scholarly journals La Niña events before and after 1979 and their impact in southeastern South America during austral summer: role of the Indian Ocean

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 257-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Cazes-Boezio ◽  
S Talento
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 2601-2620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia E. Wieners ◽  
Henk A. Dijkstra ◽  
Will P. M. de Ruijter

The effect of long-term trends and interannual, ENSO-driven variability in the Indian Ocean (IO) on the stability and spatial pattern of ENSO is investigated with an intermediate-complexity two-basin model. The Pacific basin is modeled using a fully coupled (i.e., generating its own background state) Zebiak–Cane model. IO sea surface temperature (SST) is represented by a basinwide warming pattern whose strength is constant or varies at a prescribed lag to ENSO. Both basins are coupled through an atmosphere transferring information between them. For the covarying IO SST, a warm IO during the peak of El Niño (La Niña) dampens (destabilizes) ENSO, and a warm IO during the transition from El Niño to La Niña (La Niña to El Niño) shortens (lengthens) the period. The influence of the IO on the spatial pattern of ENSO is small. For constant IO warming, the ENSO cycle is destabilized because stronger easterlies induce more background upwelling, more thermocline steepening, and a stronger Bjerknes feedback. The SST signal at the east coast weakens or reverses sign with respect to the main ENSO signal [i.e., ENSO resembles central Pacific (CP) El Niños]. This is due to a reduced sensitivity of the SST to thermocline variations in case of a shallow background thermocline, as found near the east coast for a warm IO. With these results, the recent increase in CP El Niño can possibly be explained by the substantial IO (and west Pacific) warming over the last decades.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motoki Nagura ◽  
Masanori Konda

Abstract The seasonal development of the sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly in the Indian Ocean is investigated in relation to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), using NOAA optimally interpolated SST and NCEP reanalysis data. The result shows that the onset season of El Niño affects the seasonal development of surface wind anomalies over the equatorial eastern Indian Ocean (EEIO); these surface wind anomalies, in turn, determine whether the SST anomaly in the EEIO evolves into the eastern pole of the dipole pattern. In years when the dipole pattern develops, surface zonal wind anomalies over the EEIO switch from westerly to easterly in spring as La Niña switches to El Niño. The seasonal zonal wind over the EEIO also switches from westerly to easterly in spring, and the anomalous wind strengthens seasonal wind from winter to summer. Stronger winds and resultant thermal forcings produce the negative SST anomaly in the EEIO in winter, and its amplitude increases in summer. The SST anomaly becomes the eastern pole of the dipole pattern in fall. In contrast, if the change from La Niña to El Niño is delayed until late summer/fall or if La Niña persists throughout the year, a westerly anomaly persists from winter to summer over the EEIO. The persistent westerly anomaly strengthens the wintertime climatological westerlies and weakens the summertime easterlies. Therefore, negative SST anomalies are produced in the EEIO in winter, but the amplitude decreases in summer, and the eastern pole is not present in fall. The above explanation also applies to onset years of La Niña if the signs of the anomalies are reversed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (17) ◽  
pp. 4676-4694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott J. Weaver ◽  
Wanqiu Wang ◽  
Mingyue Chen ◽  
Arun Kumar

The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) is arguably the most important intraseasonal mode of climate variability, given its significant modulation of global climate variations and attendant societal impacts. Advancing the current understanding and simulation of the MJO using state-of-the-art climate data and modeling systems is thus a necessary goal for improving MJO prediction capability. MJO variability is assessed in NOAA/NCEP reanalyses and two versions of the Climate Forecast System (CFS), CFS version 1 (CFSv1) and its update version 2 (CFSv2). The analysis leans on a variety of diagnostic procedures and includes MJO sensitivity to varying El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases. It is found that significant improvements have been realized in the representation of MJO variations in the new NCEP Climate Forecast System reanalysis (CFSR) as evidenced by outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) power spectral analysis and more coherent propagation characteristics of precipitation and 850-hPa zonal winds over the Eastern Hemisphere in CFSR-only depictions. Conversely, while modest improvements are realized in the CFSv2 as compared to CFSv1, in general the simulation of the MJO continues to be a challenge. Both versions produce strong eastward propagating variance of convection and wind fields in the intraseasonal frequency band. However, the simulated MJO propagates slower than the observed with difficulties traversing the Maritime Continent into the western Pacific, as noted in many previous modeling studies. The CFS shows robust intraseasonal simulations over the west Pacific during El Niño years with diminished simulation capability over the Indian Ocean during La Niña years. This is likely a manifestation of the preference for La Niña MJO activity to occur over the Indian Ocean and the simulation challenges over that domain.


2012 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Molinari ◽  
David Vollaro

This paper describes a large cyclonic gyre that lasted several days in the northwest Pacific during July 1988. Cyclonic winds at 850 hPa extended beyond the 2000-km radius with a radius of maximum winds of 700–800 km. The gyre exhibited clear skies within and north of its center. Active convection extended 4000 km in longitude to its south. The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) was in its active phase in the Indian Ocean prior to gyre formation. Consistent with earlier studies, diabatic heating in the MJO was associated with an anomalous upper-tropospheric westerly jet over the northeast Asian coast and a jet exit region over the northwest Pacific. Repeated equatorward wave-breaking events developed downwind of the jet exit region. One such event left behind a region of lower-tropospheric cyclonic vorticity and convection in the subtropics that played a key role in the gyre formation. A second wave-breaking event produced strong subsidence north of the mature gyre that contributed to its convective asymmetry. Gyres from 1985 and 1989 were compared to the 1988 case. All three gyres developed during an active MJO in the Indian Ocean. Each gyre displayed the same strong convective asymmetry. Each developed in July or August during the climatological peak in breaking Rossby waves in the northwest Pacific. Finally, all of the gyres developed during La Niña at nearly the same location. This location and the convective structure of the gyres closely matched composite La Niña anomalies during boreal summer.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1094
Author(s):  
Mary T. Kayano ◽  
Rita V. Andreoli ◽  
Wilmar L. Cerón ◽  
Rodrigo A. F. Souza

This paper examines the relative role of the Indian Ocean basin-wide (IOBW) mode and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the atmospheric circulation and rainfall interannual variations over South America (SA) during southern summer of the 1951‒2016 period. The effects of the warm IOBW and El Niño (EN) events, and of the cold IOBW and La Niña (LN) events are examined using partial correlations. The ENSO and IOBW modes, through the associated large-scale and regional anomalous circulation patterns, induce contrasting effects on the rainfall in northeastern SA. The EN without the warm IOBW effect induces anomalously dry conditions over eastern Amazon and part of northeastern Brazil (NEB) through anomalous sinking motions of the EN-related anomalous Walker and Hadley cells and strong moisture divergence associated with a vigorous anticyclone over tropical South Atlantic (TSA) and SA. The warm IOBW without the EN effect induces anomalously wet conditions in NEB, which is marginally related to the anomalous Walker and Hadley cells but is modulated by an anticyclone over SA between the equator and 20° S, and a cyclone in the southwestern Atlantic between 20° S and 40° S. The results here might be relevant for climate monitoring and modeling studies.


2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 1784-1801 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-Seong Kug ◽  
In-Sik Kang

Abstract A feedback process of the Indian Ocean SST on ENSO is investigated by using observed data and atmospheric GCM. It is suggested that warming in the Indian Ocean produces an easterly wind stress anomaly over Indonesia and the western edge of the Pacific during the mature phase of El Niño. The anomalous easterly wind in the western Pacific during El Niño helps a rapid termination of El Niño and a fast transition to La Niña by generating upwelling Kelvin waves. Thus, warming in the Indian Ocean, which is a part of the El Niño signal, operates as a negative feedback mechanism to ENSO. This Indian Ocean feedback appears to operate mostly for relatively strong El Niños and results in a La Niña one year after the mature phase of the El Niño. This 1-yr period of phase transition implies a possible role of Indian Ocean–ENSO coupling in the biennial tendency of the ENSO. Atmospheric GCM experiments show that Indian Ocean SST forcing is mostly responsible for the easterly wind anomalies in the western Pacific.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinqiang Xu ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Weidong Yu

AbstractThe interannual variability of the sea surface temperature (SST) in the Indian Ocean is complex and characterized by various air-sea coupled modes, which occur around El Niño/La Niña's peak phase (i.e. December–January–February, DJF). Indian Ocean Dipole Mode (IODM) develops over the tropical Indian Ocean and peaks in September–October–November (SON), while Ningaloo Niño, Subtropical Indian Ocean Dipole (SIOD) and Indian Ocean Basin Mode (IOBM) occur respectively over northwest off Australia, subtropical and tropical Indian Ocean, during boreal winter to spring. The apparent contrast between their divergent regionality and convergent seasonality around DJF triggers the present study to examine the interaction between the local mean monsoonal cycle and the anomalous forcing from El Niño/La Niña. The diagnosis confirms that the Indian Ocean’s unique complexity, including the monsoonal circulation over the tropics and the trade wind over the subtropical southern Indian Ocean, plays the fundamental role in anchoring the various regional air-sea coupled modes across the basin. The SST anomalies can be readily explained by the wind-evaporation-SST (WES) mechanism, which works together with other more regional-dependent dynamic and thermodynamic mechanisms. This implies that El Niño/La Niña brings much predictability for the Indian Ocean variations.


2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2796-2810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenju Cai ◽  
Peter van Rensch

Abstract In austral summer, El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) covaries with the Indian Ocean Basin Mode (IOBM) and with the southern annular mode (SAM). The present study addresses how the IOBM and the SAM modulate the impact of ENSO on Australia. The authors show that the modulating effect of the SAM is limited; in particular, the SAM does not modify the ENSO teleconnection pattern. However, the IOBM extends ENSO-induced convection anomalies westward over northern Australia and over the eastern Indian Ocean, whereby extending the ENSO tropical teleconnection to the northwest of Australia. The IOBM also generates an equivalent-barotropic Rossby wave train through convection anomalies over northern Australia. The wave train shares an anomaly center over the Tasman Sea latitudes with the Pacific–South American (PSA) pattern, shifting the anomaly center of the PSA pattern to within a closer proximity to Australia. There is a strong asymmetry in the IOBM modulating effect. During an IOBM negative phase, which tends to coincide with La Niña events, the rainfall increase is far greater than the reduction during a positive IOBM phase, which tends to coincide with El Niño events. This modulation asymmetry is consistent with an asymmetry in the ENSO–rainfall teleconnection over Australia, in which the La Niña–rainfall teleconnection is stronger than the El Niño–rainfall teleconnection. This asymmetric ENSO–rainfall teleconnection ensures a higher coherence of northern Australia convective anomalies with La Niña or with a negative phase of the IOBM, hence a greater modification of the PSA pattern, underpinning the asymmetric modulating role of the IOBM.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 2321-2336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiwei Zhu

The relationship between El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Australian summer rainfall (ASR) during 1960–2015 experienced an interdecadal change around the mid-1980s. Before the mid-1980s, ASR was significantly correlated with tropical central Pacific (TCP) sea surface temperature (SST), whereas after that it was not. While El Niño was always independent from ASR, La Niña had a close relationship with ASR. However, this relationship was weakened after the mid-1980s. The Indian Ocean SST warming might contribute to the weakening relationship between La Niña and ASR. For La Niña events before the mid-1980s, the negative SSTA over TCP and the southern tropical Indian Ocean induced a large-scale lower-level cyclonic anomaly over Australia, leading to nearly uniform positive precipitation over Australia. In this manner, a significant relationship between ASR and La Niña was established. On the contrary, for the La Niña events after the mid-1980s, because of the Indian Ocean SST warming, the equatorial eastern Indian Ocean and Maritime Continent presented positive SSTAs and enhanced moisture, favoring enhanced rainfall anomalies over the equatorial Maritime Continent. This enhanced rainfall condensation heating induced a lower-level cyclonic anomaly to the west of Australia. The northerly anomalies at the eastern flank of this cyclonic anomaly counteracted the southerly anomalies at the western flank of the cyclonic anomaly over eastern Australia induced by the negative TCP SSTA, leading to insignificant circulation and rainfall anomalies over Australia. As such, being interfered with by the equatorial Maritime Continent heating, the relationship between ASR and La Niña was weakened.


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