Chemical and hydrographic measurements from the Equatorial Pacific during boreal spring 1992

Author(s):  
M.F. LAMB, ◽  
J.C. HENDEE, ◽  
R. WANNINKHOF, ◽  
R.A. FEELY, ◽  
F.J. MILLERO, ◽  
...  
2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (21) ◽  
pp. 4454-4473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renguang Wu ◽  
Ben P. Kirtman

Abstract Equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Center for Ocean–Land–Atmosphere Studies (COLA) interactive ensemble coupled general circulation model show near-annual variability as well as biennial El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability. There are two types of near-annual modes: a westward propagating mode and a stationary mode. For the westward propagating near-annual mode, warm SST anomalies are generated in the eastern equatorial Pacific in boreal spring and propagate westward in boreal summer. Consistent westward propagation is seen in precipitation, surface wind, and ocean current. For the stationary near-annual mode, warm SST anomalies develop near the date line in boreal winter and decay locally in boreal spring. Westward propagation of warm SST anomalies also appears in the developing year of the biennial ENSO mode. However, warm SST anomalies for the westward propagating near-annual mode occur about two months earlier than those for the biennial ENSO mode and are quickly replaced by cold SST anomalies, whereas warm SST anomalies for the biennial ENSO mode only experience moderate weakening. Anomalous zonal advection contributes to the generation and westward propagation of warm SST anomalies for both the westward propagating near-annual mode and the biennial ENSO mode. However, the role of mean upwelling is markedly different. The mean upwelling term contributes to the generation of warm SST anomalies for the biennial ENSO mode, but is mainly a damping term for the westward propagating near-annual mode. The development of warm SST anomalies for the stationary near-annual mode is partially due to anomalous zonal advection and upwelling, similar to the amplification of warm SST anomalies in the equatorial central Pacific for the biennial ENSO mode. The mean upwelling term is negative in the eastern equatorial Pacific for the stationary near-annual mode, which is opposite to the ENSO mode. The development of cold SST anomalies in the aftermath of warm SST anomalies for the westward propagating near-annual mode is coupled to large easterly wind anomalies, which occur between the warm and cold SST anomalies. The easterly anomalies contribute to the cold SST anomalies through anomalous zonal, meridional, and vertical advection and surface evaporation. The cold SST anomalies, in turn, enhance the easterly anomalies through a Rossby-wave-type response. The above processes are most effective during boreal spring when the mean near-surface-layer ocean temperature gradient is the largest. It is suggested that the westward propagating near-annual mode is related to air–sea interaction processes that are limited to the near-surface layers.


2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 1801-1818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renguang Wu ◽  
Ben P. Kirtman ◽  
Huug van den Dool

Abstract The present study documents the so-called spring prediction and persistence barriers in association with El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Climate Forecast System (CFS) retrospective forecasts. It is found that the spring prediction and persistence barriers in the eastern equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) are preceded by a boreal winter barrier in the western equatorial Pacific zonal wind stress. The time of the persistence barrier is closely related to the time of the ENSO phase transition, but may differ from the time of the lowest variance. The seasonal change of the signal-to-noise ratio cannot explain the persistence barrier. While the noise may lead to a drop of skill around boreal spring in the western equatorial Pacific zonal wind stress, its impacts on the skill of eastern equatorial Pacific SST is small. The equatorial Pacific zonal winds display an excessive response to ENSO-related SST anomalies, which leads to a longer persistence in the equatorial Pacific thermocline depth anomalies and a delayed transition of the eastern equatorial Pacific SST anomalies. This provides an interpretation for the prediction skill drop in boreal spring in the eastern equatorial Pacific SST. The results suggest that improving the atmospheric model wind response to SST anomalies may reduce the spring prediction barrier.


1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 705 ◽  
Author(s):  
AB Polonsky

Anomalous conditions in the tropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans during the ENSO event of 1991-92 are examined, using mainly the daily sea surface temperature (SST) data of the Russian Hydrometeorological Centre from April 1991 to December 1992. The event was characterized by some unusual features. It began in (boreal) spring 1991 as a weak event, then the SST anomalies (SSTAs) intensified and exceeded those in the ENSO of 1986-87. The 1991-92 event was manifested first in the enhanced average annual SST in the central and western parts of the equatorial Pacific. Significant persistent SSTAs near the South American coast were absent in 1991, occurring only at the beginning of 1992. The amplitude of the SST annual harmonic increased in the eastern and central equatorial Pacific. However, it decreased in the western equatorial Pacific during ENSO relaxation. High-amplitude and relatively short-term variability in the air-ocean system also occurred during the ENSO of 1991-92. The Pacific ENSO was accompanied by an Atlantic ENSO-like event, which also began in (boreal) spring 1991. It was manifested in the reduced intensity of the trade wind, the anomalously southern location of the intertropical convergence zone, and warm SSTAs in the eastern equatorial Atlantic. The mature SSTAs in the equatorial Pacific lagged behind those occurring in the equatorial Atlantic during the ENSO of 1991-92.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah H. Joseph ◽  
◽  
James S. Coble ◽  
Jesse E. Hart ◽  
Gabriel R. Haug

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Xu ◽  
Lei Chen ◽  
Wansuo Duan

AbstractThe optimally growing initial errors (OGEs) of El Niño events are found in the Community Earth System Model (CESM) by the conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP) method. Based on the characteristics of low-dimensional attractors for ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) systems, we apply singular vector decomposition (SVD) to reduce the dimensions of optimization problems and calculate the CNOP in a truncated phase space by the differential evolution (DE) algorithm. In the CESM, we obtain three types of OGEs of El Niño events with different intensities and diversities and call them type-1, type-2 and type-3 initial errors. Among them, the type-1 initial error is characterized by negative SSTA errors in the equatorial Pacific accompanied by a negative west–east slope of subsurface temperature from the subsurface to the surface in the equatorial central-eastern Pacific. The type-2 initial error is similar to the type-1 initial error but with the opposite sign. The type-3 initial error behaves as a basin-wide dipolar pattern of tropical sea temperature errors from the sea surface to the subsurface, with positive errors in the upper layers of the equatorial eastern Pacific and negative errors in the lower layers of the equatorial western Pacific. For the type-1 (type-2) initial error, the negative (positive) temperature errors in the eastern equatorial Pacific develop locally into a mature La Niña (El Niño)-like mode. For the type-3 initial error, the negative errors in the lower layers of the western equatorial Pacific propagate eastward with Kelvin waves and are intensified in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Although the type-1 and type-3 initial errors have different spatial patterns and dynamic growing mechanisms, both cause El Niño events to be underpredicted as neutral states or La Niña events. However, the type-2 initial error makes a moderate El Niño event to be predicted as an extremely strong event.


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