scholarly journals Uncertainty in El Niño-like warming and California precipitation changes linked by the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Dong ◽  
L. Ruby Leung ◽  
Fengfei Song ◽  
Jian Lu
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Winter Precipitation ◽  
Adaptation Planning ◽  
Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation ◽  
The North ◽  
Westerly Jet ◽  
Precipitation Changes

AbstractMarked uncertainty in California (CA) precipitation projections challenges their use in adaptation planning in the region already experiencing severe water stress. Under global warming, a westerly jet extension in the North Pacific analogous to the El Niño-like teleconnection has been suggested as a key mechanism for CA winter precipitation changes. However, this teleconnection has not been reconciled with the well-known El Niño-like warming response or the controversial role of internal variability in the precipitation uncertainty. Here we find that internal variability contributes > 70% and > 50% of uncertainty in the CA precipitation changes and the El Niño-like warming, respectively, based on analysis of 318 climate simulations from several multi-model and large ensembles. The Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation plays a key role in each contribution and in connecting the two via the westerly jet extension. This unifying understanding of the role of internal variability in CA precipitation provides critical guidance for reducing and communicating uncertainty to inform adaptation planning.

The North Pacific Pacemaker Effect on Historical ENSO and Its Mechanisms

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (22) ◽  
pp. 7643-7661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dillon J. Amaya ◽  
Yu Kosaka ◽  
Wenyu Zhou ◽  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Shang-Ping Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Boreal Summer ◽  
Enso Events ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract Studies have indicated that North Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) variability can significantly modulate El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but there has been little effort to put extratropical–tropical interactions into the context of historical events. To quantify the role of the North Pacific in pacing the timing and magnitude of observed ENSO, we use a fully coupled climate model to produce an ensemble of North Pacific Ocean–Global Atmosphere (nPOGA) SST pacemaker simulations. In nPOGA, SST anomalies are restored back to observations in the North Pacific (>15°N) but are free to evolve throughout the rest of the globe. We find that the North Pacific SST has significantly influenced observed ENSO variability, accounting for approximately 15% of the total variance in boreal fall and winter. The connection between the North and tropical Pacific arises from two physical pathways: 1) a wind–evaporation–SST (WES) propagating mechanism, and 2) a Gill-like atmospheric response associated with anomalous deep convection in boreal summer and fall, which we refer to as the summer deep convection (SDC) response. The SDC response accounts for 25% of the observed zonal wind variability around the equatorial date line. On an event-by-event basis, nPOGA most closely reproduces the 2014/15 and the 2015/16 El Niños. In particular, we show that the 2015 Pacific meridional mode event increased wind forcing along the equator by 20%, potentially contributing to the extreme nature of the 2015/16 El Niño. Our results illustrate the significant role of extratropical noise in pacing the initiation and magnitude of ENSO events and may improve the predictability of ENSO on seasonal time scales.

scholarly journals Winter 2015/16 Atmospheric and Precipitation Anomalies over North America: El Niño Response and the Role of Noise

2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (3) ◽  
pp. 909-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingyue Chen ◽  
Arun Kumar
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Precipitation Response ◽  
Sst Forcing ◽  
Precipitation Anomalies ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The U.S

Abstract The possible causes for the observed winter 2015/16 precipitation anomalies, which were opposite to the mean El Niño signal over the U.S. Southwest, are analyzed based on the ensemble of forecasts from the NCEP Climate Forecast System, version 2 (CFSv2). The analysis focuses on the role of anomalous sea surface temperature (SST) forcing and the contributions of atmospheric internal variability. The model-predicted ensemble mean forecast for December–January–February 2015/16 (DJF 2015/16) North American atmospheric anomalies compared favorably with the El Niño composite, although some difference existed. The predicted pattern was also like that in the previous strong El Niño events of 1982/83 and 1997/98. Therefore, the model largely predicted the teleconnection and precipitation response pattern in DJF 2015/16 like the mean El Niño signal. The observed negative precipitation anomalies over the U.S. Southwest in DJF 2015/16 were not consistent either with the observed or with the model-predicted El Niño composite. Analysis of the member-to-member variability in the ensemble of forecast anomalies allowed quantification of the contribution of atmospheric internal variability in shaping seasonal mean anomalies. There were considerable variations in the outcome of DJF 2015/16 precipitation over North America from one forecast to another even though the predicted SSTs were nearly identical. The observed DJF 2015/16 precipitation anomalies were well within the envelope of possible forecast outcomes. Therefore, the atmospheric internal variability could have played a considerable role in determining the observed DJF 2015/16 negative precipitation anomalies over the U.S. Southwest, and its role is discussed in the context of differences in response.

scholarly journals The Role of Tropical Mean-State Biases in Modeled Winter Northern Hemisphere El Niño Teleconnections

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (11) ◽  
pp. 4751-4768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Ferrett ◽  
Matthew Collins ◽  
Hong-Li Ren ◽  
Bo Wu ◽  
Tianjun Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
El Niño ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Teleconnection Pattern ◽  
The North ◽  
Precipitation Response ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Mean State

AbstractThe role of tropical mean-state biases in El Niño–Southern Oscillation teleconnections in the winter Northern Hemisphere is examined in coupled general circulation models from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). The main North Pacific teleconnection pattern, defined here by the strengths of the anomalous Kuroshio anticyclone and North Pacific cyclone, is linked to two anomalous Rossby wave sources that occur during El Niño: a negative source over East Asia and a positive source to the west of the North Pacific. Errors in the teleconnection pattern in models are associated with spatial biases in mean atmospheric ascent and descent and the strength of the corresponding forcing of Rossby waves via suppressed or enhanced El Niño precipitation responses in the tropical western North Pacific (WNP) and the equatorial central Pacific (CP). The WNP El Niño precipitation response is most strongly linked to the strength of the Kuroshio anticyclone and the CP El Niño precipitation response is most strongly linked to the strength of the North Pacific cyclone. The mean state and corresponding El Niño precipitation response can have seemingly distinct biases. A bias in the WNP does not necessarily correspond to a bias in the CP, suggesting that improvement of biases in both tropical WNP and equatorial CP regions should be considered for an accurate teleconnection pattern.

Impact of ENSO on the Atmospheric Variability over the North Atlantic in Late Winter—Role of Transient Eddies

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 320-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Li ◽  
Ngar-Cheung Lau
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
El Niño ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Dynamical Mechanism ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

Abstract The dynamical mechanism for the late-winter teleconnection between El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is examined using the output from a 2000-yr integration of a coupled general circulation model (GCM). The coupled model captures many salient features of the observed behavior of both ENSO and NAO, as well as their impact on the surface climate in late winter. Both the observational and model data indicate more occurrences of negative phase of NAO in late winter during El Niño events, and positive NAO in La Niña episodes. The potential role of high-frequency transient eddies in the above teleconnection is diagnosed. During El Niño winters, the intensified transient disturbances along the equatorward-shifted North Pacific storm track extend their influences farther downstream. The eddy-induced negative height tendencies are found to be more coherent and stronger over North Atlantic than that over North Pacific. These negative height tendencies over the North Atlantic are coincident with the southern lobe of NAO, and thus favor more occurrences of negative NAO events. During those El Niño winters with relatively strong SST warming in eastern equatorial Pacific, the eastward extension of eddy activity is reinforced by the enhanced near-surface baroclinicity over the subtropical eastern Pacific. This flow environment supports a stronger linkage between the Pacific and Atlantic storm tracks, and is more conducive to a negative NAO phase. These model results are supported by a parallel analysis of various observational datasets. It is further demonstrated that these transient eddy effects can be reproduced in atmospheric GCM integrations subjected to ENSO-related SST forcing in the tropical Pacific.

scholarly journals El Niño teleconnection to the Euro-Mediterranean late-winter: the role of extratropical Pacific modulation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianna Benassi ◽  
Giovanni Conti ◽  
Silvio Gualdi ◽  
Paolo Ruggieri ◽  
Stefano Materia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
El Niño ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Turbulent Heat ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
The North

AbstractEl Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) represents the major driver of interannual climate variability at global scale. Observational and model-based studies have fostered a long-standing debate on the shape and intensity of the ENSO influence over the Euro-Mediterranean sector. Indeed, the detection of this signal is strongly affected by the large internal variability that characterizes the atmospheric circulation in the North Atlantic–European (NAE) region. This study explores if and how the low-frequency variability of North Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) may impact the El Niño-NAE teleconnection in late winter, which consists of a dipolar pattern between middle and high latitudes. A set of idealized atmosphere-only experiments, prescribing different phases of the anomalous SST linked to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) superimposed onto an El Niño-like forcing in the tropical Pacific, has been performed in a multi-model framework, in order to assess the potential modulation of the positive ENSO signal. The modelling results suggest, in agreement with observational estimates, that the PDO negative phase (PDO−) may enhance the amplitude of the El Niño-NAE teleconnection, while the dynamics involved appear to be unaltered. On the other hand, the modulating role of the PDO positive phase (PDO+) is not reliable across models. This finding is consistent with the atmospheric response to the PDO itself, which is robust and statistically significant only for PDO−. Its modulation seems to rely on the enhanced meridional SST gradient and the related turbulent heat-flux released along the Kuroshio–Oyashio extension. PDO− weakens the North Pacific jet, whereby favoring more poleward propagation of wave activity, strengthening the El Niño-forced Rossby wave-train. These results imply that there might be conditional predictability for the interannual Euro-Mediterranean climate variability depending on the background state.

scholarly journals Distinguishing the effects of internal and forced atmospheric variability in climate networks

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 617-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. I. Deza ◽  
C. Masoller ◽  
M. Barreiro
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Equatorial Pacific Ocean ◽  
Atmospheric Variability ◽  
The North ◽  
Ordinal Patterns ◽  
The North Atlantic Oscillation ◽  
Climate Networks

Abstract. The fact that the climate on the earth is a highly complex dynamical system is well-known. In the last few decades great deal of effort has been focused on understanding how climate phenomena in one geographical region affects the climate of other regions. Complex networks are a powerful framework for identifying climate interdependencies. To further exploit the knowledge of the links uncovered via the network analysis (for, e.g., improvements in prediction), a good understanding of the physical mechanisms underlying these links is required. Here we focus on understanding the role of atmospheric variability, and construct climate networks representing internal and forced variability using the output of an ensemble of AGCM runs. A main strength of our work is that we construct the networks using MIOP (mutual information computed from ordinal patterns), which allows the separation of intraseasonal, intra-annual and interannual timescales. This gives further insight to the analysis of climatological data. The connectivity of these networks allows us to assess the influence of two main indices, NINO3.4 – one of the indices used to describe ENSO (El Niño–Southern oscillation) – and of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), by calculating the networks from time series where these indices were linearly removed. A main result of our analysis is that the connectivity of the forced variability network is heavily affected by "El Niño": removing the NINO3.4 index yields a general loss of connectivity; even teleconnections between regions far away from the equatorial Pacific Ocean are lost, suggesting that these regions are not directly linked, but rather, are indirectly interconnected via El Niño, particularly at interannual timescales. On the contrary, on the internal variability network – independent of sea surface temperature (SST) forcing – the links connecting the Labrador Sea with the rest of the world are found to be significantly affected by NAO, with a maximum at intra-annual timescales. While the strongest non-local links found are those forced by the ocean, the presence of teleconnections due to internal atmospheric variability is also shown.

scholarly journals The Impact of SST-Forced and Unforced Teleconnections on 2015/16 El Niño Winter Precipitation over the Western United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (15) ◽  
pp. 5825-5844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Kwon Lim ◽  
Siegfried D. Schubert ◽  
Yehui Chang ◽  
Andrea M. Molod ◽  
Steven Pawson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
El Niño ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Winter Precipitation ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Southwestern United States ◽  
Atmospheric Variability ◽  
The North ◽  
The Impact

The factors impacting western U.S. winter precipitation during the 2015/16 El Niño are investigated using the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), data, and simulations with the Goddard Earth Observing System, version 5 (GEOS-5), atmospheric general circulation model forced with specified sea surface temperatures (SSTs). Results reveal that the simulated response to the tropical Pacific SST associated with the 2015/16 El Niño was to produce wetter than normal conditions over much of the North American west coast including California—a result at odds with the negative precipitation anomalies observed over much of the southwestern United States. It is shown that two factors acted to partly counter the canonical ENSO response in that region. First, a potentially predictable but modest response to the unusually strong and persistent warm SST in the northeastern Pacific decreased precipitation in the southwestern United States by increasing sea level pressure, driving anticyclonic circulation and atmospheric descent, and reducing moisture transport into that region. Second, large-scale unforced (by SST) components of atmospheric variability (consisting of the leading modes of unpredictable intraensemble variability) resembling the positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation and Arctic Oscillation are found to be an important contributor to the drying over the western United States. While a statistical reconstruction of the precipitation from our simulations that account for internal atmospheric variability does much to close the gap between the ensemble-mean and observed precipitation in the southwestern United States, some differences remain, indicating that model error is also playing a role.

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