Modes of SST variability and the fluctuation of global mean temperature

Annually averaged global mean land air temperature and sea surface temperature (SST) combined, and global mean SST alone share similar fluctuations. We examine contributions by modes of SST variability in the global mean SST based on a new version (version 3) of global sea-ice and SST (GISST3). Besides a trend mode, the dominant modes are El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), interhemispheric oscillation, and North Pacific oscillation. Statistics over the period of 1880–1997 show that excluding a warming trend the fluctuation on interannual (IA) and decadal-interdecadal (DID) time scales is dominated by IA ENSO and DID ENSO-like variability. However, the contribution by IA ENSO cycles experiences significant fluctuations, and there appears to be strong modulations by ENSO-like variability on DID or longer time scales: during several decade-long periods, when DID ENSO-like variability raises the temperature in the equatorial eastern Pacific, the contribution by IA ENSO cycles weakens to an insignificant level. The latest example of such modulation is the period since about 1980; despite the exceptional strength of El Niño events, the contribution by IA ENSO cycles weakens, suggesting that the exceptional strength is a consequence of superposition of IA El Niño events, a warming phase of DID ENSO-like variability, and possibly an ENSO-like warming trend.     

Seasonality and time scales in the relationship between global SST and African rainfall

The main goal of this study is to determine the oceanic regions corresponding to variability in African rainfall and seasonal differences in the atmospheric teleconnections. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) has been applied in order to extract the dominant patterns of linear covariability. An ensemble of six simulations with the global atmospheric general circulation model ECHAM4, forced with observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and sea ice boundary variability, is used in order to focus on the SST-related part of African rainfall variability. Our main finding is that the boreal summer rainfall (June–September mean) over Africa is more affected by SST changes than in boreal winter (December–March mean). In winter, there is a highly significant link between tropical African rainfall and Indian Ocean and eastern tropical Pacific SST anomalies, which is closely related to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However, long-term changes are found to be associated with SST changes in the Indian and tropical Atlantic Oceans, thus, showing that the tropical Atlantic plays a critical role in determining the position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). Since ENSO is less in summer, the tropical Pacific and the Indian Oceans are less important for African rainfall. The African summer monsoon is strongly influenced by SST variations in the Gulf of Guinea, with a response of opposite sign over the Sahelian zone and the Guinean coast region. SST changes in the subtropical and extratropical oceans mostly take place on decadal time scales and are responsible for low-frequency rainfall fluctuations over West Africa. The modelled teleconnections are highly consistent with the observations. The agreement for most of the teleconnection patterns is remarkable and suggests that the modelled rainfall anomalies serve as suitable predictors for the observed changes.     

A generative adversarial network-based unified model integrating bias correction and downscaling for global SST

本文提出了一种基于生成对抗网络的全球海表面温度(sea surface temperature,SST)偏差订正及降尺度整合模型.该模型的生成器使用偏差订正模块将数值模式预测结果进行校正,再用可复用的共享降尺度模块将订正后的数据分辨率逐次提高.该模型的判别器可鉴别偏差订正及降尺度结果的质量,以此为标准进行对抗训练.同时,在对抗损失函数中含有物理引导的动力学惩罚项以提高模型的性能.本研究基于分辨率为1°的GFDL SPEAR模式的SST预测结果,选择遥感系统(Remote Sensing System)的观测资料作为真值,面向月尺度ENSO与IOD事件以及天尺度海洋热浪事件开展了验证试验:模型在将分辨率提高到0.0625°×0.0625°的同时将预测误差减少约90.3%,突破了观测数据分辨率的限制,且与观测结果的结构相似性高达96.46%.     

Impact of global SST on decadal shift of East Asian summer climate

East Asia experienced a significant interdecadal climate shift around the late 1970s, with more floods in the valley of the Yangtze River of central-eastern China and more severe drought in North China since then. Whether global SST variations have played a role in this shift is unclear. In the present study, this issue is investigated by ensemble experiments of an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM), the GFDL AM2, since one validation reveals that the model simulates the observed East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) well. The results suggest that decadal global SST variations may have played a substantial role in this climate shift. Further examination of the associated atmospheric circulation shows that these results are physically reasonable.     

北太平洋海温Victoria模态与ENSO年际关系的非对称特征

利用美国NOAA海表温度资料,重点分析了北太平洋海温异常EOF第二模态Victoria模态(VM)与ENSO年际关系的非对称特征.研究发现,VM和ENSO在年代际尺度上相关性较弱,而在年际尺度上有很好的相关关系,两者同期为负相关,VM超前1 a为正相关.然而,正负VM事件与ENSO冷暖位相在年际尺度上的联系存在着一定的...     

Blunt ocean dynamical thermostat in response of tropical eastern Pacific SST to global warming

Using an intermediate ocean–atmosphere coupled model (ICM) for the tropical Pacific, we investigated the role of the ocean dynamical thermostat (ODT) in regulating the tropical eastern Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) under global warming conditions. The external, uniformly distributed surface heating results in the cooling of the tropical eastern Pacific “cold tongue,” and the amplitude of the cooling increases as more heat is added but not simply linearly. Furthermore, an upper bound for the influence of the equatorially symmetric surface heating on the cold tongue cooling exists. The additional heating beyond the upper bound does not cool the cold tongue in a systematic manner. The heat budget analysis suggests that the zonal advection is the primary factor that contributes to such nonlinear SST response. The radiative heating due to the greenhouse effect (hereafter, RHG) that is obtained from the multi-model ensemble of the Climate Model Intercomparison Project Phase III (CMIP3) was externally given to ICM. The RHG obtained from the twentieth century simulation intensified the cold tongue cooling and the subtropical warming, which were further intensified by the RHG from the doubled CO₂ concentration simulation. However, the cold tongue cooling was significantly reduced and the negative SST response region was shrunken toward the equator by the RHG from the quadrupled CO₂ concentration simulation, while the subtropical warming increased further. A systematic RHG forced experiment having the same spatial pattern of RHG from doubled CO₂ concentration simulation with different amplitude of forcing revealed that the ocean dynamical response to global warming tended to enhance the cooling in the tropical eastern Pacific by virtue of meridional advection and upwelling; however, these cooling effects could not fully compensate a given RHG warming as the external forcing becomes larger. Moreover, the feedback by the zonal thermal advection actually exerted the warming over the equatorial region. Therefore, as the global warming is intensified, the cooling over the eastern tropical Pacific by ODT and the negative SST response area are reduced.     

Contribution of SST change to multidecadal global and continental surface air temperature trends between 1910 and 2013

Climate Dynamics - The global mean surface air temperature (GMST) shows multidecadal variability over the period of 1910–2013, with an increasing trend. This study quantifies the contribution...     

Empirical prediction of Indian summer monsoon rainfall with different lead periods based on global SST anomalies

Summary The main objective of this study was to develop empirical models with different seasonal lead time periods for the long range prediction of seasonal (June to September) Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR). For this purpose, 13 predictors having significant and stable relationships with ISMR were derived by the correlation analysis of global grid point seasonal Sea-Surface Temperature (SST) anomalies and the tendency in the SST anomalies. The time lags of the seasonal SST anomalies were varied from 1 season to 4 years behind the reference monsoon season. The basic SST data set used was the monthly NOAA Extended Reconstructed Global SST (ERSST) data at 2° × 2° spatial grid for the period 1951–2003. The time lags of the 13 predictors derived from various areas of all three tropical ocean basins (Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans) varied from 1 season to 3 years. Based on these inter-correlated predictors, 3 predictor sub sets A, B and C were formed with prediction lead time periods of 0, 1 and 2 seasons, respectively, from the beginning of the monsoon season. The selected principal components (PCs) of these predictor sets were used as the input parameters for the models A, B and C, respectively. The model development period was 1955–1984. The correct model size was derived using all-possible regressions procedure and Mallow’s “Cp” statistics. Various model statistics computed for the independent period (1985–2003) showed that model B had the best prediction skill among the three models. The root mean square error (RMSE) of model B during the independent test period (6.03% of Long Period Average (LPA)) was much less than that during the development period (7.49% of LPA). The performance of model B was reasonably good during both ENSO and non-ENSO years particularly when the magnitudes of actual ISMR were large. In general, the predicted ISMR during years following the El Ni?o (La Ni?a) years were above (below) LPA as were the actual ISMR. By including an NAO related predictor (WEPR) derived from the surface pressure anomalies over West Europe as an additional input parameter into model B, the skill of the predictions were found to be substantially improved (RMSE of 4.86% of LPA).     

Role of the upper ocean structure in the response of ENSO-like SST variability to global warming

The response of El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-like variability to global warming varies comparatively between the two different climate system models, i.e., the Meteorological Research Institute (MRI) and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) Coupled General Circulation Models (CGCMs). Here, we examine the role of the simulated upper ocean temperature structure in the different sensitivities of the simulated ENSO variability in the models based on the different level of CO₂ concentrations. In the MRI model, the sea surface temperature (SST) undergoes a rather drastic modification, namely a tendency toward a permanent El Niño-like state. This is associated with an enhanced stratification which results in greater ENSO amplitude for the MRI model. On the other hand, the ENSO simulated by GFDL model is hardly modified although the mean temperature in the near surface layer increases. In order to understand the associated mechanisms we carry out a vertical mode decomposition of the mean equatorial stratification and a simplified heat balance analysis using an intermediate tropical Pacific model tuned from the CGCM outputs. It is found that in the MRI model the increased stratification is associated with an enhancement of the zonal advective feedback and the non-linear advection. In the GFDL model, on the other hand, the thermocline variability and associated anomalous vertical advection are reduced in the eastern equatorial Pacific under global warming, which erodes the thermocline feedback and explains why the ENSO amplitude is reduced in a warmer climate in this model. It is suggested that change in stratification associated with global warming impacts the equatorial wave dynamics in a way that enhances the second baroclinic mode over the gravest one, which leads to the change in feedback processes in the CGCMs. Our results illustrate that the upper ocean vertical structure simulated in the CGCMs is a key parameter of the sensitivity of ENSO-like SST variability to global warming.     

Connection of the stratospheric QBO with global atmospheric general circulation and tropical SST. Part II: interdecadal variations

The interdecadal variation of the association of the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) with tropical sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies (SSTA) and with the general circulation in the troposphere and lower stratosphere is examined using the ERA40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalyses, as well as other observation-based analyses. It is found that the relationship between the QBO and tropical SSTA changed once around 1978–1980, and again in 1993–1995. During 1966–1974, negative correlation between the QBO and NINO3.4 indices reached its maximum when the NINO3.4 index lagged the QBO by less than 6?months. Correspondingly, the positive correlations were observed when the NINO3.4 index led the QBO by about 11–13?months or lagged by about 12–18?months. However, maximum negative correlations were shifted from the NINO3.4 index lagging the QBO by about 0–6?months during 1966–1974 to about 3–12?months during 1985–1992. During 1975–1979, both the negative and positive correlations were relatively small and the QBO and ENSO were practically unrelated to each other. The phase-based QBO life cycle composites also confirm that, on average, there are two phase (6–7?months) delay in the evolution of the QBO-associated anomalous Walker circulation, tropical SST, atmospheric stability, and troposphere and lower stratosphere temperature anomalies during 1980–1994 in comparison with those in 1957–1978. The interdecadal variation of the association between the QBO and the troposphere variability may be largely due to the characteristic change of El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation. The irregularity of the QBO may play a secondary role in the interdecadal variation of the association.     

Impacts of SST and SST Anomalies on Low-Prequency Oscillation in the Tropical Atmosphere

Considering the multiscale character of LFO (low-frequency oscillation) in the tropical atmosphere, the effects of SST on LFO in the tropical atmosphere are discussed by using an absolute ageostrophic, baroclinic model. Here, SST effects include sea surface heating and forcing of SST anomalies (SSTAs). Studies of the influences of sea surface heating on LFO frequency and stability show that sea surface heating can slow the speed of waves and lower their frequency when SST is comparatively low; while higher SST leads to unstable waves and less periods of LFO. Since the impact of a SSTA on ultra-long waves is more evident than that on kilometer-scale waves, long-wave approximation is used when we continue to study the effect of SSTAs. Results indicate that SSTAs can lead to a longer period of LFO, and make waves unstable. In other words, positive (negative) SSTAs can make waves decay (grow).     

Impacts of SST and SST Anomalies on Low-Frequency Oscillation in the Tropical Atmosphere

Considering the multiscale character of LFO effects of SST on LFO in the tropical atmosphere （low-frequency oscillation） in the tropical atmosphere, the are discussed by using an absolute ageostrophic, baroclinic model. Here, SST effects include sea surface heating and forcing of SST anomalies （SSTAs）. Studies of the influences of sea surface heating on LFO frequency and stability show that sea surface heating can slow the speed of waves and lower their frequency when SST is comparatively low; while higher SST leads to unstable waves and less periods of LFO. Since the impact of a SSTA on ultra-long waves is more evident than that on kilometer-scale waves, long-wave approximation is used when we continue to study the effect of SSTAs. Results indicate that SSTAs can lead to a longer period of LFO, and make waves unstable. In other words, positive （negative） SSTAs can make waves decay （grow）.     

Impacts of Indian Ocean SST biases on the Indian Monsoon: as simulated in a global coupled model

In this study, the impact of the ocean–atmosphere coupling on the atmospheric mean state over the Indian Ocean and the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) is examined in the framework of the SINTEX-F2 coupled model through forced and coupled control simulations and several sensitivity coupled experiments. During boreal winter and spring, most of the Indian Ocean biases are common in forced and coupled simulations, suggesting that the errors originate from the atmospheric model, especially a dry islands bias in the Maritime Continent. During boreal summer, the air-sea coupling decreases the ISM rainfall over South India and the monsoon strength to realistic amplitude, but at the expense of important degradations of the rainfall and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) mean states in the Indian Ocean. Strong SST biases of opposite sign are observed over the western (WIO) and eastern (EIO) tropical Indian Ocean. Rainfall amounts over the ocean (land) are systematically higher (lower) in the northern hemisphere and the south equatorial Indian Ocean rainfall band is missing in the control coupled simulation. During boreal fall, positive dipole-like errors emerge in the mean state of the coupled model, with warm and wet (cold and dry) biases in the WIO (EIO), suggesting again a significant impact of the SST errors. The exact contributions and the distinct roles of these SST errors in the seasonal mean atmospheric state of the coupled model have been further assessed with two sensitivity coupled experiments, in which the SST biases are replaced by observed climatology either in the WIO (warm bias) or EIO (cold bias). The correction of the WIO warm bias leads to a global decrease of rainfall in the monsoon region, which confirms that the WIO is an important source of moisture for the ISM. On the other hand, the correction of the EIO cold bias leads to a global improvement of precipitation and circulation mean state during summer and fall. Nevertheless, all these improvements due to SST corrections seem drastically limited by the atmosphere intrinsic biases, including prominently the unimodal oceanic position of the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) during summer and the enhanced westward wind stress along the equator during fall.     

Connection of stratospheric QBO with global atmospheric general circulation and tropical SST. Part I: methodology and composite life cycle

The stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and its association with the interannual variability in the stratosphere and troposphere, as well as in tropical sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA), are examined in the context of a QBO life cycle. The analysis is based on the ERA40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalyses, radiosonde observations at Singapore, and other observation-based datasets. Both reanalyses reproduce the QBO life cycle and its associated variability in the stratosphere reasonably well, except that some long-term changes are detected only in the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. In order to separate QBO from variability on other time scales and to eliminate the long-term changes, a scale separation technique [Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD)] is applied to the raw data. The QBO component of zonal wind anomalies at 30?hPa, extracted using the EEMD method, is defined as a QBO index. Using this index, the QBO life cycle composites of stratosphere and troposphere variables, as well as SSTA, are constructed and examined. The composite features in the stratosphere are generally consistent with previous investigations. The correlations between the QBO and tropical Pacific SSTA depend on the phase in a QBO life cycle. On average, cold (warm) SSTA peaks about half a year after the maximum westerlies (easterlies) at 30?hPa. The connection of the QBO with the troposphere seems to be associated with the differences of temperature anomalies between the stratosphere and troposphere. While the anomalies in the stratosphere propagate downward systematically, some anomalies in the troposphere develop and expand vertically. Therefore, it is possible that the temperature difference between the troposphere and stratosphere may alter the atmospheric stability and tropical deep convection, which modulates the Walker circulation and SSTA in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.     

Relative roles of dynamic and thermodynamic processes in causing positive and negative global mean SST trends during the past 100 years

Global mean surface temperature (GMST) during 1910–2012 experienced four alternated rapid warming and warming hiatus phases. Such a temporal variation is primarily determined by global mean sea surface temperature (SST) component. The relative roles of ocean dynamic and thermodynamic processes in causing such global mean SST variations are investigated, using two methods. The first method is ocean mixed layer heat budget analysis. The budget diagnosis result shows that the thermodynamic processes dominate in the rapid warming phases, while the ocean dynamics dominate during the hiatus phases. The second method relies on the diagnosis of a simple equilibrium state model. This model captures well the horizontal distribution of SST difference between two warmer and cooler equilibrium states during either the rapid warming or hiatus phases. It is found that the SST difference during the rapid warming phases is primarily controlled by the increase of downward longwave radiation as both column integrated water vapor and CO₂ increase during the phases. During the hiatus phases, the water vapor induced greenhouse effect offsets the CO₂ effect, and the SST cooling tendency is primarily determined by the ocean dynamics over the Southern Ocean and tropical Pacific. The SST pattern associated with the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) might be responsible for the remote and local ocean dynamic responses through induced wind change.     

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...     

Evolution of the relationship between near global and Atlantic SST modes and the rainy season in West Africa: statistical analyses and sensitivity experiments

 Monthly sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) at near-global scale (60 °N–40 °S) and May to October rainfall amounts in West Africa (16 °N–5 °N; 16 °W–16 °E) are first used to investigate the seasonal and interannual evolutions of their relationship. It is shown that West African rainfall variability is associated with two types of oceanic changes: (1) a large-scale evolution involving the two largest SSTA leading eigenmodes (16% of the total variance with stronger loadings in the equatorial and southern oceans) related to the long-term (multiannual) component of rainfall variability mainly expressed in the Sudan–Sahel region; and (2) a regional and seasonally coupled evolution of the meridional thermal gradient in the tropical Atlantic due to the linear combination of the two largest SSTA modes in the Atlantic (11% with strong inverse loadings over the northern and southern tropics) which is associated with the interannual and quasi-decadal components of regional rainfall in West Africa. Linear regression and discriminant analyses provide evidence that the main July–September rainfall anomalies in Sudan–Sahel can be detected with rather good skills using the leading (April–June) or synchronous (July–September) values of the four main oceanic modes. In particular, the driest conditions over Sahel, more marked since the beginning of the 1970s, are specifically linked to the warm phases of the two global modes and to cold/warm anomalies in the northern/southern tropical Atlantic. Idealized but realistic SSTA patterns, obtained from some basic linear combinations of the four main oceanic modes appear sufficient to generate quickly (from mid-July to the end of August) significant West African rainfall anomalies in model experiments, consistent with the statistical results. The recent negative impact on West African rainfall exerted by the global oceanic forcing is primarily due to the generation of subsidence anomalies in the mid-troposphere over West Africa. When an idealized north to south SSTA gradient is added in the tropical Atlantic, strong north to south height gradients in the middle levels appear. These limit the northward excursion of the rainbelt in West Africa: the Sahelian area experiences drier conditions due to the additive effect (subsidence anomalies+latitudinal blocking) while over the Guinea regions wet conditions do not significantly increase, since the subsidence anomalies and the blocking effect act here in opposite ways. Received: 26 June 1997 / Accepted: 3 October 1997     

海温与涛动

本文所用的月海温资料是取自美国国家气候中心。经统计学和气候学方法对全球主要洋流区海温与北太平洋涛动、南方涛动、北大西洋涛动相互关系进行初步分析,认为:当厄尔尼诺年时,全球大多数主要洋流区海温普遍上升,它们与东太平洋赤道冷水带海温的正相关显著。这时,西澳大利亚寒流区、东澳大利亚暖流区、墨西哥湾暧流区的海温都下降.这三个洋流区与东太平洋赤道冷水带的海温呈负相关明显。秘鲁寒流区与东澳大利亚暖流区、西澳大利亚寒流区,加那利寒流区与墨西哥湾暖流区海温场存在着东西向跷跷板式的变化特点是引起南方涛动和北大西洋涛动的主要成因之一。      

海表热通量反馈及海温变率

海气交界面的能量交换与海洋平流共同决定海表面温度(sea surface temperature,SST)异常的形成、维持与衰减。基于作者近期的研究,本文回顾了海表面热通量(surface heat flux,SHF)反馈以及SST方差与海表热通量及海洋热输送方差之间的关系。海表热通量异常可近似为一个与SST成正比的线性反馈项与一个大气强迫项之和。SHF的反馈参数取决于SST和SHF间的滞后交叉协方差以及SST自协方差。这种反馈总体上为负反馈,减弱SST异常,海表湍流部分起主导作用。最强的反馈可见于南北两半球的中纬度,最大值出现在大洋的西部和中部位置并延伸至高纬度地区。SHF反馈于北半球秋冬两季增强,春夏两季减弱。这些反馈特征在CMIP3耦合气候模式中得到合理的模拟。然而,多数模式中反馈的强度与再分析资料的估值相比略为偏弱。与再分析资料的估值相比,“平均模式”反馈参数比单一模式有更相似的空间形态以及较小的均方根差。基于海表面能量收支平衡,SST的方差可以表示为3个要素的积:1)海表面辐射和湍流通量以及海洋热输送的方差之和;2)一个衡量SST持续性的传输系数G;3)一个反映海表热通量以及海洋热输送之间协方差结构的有效因子e。SST方差的地理分布类似于海表热通量及海洋热输送的方差之和,但为G和e因子所修正。