Decadal variability of the Pacific Subtropical Cells and its relevance to the sea surface height in the western tropical Pacific during recent decades

2015 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goro Yamanaka ◽  
Hiroyuki Tsujino ◽  
Hideyuki Nakano ◽  
Mikitoshi Hirabara
Keyword(s):  
Decadal Variability ◽  
Sea Surface Height ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Western Tropical Pacific ◽  
The Pacific

scholarly journals Interannual to Decadal Variability of Tropical Indian Ocean Sea Surface Temperature: Pacific Influence versus Local Internal Variability

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-50
Author(s):  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Gang Wang ◽  
Matthew Newman ◽  
Weiqing Han
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
Tropical Indian Ocean ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
External Influence ◽  
Sst Variability ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
The Tropical Pacific

AbstractThe Indian Ocean has received increasing attention for its large impacts on regional and global climate. However, sea surface temperature (SST) variability arising from Indian Ocean internal processes has not been well understood particularly on decadal and longer timescales, and the external influence from the Tropical Pacific has not been quantified. This paper analyzes the interannual-to-decadal SST variability in the Tropical Indian Ocean in observations and explores the external influence from the Pacific versus internal processes within the Indian Ocean using a Linear Inverse Model (LIM). Coupling between Indian Ocean and tropical Pacific SST anomalies (SSTAs) is assessed both within the LIM dynamical operator and the unpredictable stochastic noise that forces the system. Results show that the observed Indian Ocean Basin (IOB)-wide SSTA pattern is largely a response to the Pacific ENSO forcing, although it in turn has a damping effect on ENSO especially on annual and decadal timescales. On the other hand, the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is an Indian Ocean internal mode that can actively affect ENSO; ENSO also has a returning effect on the IOD, which is rather weak on decadal timescale. The third mode is partly associated with the Subtropical Indian Ocean Dipole (SIOD), and it is primarily generated by Indian Ocean internal processes, although a small component of it is coupled with ENSO. Overall, the amplitude of Indian Ocean internally generated SST variability is comparable to that forced by ENSO, and the Indian Ocean tends to actively influence the tropical Pacific. These results suggest that the Indian-Pacific Ocean interaction is a two-way process.

scholarly journals Role of Sea Surface Temperatures in Forcing Circulation Anomalies Driving U.S. Great Plains Pluvial Years

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (20) ◽  
pp. 7081-7100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul X. Flanagan ◽  
Jeffrey B. Basara ◽  
Jason C. Furtado ◽  
Elinor R. Martin ◽  
Xiangming Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Great Plains ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Specific Pattern ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Northern Great Plains ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Precipitation Anomalies ◽  
Circulation Anomalies ◽  
Sst Anomalies

Abstract In the U.S. Great Plains (GP), diagnosing precipitation variability is key in developing an understanding of the present and future availability of water in the region. Building on previous work investigating U.S. GP pluvial years, this study uses ERA twentieth century (ERA-20C) reanalysis data to investigate key circulation anomalies driving GP precipitation anomalies during a subset of GP pluvial years (called in this paper Pattern pluvial years). With previous research showing links between tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies and GP climate variability, this study diagnoses the key circulation anomalies through an analysis of SSTs and their influence on the atmosphere. Results show that during Pattern southern Great Plains (SGP) pluvial years, central tropical Pacific SST anomalies are coincident with key atmospheric anomalies across the Pacific basin and North America. During northern Great Plains (NGP) Pattern pluvial years, no specific pattern of oceanic anomalies emerges that forces the circulation anomaly feature inherent in specific NGP pluvial years. Utilizing the results for SGP pluvial years, a conceptual model is developed detailing the identified pathway for the occurrence of circulation patterns that are favorable for pluvial years over the SGP. Overall, results from this study show the importance of the identified SGP atmospheric anomaly signal and the potential for predictability of such events.

scholarly journals A Shift in Western Tropical Pacific Sea Level Trends during the 1990s

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (15) ◽  
pp. 4126-4138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Merrifield
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Eastern Pacific ◽  
Tide Gauge Records ◽  
Western Tropical Pacific ◽  
The Western Pacific ◽  
The Tropical Pacific

Abstract Pacific Ocean sea surface height trends from satellite altimeter observations for 1993–2009 are examined in the context of longer tide gauge records and wind stress patterns. The dominant regional trends are high rates in the western tropical Pacific and minimal to negative rates in the eastern Pacific, particularly off North America. Interannual sea level variations associated with El Niño–Southern Oscillation events do not account for these trends. In the western tropical Pacific, tide gauge records indicate that the recent high rates represent a significant trend increase in the early 1990s relative to the preceding 40 years. This sea level trend shift in the western Pacific corresponds to an intensification of the easterly trade winds across the tropical Pacific. The wind change appears to be distinct from climate variations centered in the North Pacific, such as the Pacific decadal oscillation. In the eastern Pacific, tide gauge records exhibit higher-amplitude decadal fluctuations than in the western tropical Pacific, and the recent negative sea level trends are indistinguishable from these fluctuations. The shifts in trade wind strength and western Pacific sea level rate resemble changes in dominant global modes of outgoing longwave radiation and sea surface temperature. It is speculated that the western Pacific sea level response indicates a general strengthening of the atmospheric circulation over the tropical Pacific since the early 1990s that has developed in concert with recent warming trends.

scholarly journals The Obduction of Equatorial 13°C Water in the Pacific Identified by a Simulated Passive Tracer*

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 2282-2297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tangdong Qu ◽  
Shan Gao ◽  
Ichiro Fukumori ◽  
Rana A. Fine ◽  
Eric J. Lindstrom
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Passive Tracer ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Easterly Wind ◽  
The Pacific

Abstract The obduction of equatorial 13°C Water in the Pacific is investigated using a simulated passive tracer of the Consortium for Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO). The result shows that the 13°C Water initialized in the region 8°N–8°S, 130°–90°W enters the surface mixed layer in the eastern tropical Pacific, mainly through upwelling near the equator, in the Costa Rica Dome, and along the coast of Peru. Approximately two-thirds of this obduction occurs within 10 years after the 13°C Water being initialized, with the upper portion of the water mass reaching the surface mixed layer in only about a month. The obduction of the 13°C Water helps to maintain a cool sea surface temperature year-round, equivalent to a surface heat flux of about −6.0 W m−2 averaged over the eastern tropical Pacific (15°S–15°N, 130°W–eastern boundary) for the period of integration (1993–2006). During El Niño years, when the thermocline deepens as a consequence of the easterly wind weakening, the obduction of the 13°C Water is suppressed, and the reduced vertical entrainment generates a warming anomaly of up to 10 W m−2 in the eastern tropical Pacific and in particular along the coast of Peru, providing explanations for the warming of sea surface temperature that cannot be accounted for by local winds alone. The situation is reversed during La Niña years.

scholarly journals A coral δ18O record of ENSO driven sea surface salinity variability in Fiji (south -western tropical Pacific)

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (23) ◽  
pp. 3897-3900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nolwenn Le Bec ◽  
Anne Julliet-Leclerc ◽  
Thierry Corrège ◽  
Dominique Blamart ◽  
Thierry Delcroix
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
Western Tropical Pacific ◽  
Salinity Variability
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