scholarly journals Interannual Variability of Lower Equatorial Intermediate Current Response to ENSO in the Western Pacific

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Ma ◽  
Jianing Wang ◽  
Fan Wang ◽  
Dongxiao Zhang ◽  
Zhixiang Zhang ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Ravi P. Shukla ◽  
J. L. Kinter

AbstractThis study examines the possible relationship between predictions of weekly and biweekly averages of 10m winds at 3 weeks lead-time and interannual variability over Western Pacific and Indian Ocean (WP-IO) using Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2) reforecasts for period 1979-2008. There is large temporal correlation between forecasts and reanalyses for zonal, meridional and total wind magnitudes at 10m over most of WP-IO for average of weeks 1 and 2 (W1 and W2) in reforecasts initialized in January (JIR) and May (MIR). The model has some correlations that exceed 95% confidence in some portions of WP-IO in week 3 (W3) but no skill in week 4 (W4) over most of the region. Model depicts prediction skill in 14-day average of weeks 3-4 (W3-4) over portions of WP-IO, similar to level of skill in W3. The amplitude of interannual variability (IAV) for 10m-winds in W1 of JIR and MIR is close to that in reanalyses. As lead-time increases, amplitude of IAV of 10m-winds gradually decreases over WP-IO in reforecasts; in contrast to behavior in reanalyses. The amplitude of IAV of predicted 10m-winds in W3-4 over WP-IO is equivalent to that in W3 and W4 in reforecasts. In contrast, the amplitude of IAV in W3-4 in January and May of reanalysis is much smaller than IAV of W3 and W4. Therefore, one of the possible causes for prediction skill in W3-4 over sub-regions of WP-IO is due to reduction of IAV bias in W3-4 in comparison to IAV bias in W3 and W4.


2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 483-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shijian Hu ◽  
Dunxin Hu ◽  
Cong Guan ◽  
Fan Wang ◽  
Linlin Zhang ◽  
...  

AbstractThe interannual variability of the boundary currents east of the Mindanao Island, including the Mindanao Current/Undercurrent (MC/MUC), is investigated using moored acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measurements combined with a series of numerical experiments. The ADCP mooring system was deployed east of the Mindanao Island at 7°59′N, 127°3′E during December 2010–August 2014. Depth-dependent interannual variability is detected in the two western boundary currents: strong and lower-frequency variability dominates the upper-layer MC, while weaker and higher-frequency fluctuation controls the subsurface MUC. Throughout the duration of mooring measurements, the weakest MC was observed in June 2012, in contrast to the maximum peaks in December 2010 and June 2014, while in the deeper layer the MUC shows speed peaks circa December 2010, January 2011, April 2013, and July 2014 and valleys circa June 2011, August 2012, and November 2013. Diagnostic analysis and numerical sensitivity experiments using a 2.5-layer reduced-gravity model indicate that wind forcing in the western Pacific Ocean is a driving agent in conditioning the interannual variability of MC and MUC. Results suggest that westward-propagating Rossby waves that generate in the western Pacific Ocean (roughly 150°–180°E) are of much significance in the interannual variability of the two boundary currents. Fluctuation of Ekman pumping due to local wind stress curl anomaly in the far western Pacific Ocean (roughly 120°–150°E) also plays a role in the interannual variability of the MC. The relationship between the MC/MUC and El Niño is discussed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 1679-1697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fengfei Song ◽  
Tianjun Zhou

Abstract The climatology and interannual variability of East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) are investigated by using 13 atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs) from phase 3 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3) and 19 AGCMs from CMIP5. The mean low-level monsoon circulation is reasonably reproduced in the multimodel ensemble mean (MME) of CMIP3 and CMIP5 AGCMs, except for a northward shift of the western Pacific subtropical high. However, the monsoon rainband known as mei-yu/baiu/changma (28°–38°N, 105°–150°E) is poorly simulated, although a significant improvement is seen from CMIP3 to CMIP5. The interannual EASM pattern is obtained by regressing the precipitation and 850-hPa wind on the observed EASM index. The observed dipole rainfall pattern is partly reproduced in CMIP3 and CMIP5 MME but with two deficiencies: weaker magnitude and southward shift of the dipole rainfall pattern. These deficiencies are closely related to the weaker and southward shift of the western Pacific anticyclone (WPAC). The simulation skill of the interannual EASM pattern has been significantly improved from CMIP3 to CMIP5 MME accompanied by the enhanced dipole rainfall pattern and WPAC. Analyses demonstrate that the tropical eastern Indian Ocean (IO) rainfall response to local warm SST anomalies and the associated Kelvin wave response over the Indo–western Pacific region are important to maintain the WPAC. A successful reproduction of interannual EASM pattern depends highly on the IO–WPAC teleconnection. The significant improvement in the interannual EASM pattern from CMIP3 to CMIP5 MME is also due to a better reproduction of this teleconnection in CMIP5 models.


2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (19) ◽  
pp. 5218-5231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen I. Mohr ◽  
John Molinari ◽  
Chris D. Thorncroft

Abstract The characteristics of convective system populations in West Africa and the western Pacific tropical cyclone basin were analyzed to investigate whether interannual variability in convective activity in tropical continental and oceanic environments is driven by variations in the number of events during the wet season or by favoring large and/or intense convective systems. Convective systems were defined from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) data as a cluster of pixels with an 85-GHz polarization-corrected brightness temperature below 255 K and with an area of at least 64 km2. The study database consisted of convective systems in West Africa from May to September 1998–2007, and in the western Pacific from May to November 1998–2007. Annual cumulative frequency distributions for system minimum brightness temperature and system area were constructed for both regions. For both regions, there were no statistically significant differences between the annual curves for system minimum brightness temperature. There were two groups of system area curves, split by the TRMM altitude boost in 2001. Within each set, there was no statistically significant interannual variability. Subsetting the database revealed some sensitivity in distribution shape to the size of the sampling area, the length of the sample period, and the climate zone. From a regional perspective, the stability of the cumulative frequency distributions implied that the probability that a convective system would attain a particular size or intensity does not change interannually. Variability in the number of convective events appeared to be more important in determining whether a year is either wetter or drier than normal.


2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 509-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruifen Zhan ◽  
Yuqing Wang ◽  
Xiaotu Lei

Abstract This study attempts to understand contributions of ENSO and the boreal summer sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) in the East Indian Ocean (EIO) to the interannual variability of tropical cyclone (TC) frequency over the western North Pacific (WNP) and the involved physical mechanisms. The results show that both ENSO and EIO SSTA have a large control on the WNP TC genesis frequency, but their effects are significantly different. ENSO remarkably affects the east–west shift of the mean genesis location and accordingly contributes to the intense TC activity. The EIO SSTA affects the TC genesis in the entire genesis region over the WNP and largely determines the numbers of both the total and weak TCs. ENSO modulates the large-scale atmospheric circulation and barotropic energy conversion over the WNP, contributing to changes in both the TC genesis location and the frequency of intense TCs. The EIO SSTA significantly affects both the western Pacific summer monsoon and the equatorial Kelvin wave activity over the western Pacific, two major large-scale dynamical controls of TC genesis over the WNP. In general the warm (cold) EIO SSTA suppresses (promotes) the TC genesis over the WNP. Therefore, a better understanding of the combined contributions of ENSO and EIO SSTA could help improve the seasonal prediction of the WNP TC activity.


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