Variation in joint mode of the tropical Indian-Pacific Ocean thermodynamic anomaly

Previous research has defined the index of the Indian-Pacific thermodynamic anomaly joint mode (IPTAJM) and suggested that the winter IPTAJM has an important impact on summer rainfall over China. However, the possible causes for the interannual and decadal variability of the IPTAJM are still unclear. Therefore, this work investigates zonal displacements of both the western Pacific warm pool (WPWP) and the eastern Indian Ocean warm pool (EIOWP). The relationships between the WPWP and the EIOWP and the IPTAJM are each examined, and then the impacts of the zonal wind anomalies over the equatorial Pacific and Indian Oceans on the IPTAJM are studied. The WPWP eastern edge anomaly displays significant interannual and decadal variability and experienced a regime shift in about 1976 and 1998, whereas the EIOWP western edge exhibits only distinct interannual variability. The decadal variability of the IPTAJM may be mainly caused by both the zonal migration of the WPWP and the 850 hPa zonal wind anomaly over the central equatorial Pacific. On the other hand, the zonal migrations of both the WPWP and the EIOWP and the zonal wind anomalies over the central equatorial Pacific and the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean may be all responsible for the interannual variability of the IPTAJM.     

Dynamic mechanism of interannual zonal displacements of the eastern edge of the western Pacific warm pool

The eastern edge of the western Pacific warm pool (WPWP) in the upper layer (shallower than 50m) exhibits significant zonal displacements on interannual scale. Employing an intermediate ocean model, the dynamic mechanism for the interannual zonal displacement of the WPWP eastern edge in the upper layer is investigated by diagnosing the dynamic impacts of zonal current anomalies induced by wind, waves (Kelvin and Rossby waves), and their boundary reflections. The interannual zonal displacements of the WPWP eastern edge in the upper layer and the zonal current anomaly in the equatorial Pacific west of 110°W for more than 30 years can be well simulated. The modeling results show that zonal current anomalies in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific are the dominant dynamic mechanism for the zonal displacements of the eastern edge of the upper WPWP warm water. Composite analyses suggest that the zonal current anomalies induced by waves dominate the zonal displacement of the WPWP eastern edge, whereas the role played by zonal wind-driven current anomalies is very small. A sensitivity test proves that the zonal current anomalies associated with reflected waves on the western and eastern Pacific boundaries can act as a restoring force that results in the interannual reciprocating zonal motion of the WPWP eastern edge.     

Seasonal variation of the surface North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) in the western Pacific Ocean

The North Equatorial Countercurrent(NECC) is an important zonal fl ow in the upper circulation of the tropical Pacifi c Ocean, which plays a vital role in the heat budget of the western Pacifi c warm pool. Using satellite-derived data of ocean surface currents and sea surface heights(SSHs) from 1992 to 2011, the seasonal variation of the surface NECC in the western tropical Pacifi c Ocean was investigated. It was found that the intensity(INT) and axis position(Y_(CM)) of the surface NECC exhibit strikingly different seasonal fl uctuations in the upstream(128°–136°E) and downstream(145°–160°E) regions. Of the two regions, the seasonal cycle of the upstream NECC shows the greater interannual variability. Its INT and Y CM are greatly infl uenced by variations of the Mindanao Eddy, Mindanao Dome(MD), and equatorial Rossby waves to its south. Both INT and YC M also show semiannual signals induced by the combined effects of equatorial Rossby waves from the Central Pacifi c and local wind forcing in the western Pacifi c Ocean. In the downstream region, the variability of the NECC is affected by SSH anomalies in the MD and the central equatorial Pacifi c Ocean. Those in the MD region are especially important in modulating the Y CM of the downstream NECC. In addition to the SSH-related geostrophic fl ow, zonal Ekman fl ow driven by meridional wind stress also plays a role, having considerable impact on INT variability of the surface NECC. The contrasting features of the variability of the NECC in the upstream and downstream regions refl ect the high complexity of regional ocean dynamics.     

Influences of two types of El Ni?o event on the Northwest Pacific and tropical Indian Ocean SST anomalies

Based on the Had ISST1 and NCEP datasets,we investigated the influences of the central Pacific El Ni?o event(CP-EL)and eastern Pacific El Ni?o event(EP-EL)on the Sea Surface Temperature(SST)anomalies of the Tropical Indian Ocean.Considering the remote ef fect of Indian Ocean warming,we also discussed the anticyclone anomalies over the Northwest Pacific,which is very important for the South China precipitation and East Asian climate.Results show that during the El Ni?o developing year of EP-EL,cold SST anomalies appear and intensify in the east of tropical Indian Ocean.At the end of that autumn,all the cold SST anomaly events lead to the Indian Ocean Dipole(IOD)events.Basin uniform warm SST anomalies exist in the Indian Ocean in the whole summer of EL decaying year for both CP-and EP-ELs.However,considering the statistical significance,more significant warm SST anomalies only appear in the North Indian Ocean among the June and August of EP-EL decaying year.For further research,EP-EL accompany with Indian Ocean Basin Warming(EPI-EL)and CP El Ni?o accompany with Indian Ocean Basin Warming(CPI-EL)events are classified.With the remote ef fects of Indian Ocean SST anomalies,the EPI-and CPI-ELs contribute quite differently to the Northwest Pacific.For the EPI-EL developing year,large-scale warm SST anomalies arise in the North Indian Ocean in May,and persist to the autumn of the El Ni?o decaying year.However,for the CPI-EL,weak warm SST anomalies in the North Indian Ocean maintain to the El Ni?o decaying spring.Because of these different SST anomalies in the North Indian Ocean,distinct zonal SST gradient,atmospheric anticyclone and precipitation anomalies emerge over the Northwest Pacific in the El Ni?o decaying years.Specifically,the large-scale North Indian Ocean warm SST anomalies during the EPI-EL decaying years,can persist to summer and force anomalous updrafts and rainfall over the North Indian Ocean.The atmospheric heating caused by this precipitation anomaly emulates atmospheric Kelvin waves accompanied by low level easterly anomalies over the Northwest Pacific.As a result,a zonal SST gradient with a warm anomaly in the west and a cold anomaly in the east of Northwest Pacific is generated locally.Furthermore,the atmospheric anticyclone and precipitation anomalies over the Northwest Pacific are strengthened again in the decaying summer of EPI-EL.Af fected by the local WindEvaporation-SST(WES)positive feedback,the suppressed East Asian summer rainfall then persists to the late autumn during EPI-EL decaying year,which is much longer than that of CPI-EL.     

Skewness of subsurface ocean temperature in the equatorial Pacific based on assimilated data

The skewness of subsurface temperature anomaly in the equatorial Pacific Ocean shows a significant asymmetry between the east and west.A positive temperature skewness appears in the equatorial eastern Pacific,while the temperature skewness in the western and central Pacific is primarily negative.There is also an asymmetry of the temperature skewness above and below the climatological mean thermocline in the central and western Pacific.A positive skewness appears below the thermocline,but the skewness is neg...     

Wind-forced equatorial wave dynamics of the Pacific Ocean during 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 E1 Ni?o events

The equatorial wave dynamics of interannual sea level variations between 2014/2015 and2015/2016 El Nino events are compared using the Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics,Institute of Atmospheric Physics Climate Ocean Model(LICOM) forced by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP) reanalysis I wind stre s s and heat flux during 2000-2015.In addition,the LICOM can reproduce the interannual variability of sea surface temperature anomalies(SSTA) and sea level anomalies(SLA) along the equator over the Pacific Ocean in comparison with the Hadley center and altimetric data well.We extracted the equatorial wave coefficients of LICOM simulation to get the contribution to SLA by multiplying the meridional wave structure.During 2014/2015 El Nino event,upwelling equatorial Kelvin waves from the western boundary in April2014 reach the eastern Pacific Ocean,which weakened SLA in the eastern Pacific Ocean.However,no upwelling equatorial Kelvin waves from the western boundary of the Pacific Ocean could reach the eastern boundary during the 2015/2016 El Nino event.Linear wave model results also demonstrate that upwelling equatorial Kelvin waves in both 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 from the western boundary can reach the eastern boundary.However,the contribution from stronger westerly anomalies forced downwelling equatorial Kelvin waves overwhelmed that from the upwelling equatorial Kelvin waves from the western boundary in 2015.Therefore,the western boundary reflection and weak westerly wind burst inhibited the growth of the 2014/2015 El Nino event.The disclosed equatorial wave dynamics are important to the simulation and prediction of ENSO events in future studies.     

Events of decadal thermocline variations in the South Pacific Ocean

1 INTRODUCTION It has been suggested that interior thermal anomalies that subduct into the subtropics of the North Pacific may propagate to the equatorial region of the Pacific (Russell, 1994; Deser et al., 1996; Gu and Philander, 1997; Huang and Huang an…     

Climate variability and predictability associated with the Indo-Pacific Oceanic Channel Dynamics in the CCSM4 Coupled System Model

An experiment using the Community Climate System Model (CCSM4), a participant of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase-5 (CMIP5), is analyzed to assess the skills of this model in simulating and predicting the climate variabilities associated with the oceanic channel dynamics across the Indo-Pacific Oceans. The results of these analyses suggest that the model is able to reproduce the observed lag correlation between the oceanic anomalies in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean and those in the cold tongue in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean at a time lag of 1 year. This success may be largely attributed to the successful simulation of the interannual variations of the Indonesian Throughflow, which carries the anomalies of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) into the western equatorial Pacific Ocean to produce subsurface temperature anomalies, which in turn propagate to the eastern equatorial Pacific to generate ENSO. This connection is termed the “oceanic channel dynamics” and is shown to be consistent with the observational analyses. However, the model simulates a weaker connection between the IOD and the interannual variability of the Indonesian Throughflow transport than found in the observations. In addition, the model overestimates the westerly wind anomalies in the western-central equatorial Pacific in the year following the IOD, which forces unrealistic upwelling Rossby waves in the western equatorial Pacific and downwelling Kelvin waves in the east. This assessment suggests that the CCSM4 coupled climate system has underestimated the oceanic channel dynamics and overestimated the atmospheric bridge processes.     

Distribution of the tropical Pacific surface zonal wind anomaly and its relation with two types of El Niño

El Nio events with an eastern Pacific pattern(EP) and central Pacific pattern(CP) were first separated using rotated empirical orthogonal functions(REOF).Lead/lag regression and rotated singular value decomposition(RSVD) analyses were then carried out to study the relation between the surface zonal wind(SZW) anomalies and sea surface temperature(SST) anomalies in the tropical Pacific.A possible physical process for the CP El Ni o was proposed.For the EP El Ni o,strong westerly anomalies that spread eastward continuously produce an anomalous ocean zonal convergence zone(ZCZ) centered on about 165°W.This SZW anomaly pattern favors poleward and eastward Sverdrup transport at the equator.For the CP El Nio,westerly anomalies and the ZCZ are mainly confined to the western Pacific,and easterly anomalies blow in the eastern Pacific.This SZW anomaly pattern restrains poleward and eastward Sverdrup transport at the equator;however,there is an eastward Sverdrup transport at about 5°N,which favors the warming of the north-eastern tropical Pacific.It is found that the slowness of eastward propagation of subsurface warm water(partly from the downwelling caused by Ekman convergence and the ZCZ) is due to the slowdown of the undercurrent in the central basin,and vertical advection in the central Pacific may be important in the formation and disappearance of the CP El Nio.     

An ENSO-like oscillation system

INTRODUCTIONElNi no SouthernOscillation (ENSO)istheinterannualinteractionofocean atmosphereinthetropical (especiallyequatorial)Pacific,andisconsideredtobethedominantmechanismoftheearth’sinterannualclimatechange.ThereareseveralparadigmsproposedforinterpretingENSO .Bjerknes’ (1 966,1 969)pio neeringworkvisualizedacloseassociationbetweenoceanandatmosphereandexplainedhowthedis turbancecoulddevelopthroughtheocean atmosphereinteraction .Heproposedapositivefeedbackmechanism .ButENSOisan…     

Impacts of SST anomalies in the Indian-Pacific basin on Northwest Pacific tropical cyclone activities during three super El Ni?o years

This study investigated the impact of sea surface temperature(SST)in several important areas of the Indian-Pacific basin on tropical cyclone(TC)activity over the western North Pacific(WNP)during the developing years of three super El Ni?o events(1982,1997,and 2015)based on observations and numerical simulations.During the super El Ni?o years,TC intensity was enhanced considerably,TC days increased,TC tracks mostly recurved along the coasts,and fewer TCs made landfall in China.These characteristics are similar to the strong ENSO-TC relationship but further above the climatological means than in strong El Ni?o years.It indicates that super El Ni?o events play a dominant role in the intensities and tracks of WNP TCs.However,there were clear differences in both numbers and positions of TC genesis among the different super El Ni?o years.These features could be attributed to the collective impact of SST anomalies(SSTAs)in the tropical central-eastern Pacific and East Indian Ocean(EIO)and the SST gradient(SSTG)between the southwestern Pacific and the western Pacific warm pool.During 2015,the EIO SSTA was extremely warm and the anomalous anticyclone in the western WNP was enhanced,resulting in fewer TCs than normal.In 1982,the EIO SSTA and spring SSTG showed negative anomalies,followed by an increased anomalous cyclone in the western WNP and equatorial vertical wind shear.This intensified the conversion of eddy kinetic energy from large-scale flows,favorable for the westward shift of TC genesis.Consequently,anomalous TC activities during the super El Ni?o years resulted mainly from combined SSTA impacts of different key areas over the Indian-Pacific basin.     

Subtropical air-sea interaction and development of central Pacific El Niño

The standard deviation of the central Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) during the period from October to February shows that the central Pacific SSTA variation is primarily due to the occurrence of the Central Pacific El Nio (CP-El Nio) and has a connection with the subtropical air-sea interaction in the northeastern Pacific. After removing the influence of the Eastern Pacific El Nio, an S-EOF analysis is conducted and the leading mode shows a clear seasonal SSTA evolving from the subtropical northeastern Pacific to the tropical central Pacific with a quasi-biennial period. The initial subtropical SSTA is generated by the wind speed decrease and surface heat flux increase due to a north Pacific anomalous cyclone. Such subtropical SSTA can further influence the establishment of the SSTA in the tropical central Pacific via the wind-evaporation-SST (WES) feedback. After established, the central equatorial Pacific SSTA can be strengthened by the zonal advective feedback and thermocline feedback, and develop into CP-El Nio. However, as the thermocline feedback increases the SSTA cooling after the mature phase, the heat flux loss and the re-versed zonal advective feedback can cause the phase transition of CP-El Nio. Along with the wind stress variability, the recharge (discharge) process occurs in the central (eastern) equatorial Pacific and such a process causes the phase consistency between the thermocline depth and SST anomalies, which presents a contrast to the original recharge/discharge theory.     

Monsoon-Ocean Coupled Modes in the South China Sea and Their Linkage with the Eastern Indian Ocean-Western Pacific Warm Pool

Monsoon-ocean coupled modes in the South China Sea （SCS） were investigated by a combined singular value decomposition （CSVD） analysis based on sea surface temperature （SST） and sea surface wind stress （SWS） fields from SODA （Simple Ocean Data Assimilation） data spanning the period of 1950-1999. The coupled fields achieved the maximum correlation when the SST lagged SWS by one month, indicating that the SCS coupled system mainly reflected the response of the SST to monsoon forcing. Three significant coupled modes were found in the SCS, accounting for more than 80% of the cumulative squared covariance fraction. The first three SST spatial patterns from CSVD were： （Ⅰ） the monopole pattern along the isobaths in the SCS central basin; （Ⅱ） the north-south dipole pattern; and （Ⅲ） the west-east seesaw pattern. The expansion coefficient of the SST leading mode showed interdecadal and interannual variability and correlation with the Indo-Pacific warm pool （IPWP）, suggesting that the SCS belongs to part of the IPWP at interannual and interdecadal time scales. The second mode had a lower correlation coefficient with the warm pool index because its main period was at intra-annual time scales instead of the interannual and interdecadal scales with the warm pools. The third mode had similar periods to those of the leading mode, but lagged the eastern Indian Ocean warm pool （EIWP） and western Pacific warm pool （WPWP） by five months and one year respectively, implying that the SCS response to the warm pool variation occurred from the western Pacific to the eastern Indian Ocean, which might have been related to the variation of Indonesian throughflow. All three modes in the SCS had more significant correlations with the EIWP, which means the SCS SST varied much more coherently with the EIWP than the WPWP, suggesting that the SCS belongs mostly to part of the EIWP. The expansion coefficients of the SCS SST modes all had negative correlations with the Nino3 index, which they lag by several months, indicating a remote response of SCS SST variability to the El Nifio events.     

Movements of the Western Pacific Warm Pool Centroid and Their Relationship to Sea Surface Temperature Changes in Nino Regions

By using monthly historical sea surface temperature (SST) data for the years from 1950 to 2000, the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) climatology and anomalies are studied in this paper. The analysis of WPWP centroid (WPWPC) movement anomalies and the Nino-3 region SST anomalies( SSTA) seems to reveal a close, linear relation between the zonal WPWPC and Nino-3 region SSTA, which suggests that a 9' anomaly of the zonal displacement from the climatological position of the WPWPC corresponds to about a 1 ℃ anomaly in the Nino-3 region area-mean SST. This study connects the WPWPC zonal displacement with the Nino-3 SSTA, and it may be helpful in better understanding the fact that the WPWP eastward extension is conducive to the Nino-3 region SST increase during an El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event.     

Variations in the eastern Indian Ocean warm pool and its relation to the dipole in the tropical Indian Ocean

Based on the monthly average SST and 850 hPa monthly average wind data,the seasonal,interannual and long-term variations in the eastern Indian Ocean warm pool(EIWP) and its relationship to the Indian Ocean Dipole(IOD),and its response to the wind over the Indian Ocean are analyzed in this study.The results show that the distribution range,boundary and area of the EIWP exhibited obviously seasonal and interannual variations associated with the ENSO cycles.Further analysis suggests that the EIWP had obvious l...     

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF INTERANNUAL AND INTERDECADAL VARIABILITY OF SURFACE WIND OVER THE TROPICAL PACIFIC

A global atmospheric general circulation model (L9R15 AGCMs) forced by COADS SST was integrated from 1945 to 1993. Interannual and interdecadal variability of the simulated surface wind over the tropical Pacific was analyzed and shown to agree vey well with observation. Simulation of surface wind over the central-western equatorial Pacific was more successful than that over the eastern Pacific. Zonal propagating feature of interannual variability of the tropical Pacific wind anomalies and its decadal difference were also simulated successfully. The close agreement between simulation and observation on the existence of obvious interdecadal variability of tropical Pacific surface wind attested to the high simulation capability of AGCM.     

Principal North Pacific heating anomaly patterns and their relations to the atmospheric circulation

The principal variability patterns (EOF) of the anomalies of total heat transfer from ocean to atmosphere computed from 30 years' monthly averaged data over the North Pacific Ocean (20°–60°N) showed variability was dominated by two patterns: a bipolar pattern and a dominantly positive or negative pattern depending on the sign of the time series coefficients. The atmosphere contributes greatly to the marine heating anomalies in most of the North Pacific in all seasons. In winter, a positive feedback is formed between the Aleutian Low and the marine heating anomalies; in summer, the marine heating anomalies are controlled by the heating on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Both patterns have a winter correlation with the Southern Oscillation Index. Contribution No. 1534 from the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica     

热带次表层海温对中国东部夏季气候的影响

热带海洋热状况是影响中国气候变化的主要因子之一,为了研究热带次表层海温如何影响中国气候,通过相关计算和合成分析等方法讨论了热带太平洋至印度洋次表层海温异常对中国东部夏季降水和温度的影响。结果表明:当冬季赤道东印度洋至西太平洋次表层海温偏暖(偏冷),中印度洋和东太平洋次表层海温偏冷(偏暖),夏季,长江中下游地区降水偏少(偏多),华南、华北和东北大部地区降水偏多(偏少);中国东部大范围高温(低温)。其可能的影响途径为,东亚夏季风环流对热带次表层海温异常的响应导致了其年际变化,进而引起中国东部夏季气候的异常分布。     

Surface thermal centroid anomaly of the eastern equatorial Pacific as a unified Niño index

By analyzing the variability of global SST(sea surface temperature) anomalies,we propose a unified Ni o index using the surface thermal centroid anomaly of the region along the Pacific equator embraced by the 0.7°C contour line of the standard deviation of the SST anomalies and try to unify the traditional Ni o regions into a single entity.The unified Ni o region covers almost all of the traditional Ni o regions.The anomaly time series of the averaged SST over this region are closely correlated to historical Ni o indices.The anomaly time series of the zonal and meridional thermal centroid have close correlation with historical TNI(Trans-Ni o index) indices,showing differences among El Ni o(La Ni a) events.The meridional centroid anomaly suggests that areas of maximum temperature anomaly are moving meridionally(although slightly) with synchronous zonal movement.The zonal centroid anomalies of the unified Ni o region are found helpful in the classification of the Eastern Pacific(EP)/Central Pacific(CP) types of El Ni o events.More importantly,the zonal centroid anomaly shows that warm areas might move during a single warming/cooling phase.All the current Ni o indices can be well represented by a simple linear combination of unified Ni o indices,which suggests that the thermal anomaly(SSTA) and thermal centroid location anomaly of the unified Ni o region would yield a more complete image of each El Ni o/ La Ni a event.