scholarly journals Identification of the Eurasian–North Pacific Multidecadal Oscillation and Its Relationship to the AMO

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (20) ◽  
pp. 8139-8153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-Ying Lee ◽  
Huang-Hsiung Hsu
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Geopotential Height ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽  
Warming Trend ◽  
Multidecadal Variability ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
The North ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract A multidecadal geopotential height pattern in the upper troposphere of the extratropical Northern Hemisphere (NH) is identified in this study. This pattern is characterized by the nearly zonal symmetry of geopotential height and temperature between 35° and 65°N and the equivalent barotropic vertical structure with the largest amplitude in the upper troposphere. This pattern is named the Eurasian–Pacific multidecadal oscillation (EAPMO) to describe its multidecadal time scale and the largest amplitudes over Eurasia and the North Pacific. Although nearly extending over the entire extratropics, the EAPMO exhibits larger amplitudes over western Europe, East Asia, and the North Pacific with a zonal scale equivalent to zonal wavenumbers 4 and 5. The zonally asymmetric perturbation tends to amplify over the major mountain ranges in the region, suggesting a significant topographic influence. The EAPMO has fluctuated concurrently with the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) at least since the beginning of the twentieth century. The numerical simulation results suggest that the EAPMO could be induced by the AMO-like sea surface temperature anomaly and strengthened regionally by topography, especially over the Asian highland region, although the amplitude was undersimulated. This study found that the multidecadal variability of the upper-tropospheric geopotential height in the extratropical NH is much more complicated than in the tropics and the Southern Hemisphere (SH). It takes both first (warming trend) and second (multidecadal) EOFs to explain the multidecadal variability in the extratropical NH, while only the first EOF, which exhibited a warming trend, is sufficient for the tropics and SH.

scholarly journals Mechanisms for a remote response to Asian anthropogenic aerosol in boreal winter

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (14) ◽  
pp. 9081-9095 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura J. Wilcox ◽  
Nick Dunstone ◽  
Anna Lewinschal ◽  
Massimo Bollasina ◽  
Annica M. L. Ekman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Large Temperature ◽  
Boreal Winter ◽  
Far Field ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosols ◽  
Local Circulation ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Circulation Changes

Abstract. Asian emissions of anthropogenic aerosols and their precursors have increased rapidly since 1980, with half of the increase since the pre-industrial era occurring in this period. Transient experiments with the HadGEM3-GC2 coupled model were designed to isolate the impact of Asian anthropogenic aerosols on global climate in boreal winter. It is found that this increase has resulted in local circulation changes, which in turn have driven decreases in precipitation over China, alongside an intensification of the offshore monsoon flow. No large temperature changes are seen over China. Over India, the opposite response is found, with decreasing temperatures and increasing precipitation. The dominant feature of the local circulation changes is an increase in low-level convergence, ascent, and precipitation over the Maritime Continent, which forms part of a tropical Pacific-wide La Niña-like response. HadGEM3-GC2 also simulates pronounced far-field responses. A decreased meridional temperature gradient in the North Pacific leads to a positive Pacific–North American circulation pattern, with associated temperature anomalies over the North Pacific and North America. Anomalous northeasterly flow over northeast Europe drives advection of cold air into central and western Europe, causing cooling in this region. An anomalous anticyclonic circulation over the North Atlantic causes drying over western Europe. Using a steady-state primitive equation model, LUMA, we demonstrate that these far-field midlatitude responses arise primarily as a result of Rossby waves generated over China, rather than in the equatorial Pacific.

scholarly journals Influence of Wintertime Polar Vortex Variation on the Climate over the North Pacific during Late Winter and Spring

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kequan Zhang ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Mian Xu ◽  
Jiankai Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Geopotential Height ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Stratospheric Polar Vortex ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
The Bering Sea

The effects of wintertime stratospheric polar vortex variation on the climate over the North Pacific Ocean during late winter and spring are analyzed using the National Centers for Environmental Predictions, version 2 (NCEP2) reanalysis dataset. The analysis revealed that, during weak polar vortex (WPV) events, there are noticeably lower geopotential height anomalies over the Bering Sea and greater height anomalies over the central part of the North Pacific Ocean than during strong polar vortex (SPV) events. The formation of the dipolar structure of the geopotential height anomalies is due to a weakened polar jet and a strengthened mid-latitude jet in the troposphere via geostrophic equilibrium. The mechanisms responsible for the changes in the tropospheric jet over the North Pacific Ocean are summarized as follows: when the stratospheric polar westerly is decelerated, the high-latitude eastward waves slow down, and the enhanced equatorward propagation of the eddy momentum flux throughout the troposphere at 60° N. Consequently, the eddy-driven jet over the North Pacific Ocean also shows a southward displacement, leading to a weaker polar jet but a stronger mid-latitude westerly compared with those during the SPV events. Furthermore, anomalous anti-cyclonic flows associated with the higher pressure over the North Pacific Ocean during WPV events induce a warming sea surface temperature (SST) over the western and central parts of the North Pacific Ocean and a cooling SST over the Bering Sea and along the west coast of North America. This SST pattern can last until May, which favors the persistence of the anti-cyclonic flows over the North Pacific Ocean during WPV events. A well-resolved stratosphere and coupled atmosphere-ocean model (CMCC-CMS) can basically reproduce the impacts of stratospheric polar vortex variations on the North Pacific climate as seen in NCEP2 data, although the simulated dipole of geopotential height anomalies is shifted more southward.

Origin of Pacific Multidecadal Variability in Community Climate System Model, Version 3 (CCSM3): A Combined Statistical and Dynamical Assessment

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yafang Zhong ◽  
Zhengyu Liu ◽  
R. Jacob
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Climate System ◽  
System Model ◽  
Community Climate System Model ◽  
Climate System Model ◽  
Multidecadal Variability ◽  
Model Version ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Community Climate

Abstract Observations indicate that Pacific multidecadal variability (PMV) is a basinwide phenomenon with robust tropical–extratropical linkage, though its genesis remains the topic of much debate. In this study, the PMV in the Community Climate System Model, version 3 (CCSM3) is investigated with a combined statistical and dynamical approach. In agreement with observations, the modeled North Pacific climate system undergoes coherent multidecadal atmospheric and oceanic variability of a characteristic quasi-50-yr time scale, with apparent connections to the tropical Indo-Pacific. The statistical assessment based on the CCSM3 control integration cannot exclusively identify the origin of the modeled multidecadal linkage, while confirming the two-way interactions between the tropical and extratropical Pacific. Two sensitivity experiments are performed to further investigate the origin of the PMV. With the atmosphere decoupled from the tropical ocean, multidecadal variability in the North Pacific climate remains outstanding. In contrast, without midlatitude oceanic feedback to atmosphere, an experiment shows much reduced multidecadal power in both extratropical atmosphere and surface ocean; moreover, the tropical multidecadal variability seen in the CCSM3 control run virtually disappears. The combined statistical and dynamical assessment supports a midlatitude coupled origin for the PMV, which can be described as follows: extratropical large-scale air–sea interaction gives rise to multidecadal variability in the North Pacific region; this extratropical signal then imprints itself in the tropical Indo–Pacific climate system, through a robust tropical–extratropical teleconnection. This study highlights a midlatitude origin of multidecadal tropical–extratropical linkage in the Pacific in the CCSM3.

Key Role of the North Pacific Oscillation–West Pacific Pattern in Generating the Extreme 2013/14 North American Winter

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (20) ◽  
pp. 8109-8117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Baxter ◽  
Sumant Nigam
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
North Pacific Oscillation ◽  
Winter Climate ◽  
West Pacific ◽  
The North ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract The 2013/14 boreal winter (December 2013–February 2014) brought extended periods of anomalously cold weather to central and eastern North America. The authors show that a leading pattern of extratropical variability, whose sea level pressure footprint is the North Pacific Oscillation (NPO) and circulation footprint the West Pacific (WP) teleconnection—together, the NPO–WP—exhibited extreme and persistent amplitude in this winter. Reconstruction of the 850-hPa temperature, 200-hPa geopotential height, and precipitation reveals that the NPO–WP was the leading contributor to the winter climate anomaly over large swaths of North America. This analysis, furthermore, indicates that NPO–WP variability explains the most variance of monthly winter temperature over central-eastern North America since, at least, 1979. Analysis of the NPO–WP related thermal advection provides physical insight on the generation of the cold temperature anomalies over North America. Although NPO–WP’s origin and development remain to be elucidated, its concurrent links to tropical SSTs are tenuous. These findings suggest that notable winter climate anomalies in the Pacific–North American sector need not originate, directly, from the tropics. More broadly, the attribution of the severe 2013/14 winter to the flexing of an extratropical variability pattern is cautionary given the propensity to implicate the tropics, following several decades of focus on El Niño–Southern Oscillation and its regional and far-field impacts.

scholarly journals A Hemispheric Mechanism for the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 2706-2719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihai Dima ◽  
Gerrit Lohmann
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Thermohaline Circulation ◽  
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
The North ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract The physical processes associated with the ∼70-yr period climate mode, known as the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO), are examined. Based on analyses of observational data, a deterministic mechanism relying on atmosphere–ocean–sea ice interactions is proposed for the AMO. Variations in the thermohaline circulation are reflected as uniform sea surface temperature anomalies in the North Atlantic. These anomalies are associated with a hemispheric wavenumber-1 sea level pressure (SLP) structure in the atmosphere that is amplified through atmosphere–ocean interactions in the North Pacific. The SLP pattern and its associated wind field affect the sea ice export through Fram Strait, the freshwater balance in the northern North Atlantic, and consequently the strength of the large-scale ocean circulation. It generates sea surface temperature anomalies with opposite signs in the North Atlantic and completes a negative feedback. The authors find that the time scale of the cycle is associated with the thermohaline circulation adjustment to freshwater forcing, the SST response to it, the oceanic adjustment in the North Pacific, and the sea ice response to the wind forcing. Finally, it is argued that the Great Salinity Anomaly in the late 1960s and 1970s is part of AMO.

scholarly journals The Corresponding Tropospheric Environments during Downward-Extending and Nondownward-Extending Events of Stratospheric Northern Annular Mode Anomalies

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1857-1873 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruhua Zhang ◽  
Wenshou Tian ◽  
Jiankai Zhang ◽  
Jinlong Huang ◽  
Fei Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wave Propagation ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Geopotential Height ◽  
Diabatic Heating ◽  
Wave Intensity ◽  
Annular Mode ◽  
Northern Annular Mode ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract Using the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis dataset, this study classifies stratospheric northern annular mode (NAM) anomalies during the negative or positive phase into two categories—anomalies extending into the troposphere [trop event (TE); referred to as negative or positive TEs] and those not extending into the troposphere [nontrop event (NTE); referred to as negative or positive NTEs], and the corresponding tropospheric environments during the TEs and NTEs are identified. Compared with that for the negative NTEs, the upward wave fluxes entering the stratosphere are stronger and more persistent during the negative TEs. Furthermore, the stronger and more persistent upward wave fluxes during the negative TEs are due to more favorable conditions for upward wave propagation, which is manifested by fewer occurrences of negative refractive index squared in the mid- to high-latitude troposphere and stronger wave intensity in the mid- to high-latitude troposphere. However, the tropospheric wave intensity plays a more important role than the tropospheric conditions of planetary wave propagation in modulating the upward wave fluxes into the stratosphere. Stronger and more persistent upward wave fluxes in the negative TEs, particularly wave-1 fluxes, are closely related to the negative geopotential height anomalies over the North Pacific and positive geopotential height anomalies over the Euro-Atlantic sectors. These negative (positive) geopotential height anomalies over the North Pacific (Euro-Atlantic) are related to the positive (negative) diabatic heating anomalies and the decreased (increased) blocking activities in the mid- to high latitudes. The subtropical diabatic heating could also impact the strength of the mid- to high-latitude geopotential height anomalies through modulating horizontal wave fluxes. For positive NAM events, the results are roughly similar to those for negative NAM events, but with opposite signal.

The North Pacific Climate Transitions of the Winters of 1976/77 and 1988/89

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 1170-1183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang-Wook Yeh ◽  
Yune-Jung Kang ◽  
Yign Noh ◽  
Arthur J. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Sea Level Pressure ◽  
Level Pressure ◽  
The North ◽  
Sst Variability ◽  
Transition Project ◽  
Climate Transition ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract This paper examines characteristic changes in North Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) variability during the boreal winter (December–February) for two subperiods (1956–88 and 1977–2009) during which the 1976/77 and the 1988/89 climate transitions occurred. It is found that the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO)-like SST variability plays a dominant role in the 1976/77 climate transition, while both the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO)-like and PDO-like SST variability contribute to the 1988/89 climate transition. Furthermore, the leading mode changes from PDO-like SST variability during the period 1956–88 to NPGO-like SST variability during the period 1977–2009, indicative of an enhancement of NPGO-like SST variability since 1988. Changes in sea level pressure across the 1976/77 climate transition project strongly onto the Aleutian low pressure system. But sea level pressure changes across the 1988/89 climate transition project primarily onto the North Pacific Oscillation, which is associated with remote changes in the Arctic Oscillation over the polar region as well. This contributes to enhancing the NPGO-like SST variability after 1988. The authors also analyze the output from an ensemble of Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) experiments in which the observed SSTs are inserted only at grid points in the tropics between 20°S and 20°N. The results indicate that the changes in the North Pacific atmosphere in the 1976/77 climate transition are mostly due to the tropics, whereas those in the 1988/89 climate transition are not.

scholarly journals A New Variable-Threshold Persistent Anomaly Index: Northern Hemisphere Anomalies in the ERA-Interim Reanalysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 148 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Miller ◽  
Gary M. Lackmann ◽  
Walter A. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Geopotential Height ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Reanalysis Dataset ◽  
Variable Threshold ◽  
The North ◽  
Persistent Anomalies ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Height Data

Abstract Persistent weather regimes characterized by anomalous temperature or precipitation are often associated with persistent anomalies (PAs) in the tropospheric geopotential height field. To identify PAs throughout the annual cycle, an earlier definition is modified to apply a seasonally varying magnitude threshold, based on a smoothed, daily varying climatological average of daily 500-hPa geopotential height variability. The modified index can be applied to a wide variety of analysis, reanalysis, or model-forecast gridded data. Here, the modified PA index is used to identify positive and negative Northern Hemisphere PAs in all seasons and to compute trends in PA frequency, strength, location, and duration, in the ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis dataset (1979–2016). Height data are detrended and anomalies are weighted with an inverse sine-of-latitude function. In addition to maxima in PA frequency identified previously (North Pacific, North Atlantic, and Russia), an additional summertime maximum appears in the Arctic; this feature has not been analyzed extensively. A composite of summertime positive Arctic PA events reveals an equivalent barotropic structure, similar to that documented for midlatitude PAs. Arctic PA frequency is greatest in summer; it exhibits no trend in frequency over the 38-yr ERA-Interim analysis period. In fact, no discernable trends in PA frequency, strength, or duration are evident in the analysis period for the primary PA regions, although there is a suggestion of a northward shift in positive PA activity in the North Pacific.

scholarly journals Atlantic multidecadal oscillation drives interdecadal Pacific variability via tropical atmospheric bridge

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-46
Author(s):  
Xiaohe An ◽  
Bo Wu ◽  
Tianjun Zhou ◽  
Bo Liu
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Convective Heating ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Sst Anomalies ◽  
The Tropical Pacific

AbstractInterdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), two leading modes of decadal climate variability, are not independent. It was proposed that ENSO-like sea surface temperature (SST) variations play a central role in the Pacific responses to the AMO forcing. However, observational analyses indicate that the AMO-related SST anomalies in the tropical Pacific are far weaker than those in the extratropical North Pacific. Here, we show that SST in the North Pacific is tied to the AMO forcing by convective heating associated with precipitation over the tropical Pacific, instead of by SST there, based on an ensemble of pacemaker experiments with North Atlantic SST restored to the observation in a coupled general circulation model. The AMO modulates precipitation over the equatorial and tropical southwestern Pacific through exciting an anomalous zonal circulation and an interhemispheric asymmetry of net moist static energy input into the atmosphere. The convective heating associated with the precipitation anomalies drive SST variations in the North Pacific through a teleconnection, but remarkably weaken the ENSO-like SST anomalies through a thermocline damping effect. This study has implications that the IPO is a combined mode generated by both AMO forcing and local air-sea interactions, but the IPO-related global-warming acceleration/slowdown is independent of the AMO.

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