SEASONAL DEPENDENCE OF LOCAL AIR-SEA INTERACTION OVER THE TROPICAL WESTERN PACIFIC WARM POOL

Based on the air-sea interface heat fluxes and related meteorological variables datasets recently released by Objectively Analyzed Air-Sea Fluxes (OA Flux) Project of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, as well as the outgoing longwave radiation and surface wind datasets from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the seasonal dependence of local air-sea interaction over the tropical western Pacific warm pool (referred to the region (1o-6oN, 144o-154oE)) is revealed and the probable impacts of remote forcing on the air-sea interaction are examined. The results indicated the dominance of oceanic forcing with the significant impact of ENSO in March and that of atmospheric feedback without notable influence of remote forcing in June. While the interannual variability of sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) is larger than that of SSTA tendency when oceanic forcing is dominant, the opposite is true when atmospheric feedback is dominant. The magnitude of the oceanic forcing of the atmosphere tends to decrease in March with the occurrence of ENSO, though ENSO has little influence on the atmospheric feedback to the ocean in June. The local air-sea interaction is substantially the same before and after the removal of the effect of Indian Oceanic Dipole. The reduction of shortwave radiation fluxes into the western Pacific warm pool, due to the enhanced overlaying convection in March associated with ENSO, leads to the decline of SST tendency that will weaken the oceanic forcing of the atmosphere.     

Comparison of Wintertime North American Climate Impacts Associated with Multiple ENSO Indices

This analysis compares the climate impacts over North America during winter associated with various El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indices, including the Niño 3.4 index, the leading tropical Pacific outgoing longwave radiation and sea surface temperature (OLR-SST) covariability, and the eastern Pacific (EP) and central Pacific (CP) types of ENSO identified from both partial-regression–empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and regression–EOF approaches. The traditional Niño 3.4 SST index is found to be optimal for monitoring the tropical Pacific OLR-SST covariability and for the tropical SST impact on North America. The circulation anomalies associated with the Niño 3.4 index project on both the Pacific/North American (PNA) and Tropical/Northern Hemisphere (TNH) patterns. The ENSO associated with the PNA tends to come from both the EP and CP ENSOs, whereas that associated with the TNH comes more from the EP ENSO. The variability of ENSO significantly affects North American temperature and precipitation, as well as temperature and precipitation extremes. For either the EP or CP types of ENSO, qualitatively similar patterns of climate and climate extreme anomalies are apparent associated with the indices identified by the two EOF approaches, with differences mainly in the anomalous amplitude. The anomalous patterns are generally field significant over North America for the EP ENSO but not field significant for the CP ENSO.

The circulation anomalies associated with ENSO are reinforced and maintained by synoptic vorticity fluxes in the upper troposphere. The anomalous surface temperature is mainly determined by the anomalies in surface radiative heating in the face of upward surface longwave radiative damping. The precipitation anomalies are supported by the vertically integrated moisture transport. The differences in atmospheric circulation, surface temperature, and precipitation among the various ENSO indices, including the intensity and spatial structure of the fields, can be attributed to the corresponding differences in synoptic eddy vorticity forcing, surface radiative heating, and vertically integrated moisture transport.     

西太平洋暖池对流三类显著月际变化及其成因

基于1979～2018年观测的向外长波辐射（outgoing longwave radiation, OLR）资料和其他多种再分析资料,发现西太平洋暖池对流存在3类显著的月际变化。第一类为OLR在6月和8月为负异常而7月为正异常;第二类与第一类完全相反;第三类为OLR在6～7月为正异常,8月为负异常。3类月际变化与ENSO循环的背景有关,前两类发生在较弱的La Ni?a年和El Ni?o发展年,与春季暖池海温异常有关。当前一个月海温偏高时,后一个月对流偏强,造成局地海温降低,偏低的海温又反过来抑制了后一个月的对流发展,因此暖池地区局地海气相互作用在这两类月际变化中起到关键作用。与前两类不同的是,第三类月际变化发生在El Ni?o衰减年,与春季热带印度洋海温偏高有关。热带印度洋海温偏高造成印度附近对流在6～7月间增强,通过东传Kelvin波抑制了暖池对流发展。同时,印度附近对流偏强造成8月印度洋海温降低和对流减弱,对暖池对流的影响因而减弱。另一方面,6～7月暖池对流偏弱造成8月暖池海温升高,结果造成暖池对流增强。因此,第三类月际变化受到热带印度洋强迫以及暖池地区局地海气相互作用的共同影响。     

北半球冬季环流异常与ENSO的非线性关系

运用非线性典型相关分析（nonlinear canonical correlation analysis,简称NLCCA）方法,对热带太平洋海表温度异常（SSTA）场与北半球冬季海平面气压异常场（SLPA）进行非线性分析,以反映ENSO与北半球冬季环流异常之间的非线性关系。NLCCA的结果表明：从极冷到极暖期,北半球冬季SLPA场对ENSO的投影在各主成分所分别构成的平面或空间中分别形成一条直线和一条抛物线,说明北半球冬季环流异常与ENSO的相关包含线性和具有二次特征的非线性两部分。无论ENSO的冷、暖事件都能导致冰岛低压减弱,且西伯利亚高压、北美高压和北太平洋高压随SSTA的变化不对称,进一步证明了ENSO对北半球冬季环流异常的非线性影响,其中冰岛低压对于ENSO响应的非线性特征最强,而阿留中低压与ENSO则主要是线性相关。     

西太平洋暖池6月对流增强的成因及其预测意义

基于1979～2018年观测向外长波辐射资料和其他多种再分析资料,研究了西太平洋暖池6月对流增强的原因.合成分析结果表明,由于La Ni?a影响造成春季暖池海温偏高,为6月暖池对流增强提供了热力基础,而大气内部扰动特别是热带西风增强能从动力上影响到6月对流的发展.此外,6月对流增强通过局地海气相互作用持续影响到7～8月...     

热带太平洋年代际平均气候态变化与ENSO循环

文中用观测的热带太平洋海表温度资料、风应力资料和OLR资料，通过多时间尺度分析，将与ENSO有关的变化分为3个主要的分量，一是2～7a的ENSO循环尺度，二是8～20a的年代际尺度，三是20a以上的平均气候态变化。讨论了热带太平洋这种平均气候态变化的主要特征以及与ENSO循环的关系，并用耦合模式的数值试验来研究平均气候态的变化对ENSO循环的影响。结果表明热带太平洋的平均气候态在20世纪70年代后期发生了一次由冷态向暖态的变化，主要增暖区是沿赤道以及热带东太平洋的，海表温度变化最大中心可以达到0.6℃。伴随着海表温度的变化，赤道西太平洋的西风距平加强，赤道东太平洋的东风距平也加强，在赤道中太平洋形成了一个加强的辐合中心。年代际平均气候冷暖态的变化对ENSO最直接的线性影响是使ElNio位相增加，而形成ENSO冷位相和暖位相的不对称。另一方面较暖的平均气候态可能引起海洋和大气之间的耦合加强，导致ENSO循环振荡有所加强。     

Impact of Tropospheric Ozone on Summer Climate in China

The spatial distribution, radiative forcing, and climatic effects of tropospheric ozone in China during summer were investigated by using the regional climate model RegCM4. The results revealed that the tropospheric ozone column concentration was high in East China, Central China, North China, and the Sichuan basin during summer. The increase in tropospheric ozone levels since the industrialization era produced clear-sky shortwave and clear-sky longwave radiative forcing of 0.18 and 0.71 W m^–2, respectively, which increased the average surface air temperature by 0.06 K and the average precipitation by 0.22 mm day^–1 over eastern China during summer. In addition, tropospheric ozone increased the land–sea thermal contrast, leading to an enhancement of East Asian summer monsoon circulation over southern China and a weakening over northern China. The notable increase in surface air temperature in northwestern China, East China, and North China could be attributed to the absorption of longwave radiation by ozone, negative cloud amount anomaly, and corresponding positive shortwave radiation anomaly. There was a substantial increase in precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It was related to the enhanced upward motion and the increased water vapor brought by strengthened southerly winds in the lower troposphere.     

Fluctuations of the relationship between ENSO and northeast Australian rainfall

It is well known that during an El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) warm event, drought occurs in regions of northeastern (NE) Australia, leading to anomalously low annual rainfall. The present study explores fluctuations of this ENSO-rainfall relationship. It is found that the relationship tends to weaken when the linearly detrended global mean temperature is rising or particularly high, as in the period of 1931–45 period and since the late 1970s. Prior to a weakening, a correlation pattern of increased rainfall during El Niño events is seen first in northwestern Australia, then in eastern and southeastern Australia, and eventually in NE Australia. The 1931–45 period was particularly intriguing, when in terms of rainfall variability over NE Australia, the interannual ENSO-rainfall relationship went through a process of weakening, reversal, and rapid recovery. Features associated with the reversal are therefore examined and these features are: (1) the global background anomaly pattern (upon which internnal ENSO events operate) is ENSO-like; (2) ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in tropical Pacific are weaker compared with those averaged over all ENSO events, whereas SST anomalies in the mid- to-high latitude Pacific (which have opposing polarity to those in tropical Pacific) are larger; (3) there is strong coherence between ENSO and variability in northern mid- to high-latitudes; and (4) the relationship that an El Niño event contributes to a warming anomaly of global mean SST weakens. Possible interrelationship among these features are discussed.     

南印度洋偶极子的变化特征及其与ENSO事件的联系

利用Hadley Center逐月海温资料以及NCEP/NCAR逐月风场、海平面气压场等资料探讨了南印度洋偶极子(Southern Indian Ocean Dipole,SIOD)的变化特征及其与ENSO事件的联系。结果表明:1)发生在南半球副热带印度洋地区的海温异常西南—东北反相的南印度洋偶极子现象,具有明显的季节锁相特征:10—12月发生发展,次年1—3月发展成熟达到盛期,4—6月减弱消亡;SIOD的形成主要受大尺度大气环流的影响,马斯克林高压以及澳大利亚低(高)压位置和强度的变化引起的副热带印度洋海表面风场的异常,影响了海温的变化,进而形成SIOD。2)南半球副热带印度洋地区的海温变化与赤道中东太平洋地区海温异常密切联系,前冬ENSO事件与SIOD有显著的负相关关系,大多数正SIOD发生在La Ni?a事件之后,大多数负SIOD发生在El Ni?o事件之后;也存在部分SIOD事件的发生既不伴随La Ni?a现象,也不伴随El Ni?o现象。3)ENSO事件产生的异常垂直运动和赤道异常纬向风对南半球副热带印度洋地区的海平面气压以及海表面风场的强度和位置的变化有重要作用,可以分别影响SIOD东西极子的演变,进而对SIOD产生影响。4)SIOD事件也可单独发生,一般负事件比正事件早一个月发生,同时由于没有ENSO事件的作用,海温异常反相的现象不能持续,单独发生的SIOD事件生命期较短。     

Radiative damping of annual variation in global mean surface temperature: comparison between observed and simulated feedback

The sensitivity of the global climate is essentially determined by the radiative damping of the global mean surface temperature anomaly through the outgoing radiation from the top of the atmosphere (TOA). Using the TOA fluxes of terrestrial and reflected solar radiation obtained from the Earth radiation budget experiment (ERBE), this study estimates the magnitude of the overall feedback, which modifies the radiative damping of the annual variation of the global mean surface temperature, and compare it with model simulations. Although the pattern of the annually varying anomaly is quite different from that of the global warming, the analysis conducted here may be used for assessing the systematic bias of the feedback that operates on the CO₂-induced warming of the surface temperature. In the absence of feedback effect, the outgoing terrestrial radiation at the TOA is approximately follows the Stefan-Boltzmann’s fourth power of the planetary emission temperature. However, it deviates significantly from the blackbody radiation due to various feedbacks involving water vapor and cloud cover. In addition, the reflected solar radiation is altered by the feedbacks involving sea ice, snow and cloud, thereby affecting the radiative damping of surface temperature. The analysis of ERBE reveals that the radiative damping is weakened by as much as 70% due to the overall effect of feedbacks, and is only 30% of what is expected for the blackbody with the planetary emission temperature. Similar feedback analysis is conducted for three general circulation models of the atmosphere, which was used for the study of cloud feedback in the preceding study. The sign and magnitude of the overall feedback in the three models are similar to those of the observed. However, when it is subdivided into solar and terrestrial components, they are quite different from the observation mainly due to the failure of the models to simulate individually the solar and terrestrial components of the cloud feedback. It is therefore desirable to make the similar comparison not only for the overall feedback but also for its individual components such as albedo- and cloud-feedbacks. Although the pattern of the annually-varying anomaly is quite different from that of global warming, the methodology of the comparative analysis presented here may be used for the identification of the systematic bias of the overall feedback in a model. A proposal is made for the estimation of the best guess value of climate sensitivity using the outputs from many climate models submitted to the Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change.     

华南沿海暖海雾过程中的湍流热量交换特征

湍流交换是海雾中的关键物理过程, 在海雾的热量和水汽平衡过程中起重要作用。本文根据2007年3月24～25日一次海雾的外场观测数据, 分析了海雾过程中近海面湍流热量交换特征; 并在区分风切变机械湍流与雾顶长波辐射冷却热力湍流的基础上, 着重分析了两种不同性质的湍流对海雾发展和维持的作用。结果表明: (1) 本次海雾是在西南低压和变性冷高压的控制下, 来自南海东部暖水区的空气平流在近岸冷海面上形成的暖海雾; 暖海雾中的湍流热量交换过程比冷海雾更为复杂; (2) 在暖海雾的形成和消散阶段, 风切变机械湍流的热量输送起主要作用; 而在发展和维持阶段, 既有风切变机械湍流的热量输送作用, 也有雾顶长波辐射冷却热力湍流的热量输送作用; (3) 风切变机械湍流向冷海面输送热量, 对近海面空气起到降温和增湿作用; 热力湍流同样向冷海面输送热量, 但对雾层起到增温和降湿作用; (4) 暖海雾中的湍流热量交换机制与雾层的非充分混合结构有密切关系。     

2018/2019年冬季浙江罕见持续阴雨天气的环流异常与海温强迫

利用NCEP/NCAR全球再分析资料、地面观测资料和自动站降水资料,分析了2018/2019年冬季浙江罕见连续阴雨寡照天气过程中冬季风环流和南支槽等环流异常,并从西风带波动、海温强迫等方面研究了局地环流异常的成因。结果表明:2018/2019年冬季连阴雨事件中雨日、日照破历史记录,雨量较常年同期明显偏多。主要的环流异常为西北太平洋异常反气旋（WNPAC）明显偏北,同时阿留申低压和西伯利亚高压亦偏北,东亚地区40°N以南有强的偏南风异常,冬季风偏弱;南支槽较常年偏强,保证了浙江上空有持续的水汽和扰动输送。对流层中层存在沿欧洲向东亚—西太平洋传播的波动能量,波能在东亚地区一直向南传播至20°N以南,可能导致WNPAC明显北抬和南支槽加强。ENSO是WNPAC的重要强迫源,ENSO暖位相使得海洋性大陆出现异常对流冷却,而浙江上空对流加强,ENSO对南支槽活动强度亦有明显的制约作用。中国近海海温偏高是WNPAC和阿留申低压明显偏北的重要影响因素。2018/2019年冬季局地环流异常可能由ENSO和中国近海海温协同强迫所致。     

中纬度北太平洋依赖于ENSO事件及独立于ENSO事件的变率特征:观测事实与海气耦合模式模拟

观测事实显示,在E1 Ni(?)o发生期间,伴随着赤道中东太平洋的增暖,中纬度北大平洋中部表层海温（SST）常出现冷距平,而北美大陆西海岸SST则出现暖距平。借助观测资料分析和海气耦合模式模拟两种手段,检验了北太平洋对ENSO事件的上述响应。观测证据和数值模拟都支持有关学者提出的“大气桥”概念,即大气对赤道中东太平洋SST异常增暖的响应,随后强迫中纬度北太平洋,并导致那里SST的变冷,从而起到了连接热带和热带外特别是中纬度北太平洋的“桥梁”的作用。关于其机制,本文认为主要是海洋对大气强迫的动力响应导致那里的SST变冷,尽管潜热通量的贡献也很显著。至少模式结果证明短波辐射、长波辐射和感热通量的贡献都是次要的。进一步的分析揭示,北太平洋存在着线性独立于ENSO事件的所谓“北太平洋模态”,在空间型上,它和线性地依赖于ENSO事件的模态非常相近,即它们的纬向结构都呈现出扁平的“双极”型,只是彼此间SST距平极大值的中心位置不同。模拟结果表明,北太平洋模态与大气的耦合作用,主要是通过海气热通量交换实现的,其中短波辐射和长波辐射的作用居主导地位,而潜热通量的贡献则基本可以忽略。     

Global energy budget changes to high latitude North Atlantic cooling and the tropical ITCZ response

The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in atmospheric general circulation models (coupled to slab ocean) shift southwards in response to northern extratropical cooling. Previous studies have demonstrated the utility of diagnosing the atmospheric energy fluxes in interpreting this teleconnection. This study investigates the nature of global energy flux changes in response to North Atlantic high latitude cooling applied to the Community Atmosphere Model version 3 coupled to a slab ocean, focusing on key local and remote feedbacks that collectively act to alter the energy budget and atmospheric energy transport. We also investigate the relative roles of tropical sea surface temperature (SST) and energy flux changes in the ITCZ response to North Atlantic cooling. Using a radiative kernel technique, we quantify the effects of key feedbacks—temperature, cloud and water vapor, to the top-of-the-atmosphere radiative flux changes. The results show only partial local energy flux compensation to the initial perturbation in the high latitudes, originating from the negative temperature feedback and opposed by positive shortwave albedo and longwave water vapor feedbacks. Thus, an increase in the atmospheric energy transport to the Northern extratropics is required to close the energy budget. The additional energy flux providing this increase comes from top-of-the-atmosphere radiative flux increase over the southern tropics, primarily from cloud, temperature and longwave water vapor feedbacks, and largely as a consequence of increased deep convection. It has been previously argued that the role of tropical SST changes was secondary to the role played by the atmospheric energy flux requirements in controlling the ITCZ shifts, proposing that the SST response is a result of the surface energy budget and not a driver of the precipitation response. Using a set of idealized simulations with the fixed tropical SSTs, we demonstrate that the ITCZ shifts are not possible without the tropical SST changes and suggest that the tropical SSTs are a more suitable driver of tropical precipitation shifts compared to the atmospheric energy fluxes. In our simulations, the ITCZ shifts are influenced mainly by the local (tropical) SST forcing, apparently independent of the actual high latitude energy demand.     

海温异常对台风形成的影响

本文利用地球流体力学实验室(GFDL)的低分辨气候模式进行数值试验,以研究海温异常对台风形成的影响.试验采用恒定8月气候条件和海表温度(SST).海温异常(SSTA)被置于北太平洋不同区域.结果表明,台风生成频率在暖SSTA区明显增加.这是由于暖SSTA区低层辐合的增强一方面使低空气旋式环流和高空反气旋式环流加大,另一方面导致低层水汽向该区辐合,使潜热释放加强,对流加剧所致.此一机制被用于解释台风频率和ENSO事件的相关.在冷ENSO年份,西北和西南太平洋台风增多不仅是由于赤道东太平洋SST异常冷,还与西太平洋SST异常暖有关.     

Intraseasonal variability in the far-east pacific: investigation of the role of air�Csea coupling in a regional coupled model

Intraseasonal variability in the eastern Pacific warm pool in summer is studied, using a regional ocean?Catmosphere model, a linear baroclinic model (LBM), and satellite observations. The atmospheric component of the model is forced by lateral boundary conditions from reanalysis data. The aim is to quantify the importance to atmospheric deep convection of local air?Csea coupling. In particular, the effect of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies on surface heat fluxes is examined. Intraseasonal (20?C90?day) east Pacific warm-pool zonal wind and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) variability in the regional coupled model are correlated at 0.8 and 0.6 with observations, respectively, significant at the 99% confidence level. The strength of the intraseasonal variability in the coupled model, as measured by the variance of outgoing longwave radiation, is close in magnitude to that observed, but with a maximum located about 10° further west. East Pacific warm pool intraseasonal convection and winds agree in phase with those from observations, suggesting that remote forcing at the boundaries associated with the Madden?CJulian oscillation determines the phase of intraseasonal convection in the east Pacific warm pool. When the ocean model component is replaced by weekly reanalysis SST in an atmosphere-only experiment, there is a slight improvement in the location of the highest OLR variance. Further sensitivity experiments with the regional atmosphere-only model in which intraseasonal SST variability is removed indicate that convective variability has only a weak dependence on the SST variability, but a stronger dependence on the climatological mean SST distribution. A scaling analysis confirms that wind speed anomalies give a much larger contribution to the intraseasonal evaporation signal than SST anomalies, in both model and observations. A LBM is used to show that local feedbacks would serve to amplify intraseasonal convection and the large-scale circulation. Further, Hovm?ller diagrams reveal that whereas a significant dynamic intraseasonal signal enters the model domain from the west, the strong deep convection mostly arises within the domain. Taken together, the regional and linear model results suggest that in this region remote forcing and local convection?Ccirculation feedbacks are both important to the intraseasonal variability, but ocean?Catmosphere coupling has only a small effect. Possible mechanisms of remote forcing are discussed.     

The 1997/ 98 enso cycle and its impact on summer climate anomalies in east asia

l.IntroductionTheENSOeventcanbeconsideredasthemostimp0rtantphenomenonoftheair-seainteractionintheequatoria1Pacific.WhenanENSOeventoccursintheequatorialPacific,severeclimateanomalieswillbecausedinmanyregionsoftheworld(Namias,l976;HorelandWallace,l98l;RasmussonandCarpenter,l982;RasmussonandWallace,l983).Similar-ly,theENS0eventalsohasalargeimpactonclimateanomaliesinEastAsia(WangandZhu,l986;FuandYe,l988).lnrespectoftheimpactofENSOeventonclimateanomaliesinChina,theinvestigationofHuanga…     

On the vertical extent of atmospheric feedbacks

This study addresses the question: what vertical regions contribute the most to water vapor, surface temperature, lapse rate and cloud fraction feedback strengths in a general circulation model? Multi-level offline radiation perturbation calculations are used to diagnose the feedback contribution from each model level. As a first step, to locate regions of maximum radiative sensitivity to climate changes, the top of atmosphere radiative impact for each feedback is explored for each process by means of idealized parameter perturbations on top of a control (1?×?CO₂) model climate. As a second step, the actual feedbacks themselves are calculated using the changes modelled from a 2?×?CO₂ experiment. The impact of clouds on water vapor and lapse rate feedbacks is also isolated using `clear sky' calculations. Considering the idealized changes, it is found that the radiative sensitivity to water vapor changes is a maximum in the tropical lower troposphere. The sensitivity to temperature changes has both upper and lower tropospheric maxima. The sensitivity to idealized cloud changes is positive (warming) for upper level cloud increases but negative (cooling) for lower level increases, due to competing long and shortwave effects. Considering the actual feedbacks, it is found that water vapor feedback is a maximum in the tropical upper troposphere, due to the large relative increases in specific humidity which occur there. The actual lapse rate feedback changes sign with latitude and is a maximum (negative) again in the tropical upper troposphere. Cloud feedbacks reflect the general decrease in low- to mid-level low-latitude cloud, with an increase in the very highest cloud. This produces a net positive (negative) shortwave (longwave) cloud feedback. The role of clouds in the strength of the water vapor and lapse rate feedbacks is also discussed.     

Convective signals from surface measurements at ARM Tropical Western Pacific site: Manus

Madden?CJulian Oscillation (MJO) signals have been detected using highly sampled observations from the U.S. DOE ARM Climate Research Facility located at the Tropical Western Pacific Manus site. Using downwelling shortwave radiative fluxes and derived shortwave fractional sky cover, and the statistical tools of wavelet, cross wavelet, and Fourier spectrum power, we report finding major convective signals and their phase change from surface observations spanning from 1996 to 2006. Our findings are confirmed with the satellite-gauge combined values of precipitation from the NASA Global Precipitation Climatology Project and the NOAA interpolated outgoing longwave radiation for the same location. We find that the Manus MJO signal is weakest during the strongest 1997?C1998 El Ni?o Southern Oscillation (ENSO) year. A significant 3?C5-month lead in boreal winter is identified further between Manus MJO and NOAA NINO3.4 sea surface temperature (former leads latter). A striking inverse relationship is found also between the instantaneous synoptic and intraseasonal phenomena over Manus. To further study the interaction between intraseasonal and diurnal scale variability, we composite the diurnal cycle of cloudiness for 21-MJO events that have passed over Manus. Our diurnal composite analysis of shortwave and longwave fractional sky covers indicates that during the MJO peak (strong convection), the diurnal amplitude of cloudiness is reduced substantially, while the diurnal mean cloudiness reaches the highest value and there are no significant phase changes. We argue that the increasing diurnal mean and decreasing diurnal amplitude are caused by the systematic convective cloud formation that is associated with the wet phase of the MJO, while the diurnal phase is still regulated by the well-defined solar forcing. This confirms our previous finding of the anti-phase relationship between the synoptic and intraseasonal phenomena. The detection of the MJO over the Manus site provides further opportunities in using other ground-based remote sensing instruments to investigate the vertical distributions of clouds and radiative heatings of the MJO that currently is impossible from satellite observations.     

The nonlinear association between ENSO and the Euro-Atlantic winter sea level pressure

A nonlinear projection of the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) onto the Northern Hemisphere winter sea level pressure (SLP) anomalies by neural networks (NN) was performed to investigate the nonlinear association between El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Euro-Atlantic winter climate. While the linear impact of ENSO on the Euro-Atlantic winter SLP is weak, the NN projection reveals statistically significant SLP anomalies over the Euro-Atlantic sector during both extreme cold and warm ENSO episodes, suggesting that the Euro-Atlantic climate mainly responds to ENSO nonlinearly. The nonlinear response, mainly a quadratic response to the SSTA, reveals that regardless of the sign of the SSTA, positive SLP anomalies are found over the North Atlantic, stretching from eastern Canada to Europe (with anomaly center located just northwestward of Portugal), and negative anomalies centered over Scandinavia and Norwegian Sea, consistent with the excitation of the positive North Atlantic Oscillation pattern.