), which intensifies El Niño and suppresses La Niña; the asymmetric negative feedback due to tropical oceanic instability waves, which has a relatively stronger influence on the La Niña event; the nonlinear physics of the ocean mixed layer; the Madden-Julian-Oscillation/Westerly-Wind-Burst and ENSO interaction; the biological-physical feedback process; and the nonlinear responses of the tropical atmospheric convection to El Niño and La Niña conditions. The skewness of the tropical eastern Pacific SST anomalies and the intensities of the above-mentioned mechanisms have both experienced clear decadal changes in a dynamically associated manner. In particular, there is a dynamic linkage between the decadal changes in the El Niño-La Niña asymmetry and those in NDH. This linkage is based on the recent decadal changes in mean climate states, which provided a favorable condition for thermocline feedback rather than for zonal advection feedback, and thus promoted the eastward propagation of the ENSO-related atmospheric and oceanic fields. The eastward propagating ENSO mode easily produces a positive NDH, resulting in asymmetric ENSO events in which El Niño conditions are stronger than La Niña conditions.     

Sensitivity of ENSO characteristics to a new interactive flux correction scheme in a coupled GCM

A fast coupled global climate model (CGCM) is used to study the sensitivity of El Ni?o Southern Oscillation (ENSO) characteristics to a new interactive flux correction scheme. With no flux correction applied our CGCM reveals typical bias in the background state: for instance, the cold tongue in the tropical east Pacific becomes too cold, thus degrading atmospheric sensitivity to variations of sea surface temperature (SST). Sufficient atmospheric sensitivity is essential to ENSO. Our adjustment scheme aims to sustain atmospheric sensitivity by counteracting the SST drift in the model. With reduced bias in the forcing of the atmosphere, the CGCM displays ENSO-type variability that otherwise is absent. The adjustment approach employs a one-way anomaly coupling from the ocean to the atmosphere: heat fluxes seen by the ocean are based on full SST, while heat fluxes seen by the atmosphere are based on anomalies of SST. The latter requires knowledge of the model??s climatological SST field, which is accumulated interactively in the spin-up phase (??training??). Applying the flux correction already during the training period (by utilizing the evolving SST climatology) is necessary for efficiently reducing the bias. The combination of corrected fluxes seen by the atmosphere and uncorrected fluxes seen by the ocean implies a restoring mechanism that counteracts the bias and allows for long stable integrations in our CGCM. A suite of sensitivity runs with varying training periods is utilized to study the effect of different levels of bias in the background state on important ENSO properties. Increased duration of training amplifies the coupled sensitivity in our model and leads to stronger amplitudes and longer periods of the Nino3.4 index, increased emphasis of warm events that is reflected in enhanced skewness, and more pronounced teleconnections in the Pacific. Furthermore, with longer training durations we observe a mode switch of ENSO in our model that closely resembles the observed mode switch related to the mid-1970s ??climate shift??.     

东亚夏季风的年际到年代际变化及其与全球大气环流和海表温度的联系

The East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) underwent an interdecadal variation with interannual variations during the period from 1958 to 1997, its index tended to decline from a higher stage in the mid-1960＇s until it reached a lower stage after 1980＇s. Correlation analysis reveals that EASM is closely related with the global atmospheric circulation and sea surface temperature (SST). The differences between the weak and strong stage of EASM shows that, the summer monsoon circulation over East Asia and North Africa is sharply weakened, in the meantime, the westerlies in high latitudes and the trade--wind over the tropical ocean are also changed significantly. Over the most regions south of the northern subtropics, both air temperature in the lower troposphere and SST tended to rise compared with the strong stage of EASM. It is also revealed that the ocean-atmosphere interaction over the western Pacific and Indian Ocean plays a key role in interannual to interdecadal variation of EASM, most probably, the subtropical Indian Ocean is more important. On the other hand, the ENSO event is less related to EASM at least during the concerned period.     

The extratropical sensitivity to the meridional extent of tropical ENSO forcing

The extratropical response to tropical remote forcing has been examined with so-called tropical ocean-global atmosphere experiments, which use prescribed sea surface temperature (SST) in the tropical Pacific and a slab mixed-layer ocean model elsewhere. In this study we have revisited this experimental design and found that the extratropical response is quite sensitive to the meridional extent of tropical prescribed SST domain. Even in the case of a prescribed annual cycle only (i.e., no ENSO), the differences in the prescribed SST regions lead to different atmospheric motions in the adjacent extratropics. When the tropical forcing includes ENSO, the sensitivity to the meridional domain is more prominent, especially during La Niña events. In La Niña, the prescribed SST is warmer than the simulated SST in the northern subtropics, and the warmer SST differences continue to 30°N. This broad SST differences accompany enhanced atmospheric meridional circulation that directly connects the tropics and extratropics within the Pacific basin. Moreover, the Rossby wave excitation also increases, so the effect of prescribed region difference is felt beyond the Pacific basin. On the other hand, the effect of ENSO sea surface temperature anomalie (i.e., ENSO experiment composite minus control experiment annual cycle, both of which have the same prescribed SST domain) is stronger in the broad tropical forcing experiment. However, the ENSO anomaly composite from own annual cycle is similar regardless of the meridional extent of forcing region, and commonly mimics the Northern Hemisphere El Niño composite of nature in the boreal winter season.     

CoPIVEP: a theory-based analysis of coupled processes and interannual variability in the Equatorial Pacific in four coupled GCMs

 The interannual variability over the tropical Pacific and a possible link with the mean state or the seasonal cycle is examined in four coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation models (GCM). Each model is composed of a high-resolution ocean GCM of either the tropical Pacific or near-global oceans coupled to a moderate-resolution atmospheric GCM, without using flux correction. The oceanic subsurface is considered to describe the mean state or the seasonal cycle through the analytical formulations of some potential coupled processes. These coupled processes characterise the zonal gradient of sea surface temperature (hereafter SST), the oceanic vertical gradient of temperature and the equatorial upwelling. The simulated SST patterns of the mean state and the interannual signals are generally too narrow. The grid of the oceanic model could control the structure of the SST interannual signals while the behaviour of the atmospheric model could be important in the link between the oceanic surface and the subsurface. The first SST EOFs are different between the coupled models, however, the second SST EOFs are quite similar and could correspond to the return to the normal state while that of the observations (COADS) could favour the initial anomaly. All the models seem to simulate a similar equatorial wave-like dynamics to return to the normal state. The more the basic state is unstable from the coupled processes point of view, the more the interannual signal are high. It seems that the basic state could control the intensity of the interannual variability. Two models, which have a significant seasonal variation of the interannual variance, also have a significant seasonal variation of the instability with a few months lag. The potential seasonal phase locking of the interannual fluctuations need to be examined in more models to confirm its existence in current tropical GCMs. Received: 30 July 1999 / Accepted: 25 April 2000     

Decadal change in relationship between western North Pacific tropical cyclone frequency and the tropical Pacific SST

In this study, we examine the relationship between the number of tropical cyclones (TCs) in the western North Pacific and the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) during the main TC season (July–November) for the period of 1965–2006. Results show that there are periods when TC frequency and the tropical Pacific SST are well correlated and periods when the relationship breaks down. Therefore, decadal variation is readily apparent in the relationship between the TC frequency and the SST variations in the tropical Pacific. We further examine the oceanic and atmospheric states in the two periods (i.e., 1979–1989 vs. 1990–2000) when the marked contrast in the correlation between the TC frequency and the tropical Pacific SST is observed. Before 1990, the analysis indicates that oceanic conditions largely influenced anomalous TC frequency, whereas atmospheric conditions had little impact. After 1990, there the reverse appears to be the case, i.e., atmospheric conditions drive anomalous TC frequency and oceanic conditions are relatively unimportant. A role of atmosphere and ocean in relation to the TC development in the western North Pacific changes, which is consistent with the change of the correlations between the TC frequency and the tropical Pacific SST.