QBO Features of Tropical Pacific wind Stress Field with the Relation to El Nino

Analysis has been implemented of 1970-1992 tropical Pacific wind stress anomaly and sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) datasets, indicating that quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) of the tropical Pacific WS and SSTA is featured both by a standing and a progressive form, the former emerging in the most intense centers of action and the latter travelling east- or west-ward out of the SSTA sources. Results show that the SSTA is in the warm (cold) phase as zonal component of euqatorial wind stress anomaly gets weakened (reinforced) and the QBO of wind stress anomaly is well related to the El Nino cycle.     

Does sea surface temperature outside the tropical Pacific contribute to enhanced ENSO predictability?

In this paper we seek to identify inter-annual sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) patterns outside the tropical Pacific that may influence El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) through atmospheric teleconnections. We assume that a linear ENSO hindcast based on tropical Pacific warm water volume and Niño3.4 SSTA indices captures tropical Pacific intrinsic predictability inherent to recharge oscillator dynamics. This simple hindcast model displays statistically significant skill at the 95 % confidence level at leads of up to seven seasons ahead of the ENSO peak. Our results reveal that ENSO-independent equatorial wind stress anomalies only significantly improve the skill of that linear hindcast at the 95 % level in boreal spring and summer before the ENSO peak and in boreal fall, five seasons ahead of the ENSO peak. At those seasons, the robust large-scale SST patterns that provide a statistically significant enhancement of ENSO predictability are related to the Atlantic meridional mode and south Pacific subtropical dipole mode in spring, the Indian Ocean Dipole and the south Atlantic subtropical dipole mode in fall. While the first two regions display significant simultaneous correlations with western equatorial Pacific wind stress in three reanalyses (ERA-I, NCEP and NCEP2), the Indian Ocean Dipole and south Atlantic subtropical dipole mode correlation with Pacific winds is less robust amongst re-analyses. We discuss our results in view of other studies that suggest a remote influence of various regions on ENSO. Although modest, the sensitivity of our results to the dataset and to details of the analysis method illustrates that finding regions that influence ENSO from the statistical analysis of observations is a difficult task.     

Asymmetry of Salinity Variability in the Tropical Pacific during Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation Phases

It has been recognized that salinity variability in the tropical Pacific is closely related to the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation(IPO). Here, we use model simulations from 1900 to 2017 to illustrate obvious asymmetries of salinity variability in the tropical Pacific during positive and negative IPO phases. The amplitude of salinity variability in the tropical Pacific during positive IPO phases is larger than that during negative IPO phases, with a more westward shift of a large Sea Surface Sal...     

Delayed Atmospheric Temperature Response to ENSO SST： Role of High SST and the Western Pacific

Tropical zonally symmetric atmospheric warming occurs during ENSO’s warm phase, and lags the equa- torial east Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) by 3–4 months. The role of the Indian and Atlantic oceans on the atmospheric delayed response has been pointed out by earlier studies. For 1951–2004, a regression analysis based on the observed SST data shows the western Pacific has a similarly important role as the Indian and Atlantic. Nevertheless, there is time mismatch of around 1–2 months between the zon...     

The Latent and Sensible Heat Fluxes over the Western Tropical Pacific and Its Relationship to ENSO

In this paper the Bulk Aerodynamic Formulas are used to compute the latent and sensible heat fluxes over the area 8°S-20°N, 130°-180°E for each month from January 1950 through December 1979 by using the data set of COADS supplied by N'OAA of USA. The annual and monthly geographical distributions and the seasonal cycle of heat fluxes are carried out and a seasonal change of heal tluxes for ENSO year is also obtained by compositing individual ENSO year including 1951, 1953, 1957, 1963, 1965, 1969, 1972 and 1976. It is found that outing ENSO epi sodes positive anomalies of heal fluxes appeared during the period of March to July and negative anomalies from August to March of the following year. The time series of sum of heat fluxes for March, April, May, June and July in each year from 1950 through 1979 had a significant link to the eastern tropical Pacific SST index (Wright, 1983). The correlation coefficient was 0.56. As it is found that in the latter half of each ENSO year (August-December) the frequ     

How the “best” CMIP5 models project relations of Asian–Pacific Oscillation to circulation backgrounds favorable for tropical cyclone genesis over the western North Pacific

Based on the simulations of 32 models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), the present study assesses their capacity to simulate the relationship of the summer Asian–Pacific Oscillation (APO) with the vertical zonal wind shear, low-level atmospheric vorticity, mid-level humidity, atmospheric divergence in the lower and upper troposphere, and western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) that are closely associated with the genesis of tropical cyclones over the western North Pacific. The results indicate that five models can simultaneously reproduce the observed pattern with the positive APO phase accompanied by weak vertical zonal wind shear, strengthened vorticity in the lower troposphere, increased mid-level humidity, intensified low-level convergence and high-level divergence, and a northward-located WPSH over the western North Pacific. These five models are further used to project their potential relationship under the RCP8.5 scenario during 2050–2099. Compared to 1950–1999, the relationship between the APO and the vertical zonal wind shear is projected to weaken by both the multi-model ensemble and the individual models. Its linkage to the low-level vorticity, mid-level humidity, atmospheric divergence in the lower and upper troposphere, and the northward–southward movement of the WPSH would also reduce slightly but still be significant. However, the individual models show relatively large differences in projecting the linkage between the APO and the mid-level humidity and low-level divergence.     

Contrasting global teleconnection features of the eastern Pacific and central Pacific El Niño events

Being triggered by different physical processes, the eastern Pacific (EP) and central Pacific (CP) El Niño events have several different teleconnection features around the globe. Using the ERA-Interim re-analysis monthly data during the period 1980–2016, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnections on the global scale and their statistical significance are investigated, with an emphasis on the contrasting features of the EP and CP El Niño events. With some exceptions, the EP El Niño and La Niña have generally similar teleconnection patterns with the reversed sign, while in some parts of the globe different and occasionally contrasting teleconnections of the EP and CP El Niño events are identified. Compared to the CP El Niño, more regions of the world are influenced by the statistically significant positive surface pressure anomalies during the EP El Niño, particularly over the Indian Ocean, tropical Atlantic and Northern Africa. It is found that the mid-tropospheric geopotential height anomalies across the globe are significantly different during the EP and CP El Niño events. Associated with different surface pressure and mid-tropospheric geopotential height anomalies, precipitation anomalies in many regions of the world are found different during the EP and CP El Niño events, particularly over the tropical Pacific, central to eastern equatorial Atlantic and the eastern Sahara. While central and eastern equatorial Atlantic experience statistically significant negative (positive) rainfall anomalies during the EP El Niño (La Niña), the CP El Niño does not have a strong influence on the amount of annual rainfall over the equatorial Atlantic. For the first time, statistically significant anomalously dry conditions are found over some parts of the Middle East and Southwest Asia during La Niña, and over the eastern Sahara during the EP El Niño.     

Tropical Cyclones over the Western North Pacific Strengthen the East Asia–Pacific Pattern during Summer

The contribution of tropical cyclones(TCs)to the East Asia–Pacific(EAP)teleconnection pattern during summer was investigated using the best track data of the Joint Typhoon Warning Center and NCEP-2 reanalysis datasets from 1979 to2018.The results showed that the TCs over the western North Pacific(WNP)correspond to a strengthened EAP pattern:During the summers of strong convection over the tropical WNP,TC days correspond to a stronger cyclonic circulation anomaly over the WNP in the lower troposphere,an enhanced seesaw pattern of negative and positive geopotential height anomalies over the subtropical WNP and midlatitude East Asia in the middle troposphere,and a more northward shift of the East Asian westerly jet in the upper troposphere.Further analyses indicated that two types of TCs with distinctly different tracks,i.e.,westward-moving TCs and northward-moving TCs,both favor the EAP pattern.The present results imply that TCs over the WNP,as extreme weather,can contribute significantly to summer-mean climate anomalies over the WNP and East Asia.     

Asymmetry of Atmospheric Responses to Two-Type El Ni?o and La Ni?a over Northwest Pacific

The mechanism for asymmetric atmospheric responses to the central Pacific(CP) El Ni?o and La Ni?a over the western North Pacific(WNP) is studied in this paper. The negative anomalies of rainfall over the key region of WNP are explained by diagnosing the column-integrated equations of moisture and moist static energy(MSE). It is revealed that the nonlinear advection of moist enthalpy is critical to introduce negative rainfall anomalies over the region. The anomalous easterly(westerly) in La Ni?a(CP El Ni?o) causes negative advection of anomalous moist enthalpy, inducing negative heating anomaly and an anticyclone anomaly in the WNP, which weakens(strengthens) the cyclone(anticyclone) in La Ni?a(CP El Ni?o). The MSE budget analysis shows a larger nonlinear term in CP El Ni?o than in eastern Pacific(EP) El Ni?o, inconsistent with the amplitudes of sea surface temperature anomalies. The reason is that the nonlinear term transforms to positive above 700 h Pa in EP El Ni?o, offsetting the negative advection below 700 h Pa and thus making the nonlinear term smaller. The nonlinear term is negative at low levels in CP El Ni?o, resulting in a larger nonlinear term. The stronger precipitation anomalies in the WNP during EP El Ni?o can be attributed to the linear moist enthalpy advection. The mean easterly wind at mid levels causes a larger(smaller) positive moist enthalpy advection in CP(EP) El Ni?o, due to a larger(smaller) moist enthalpy gradient, resulting in a positive(negative) linear moist enthalpy advection, which weakens(strengthens) the negative precipitation anomalies in the key region.     

Interannual Fluctuations of Surface Air Temperature over North America and Its Relationship to the North Pacific SST Anomaly

The characteristics of interannual fluctuations of the surface air temperature over North America are investigated by using the surface air temperature data of 130 stations during 1941 through 1980. It is found that the surface air temperature bears about ten-year time scale oscillation over the southeastern and northwestern North America and along the west coast of the United States, and it has the characteristics of quasibiennial oscillation over the eastern North America. The ten-year scale oscillation of the surface air temperature is related to that of the sea surface temperature (SST) of North Pacific through the PNA pattern atmospheric circulation anomaly over North Pacific through North America. It is shown that the North Pacific SST has a closer association with the surface air temperature over North America than the central and eastern equatorial Pacific SST. The characteristics of the seasonal variations of the relationship between the North Pacific SST and the surface air temperature over No     

A study of climate model responses of the western Pacific subtropical high to El Niño diversity

Climate Dynamics - This study examines a climate model hindcast of the responses of the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) to three types of El Niño events: the Eastern Pacific (EP) El...     

Nonlinearity Modulating Intensities and Spatial Structures of Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Nio Events

This paper compares data from linearized and nonlinear Zebiak–Cane model, as constrained by observed sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA), in simulating central Pacific(CP) and eastern Pacific(EP) El Nio. The difference between the temperature advections(determined by subtracting those of the linearized model from those of the nonlinear model),referred to here as the nonlinearly induced temperature advection change(NTA), is analyzed. The results demonstrate that the NTA records warming in the central equatorial Pacific during CP El Nio and makes fewer contributions to the structural distinctions of the CP El Nio, whereas it records warming in the eastern equatorial Pacific during EP El Nio, and thus significantly promotes EP El Nio during El Nio–type selection. The NTA for CP and EP El Nio varies in its amplitude,and is smaller in CP El Nio than it is in EP El Nio. These results demonstrate that CP El Nio are weakly modulated by small intensities of NTA, and may be controlled by weak nonlinearity; whereas, EP El Nio are significantly enhanced by large amplitudes of NTA, and are therefore likely to be modulated by relatively strong nonlinearity. These data could explain why CP El Nio are weaker than EP El Nio. Because the NTA for CP and EP El Nio differs in spatial structures and intensities, as well as their roles within different El Nio modes, the diversity of El Nio may be closely related to changes in the nonlinear characteristics of the tropical Pacific.     

Atmospheric circulation anomalies due to 115 kyr BP climate forcing dominated by changes in the North Pacific Ocean

Climate at the time of inception of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) at ~115 kyr BP is simulated with the fully coupled NCAR Community Climate System Model (CCSM3) and compared to a simulated preindustrial climate (circa 1870) in order to better understand land surface and atmospheric responses to orbital and greenhouse cooling at inception. The interaction between obliquity and eccentricity produces maximum decrease in TOA insolation in JJA over the Arctic but increases occur over the tropics in DJF. The land surface response is dominated by widespread summer cooling in the Northern Hemisphere (NH), increases in snowfall, and decreases in melt rates and total precipitation. CCSM3 responds to the climate forcing at 115 kyr BP by producing incipient glaciation in the areas of LIS nucleation. We find that the inception of the LIS could have occurred with atmospheric circulation patterns that differ little from the present. The location of the troughs/ridges, mean flow over the Canadian Arctic and dominant modes of the atmospheric circulation are all very similar to the present. Larger changes in mean sea level pressure occur upstream of the inception region in the North Pacific Ocean and downstream in Western Europe. In the North Pacific region, the 115 kyr BP anomalies weaken both the Pacific high and Aleutian low making NH summers look more like the PREIND winters and vice versa. The occurrence of cold JJA anomalies at 115 kyr BP favors outbreaks of cold air not in the winter as in contemporary climates but during the summer instead and reinforces the cooling from orbital and GHG reductions. Increased poleward eddy transport of heat and moisture characterizes the atmospheric response in addition to reduced total cloud cover in the Arctic.     

Assessment of the Pacific decadal oscillation’s contribution to the occurrence of local torrential rainfall in north China

On 21–22 July 2012, torrential rains hit North China, with the daily precipitation record at Beijing station reaching 160.6 mm; this event is named the Beijing 7–21 case. This paper assesses the likelihood of the occurrence of local torrential rains, such as the Beijing 7–21 case, from the perspective of climate variability. In particular, the influence of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is assessed. There were five extreme events, with daily precipitation records equal to or larger than 160.6 mm, at Beijing station during the period 1951–2012; all of these events happened during negative phases of the PDO. The present analysis indicates that precipitation events more extreme than the Beijing 7–21 case should happen more than once per decade during negative phases of the PDO, but only about once every four decades during positive PDO phases. The negative phase of the PDO is found to be associated with a much greater probability of daily records of southerly winds in North China during summer. Strong southerly summer monsoons are deemed favorable for increasing the occurrence of local extreme rainfall over North China.     

Modeling and Diagnostic Studies on the Variations of the Subtropical High over the Western Pacific from 1880 to 1999

Index series of Subtropical High over the western Pacific was extended to AD 1880 by using of statistical and modeling method.Reconstructed indices by both methods show good accordance each other.Association of the indices to the rainfall patterns over eastern China indicated the robustness of the reconstructions.     

Are the teleconnections of Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Niño distinct in boreal wintertime?

A meteorological reanalysis dataset and experiments of the Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry-Climate Model, Version 2 (GEOS V2 CCM) are used to study the boreal winter season teleconnections in the Pacific-North America region and in the stratosphere generated by Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Niño. In the reanalysis data, the sign of the North Pacific and stratospheric response to Central Pacific El Niño is sensitive to the composite size, the specific Central Pacific El Niño index used, and the month or seasonal average that is examined, highlighting the limitations of the short observational record. Long model integrations suggest that the response to the two types of El Niño are similar in both the extratropical troposphere and stratosphere. Namely, both Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Niño lead to a deepened North Pacific low and a weakened polar vortex, and the effects are stronger in late winter than in early winter. However, the long experiments do indicate some differences between the two types of El Niño events regarding the latitude of the North Pacific trough, the early winter polar stratospheric response, surface temperature and precipitation over North America, and globally averaged surface temperature. These differences are generally consistent with, though smaller than, those noted in previous studies.     

A deep learning–based U-Net model for ENSO-related precipitation responses to sea surface temperature anomalies over the tropical Pacific

SST–precipitation feedback plays an important role in ENSO evolution over the tropical Pacific and thus it is critically important to realistically represent precipitation-induced feedback for accurate simulations and predictions of ENSO. Typically, in hybrid coupled modeling for ENSO predictions, statistical atmospheric models are adopted to determine linear precipitation responses to interannual SST anomalies. However, in current coupled climate models, the observed precipitation–SST relationship is not well represented. In this study, a data-driven deep learning-based U-Net model was used to construct a nonlinear response model of interannual precipitation variability to SST anomalies. It was found that the U-Net model outperformed the traditional EOF-based method in calculating the precipitation variability. Particularly over the western-central tropical Pacific, the mean-square error (MSE) of the precipitation estimates in the U-Net model was smaller than that in the EOF model. The performance of the U-Net model was further improved when additional tendency information on SST and precipitation variability was also introduced as input variables, leading to a pronounced MSE reduction over the ITCZ.摘要SST–降水反馈过程在热带太平洋ENSO演变过程中起着重要作用, 能否真实地在数值模式中表征SST–降水年际异常之间的关系及相关反馈过程, 对于准确模拟和预测ENSO至关重要. 例如, 在一些模拟ENSO的混合型耦合模式中, 通常采用大气统计模型 (如经验正交函数; EOF) 来表征降水 (海气界面淡水通量的一个重要分量) 对SST年际异常的线性响应. 然而在当前的耦合模式中, 真实观测到的降水–SST统计关系还不能被很好地再现出来, 从而引起 ENSO模拟误差和不确定性. 在本研究中, 使用基于深度学习的U-Net模型来构建热带太平洋降水异常场对SST年际异常的非线性响应模型. 研究发现: U-Net模型的性能优于传统的基于EOF方法的模型. 特别是在热带西太平洋海区, U-Net模型估算的降水误差远小于EOF模型的模拟. 此外, 当SST和降水异常的趋势信息作为输入变量也被同时引入以进一步约束模式训练时, U-Net模型的性能可以进一步提高, 如能使热带辐合带区域的误差显著降低.     

Different Impact of Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Nio on the Duration of Sudden Stratospheric Warming

The NCEP–NCAR reanalysis dataset and the Had ISST dataset(1959–2014) are used to analyze the impact of two types of El Nio events, i.e., eastern Pacific El Nio(EP-El Nio) and central Pacific El Nio(CP-El Nio) events, on the duration of major and minor sudden stratospheric warmings(SSWs) in Northern Hemisphere winter(November to February). Although the frequency of major and minor SSWs during different types of El Nio shows no distinct differences, the duration of both major and minor SSWs during CP-El Nio is shorter than that during EP-El Nio. The spatial distribution of geopotential height anomalies preceding major SSWs resembles the western Pacific(WP) teleconnection pattern, while the spatial distribution of geopotential height anomalies preceding minor SSWs bears similarity to the Pacific–North America(PNA)teleconnection pattern. An enhancement of the strength of both wavenumber 1 and wavenumber 2 is found before major SSWs. Before minor SSWs, wavenumber 1 is also strengthened, but wavenumber 2 is weakened. The analysis also reveals that EP-El Nio tends to induce positive phases of PNA and WP teleconnections, while CP-El Nio induces negative-phase WP teleconnection. As the positive phases of the PNA and WP teleconnections are related to the strengthening of wavenumber 1, EP-El Nio causes an enhancement of wavenumber 1 in the high-latitude upper troposphere and an enhancement of the upward wave flux in the high-latitude stratosphere, accompanied by a negative anomaly in Eliassen–Palm flux divergence in the subpolar stratosphere, which accounts for the longer SSW duration during EP-El Nio than during CP-El Nio.     

Tropical Pacific – mid-latitude teleconnections in medieval times

Terrestrial and marine late Holocene proxy records from the western and central US suggest that climate between approximately 500 and 1350 a.d. was marked by generally arid conditions with episodes of severe centennial-scale drought, elevated incidence of wild fire, cool sea surface temperatures (SSTs) along the California coast, and dune mobilization in the western plains. This Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) was followed by wetter conditions and warming coastal SSTs during the transition into the “Little Ice Age” (LIA). Proxy records from the tropical Pacific Ocean show contemporaneous changes indicating cool central and eastern tropical Pacific SSTs during the MCA, with warmer than modern temperatures in the western equatorial Pacific. This pattern of mid-latitude and tropical climate conditions is consistent with the hypothesis that the dry MCA in the western US resulted (at least in part) from tropically forced changes in winter NH circulation patterns like those associated with modern La Niña episodes. We examine this hypothesis, and present other analyses showing that the imprint of MCA climate change appears in proxy records from widely distributed regions around the planet, and in many cases is consistent with a cool medieval tropical Pacific. One example, explored with numerical model results, is the suggestion of increased westerlies and warmer winter temperatures over northern Europe during medieval times. An analog technique for the combined use of proxy records and model results, Proxy Surrogate Reconstruction (PSR), is introduced.     

Circulation anomalies in the atmospheric centers of action during the Eastern Pacific and Central Pacific El Niño

Based on the statistical analysis the teleconnections between circulation anomalies in the atmospheric centers of action and sea surface temperature anomalies are revealed for two types of El Niño. It is demonstrated that for the Eastern Pacific El Niño stronger teleconnections are registered in the Northern Hemisphere whereas the response to the Central Pacific El Niño is much stronger in the Southern Hemisphere. The Central Pacific El Niño is characterized by the more rapid signal propagation from the tropical zone to distant regions. In some cases the pattern of interaction with the atmospheric circulation considerably differs for two types of El Niño that defines differences in the fields of weather anomalies.