The Role of the Halted Baroclinic Mode at the Central Equatorial Pacific in E1 Nifio Event

The role of halted “baroclinic modes” in the central equatorial Pacific is analyzed. It is found that dominant anomaly signals corresponding to “baroclinic modes” occur in the upper layer of the equatorial Pacific, in a two-and-a-half layer oceanic model, in assimilated results of a simple OGCM and in the ADCP observation of TAO. A second “baroclinic mode” is halted in the central equatorial Pacific corresponding to a positive SST anomaly while the first “baroclinic mode” propagates eastwards in the eastern equatorial Pacific. The role of the halted second “baroclinic mode” in the central equatorial Pacific is explained by a staged ocean-atmosphere interaction mechanism in the formation of El Ni?no: the westerly bursts in boreal winter over the western equatorial Pacific generate the halted second “baroclinic mode” in the central equatorial Pacific, leading to the increase of heat content and temperature in the upper layer of the central Pacific which induces the shift of convection from over the western equatorial Pacific to the central equatorial Pacific; another wider, westerly anomaly burst is induced over the western region of convection above the central equatorial Pacific and the westerly anomaly burst generates the first “baroclinic mode” propagating to the eastern equatorial Pacific, resulting in a warm event in the eastern equatorial Pacific. The mechanism presented in this paper reveals that the central equatorial Pacific is a key region in detecting the possibility of ENSO and, by analyzing TAO observation data of ocean currents and temperature in the central equatorial Pacific, in predicting the coming of an El Ni?no several months ahead.     

El Ni?o事件发生和消亡中热带太平洋纬向风应力的动力作用 I. 资料诊断和理论分析

通过资料分析,研究了发生在热带西太平洋海表面西风或东风应力异常与El Ni?o事件的关系。分析结果表明,对应着El Ni?o事件从发生到消亡的过程,热带西太平洋纬向风应力存在着从西风应力异常到东风应力异常的变化,并且在这个过程中,西风应力异常向东传,东风应力异常紧接其后也向东传。本文还根据观测资料的分析结果建立了理想风应力,并利用简单热带海洋模式,对热带西太平洋纬向风应力异常及其东传在ENSO循环中的作用进行了动力学分析,指出了它们在El Ni?o事件发生和消亡中起着重要的作用。西风应力异常通过激发出海洋中东传的暖Kelvin波及其在大洋东边界反射产生的暖Rossby波、以及西风应力异常本身东传到赤道东太平洋,引起正的海洋混合层扰动厚度异常,导致了El Ni?o事件的发生;而异常东风应力则通过激发出东传的冷Kelvin波及其在大洋东边界反射产生的冷Rossby波、以及东风应力异常本身东传到赤道东太平洋,引起负的海洋混合层扰动厚度异常,导致了El Ni?o事件的消亡。对于热带西太平洋上风应力异常的形式是东部为异常西风应力而其西部为异常东风应力,并且它们同时向东传时,则大洋东部混合层厚度对异常风应力的响应随异常东风和西风应力的强度不同而不同,它们强度的相对大小对El Ni?o的持续时间具有重要的作用。     

ACTIONS OF TYPHOONS OVER THE WESTERN PACIFIC (INCLUDING THE SOUTH CHINA SEA) AND EL NINO

According to me lime cross-section or SSI in me equatorial eastern racing and me historical data on typhoon actions over the western Pacific (including the South China Sea), a composite analysis of the actions of typhoon over the western Pacific in El Nino year (SST in the equatorial eastern Pacific are continuously higher than normal) and in the inverse El Nino year (there are continuative negative anomalies of SST in the equatorial eastern Pacific) is carried out. The results show that the actions of typhoon are in close relation with El Nino: The annual average number of typhoons over the western Pacific and South China Sea is less than normal in El Nino year and more in the inverse El Nino year; The annual average number of the landing typhoon on the continent of China bears the same relationship with El Nino; The anomalies of typhoon actions mainly occur during July-November and their starting are behind the anomaly of SST in the equatorial eastern Pacific.Based on the generation and development co     

On the Mechanism of the Locking of the El Nino Event Onset Phase to Boreal Spring

The mechanism of the locking of the E1 Nino event onset phase to boreal spring （from April to June） in an intermediate coupled ocean-atmosphere model is investigated. The results show that the seasonal variation of the zonal wind anomaly over the equatorial Pacific associated with the seasonal variation of the ITCZ is the mechanism of the locking in the model. From January to March of the E1 Nino year, the western wind anomaly over the western equatorial Pacific can excite the downwelling Kelvin wave that propagates eastward to the eastern and middle Pacific by April to June. From April to December of the year before the E1 Nifio year, the eastern wind anomaly over the equatorial Pacific forces the downwelling Rossby waves that modulate the ENSO cycle. The modulation and the reflection at the western boundary modulate the time of the transition from the cool to the warm phase to September of the year before the E1 Nifio year and cause the strongest downwelling Kelvin wave from the reflected Rossby waves at the western boundary to arrive in the middle and eastern equatorial Pacific by April to June of the E1 Nino year. The superposition of these two kinds of downwelling Kelvin waves causes the El Nino event to tend to occur from April to June.     

On the Mechanism of the Locking of the El Nio Event Onset Phase to Boreal Spring

1. Introduction The observed facts show that the ENSO cycle has obvious phase-locking and oscillates irregularly (An and Wang, 2001; Kaplan et al., 1998). Based on Zibiak and Cane's (1987) model (hereafter, the Z-C model) and simple, coupled ocean-atmosph…     

How well do current climate models simulate two types of El Nino?

In this study, we evaluate the fidelity of current climate models in simulating the two types of El Nino events using the pre-industrial output in CMIP3 archives. It is shown that a few climate models simulate the two types of El Nino events to some extent, while most of the models have serious systematic problems in simulating distinctive patterns of sea-surface temperature (SST) and precipitation anomaly associated with the two types of El Nino; that is, they tend to simulate a single type of El Nino. It is shown that the ability of climate models in simulating the two types of El Nino is related to the sensitivity of the atmospheric responses to the SST anomaly patterns. Models whose convective location is shifted to the east (west) as the SST anomaly center moves to the east (west) tends to simulate the two types of El Nino events successfully. On the other hand, models whose location of convective anomaly is confined over the western or central Pacific tends to simulate only the single type of El Nino event. It is also shown that the confinement of the convective anomaly over the western or central Pacific is closely linked to the dry bias and the associated cold bias over the eastern Pacific. That is, because positive El Nino SST anomalies over the eastern Pacific cannot increase local convection effectively when the total SSTs are still too cold due to a cold bias. This implies that the realistic simulation of climatology, especially over the equatorial eastern Pacific, is essential to the successful simulation of the two types of El Nino.     

1986—1987厄尔尼诺事件的数值模拟

用高分辨率自由表面热带太平洋环流模式，在观测到的风应力和热量、水汽通量驱动下，对１９８６—１９８７厄尔尼诺（Ｅ１Ｎｉｎｏ）事件进行了数值模拟。各种变量场的时空结构及其演变表明，模式成功地模拟出１９８６—１９８７厄尔尼诺现象。始于１９８６年年中，赤道西太平洋的西风异常所推动的向东表层洋流不断向中、东太平洋输送暖水，至１１月份，大量暖水在日界线附近堆积，造成海面上升（达３２ｃｍ）和斜温层（用２０℃等温线深度表示）加深。１９８６年年底的强西风异常激发出赤道Ｋｅｌｖｉｎ波，并向赤道东太平洋和南美沿岸传播，使那里的斜温层加深和海面上升，且具有双峰结构；Ｋｅｌｖｉｎ波所伴随的垂直冷平流的减弱造成赤道中、东太平洋海表温度上升；１９８７年春季在中、东太平洋和南美沿岸地区存在强的正海表温度异常，并伴随着整个赤道太平洋斜温层东西方向变平、赤道潜流弱而中心位置变浅。厄尔尼诺相伴随的热带太平洋环流异常首先于１９８７年年中从东太平洋开始消失，而中、西太平洋则一直维持到１９８８年初。     

ENSO phase-locking to the boreal winter in CMIP3 and CMIP5 models

In this study, the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phase-locking to the boreal winter in CMIP3 and CMIP5 models is examined. It is found that the models that are poor at simulating the winter ENSO peak tend to simulate colder seasonal-mean sea-surface temperature (SST) during the boreal summer and associated shallower thermocline depth over the eastern Pacific. These models tend to amplify zonal advection and thermocline depth feedback during boreal summer. In addition, the colder eastern Pacific SST in the model can reduce the summertime mean local convective activity, which tends to weaken the atmospheric response to the ENSO SST forcing. It is also revealed that these models have more serious climatological biases over the tropical Pacific, implying that a realistic simulation of the climatological fields may help to simulate winter ENSO peak better. The models that are poor at simulating ENSO peak in winter also show excessive anomalous SST warming over the western Pacific during boreal winter of the El Nino events, which leads to strong local convective anomalies. This prevents the southward shift of El Nino-related westerly during boreal winter season. Therefore, equatorial westerly is prevailed over the western Pacific to further development of ENSO-related SST during boreal winter. This bias in the SST anomaly is partly due to the climatological dry biases over the central Pacific, which confines ENSO-related precipitation and westerly responses over the western Pacific.     

Delayed impacts of the El Niño episodes in the central Pacific on the summertime climate anomalies of eastern China in 2003 and 2007

In the summers of 2003 and 2007, eastern China suffered similar climate disasters with severe flooding in the Huaihe River valley and heat waves in the southern Yangtze River delta and South China. Using SST data and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) data from NOAA along with reanalysis data from NCEP/NCAR, the 2002/03 and 2006/07 El Nino episodes in the central Pacific and their delayed impacts on the following early summertime climate anomalies of eastern China were analyzed. The possible physical progresses behaved as follows: Both of the moderate El Nino episodes matured in the central equatorial Pacific during the early winter. The zonal wind anomalies near the sea surface of the west-central equatorial Pacific excited equatorial Kelvin waves propagating eastward and affected the evolution of the El Ni\~no episodes. From spring to early summer, the concurring anomalous easterly winds in the central equatorial Pacific and the end of upwelling Kelvin waves propagating eastward in the western equatorial Pacific, favored the equatorial warm water both of the SST and the subsurface temperature in the western Pacific. These conditions favored the warm state of the western equatorial Pacific in the early summer for both cases of 2003 and 2007. Due to the active convection in the western equatorial Pacific in the early summer and the weak warm SST anomalies in the tropical western Pacific from spring to early summer, the convective activities in the western Pacific warm pool showed the pattern in which the anomalous strong convection only appeared over the southern regions of the tropical western Pacific warm pool, which effects the meridional shift of the western Pacific subtropical high in the summer. The physical progress of the delayed impacts of the El Ni\~no episodes in the central equatorial Pacific and their decaying evolution on the climate anomalies in eastern China were interpreted through the key role of special pattern for the heat convection in the tropical western Pacific warm pool and the response of the western North Pacific anomalous anticyclone.     

A FURTHER STUDY ON INTERACTION BETWEEN ANOMALOUS WINTER MONSOON IN EAST ASIA AND EL NINO*

The interaction between anomalous winter monsoon in East Asia and El Nino is further studied in this paper.The new results still more proved a previous conclusion:there are clear interactions between El Nino and winter monsoon in East Asia.The continual westerly burst andstronger cumulus convection over the equatorial central-western Pacific caused by stronger wintermonsoon in East Asia can respectively excite anomalous oceanic Kelvin wave and stronger atmospheric intraseasonal oscillation in the tropics,then excite the El Nino event through air-sea interction.In El Nino winter,there are warmer and weaker winter monsoons in East Asia.The El Nino will still reduce the intensity of intraseasonal oscillation and leads it to be barotropic structure.     

从有效位能变化来分析ElNino的年代际变化

利用近50a的美国Maryland大学全球海洋同化分析资料和NCEP全球大气再分析资料，分析了与ElNino相联系的热带太平洋有效位能（APE）的时空演变过程，从有效位能变化角度揭示了50年来ElNino的年代际变化特征。结果表明，热带太平洋ElNino年代际变化特征主要表现为在20世纪70年代末期以前与其后的显著不同。在有效位能异常变化的振幅和频率方面，20世纪70年代末期以后，振荡的振幅显著增,大直频率变慢。在有效位能异常变化的振幅和频率方面，70年代末期以前，ElNino事件的先兆是有效位能先在热带西太平洋异常积累，然后这些积累的有效位能沿赤道快速向东传播并释放能量，使得东太平洋出现能量的异常，东太平洋的有效位能减少，产生ElNino事件；70年代末期以后，ElNino事件的建立没有表现异常的有效位能在热带西太平洋的积累，其建立表现为赤道中太平洋直接出现的局地有效位能的异常，然后表现为不稳定海气耦合模态增幅性地缓慢向东传播，使得东太平洋的有效位能减少，发生ElNino事件。     

厄尼诺现象对热带大气环流影响的研究

应用NMC 17年热带格点风及OLR资料，对比分析了厄尼诺年与反厄尼诺年热带环流的差异，发现厄尼诺现象使多年平均位于西太平洋上的最强盛的对流加热区东移到中太平洋，太平洋热带地区东西向对流加热梯度减弱，造成中东太平洋上的Walker环流及西太平洋与印度洋上的反Walker环流场比常年减弱；同时，厄尼诺现象也使中东太平洋地区经向反Hadley环流及美洲大陆上空的Hadley环流减弱。     

热带西太平洋风应力异常在ENSO循环中作用的数值试验

利用一个中等复杂程度的海气耦合模式来研究热带西太平洋地区风应力异常对ENSO循环的影响,并以1997/1998年的El Nino事件为例,分析了模式结果中热带西太平洋地区风应力异常对El Nino事件形成影响的动力学及热力学作用.结果表明,热带西太平洋地区的风应力异常对ENSO循环有很重要的作用.在耦合模式中,当热带西太平洋地区的风应力异常由观测给定时,耦合模式基本上可以模拟出自1971年以来的EI Nino事件,观测与模拟的Nino 3区海面温度异常(SSTA)的相关系数可达0.63.赤道西太平洋地区的风应力异常可加强该地区大气的辐合,从而加强了大气的加热场,进而加强了海气相互作用的不稳定.赤道西太平洋地区西风异常激发出来的Kelvin波及水平平流对EI Nino事件初始阶段的发展起重要作用;海气相互作用及东边界的反射对EI Nino事件的发展及维持起重要作用.     

A FURTHER STUDY ON INTERACTION BETWEEN ANOMALOUS WINTER MONSOON IN EAST ASIA AND EL NINO

The interaction between anomalous winter monsoon in East Asia and El Nino is further stud-ied in this paper.The new results still more proved a previous conclusion:there are clear interac-tions between El Nino and winter monsoon in East Asia.The continual westerly burst andstronger cumulus convection over the equatorial central-western Pacific caused by stronger wintermonsoon in East Asia can respectively excite anomalous oceanic Kelvin wave and stronger atmo-spheric intraseasonal oscillation in the tropics,then excite the El Nino event through air-sea inter-action.In El Nino winter,there are warmer and weaker winter monsoons in East Asia.The El Ni-no will still reduce the intensity of intraseasonal oscillation and leads it to be barotropic structure.     

Weak ENSO Asymmetry Due to Weak Nonlinear Air–Sea Interaction in CMIP5 Climate Models

State-of-the-art climate models have long-standing intrinsic biases that limit their simulation and projection capabilities.Significantly weak ENSO asymmetry and weakly nonlinear air–sea interaction over the tropical Pacific was found in CMIP5(Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, Phase 5) climate models compared with observation. The results suggest that a weak nonlinear air–sea interaction may play a role in the weak ENSO asymmetry. Moreover, a weak nonlinearity in air–sea interaction in the models may be associated with the biases in the mean climate—the cold biases in the equatorial central Pacific. The excessive cold tongue bias pushes the deep convection far west to the western Pacific warm pool region and suppresses its development in the central equatorial Pacific. The deep convection has difficulties in further moving to the eastern equatorial Pacific, especially during extreme El Ni o events, which confines the westerly wind anomaly to the western Pacific. This weakens the eastern Pacific El Ni o events, especially the extreme El Ni o events, and thus leads to the weakened ENSO asymmetry in climate models. An accurate mean state structure(especially a realistic cold tongue and deep convection) is critical to reproducing ENSO events in climate models. Our evaluation also revealed that ENSO statistics in CMIP5 climate models are slightly improved compared with those of CMIP3. The weak ENSO asymmetry in CMIP5 is closer to the observation. It is more evident in CMIP5 that strong ENSO activities are usually accompanied by strong ENSO asymmetry, and the diversity of ENSO amplitude is reduced.     

Tropical Pacific impacts of convective momentum transport in the SNU coupled GCM

Impacts of convective momentum transport (CMT) on tropical Pacific climate are examined, using an atmospheric (AGCM) and coupled GCM (CGCM) from Seoul National University. The CMT scheme affects the surface mainly via a convection-compensating atmospheric subsidence which conveys momentum downward through most of the troposphere. AGCM simulations—with SSTs prescribed from climatological and El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions—show substantial changes in circulation when CMT is added, such as an eastward shift of the climatological trade winds and west Pacific convection. The CMT also alters the ENSO wind anomalies by shifting them eastward and widening them meridionally, despite only subtle changes in the precipitation anomaly patterns. During ENSO, CMT affects the low-level winds mainly via the anomalous convection acting on the climatological westerly wind shear over the central Pacific—so that an eastward shift of convection transfers more westerly momentum toward the surface than would occur without CMT. By altering the low-level circulation, the CMT further alters the precipitation, which in turn feeds back on the CMT. In the CGCM, CMT affects the simulated climatology by shifting the mean convection and trade winds eastward and warming the equatorial SST; the ENSO period and amplitude also increase. In contrast to the AGCM simulations, CMT substantially alters the El Nino precipitation anomaly patterns in the CGCM. Also discussed are possible impacts of the CMT-induced changes in climatology on the simulated ENSO.     

On the Second-Year Warming in Late 2019 over the Tropical Pacific and Its Attribution to an Indian Ocean Dipole Event※

After its maturity, El Ni?o usually decays rapidly in the following summer and evolves into a La Ni?a pattern. However, this was not the case for the 2018/19 El Ni?o event. Based on multiple reanalysis data sets, the space-time evolution and triggering mechanism for the unusual second-year warming in late 2019, after the 2018/19 El Ni?o event, are investigated in the tropical Pacific. After a short decaying period associated with the 2018/19 El Ni?o condition, positive sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) re-intensified in the eastern equatorial Pacific in late 2019. Compared with the composite pattern of El Ni?o in the following year, two key differences are evident in the evolution of SSTAs in 2019. First, is the persistence of the surface warming over the central equatorial Pacific in May, and second, is the re-intensification of the positive SSTAs over the eastern equatorial Pacific in September. Observational results suggest that the re-intensification of anomalous westerly winds over the western and central Pacific, induced remotely by an extreme Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) event, acted as a triggering mechanism for the second-year warming in late 2019. That is, the IOD-related cold SSTAs in the eastern Indian Ocean established and sustained anomalous surface westerly winds over the western equatorial Pacific, which induced downwelling Kelvin waves propagating eastward along the equator. At the same time, the subsurface ocean provided plenty of warm water in the western and central equatorial Pacific. Mixed-layer heat budget analyses further confirm that positive zonal advection, induced by the anomalous westerly winds, and thermocline feedback played important roles in leading to the second-year warming in late 2019. This study provides new insights into the processes responsible for the diversity of El Ni?o evolution, which is important for improving the physical understanding and seasonal prediction of El Ni?o events.     

1997／1998年El Nino事件发生、发展可能机制的进一步研究

基于美国哥伦比亚大学Lamont—Doherty地球观象台LDEO（Lamont—DohertyEarth Observatory）海表温度资料和NCEP／NCAR再分析风场资料,分析了1997／1998年El Nino3期间西太平洋暖池海表温度和西风距平的时间演变特征,同时也分析了东太平洋暖池海表温度和北风距平的时间演变特征。结果表明,1997／1998年El Nino3事件期间,西太平洋暖池海表温度变化及异常西风和东太平洋暖池海表温度变化及异常北风都与Nino3指数变化密切相关。将东、西太平洋暖池及异常北风、西风一并结合起来考虑,进一步研究了1997／1998年El Nino3事件发生、发展的可能机制：异常西风驱动西太平洋暖池东端暖水向东伸展直接有利于赤道东太平洋海表温度增加;异常西风激发东传的暖Kelvin波对东太平洋的冷上升流有抑制作用,从而有利于赤道东太平洋海表温度增加;东传的异常西风可以通过埃克曼漂流效应将赤道两侧的海表暖水向赤道辐合从而加强了赤道附近的下沉流,也有利于赤道东太平洋赤道附近海表温度增加。几乎与此同时,北风距平通过产生北风吹流将东太平洋暖池暖水由北向南输送至赤道附近直接导致Nino3区海表温度增加。上述增温因素的叠加作用共同导致了1997／1998年El Nino事件迅速发生、异常强大。     

亚澳季风异常与ENSO准四年变化的联系分析

分析了赤道地区纬向风的年际变化特征，以及亚澳季风与ENSO在各个位相的联系。结果表明：赤道纬向风变化与中东太平洋海温变化在准四年周期上是强烈耦合的；在El Eino期间东亚冬季风弱，夏季风强，而南亚夏季风弱，反之，在La Nina期间东亚冬季风强，夏季风弱，而南亚夏季风强；东亚地区的异常北风有利于西太平洋西风异常爆发，使得东太平洋海温升高，但只有随后在中东太平洋出现持续性西风异常，El Nino才能发展，其中来自太平洋中部的异常北风（并不是来自东亚大陆地区）和南太平洋中部的异常南风的辐合对中东太平洋出现持续性西风异常起重要的作用，尤其是澳大利亚东北部的季风异常的影响更为显。     

厄尼诺与南海的台风活动

本文对厄尼诺年(赤道东太平洋SST有持续正距平)和反厄尼诺年(赤道东太平洋SST有持续负距平)南海的台风(包括进入南海的西太平洋台风和在南海生成的台风)活动进行了统计分析。结果表明,厄尼诺同南海的台风活动有明显关系:厄尼诺年平均台风数偏少,反厄尼诺年平均台风数偏多,其异常主要发生在8—11月份;在两广沿海登陆的平均台风数也是厄尼诺年偏少,反厄尼诺年偏多,其异常以10和11月最显著;在北部湾海域活动的台风多在8—9月份,也是厄尼诺年偏少,反厄尼诺年偏多。文本也对厄尼诺如何影响南海的台风活动提出了初步看法。