Linkages between the North Pacific Oscillation and central tropical Pacific SSTs at low frequencies

The North Pacific Oscillation (NPO) recently (re-)emerged in the literature as a key atmospheric mode in Northern Hemisphere climate variability, especially in the Pacific sector. Defined as a dipole of sea level pressure (SLP) between, roughly, Alaska and Hawaii, the NPO is connected with downstream weather conditions over North America, serves as the atmospheric forcing pattern of the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO), and is a potential mechanism linking extratropical atmospheric variability to El Ni?o events in the tropical Pacific. This paper explores further the forcing dynamics of the NPO and, in particular, that of its individual poles. Using observational data and experiments with a simple atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM), we illustrate that the southern pole of the NPO (i.e., the one near Hawaii) contains significant power at low frequencies (7–10?years), while the northern pole (i.e., the one near Alaska) has no dominant frequencies. When examining the low-frequency content of the NPO and its poles separately, we discover that low-frequency variations (periods >7?years) of the NPO (particularly its subtropical node) are intimately tied to variability in central equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) associated with the El Ni?o-Modoki/Central Pacific Warming (CPW) phenomenon. This result suggests that fluctuations in subtropical North Pacific SLP are important to monitor for Pacific low-frequency climate change. Using the simple AGCM, we also illustrate that variability in central tropical Pacific SSTs drives a significant fraction of variability of the southern node of the NPO. Taken together, the results highlight important links between secondary modes (i.e., CPW-NPO-NPGO) in Pacific decadal variability, akin to already established relationships between the primary modes of Pacific climate variability (i.e., canonical El Ni?o, the Aleutian Low, and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation).     

Temporal Characteristics of Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and ENSO and Their Relationship Analyzed with Method of Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD)

1. IntroductionPacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is a long-termENSO-like variability of the North Pacific. It can becharacterized by the first principal component of EOFof the North Pacific SST (Zhu and Yang, 2003; Tren-berth, 1990; Yang and Zhang, 2003). ENSO is thestrongest signal of annular change of global climatesystem (Trenberth, 1997). The spatial pattern of PDOis a wedge similar to El Nino. In the cool (warm)phases of PDO, the central and northwest Pacific is ofwarm (co…     

冬季北太平洋海气环流年代际异常的统计动力诊断

本文对冬季北太平洋大气和大洋环流做了联合复经验正交函数(CEOF)分解和小波分析, 并分别讨论了第一、二模态的年代际变化及其与海表温度异常(SSTA)年代际变化(PDO、NPGO模态)的关系, 得到以下主要结论:第一、二模态对时间系数的分析显示, 其与PDO、NPGO指数的相关性较高, 且小波分析表明其分别具有明显的准22、12年的年代际变化周期, 这与PDO、NPGO模态的周期相同;第一、二模态时间系数对北太平洋SSTA的回归分析表明, 其回归系数场的空间分布分别与PDO、NPGO的十分接近。第一、二模态空间场中大气环流异常分别类似于海平面气压异常(SLPA)的AL、NPO模态, 可分称其为AL、NPO的风场模;而大洋环流异常则分别相应于SSTA的PDO、NPGO模态, 可称其为PDO、NPGO的流场模。由第一、二模态近表层流场异常得到的垂直运动空间分布分别与PDO、NPGO的空间结构相似, 说明海洋上层海盆尺度大洋环流引起的垂直运动所导致的海温动力变化是形成PDO、NPGO的重要原因, 而大洋环流异常扮演着中介角色。     

太平洋年代际振荡对中国冬季最低气温年代际变化的贡献

基于1961—2013年中国台站的均一化气温数据、NOAA月平均海温资料和CMIP5气候模式数据,利用气候统计手段,定量分析太平洋年代际振荡（PDO）对中国冬季最低气温年代际变化的贡献。结果表明：PDO的年代际序列与年代际滤波后的最低气温场在全国大部分地区呈显著正相关,即PDO负位相时中国冬季最低气温偏低,反之偏高。2006年后中国冬季最低气温变暖减缓,造成这一现象的主要原因是自然变率起到的降温作用,而自然变率又主要由PDO起主导作用,约占自然变率贡献的40%左右。PDO对温度的贡献呈现出明显的年代际变化,在变暖减缓期对升温有明显的负贡献,且负贡献逐渐增大至超过50%。     

Interdecadal Change in the Relationship Between the North Pacific Oscillation and the Pacific Meridional Mode and Its Impact on ENSO

Two leading but independent modes of Northern Pacific atmospheric circulation: the North Pacific Oscillation (NPO) and the Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM), are known external triggers of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) by the sequential migration of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies into the tropics possibly by means of wind-evaporation-SST (WES) feedbacks. Because of the similar roles of NPO and PMM, most previous studies have explored them with no separation. Here, we investigate their independent and combined effects in triggering ENSO, and find that when the NPO and PMM occur simultaneously during spring, ENSO or ENSO-like SST anomalies are generated during the following winter; whereas when either the NPO or PMM occur alone, ENSO events rarely occur. Furthermore, the relationship between NPO and PMM shows noticeable interdecadal variability, which is related to decadal changes in the mean upper-level jet stream over the North Pacific. Changes in the upper-level jet stream modify the location of the center of the Aleutian Low, which plays a role in bridging the NPO and PMM processes, especially when it migrates to the southwest. The period when NPO and PMM are well correlated coincides somewhat with the active ENSO period, and vice versa, indicating that a more efficient trigger due to combined NPO-PMM processes results in a higher variation of ENSO. Finally, analysis of the coupled model control simulations strongly supports our observational analysis results.     

CMIP5耦合模式对太平洋年代际振荡的模拟与预估

利用第五次耦合模式比较计划（CMIP5）40个模式的模拟资料和分类集合的方法,评估了耦合模式对20世纪太平洋年代际振荡（PDO）特征的模拟能力。结果表明,CMIP5多数模式对PDO周期有着较好的刻画能力,能模拟出PDO的年代际变化周期。模式对PDO模态空间特征的模拟能力存在较大差异,小部分模式模拟效果较差。进一步的分析表明,对PDO模态模拟较好的第1类模式,能较好地再现热带太平洋与北太平洋海表温度异常（SSTA）年代际变化间的关系,而且热带太平洋SSTA通过大气遥相关影响北太平样海表温度的过程也模拟的较成功。对PDO模态模拟差的模式,不能合理模拟出热带太平洋SSTA对北太平洋海表温度影响的遥相关过程。以上研究也证实了热带太平洋地区海表温度的年代际变率对北太平洋海表温度年代际变率的重要影响,热带太平洋SSTA对北太平洋SSTA的影响是通过大气遥相关实现的。利用CMIP5中等排放情景模拟结果,分析了第1类模式预估的北太平洋年代际变率的特征,发现21世纪北太平洋年代际变率的主要模态为一致的正异常分布且呈现明显的上升趋势,第二模态则表现为类似于20世纪典型PDO的马蹄型SSTA分布。     

Negative relationship between Korea landfalling tropical cyclone activity and Pacific Decadal Oscillation

The present study discovered a strong negative correlation between Korea-landfalling tropical cyclone (TC) frequency and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) in the summer. Thus, the present study selected years that had the highest PDO index (positive PDO years) and years that had the lowest PDO index (negative PDO years) to analyze a mean difference between the two phases in order to determine the reason for the strong negative correlation between the two variables. In the positive PDO years, TCs were mainly generated in the southeastern part of the western North Pacific, and lower TC passage frequency was found in most regions in the mid-latitude in East Asia. Moreover, a slightly weaker TC intensity than that in the negative PDO years was revealed. In order to determine the cause of the TC activity revealed in the positive PDO years, 850 hPa and 500 hPa stream flows were analyzed first. In the mid-latitude region in East Asia, anomalous huge cyclonic circulations were strengthened, while anomalous anticyclonic circulations were strengthened in the low-latitude region. Accordingly, Korea was being influenced by anomalous northwesterlies, which played a role in blocking TCs from moving northward to Korea. The results of analysis on 850 hPa air temperature, precipitation, 600 hPa relative humidity, and sea surface temperature (SST) showed that negative anomalies were strengthened in the northwest region in the western North Pacific while positive anomalies were strengthened in the southeast region. The atmospheric and oceanic environments were related to frequent occurrences of TCs in the southeast region in the western North Pacific during the positive PDO years. All factors of air temperature, precipitation, 600 hPa relative humidity, and SST revealed negative (positive for vertical wind shear) anomalies near Korea, so that atmospheric and oceanic environments were formed that could rapidly weaken TC intensity, even if the TCs moved northward to Korea in the positive PDO years.     

Possible Origins of the Western Pacific Warm Pool Decadal Variability

In this study,the impacts of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) on the western Pacific warm pool (WPWP) were investigated.Our results show that the WPWP is linked with the PDO and the AMO at multiple time scales.On the seasonal time scales,the WPWP and the PDO/AMO reinforce each other,while at decadal time scales the forcing roles of the PDO and the AMO dominate.Notably,a positive PDO tends to enlarge the WPWP at both seasonal and decadal time scales,while a positive AMO tends to reduce the WPWP at decadal time scales.Furthermore,the decadal variability of the WPWP can be well predicted based on the PDO and AMO.     

SPATIAL VARIATION OF WINTER SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE IN NORTH PACIFIC AND ITS RELATION TO ATMOSPHERIC OSCILLATION MODES

The spatial variation of sea surface temperature anomalies(SSTA) in the North Pacific Ocean during winter is investigated using the EOF decomposition method.The first two main modes of SSTA are associated with Pacific Decadal Oscillation(PDO) mode and North Pacific Gyre Oscillation(NPGO) mode,respectively.Moreover,the first mode(PDO) is switched to the second mode(NPGO),a dominant mode after mid-1980.The mechanism of the modes’ transition is analyzed.As the two oceanic modes are forced by the Aleutian Low(AL) and North Pacific Oscillation(NPO) modes,the AR-1 model is further used to examine the possible effect and mechanism of AL and NPO in generating the PDO and NPGO.The results show that compared to the NPO,the AL plays a more important role in generating the NPGO mode since the 1970s.Likewise,both the AL and NPO affect the PDO mode since the 1980s.     

中国北方干旱半干旱区降水的多年代际变化特征及其与太平洋年代际振荡的关系

基于最新版本的全球降水气候中心(Global Precipitation Climatology Centre Version 7,GPCC_V7)资料与欧洲中期数值预报中心20世纪再分析资料(ERA-20C)融合的百年尺度逐月降水资料(1901~2012年),运用集合经验模态分解方法(EEMD)、合成分析等方法系统分析了我国北方干旱半干旱区降水多年代际变化特征及与太平洋年代际振荡(PDO)之间的相互关系。结果表明:北方干旱半干旱区大多数区域降水都具有50~60年的平均变化周期,而PDO对大多数地区降水多年代际变化特征具有明显的调制作用;其中新疆北部和内蒙古北部的降水与PDO呈现出显著的正相关,而河套东西部地区的降水则与PDO的变化呈现显著负相关。进一步分析表明,当PDO为暖相位时,径向环流增强使得北冰洋水汽南下,当遇到低空北上的阿拉伯海域暖湿气流时,会造成新疆中南部的降水增多;另一方面,PDO暖相位时赤道西太平洋及印度洋区域通过对流加热的作用激发了太平洋—日本/东亚—太平洋(PJ/EAP)遥相关型的产生,这有利于渤海湾暖湿水汽输送至干旱半干旱区北部区域,增大降水概率;同时,当偏北和偏西气流在河套北部区域相遇时会形成降水中心。当PDO位于冷位相时,结论则反之。     

Interdecadal Change of the Northward Jump Time of the Western Pacific Subtropical High in Association with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation

In this paper, the northward jump time of the western Pacific subtropical high(WPSH) is defined and analyzed on the interdecadal timescale. The results show that under global warming, significant interdecadal changes have occurred in the time of the WPSH northward jumps. From 1951 to 2012, the time of the first northward jump of WPSH has changed from "continuously early" to "continuously late", with the transition occurring in 1980. The time of the second northward jump of WPSH shows a similar change, with the transition occurring in 1978. In this study, we offer a new perspective by using the time of the northward jump of WPSH to explain the eastern China summer rainfall pattern change from "north-abundant-southbelow-average" to "south-abundant-north-below-average" at the end of the 1970 s. The interdecadal change in the time of the northward jump of WPSH corresponds not only with the summer rainfall pattern, but also with the Pacific decadal oscillation(PDO). The WPSH northward jump time corresponding to the cold(warm) phase of the PDO is early(late). Although the PDO and the El Nino–Southern Oscillation(ENSO)both greatly influence the time of the two northward jumps of WPSH, the PDO’s effect is noticed before the ENSO’s by approximately 1–2 months. After excluding the ENSO influence, we derive composite vertical atmospheric circulation for different phases of the PDO. The results show that during the cold(warm)phase of the PDO, the atmospheric circulations at 200, 500, and 850 h Pa all contribute to an earlier(later)northward jump of the WPSH.     

太平洋年代际振荡冷、暖背景下ENSO循环的特征

利用英国气象局哈德莱中心的月平均海温距平资料、美国Scripps海洋研究所联合环境分析中心(JEDAC)的海表和次表层海温观测资料以及NCEP/NCAR再分析资料,研究了太平洋年代际振荡(PDO)不同背景下ENSO循环的特征.结果表明,PDO为ENSO循环提供了一个年代际气候背景,在PDO的暖位相时期,El Nino事件发生的频率较高,强度较强;反之,在PDO的冷位相时期,La Nina事件发生的频率较高,强度较强.而且在不同的太平洋年代际振荡背景下,ENSO循环表现出不同的特征.在PDO冷位相时期,发生El Nino(La Nina)事件时,正(负)的SOTA从西太平洋沿温跃层向东传播,正(负)的SSTA从赤道东太平洋向西扩展到中太平洋,ENSO事件先在赤道东太平洋爆发.在PDO的暖位相时期,发生El Nino(La Nina)事件时,正(负)的SOTA首先出现在赤道中太平洋,然后沿温跃层向东传播,正(负)的SSTA从赤道中太平洋向东扩展到东太平洋,ENSO事件首先在中太平洋爆发.这为ENSO预测提供了新的线索.     

东亚夏季风降水年代际变异模态及其与太平洋年代际振荡的关系

利用全球陆地月平均降水资料、英国气象局哈德莱中心的月平均海表温度距平(SSTA)资料及NCEP/NCAR再分析大气环流资料,探讨东亚夏季风降水年代际变率及其与太平洋年代际振荡(PDO)的联系。研究指出:东亚夏季风降水年代际变异模态以及PDO均在1976年前后呈现显著的年代际转折,并且东亚夏季风降水与PDO在年代际尺度上具有较好的相关关系。PDO能够在对流层低层激发出与年代际东亚夏季风环流较为相似的大气环流异常特征,表明东亚夏季风环流的年代际变化可能受大气外强迫因子PDO在对流层低层的外源强迫作用影响,最终导致东亚夏季风降水发生年代际变化。     

冬季北太平洋海温主模态在1990年前后调整及其成因初探?

太平洋年代际振荡(PDO)和北太平洋涡旋振荡(NPGO)是北太平洋(20°~60°N,120°E~120°W)海温(SST)的EOF前两个模态,本文通过比较1990年前后北太平洋冬季SST EOF前两个模态,揭示了PDO和NPGO在1990年前后特征,并从关键区海温变化、北太平洋涛动(NPO)、赤道太平洋中部变暖(CPW)和北极涛动(AO)的影响,揭示了北太平洋主模态在1990年之后调整的成因。我们发现,1990年之前,北太平洋SST场的EOF前两个模态与PDO和NPGO的空间结构类似,但是在1990年之后,SST的EOF第一模态的最大荷载中心向日界线移动,40°N以北的太平洋被正的SST异常控制,表现出与NPGO模态的负位相相似的空间分布特征,而EOF第二模态由偶极子演变成了三极子结构。北太平洋中部(28°~36°N,152°~178°W)和北太平洋北部(44°~49°N,151°~177°W)海温距平在1990年之后呈显著的负相关变化,是导致在1990年之后冬季NPGO成为主模态的内部原因,而NPO在1990年之后的显著增强则是重要的外部原因。分析显示,NPO在1980年开始表现出增强趋势,通过风生流机制,NPO可以增强北太平洋45°N附近的气压梯度和西风异常幅度,从而导致了1990年之后NPGO海温模态的加强。虽然CPW和AO对NPO的南支(夏威夷)和北支(阿拉斯加)的海平面气压异常中心加强有贡献,但是上述两个因子与NPGO之间的关系在1990年之前并不明显。因此,CPW和AO与NPGO之间并不存在稳定的物理联系。     

Pacific variability under present-day and Middle Miocene boundary conditions

We use the coupled climate model MPI-ESM to show that for higher CO₂ levels the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) merge into a single mode of Pacific variability, regardless of present-day or Middle Miocene (~15 Ma) topographic boundary conditions. Hence, topographic differences—determining the landscape of past climates—play a smaller role for Pacific variability than previously thought. We attribute the single variability mode to resonance between these two oscillation patterns. In order to estimate the strength of the resonance we compute the spectral power of the ENSO and PDO time series and their coherence. We find that for both Middle Miocene and present-day topographic conditions, higher CO₂ forcing leads to stronger resonance between ENSO and PDO. Our results show that (1) stronger CO₂ forcing enhances Pacific variability resulting in stronger “atmospheric bridge” and that (2) past climates are likely to exhibit Pacific variability corresponding either to ENSO, PDO, or our proposed single mode.     

Tree-ring estimates of Pacific decadal climate variability

 Decadal-scale oscillatory modes of atmosphere-ocean variability have recently been identified in instrumental studies of the Pacific sector. The regime shift around 1976 is one example of such a fluctuation, which has been shown to have significantly impacted climate and the environment along the coastline of the western N and S Americas. The length of meteorological data for the Pacific and western Americas critically limits analyses of such decadal-scale climate variability. Here we present reconstructions of the annual Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) index based on western North American tree-ring records which account for up to 53% of the instrumental variance and extend as far back as AD 1700. The PDO reconstructions indicate that decadal-scale climatic shifts have occurred prior to the period of instrumental record. Evaluation of temperature and precipitation-sensitive tree-ring series from the northeast Pacific as well as these reconstructions reveals evidence for a shift towards less pronounced interdecadal variability after about the middle 1800s. Our analyses also suggest that sites from both the northeast Pacific coast as well as the subtropical Americas need to be included in proxy data sets used to reconstruct the PDO. Received: 15 September 2000 / Accepted: 30 March 2001     

Decadal Changes in Interannual Dependence of the Bay of Bengal Summer Monsoon Onset on ENSO Modulated by the Pacific Decadal Oscillation

Interannual variations of the Bay of Bengal summer monsoon (BOBSM) onset in association with El Ni?o?Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are reexamined using NCEP1, JRA-55 and ERA20C atmospheric and Hadley sea surface temperature (SST) reanalysis datasets over the period 1900?2017. Decadal changes exist in the dependence of the BOBSM onset on ENSO, varying with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). A higher correlation between the BOBSM onset and ENSO arises during the warm PDO epochs, with distinct late (early) onsets following El Ni?o (La Ni?a) events. In contrast, less significant correlations occur during the cold PDO epochs. The mechanism for the PDO modulating the ENSO?BOBSM onset relationship is through the variations in SST anomaly (SSTA) patterns. During the warm PDO epochs, the superimpositions of the PDO-related and ENSO-related SSTAs lead to the SSTA distribution of an El Ni?o (La Ni?a) event exhibiting significant positive (negative) SSTAs over the tropical central?eastern Pacific and Indian Ocean along with negative (positive) SSTAs, especially over the tropical western Pacific (TWP), forming a strong zonal interoceanic SSTA gradient between the TWP and tropical Indian Ocean. Significant anomalous lower tropospheric easterlies (westerlies) together with upper-tropospheric westerlies (easterlies) are thus induced over the BOB, favoring an abnormally late (early) BOBSM onset. During the cold PDO epochs, however, the superimpositions of PDO-related SSTAs with El Ni?o-related (La Ni?a-related) SSTAs lead to insignificant SSTAs over the TWP and a weak zonal SSTA gradient, without distinct circulation anomalies over the BOB favoring early or late BOBSM onsets.     

Northern poleward edge of regional Hadley cell over western Pacific during boreal winter: year-to-year variability,influence factors and associated winter climate anomalies

Compared to the zonal-mean Hadley cell (HC), our knowledge of the characteristics, influence factors and associated climate anomalies of the regional HC remains quite limited. Here, we examine interannual variability of the northern poleward HC edge over western Pacific (WPHCE) during boreal winter. Results suggest that interannual variability of the WPHCE is impacted by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Modoki, North Pacific Oscillation (NPO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The WPHCE tends to shift poleward during negative phase of the ENSO Modoki, and positive phases of the NPO and NAO, which highlights not merely the tropical forcing but also the extratropical signals that modulate the WPHCE. ENSO modoki, NPO and NAO modulate the WPHCE via inducing atmospheric anomalies over the western North Pacific. We further investigate the climatic impacts of the WPHCE on East Asia. The poleward shift of the northern descending branch of the WPHC results in anomalous upward (downward) motions and upper-level divergence (convergence) anomalies over south-central China (northern East-Asia), leading to increased (decreased) rainfall there. Moreover, pronounced cold surface air temperature anomalies appear over south-central China when the sinking branch of the WPHC moves poleward. Based on the temperature diagnostic analysis, negative surface temperature tendency anomalies over central China are mostly attributable to the cold zonal temperature advection and ascent-induced adiabatic cooling, while the negative anomalies over South China are largely due to the cold meridional temperature advection. These findings could improve our knowledge of the WPHCE variability and enrich the knowledge of forcing factors for East Asian winter climate.

     

太平洋年代际振荡的研究进展

作者以太平洋年代际振荡(PDO)现象为重点,系统地回顾了太平洋年代际变率观测、模拟和理论研究的国内外进展.在PDO时空结构方面,总结了PDO的基本观测事实,在PDO成因方面,从海洋大气相互作用观点出发比较了三类PDO形成机制的理论或假说,讨论了现有理论或假说中存在的若干问题,并提出了未来研究的方向和需要解决的关键科学问题.作者也简要介绍了东亚及中国气候年代际变化的特征及其和太平洋海表温度异常的联系,并讨论了东亚大气环流异常在PDO形成中的可能作用.     

全球变暖情景下太平洋年代际振荡(PDO)时空特征变化分析

基于CMIP5多模式中的历史情景与全球变暖情景资料以及观测海温数据,利用EOF分析,回归分析、功率谱分析等方法对北太平洋区域冬季海—气耦合系统进行了研究,进而分析了全球变暖背景下太平洋年代际振荡(PDO)时空特征的变化.通过对比观测资料中1934年前后的PDO时空特征,发现在全球变暖的背景下,PDO强度得到加强,PDO...