夏季亚洲—太平洋涛动与大气环流和季风降水

利用ERA-40再分析资料和数值模拟,分析了在亚洲-太平洋区域的大气遥相关以及与亚洲季风降水和西北太平洋热带气旋活动气候特征的关系,探讨了青藏高原加热和太平洋海表温度(SST)对遥相关的影响,结果表明:亚洲-太平洋涛动(Asian-Pacific Oscillation,APO)是夏季对流层扰动温度在亚洲与太平洋中纬度之间的一种"跷跷板"现象,当亚洲大陆中纬度对流层偏冷时,中、东太平洋中纬度对流层偏暖,反之亦然;这种遥相关也出现在平流层中,只是其位相与对流层的相反.APO为研究亚洲与太平洋大气环流相互作用提供了一个途径.APO指数也是亚洲-太平洋对流层热力差异指数,它具有年际和年代际的多时间尺度变化特征,在1958-2001年亚洲与太平洋之间的对流层热力差异呈现出减弱趋势,同时也有显著的5.5 a周期.APO形成可能与太阳辐射在亚洲陆地和太平洋的加热差异所造成的纬向垂直环流有关,数值模拟进一步表明:夏季青藏高原加热可以造成高原附近对流层温度升高、上升运动加强,太平洋下沉运动加强、温度下降,从而形成APO现象;而太平洋年代际涛动和赤道东太平洋的厄尔尼若现象对APO的影响可能较小.当夏季APO异常时,南亚高压、欧亚中纬度西风急流、南亚热带东风急流以及太平洋上空的副热带高压都出现显著变化,并伴随着亚洲季风降水及西北太平洋热带气旋活动异常.过去40多年来的长江中上游地区夏季变冷与APO有关,可能是全球大气环流年代际变化在该区域的一种反映.APO异常信号可以传播到南、北两极.此外,亚洲-太平洋之间的这种遥相关型也出现在其他季节.     

Boreal summer continental monsoon rainfall and hydroclimate anomalies associated with the Asian-Pacific Oscillation

With the twentieth century analysis data (1901–2002) for atmospheric circulation, precipitation, Palmer drought severity index, and sea surface temperature (SST), we show that the Asian-Pacific Oscillation (APO) during boreal summer is a major mode of the earth climate variation linking to global atmospheric circulation and hydroclimate anomalies, especially the Northern Hemisphere (NH) summer land monsoon. Associated with a positive APO phase are the warm troposphere over the Eurasian land and the relatively cool troposphere over the North Pacific, the North Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean. Such an amplified land–ocean thermal contrast between the Eurasian land and its adjacent oceans signifies a stronger than normal NH summer monsoon, with the strengthened southerly or southwesterly monsoon prevailing over tropical Africa, South Asia, and East Asia. A positive APO implies an enhanced summer monsoon rainfall over all major NH land monsoon regions: West Africa, South Asia, East Asia, and Mexico. Thus, APO is a sensible measure of the NH land monsoon rainfall intensity. Meanwhile, reduced precipitation appears over the arid and semiarid regions of northern Africa, the Middle East, and West Asia, manifesting the monsoon-desert coupling. On the other hand, surrounded by the cool troposphere over the North Pacific and North Atlantic, the extratropical North America has weakened low-level continental low and upper-level ridge, hence a deficient summer rainfall. Corresponding to a high APO index, the African and South Asian monsoon regions are wet and cool, the East Asian monsoon region is wet and hot, and the extratropical North America is dry and hot. Wet and dry climates correspond to wet and dry soil conditions, respectively. The APO is also associated with significant variations of SST in the entire Pacific and the extratropical North Atlantic during boreal summer, which resembles the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation in SST. Of note is that the Pacific SST anomalies are not present throughout the year, rather, mainly occur in late spring, peak at late summer, and are nearly absent during boreal winter. The season-dependent APO–SST relationship and the origin of the APO remain elusive.     

冬季亚洲—太平洋涛动年际变率与东亚气候异常

利用1948—2011年NCEP/NCAR月平均再分析资料和1951—2010年我国160站降水量资料,研究了冬季亚洲—太平洋区域的大气遥相关及其与东亚冬季风和降水的关系。结果表明:冬季在亚洲—西太平洋与中、东太平洋中低纬度对流层上层扰动温度之间存在类似于夏季的亚洲—太平洋涛动 (APO) 现象,即当东亚中低纬度对流层中、上层偏暖时,中东太平洋中低纬度对流层中上层温度偏冷,反之亦然。冬季APO可以反映冬季亚洲—太平洋东西向热力差异强度变化,与夏季相比,冬季APO遥相关在亚洲的中心位置略偏南、偏东,且冬季APO与大气环流关系与夏季也有所不同;当冬季APO指数偏高时,对流层上层东亚大槽位置偏西,而东亚热带地区的高压向北伸展,导致我国南方对流层为深厚的异常反气旋系统所控制,此时南方地区对流层低层盛行异常的偏东北气流,并伴随水汽辐散和异常下沉运动,南方降水偏少;冬季APO指数与ENSO有紧密联系。     

An Asian–Pacific teleconnection in summer tropospheric temperature and associated Asian climate variability

We identified the Asian–Pacific Oscillation (APO) and its associated index, a zonal teleconnection pattern over the extratropical Asian–Pacific region. This was done through the correlation and empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analyses on the summer mean tropospheric eddy temperature from the monthly European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast reanalysis. The APO reflects an out-of-phase relationship in variability of the eddy temperature between Asia and the North Pacific and is associated with the out-of-phase relationship in atmospheric heating. The APO index shows a decadal variation, tending to a high-index polarity before 1975 and afterward to a low-index polarity. Moreover, the APO index has a quasi-5-year period. With higher APO-index conditions in the upper troposphere, the summer South Asian high and the North Pacific trough are stronger, while the westerly jet stream over Asia and the easterly jet stream over South Asia strengthen. Also, the Asian low and the North Pacific subtropical high are stronger in the lower troposphere. The anomalous southerlies prevail at the midlatitudes of East Asia, accompanied by a more northward Mei-yu front, and the anomalous westerlies prevail over South Asia. Summer rainfall increases in North China, South China, and South Asia, while it decreases from the valley of the Yangtze River to southern Japan, and near the Philippines.     

青藏高原夏季热力状态和南半球大气环流的可能联系

本文通过对观测和再分析数据采用最大协方差分析以及回归、合成等分析方法,研究了青藏高原夏季地表气温与南半球大气环流之间的遥相关关系。结果表明,前期(4月)南半球极地—中高纬度大气环流呈现负位势高度异常、较低纬度印度洋—西太平洋区域呈现正位势高度异常时,高原中部和东部大部分区域夏季出现暖异常。在上述遥相关中,印度洋—西太平洋海温异常可能起到了重要的中间桥梁作用。在高原夏季温度偏高的年份,前期跨赤道的印度洋—西太平洋海温也持续偏暖,带来的海陆热力对比减小、经向跨赤道气流减弱有利于削弱夏季的季风环流,使得高原夏季降水偏少,有利于形成高原夏季的暖异常。在这一高原气温—南半球大气环流的遥相关关系中,4月南半球的大气位势高度场异常和与印度洋—西太平洋海温异常相关的异常高度场分布也十分相似。这一前期的跨赤道区域海温异常与南半球中高纬度位势高度场异常的因果关系仍有待进一步揭示。     

Extratropical control of recent tropical Pacific decadal climate variability: a relay teleconnection

Observations indicate that recent tropical Pacific decadal climate variability tends to be associated with the extratropical North Pacific through a relay teleconnection of a fast coupled ocean-atmosphere bridge and a slow oceanic tunnel. A coupled ocean-atmosphere model, forced by the observed decadal wind in the extratropical North Pacific, explicitly demonstrates that extratropical decadal sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies may propagate to the tropics through a coupled wind-evaporative-SST (WES) feedback. The WES feedback cannot only lead to a nearly synchronous change of tropical SST, but also force a delayed adjustment of the meridional overturning circulation in the upper ocean to further sustain the tropical SST change. The study further suggests that the extratropical–tropical teleconnection provides a positive feedback to sustain the decadal changes in both the tropical and extratropical North Pacific.     

Origin of regional climate differences: role of boundary conditions and model formulation in two GCMs

Model differences in projections of extratropical regional climate change due to increasing greenhouse gases are investigated using two atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs): ECHAM4 (Max Planck Institute, version 4) and CCM3 (National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model version 3). Sea-surface temperature (SST) fields calculated from observations and coupled versions of the two models are used to force each AGCM in experiments based on time-slice methodology. Results from the forced AGCMs are then compared to coupled model results from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 2 (CMIP2) database. The time-slice methodology is verified by showing that the response of each model to doubled CO₂ and SST forcing from the CMIP2 experiments is consistent with the results of the coupled GCMs. The differences in the responses of the models are attributed to (1) the different tropical SST warmings in the coupled simulations and (2) the different atmospheric model responses to the same tropical SST warmings. Both are found to have important contributions to differences in implied Northern Hemisphere (NH) winter extratropical regional 500 mb height and tropical precipitation climate changes. Forced teleconnection patterns from tropical SST differences are primarily responsible for sensitivity differences in the extratropical North Pacific, but have relatively little impact on the North Atlantic. There are also significant differences in the extratropical response of the models to the same tropical SST anomalies due to differences in numerical and physical parameterizations. Differences due to parameterizations dominate in the North Atlantic. Differences in the control climates of the two coupled models from the current climate, in particular for the coupled model containing CCM3, are also demonstrated to be important in leading to differences in extratropical regional sensitivity.     

Numerical Simulation of the Effect of the SST Anomalies in the Tropical Western Pacific on the Blocking Highs over the Northeastern Asia

The effects of the sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the tropical western Pacific on the atmospheric circulation anomalies over East Asia are simulated by the IAP-GCM with an observed and idealized distributions of the SST anomalies in the tropical western Pacific,respectively.Firstly,the atmospheric circulation anomalies during July and August,1980 are simulated by three anomalous experiments including the global SST anomaly experiment,the tropical SST anomaly experiment and the extratropical SST anomaly experiment,using the observed SST anomalies in 1980.It is shown that the SST anomalies in the tropical ocean greatly influence the formation and maintenance of the blocking high over the northeastern Asia,and may play a more important role than the SST anomalies in the extratropical ocean in the influence on the atmospheric circulation anomalies.Secondly,the effects of the SST anomalies in the tropical western Pacific on the atmospheric circulation anomalies over East Asia are also simulated w     

FORMATION MECHANISM AND PROPAGATION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EQUATORIAL THERMALLY-FORCED SHORT-TERM CLIMATIC OSCILLATION DURING THE NORTHERN SUMMER

In this study, in order to investigate the global climatic oscillations forced by sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies over equatorial central-eastern Pacific, two numerical schemes with different SST distri-butions (normal and anomalous cases) are tested by using a nine-layer global spectral model. Experiment results show that (i) in northern summer, a wave train that is similar to the teleconnection pattern suggested by Nitta (1987) and Huang (1987) in the Northern Hemisphere and another one in the Southern Hemisphere are reproduced; (ii) simulated results suggest that the response of atmosphere in middle-high latitudes of both hemispheres to an anomalous heating source is more sensitive in tropical western Pacific than in equatorial central-eastern Pacific; and (iii) in northern summer, the formation of low-frequency oscillations on monthly (seasonal) time scale results from energy dispersion as well as interactions between eddies and zonal flow; and between eddies.     

Characteristics of the Asian–Pacific Oscillation in Boreal Summer Simulated by BCC_CSM with Different Horizontal Resolutions

The summer Asian–Pacific Oscillation(APO) is a major teleconnection pattern that reflects the zonal thermal contrast between East Asia and the North Pacific in the upper troposphere. The performance of Beijing Climate Center Climate System Models(BCC CSMs) with different horizontal resolutions, i.e., BCC CSM1.1 and BCC CSM1.1(m), in reproducing APO interannual variability, APO-related precipitation anomalies, and associated atmospheric circulation anomalies, is evaluated.The results show that BCC CSM1.1(m) can successfully capture the interannual variability of the summer APO index. It is also more capable in reproducing the APO's spatial pattern, compared to BCC CSM1.1, due to its higher horizontal resolution. Associated with a positive APO index, the northward-shifted and intensified South Asian high, strengthened extratropical westerly jet, and tropical easterly jet in the upper troposphere, as well as the southwesterly monsoonal flow over North Africa and the Indian Ocean in the lower troposphere, are realistically represented by BCC CSM1.1(m), leading to an improvement in reproducing the increased precipitation over tropical North Africa, South Asia, and East Asia, as well as the decreased precipitation over subtropical North Africa, Japan, and North America. In contrast, these features are less consistent with observations when simulated by BCC CSM1.1. Regression analysis further indicates that surface temperature anomalies over the North Pacific and the southern and western flanks of the Tibetan Plateau are reasonably reproduced by BCC CSM1.1(m), which contributes to the substantial improvement in the simulation of the characteristics of summer APO compared to that of BCC CSM1.1.     

Interannual variation of the Asian-Pacific oscillation

Previous studies have identified an Asian-Pacific Oscillation (APO) teleconnection pattern, which exhibits an out-of-phase relationship in the summer tropospheric temperature with warming over the Eurasia and cooling over the Northern Pacific and the Northern America, and vice versa. But the interannual variation of this teleconnection remains obscure. This study points out that interannual variation of the APO teleconnection is associated with the second empirical orthogonal function (EOF) mode of the northern-hemisphere upper tropospheric temperature during boreal summer, which accounts for 14% of the variance. A heat budget analysis is conducted for the Eurasian region and the North Pacific region respectively to reveal the cause of the zonal dipole mode temperature structure. For the Eurasia region, the warming is contributed by the adiabatic heating process due to downward vertical motion anomalies. For the Northern Pacific region, the temperature variation is mainly contributed by zonal advection associated with interannual zonal wind perturbation acting on the climatological temperature gradient. Composite analysis and numerical experiments with an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) shows the interannual zonal wind perturbation is related to the sea surface temperature anomalies over the equatorial eastern Pacific.     

夏季逐月东亚高空西风急流经向偏移与热带中、东太平洋海温的关联

Previous studies have shown that meridional displacement of the East Asian upper-tropospheric jet stream (EAJS) dominates interannual variability of the EAJS in the summer months. This study investigates the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies associated with meridional displacement of the monthly EAJS during the summer. The meridional displacement of the EAJS in June is significantly associated with the tropical central Pacific SST anomaly in the winter of previous years, while displacements in July and August are related to tropical eastern Pacific SST anomalies in the late spring and concurrent summer. The EAJS tends to shift southward in the following June (July and August) corresponding to a warm SST anomaly in the central (eastern) Pacific in the winter (late spring-summer). The westerly anomaly south of the Asian jet stream is a result of tropical central Pacific warm SST anomaly-related warming in the tropical troposphere, which is proposed as a possible reason for southward displacement of the EAJS in June. The late spring-summer warm SST anomaly in the tropical eastern Pacific, however, may be linked to southward displacement of the EAJS in July and August through a meridional teleconnection over the western North Pacific (WNP) and East Asia.     

Coupled Modes of Rainfall over China and the Pacific Sea Surface Temperature in Boreal Summertime

In this study,monthly NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data and NOAA ERSST as well as observed precipitation data from 160 stations in China were used to investigate coupled modes affecting the rainfall over China and sea surface temperature (SST) in the Pacific during boreal summertime based on singular value decomposition (SVD) method.The SVD analysis revealed three remarkable coupled modes:rainfall over North China associated with an ENSO-like SST pattern (ENSO-NC),rainfall over the Yangtze River valley associated with SST anomalies in the western tropical Pacific (WTP-YRV),and rainfall over the Yellow River loop valley associated with tropical Pacific meridional mode-like SST pattern (TPMM-YRLV).These coupled SVD modes appear robust and closely correlated with the single field.Furthermore,the covariabilities among of the three coupled modes have different characteristics at the decadal time scale.In addition,the possible atmospheric teleconnections of the coupled rainfall and SST modes were discussed.For the ENSO-NC mode,anomalous low-pressure and high-pressure over the Asian continent induces moisture divergence over North China and reduces summer rainfall there.For the WTP-YRV mode,East Asia-Pacific teleconnection induces moisture convergence over the Yangtze River valley and enhances the summer rainfall there.The TPMM SST and the summer rainfall anomalies over the YRVL are linked by a circumglobal,wave-train-like,atmospheric teleconnection.     

Teleconnected influence of North Atlantic sea surface temperature on the El Ni?o onset

Influence of North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies on tropical Pacific SST anomalies is examined. Both summer and winter North Atlantic SST anomalies are negatively related to central-eastern tropical Pacific SST anomalies in the subsequent months varying from 5 to 13?months. In particular, when the North Atlantic is colder than normal in the summer, an El Ni?o event is likely to be initiated in the subsequent spring in the tropical Pacific. Associated with summer cold North Atlantic SST anomalies is an anomalous cyclonic circulation at low-level over the North Atlantic from subsequent October to April. Corresponded to this local response, an SST-induced heating over the North Atlantic produces a teleconnected pattern, similar to the East Atlantic/West Russia teleconnection. The pattern features two anticyclonic circulations near England and Lake Baikal, and two cyclonic circulations over the North Atlantic and near the Caspian Sea. The anticyclonic circulation near Lake Baikal enhances the continent northerlies, and strengthens the East-Asian winter monsoon. These are also associated with an off-equatorial cyclonic circulation in the western Pacific during the subsequent winter and spring, which produces equatorial westerly wind anomalies in the western Pacific. The equatorial westerly wind anomalies in the winter and spring can help initiate a Pacific El Ni?o event following a cold North Atlantic in the summer.     

The relationship between sea surface temperature anomalies and atmospheric circulation in GCM experiments

Several 19-year integrations of the Hamburg version of the ECMWF/T21 general circulation model driven by the monthly mean sea surface temperature (SST) observed in 1970–1988 were examined to study extratropical response of the atmospheric circulation to SST anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere in winter. In the first 19-years run SST anomalies were prescribed globally (GAGO run), and in two others SST monthly variability was limited to extratropical regions (MOGA run) and to tropics (TOGA run), respectively. A canonical correlation analysis (CCA), which select from two time-dependent fields optimally correlated pairs of patterns, was applied to monthly anomalies of SST in the North Alantic and Pacific Oceans and monthly anomalies of sea level pressure and 500 hPa geopotential height in the Northern Hemisphere. In the GAGO run the best correlated atmospheric pattern is global and is characterized by north-south dipole structures of the same polarity in the North Atlantic and the North Pacific sectors. In the MOGA and TOGA experiments the atmospehric response is more local than in the GAGO run with main centers in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, respectively. The extratropical response in the GAGO run is not equal to the sum of the responses in the MOGA and TOGA runs. The artificial meridional SST gradients at 25°–30°N probably influence the results of the MOGA and TOGA runs. The atmopsheric modes found by the CCA were compared with the normal modes of the barotropic vorticity equation linearized about the 500 hPa. winter climate. The normal modes with smallest eigenvalues are similar to the model leading variability modes and canonical patterns of 500 hPa geopotential height. The corresponding eigenvectors of the adjoint operator, which represent an external forcing optimal for exciting normal modes, have a longitudinal structure with maxima in regions characterized by enhanced high frequency baroclinic activity over both oceans.     

Interdecadal change in the relationship of southern China summer rainfall with tropical Indo-Pacific SST

The present study investigates the interdecadal change in the relationship between southern China (SC) summer rainfall and tropical Indo-Pacific sea surface temperature (SST). It is found that the pattern of tropical Indo-Pacific SST anomalies associated with SC summer rainfall variability tends to be opposite between the 1950–1960s and the 1980-1990s. Above-normal SC rainfall corresponds to warmer SST in the tropical southeastern Indian Ocean (SEIO) and cooler SST in the equatorial central Pacific (ECP) during the 1950–1960s but opposite SST anomalies in these regions during the 1980–1990s. A pronounced difference is also found in anomalous atmospheric circulation linking SEIO SST and SC rainfall between the two periods. In the 1950–1960s, two anomalous vertical circulations are present between ascent over SEIO and ascent over SC, with a common branch of descent over the South China Sea that is accompanied by an anomalous low-level anticyclone. In the 1980–1990s, however, a single anomalous vertical circulation directly connects ascent over SC to descent over SEIO. The change in the rainfall–SST relationship is likely related to a change in the magnitude of SEIO SST forcing and a change in the atmospheric response to the SST forcing due to different mean states. A larger SEIO SST forcing coupled with a stronger and more extensive western North Pacific subtropical high in recent decades induce circulation anomalies reaching higher latitudes, influencing SC directly. Present analysis shows that the SEIO and ECP SST anomalies can contribute to SC summer rainfall variability both independently and in concert. In comparison, there are more cases of concerted contributions due to the co-variability between the Indian and Pacific Ocean SSTs.     

Large-scale atmospheric response to eastern Mediterranean summer-autumn SST anomalies and the associated regional impact

Since the Mediterranean Sea is halfway between subtropical and middle latitudes, and it represents a marginal oceanic region, research has tended to focus on how large-scale modes of atmospheric variability modulate its surface temperature. Conversely, the present study examines the potential influence of the Mediterranean Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies on the Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation. In particular, this work explores the large-scale changes in the global circulation forced/influenced by the eastern Mediterranean summer-autumn SST pattern. To isolate the atmospheric response, AGCM sensitivity experiments with prescribed SST over the Mediterranean Sea and climatology elsewhere are analysed. Observational diagnostics upon the period used to define the boundary conditions (1979–2002) are also interpreted. Our results support the hypothesis of an atmospheric pattern initiated in the Mediterranean basin, pointing out both a local baroclinic response and a barotropic circumglobal anomaly. This atmospheric teleconnection pattern projects onto a hemispheric wave-like structure, reflecting the waveguide effect of the westerly jets. Results suggest, thereby, that the recurrent summer-autumn circumglobal teleconnection pattern can be excited locally by changes in the atmosphere over the Mediterranean region. A linear behaviour is found upon a regional impact over northeastern Africa. The remote impacts present however a nonlinear signature: anomalous warm conditions influencing on northern Europe and Euro–Asia, whereas anomalous cold conditions impacting more on the North Pacific basin. Limitations in our model setup are also discussed.     

Leading patterns of the tropical Atlantic variability in a coupled general circulation model

This paper examines the mean annual cycle, interannual variability, and leading patterns of the tropical Atlantic Ocean simulated in a long-term integration of the climate forecast system (CFS), a state-of-the-art coupled general circulation model presently used for operational climate prediction at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. By comparing the CFS simulation with corresponding observation-based analyses or reanalyses, it is shown that the CFS captures the seasonal mean climate, including the zonal gradients of sea surface temperature (SST) in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, even though the CFS produces warm mean biases and underestimates the variability over the southeastern ocean. The seasonal transition from warm to cold phase along the equator is delayed 1 month in the CFS compared with the observations. This delay might be related to the failure of the model to simulate the cross-equatorial meridional wind associated with the African monsoon. The CFS also realistically simulates both the spatial structure and spectral distributions of the three major leading patterns of the SST anomalies in the tropical Atlantic Ocean: the south tropical Atlantic pattern (STA), the North tropical Atlantic pattern (NTA), and the southern subtropical Atlantic pattern (SSA). The CFS simulates the seasonal dependence of these patterns and partially reproduces their association with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. The dynamical and thermodynamical processes associated with these patterns in the simulation and the observations are similar. The air-sea interaction processes associated with the STA pattern are well simulated in the CFS. The primary feature of the anomalous circulation in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) associated with the NTA pattern resembles that in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) linked with the SSA pattern, implying a similarity of the mechanisms in the evolution of these patterns and their connection with the tropical and extratropical anomalies in their respective hemispheres. The anomalies associated with both the SSA and NTA patterns are dominated by atmospheric fluctuations of equivalent-barotropic structure in the extratropics including zonally symmetric and asymmetric components. The zonally symmetric variability is associated with the annular modes, the Arctic Oscillation in the NH and the Antarctic Oscillation in the SH. The zonally asymmetric part of the anomalies in the Atlantic is teleconnected with the anomalies over the tropical Pacific. The misplaced teleconnection center over the southern subtropical ocean may be one of the reasons for the deformation of the SSA pattern in the CFS.     

Coupled atmosphere�Cmixed layer ocean response to ocean heat flux convergence along the Kuroshio Current Extension

The winter response of the coupled atmosphere?Cocean mixed layer system to anomalous geostrophic ocean heat flux convergence in the Kuroshio Extension is investigated by means of experiments with an atmospheric general circulation model coupled to an entraining ocean mixed layer model in the extra-tropics. The direct response consists of positive SST anomalies along the Kuroshio Extension and a baroclinic (low-level trough and upper-level ridge) circulation anomaly over the North Pacific. The low-level component of this atmospheric circulation response is weaker in the case without coupling to an extratropical ocean mixed layer, especially in late winter. The inclusion of an interactive mixed layer in the tropics modifies the direct coupled atmospheric response due to a northward displacement of the Pacific Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone which drives an equivalent barotropic anomalous ridge over the North Pacific. Although the tropically driven component of the North Pacific atmospheric circulation response is comparable to the direct response in terms of sea level pressure amplitude, it is less important in terms of wind stress curl amplitude due to the mitigating effect of the relatively broad spatial scale of the tropically forced atmospheric teleconnection.     

The influence of tropical Pacific forcing on the Arctic Oscillation

The potential role of tropical Pacific forcing in driving the seasonal variability of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) is explored using both observational data and a simple general circulation model (SGCM). A lead–lag regression technique is first applied to the monthly averaged sea surface temperature (SST) and the AO index. The AO maximum is found to be related to a negative SST anomaly over the tropical Pacific three months earlier. A singular value decomposition (SVD) analysis is then performed on the tropical Pacific SST and the sea level pressure (SLP) over the Northern Hemisphere. An AO-like atmospheric pattern and its associated SST appear as the second pair of SVD modes. Ensemble integrations are carried out with the SGCM to test the atmospheric response to different tropical Pacific forcings. The atmospheric response to the linear fit of the model’s empirical forcing associated with the SST variability in the second SVD modes strongly projects onto the AO. Idealized thermal forcings are then designed based on the regression of the seasonally averaged tropical Pacific precipitation against the AO index. Results indicate that forcing anomalies over the western tropical Pacific are more effective in generating an AO-like response while those over the eastern tropical Pacific tend to produce a Pacific-North American (PNA)-like response. The physical mechanisms responsible for the energy transport from the tropical Pacific to the extratropical North Atlantic are investigated using wave activity flux and vorticity forcing formalisms. The energy from the western tropical Pacific forcing tends to propagate zonally to the North Atlantic because of the jet stream waveguide effect while the transport of the energy from the eastern tropical Pacific forcing mostly concentrates over the PNA area. The linearized SGCM results show that nonlinear processes are involved in the generation of the forced AO-like pattern.