ENSO variability and atmospheric response in a global coupled atmosphere-ocean GCM |
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Authors: | E Roeckner J M Oberhuber A Bacher M Christoph I Kirchner |
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Institution: | (1) Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, XX;(2) Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum, Bundesstrasse 55, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany, DE |
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Abstract: | The interannual variability associated with the El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle is investigated using a relatively
high-resolution (T42) coupled general circulation model (CGCM) of the atmosphere and ocean. Although the flux correction is
restricted to annual means of heat and freshwater, the annual as well as the seasonal climate of the CGCM is in good agreement
with that of the atmospheric model component forced with observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs). During a 100-year simulation
of the present-day climate, the model is able to capture many features of the observed interannual SST variability in the
tropical Pacific. This includes amplitude, lifetime and frequency of occurrence of El Ni?o events and also the phase locking
of the SST anomalies to the annual cycle. Although the SST warming during the evolution of El Ni?os is too confined spatially,
and the warming along the Peruvian coast is much too weak, the patterns and magnitudes of key atmospheric anomalies such as
westerly wind stress and precipitation, and also their eastward migration from the western to the central equatorial Pacific
is in accord with observations. There is also a qualitative agreement with the results obtained from the atmospheric model
forced with observed SSTs from 1979 through 1994. The large-scale dynamic response during the mature phase of ENSO (December
through February) is characterized by an eastward displacement and weakening of the Walker cell in the Pacific while the Hadley
cell intensifies and moves equatorward. Similar to the observations, there is a positive correlation between tropical Pacific
SST and the winter circulation in the North Pacific. The deepening of the Aleutian low during the ENSO winters is well captured
by the model as well as the cooling in the central North Pacific and the warming over Canada and Alaska. However, there are
indications that the anomalies of both SST and atmospheric circulation are overemphasized in the North Pacific. Finally, there
is evidence of a coherent downstream effect over the North Atlantic as indicated by negative correlations between the PNA
index and the NAO index, for example. The weakening of the westerlies across the North Atlantic in ENSO winters which is related
to a weakening and southwestward displacement of the Icelandic low, is in broad agreement with the observations, as well as
the weak tendency for colder than normal winters in Europe.
Received: 31 October 1995 / Accepted: 29 May 1996 |
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