scholarly journals Three Types of Indian Ocean Dipoles

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 3073-3092 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feiyan Guo ◽  
Qinyu Liu ◽  
S. Sun ◽  
Jianling Yang
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Tropical Indian Ocean ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
Climate System Model ◽  
Trigger Condition ◽  
La Nina

Abstract Using observational data and phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) model outputs [the preindustrial (PI) control run of the Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4) and historical simulations of 17 CMIP5 models], Indian Ocean dipoles (IODs) with a peak in fall are categorized into three types. The first type is closely related to the development phase of El Niño/La Niña. The second type evolves from the basinwide warming (cooling) in the tropical Indian Ocean (IO), usually occurring in the year following El Niño (La Niña). The third type is independent of El Niño and La Niña. The dominant trigger condition for the first (third) type of IOD is the anomalous Walker circulation (anomalous cross-equatorial flow); the anomalous zonal sea surface temperature (SST) gradient in the tropical IO is the trigger condition for the second type. The occurrence of anomalous ocean Rossby waves during the forming stage of IO basinwide mode and their effect on SST in the southwestern IO during winter and spring are critical for early development of the second type of IOD. Although most models simulate a stronger El Niño–Southern Oscillation and IOD compared to the observations, this does not influence the phase-locking and classification of the IOD peaking in the fall.

scholarly journals Indian Ocean Variability in the CMIP5 Multimodel Ensemble: The Basin Mode

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (18) ◽  
pp. 7240-7266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Du ◽  
Shang-Ping Xie ◽  
Ya-Li Yang ◽  
Xiao-Tong Zheng ◽  
Lin Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Tropical Indian Ocean ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
North Indian Ocean ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
Northwest Pacific ◽  
Kelvin Wave

Abstract This study evaluates the simulation of the Indian Ocean Basin (IOB) mode and relevant physical processes in models from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). Historical runs from 20 CMIP5 models are available for the analysis. They reproduce the IOB mode and its close relationship to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Half of the models capture key IOB processes: a downwelling oceanic Rossby wave in the southern tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) precedes the IOB development in boreal fall and triggers an antisymmetric wind anomaly pattern across the equator in the following spring. The anomalous wind pattern induces a second warming in the north Indian Ocean (NIO) through summer and sustains anticyclonic wind anomalies in the northwest Pacific by radiating a warm tropospheric Kelvin wave. The second warming in the NIO is indicative of ocean–atmosphere interaction in the interior TIO. More than half of the models display a double peak in NIO warming, as observed following El Niño, while the rest show only one winter peak. The intermodel diversity in the characteristics of the IOB mode seems related to the thermocline adjustment in the south TIO to ENSO-induced wind variations. Almost all the models show multidecadal variations in IOB variance, possibly modulated by ENSO.

North Australian Sea Surface Temperatures and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation in the CMIP5 Models

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (18) ◽  
pp. 6375-6382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Catto ◽  
Neville Nicholls ◽  
Christian Jakob
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
Sea Surface Temperatures ◽  
The North ◽  
La Nina ◽  
Surface Temperatures

Abstract Aspects of the climate of Australia are linked to interannual variability of the sea surface temperatures (SSTs) to the north of the country. SST anomalies in this region have been shown to exhibit strong, seasonally varying links to ENSO and tropical Pacific SSTs. Previously, the models participating in phase 3 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3) have been evaluated and found to vary in their abilities to represent both the seasonal cycle of correlations between the Niño-3.4 and north Australian SSTs and the evolution of SSTs during composite El Niño and La Niña events. In this study, the new suite of models participating in the CMIP5 is evaluated using the same method. In the multimodel mean, the representation of the links is slightly improved, but generally the models do not capture the strength of the negative correlations during the second half of the year. The models also still struggle to capture the SST evolution in the north Australian region during El Niño and La Niña events.

scholarly journals Cold Season Southwest Asia Precipitation Sensitivity to El Niño–Southern Oscillation Events

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 4463-4482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Hoell ◽  
Mathew Barlow ◽  
Taiyi Xu ◽  
Tao Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Eastern Indian Ocean ◽  
El Nino Southern Oscillation ◽  
Southwest Asia ◽  
Cp El Niño ◽  
La Nina

Abstract The sensitivity of southwest Asia (25°–40°N, 40°–70°E) precipitation during the November–April rainy season to four types of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, eastern Pacific (EP) and central Pacific (CP) El Niño and La Niña, is assessed using an ensemble of atmospheric model simulations forced by 1979–2015 boundary conditions. Sensitivity is assessed in terms of 1) the spread of precipitation across the ensemble members around the ensemble mean, 2) the probability of precipitation falling into the upper and lower terciles of the historical distribution, and 3) the relationship between the tropical atmosphere and southwest Asia precipitation during ENSO. During CP La Niña, the magnitude of the below-average mean precipitation exceeds the magnitude of the precipitation spread, thereby conditioning the probability of lower-tercile southwest Asia precipitation to greater than 70%. By contrast, EP La Niña does not alter the odds of southwest Asia precipitation terciles, as the magnitude of the near-zero mean precipitation is overwhelmed by the magnitude of the precipitation spread. EP and CP El Niño similarly result in above-average mean precipitation whose magnitude approaches the magnitude of the precipitation spread, thereby conditioning the probability of upper-tercile southwest Asia precipitation to around 50% region-wide. However, the notable effect of the precipitation spread during El Niño allows for a 20%–30% probability that the regional precipitation falls into the lower tercile. ENSO types simultaneously modify the probability of eastern Indian Ocean precipitation and southwest Asia precipitation, supporting the hypothesis that the tropical eastern Indian Ocean atmosphere serves as the medium by which ENSO forcing is communicated to southwest Asia.

scholarly journals Modulation of Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillations over the Western North Pacific by ENSO

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (20) ◽  
pp. 7189-7201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Liu ◽  
Tim Li ◽  
Hui Wang ◽  
Li Deng ◽  
Yuanwen Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
El Niño ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Boreal Summer ◽  
Maritime Continent ◽  
La Nina

Abstract The authors investigate the effects of El Niño and La Niña on the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) in the boreal summer (May–October) over the western North Pacific (WNP). It is found that during El Niño summers, the ISO is dominated by a higher-frequency oscillation with a period of around 20–40 days, whereas during La Niña summers the ISO is dominated by a lower-frequency period of around 40–70 days. The former is characterized by northwestward-propagating convection anomalies in the WNP, and the latter is characterized by northward- and eastward-propagating convective signals over the tropical Indian Ocean/Maritime Continent. The possible mechanisms through which El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-induced background mean state changes influence the ISO behavior are examined through idealized numerical experiments. It is found that enhanced (weakened) mean moisture and easterly (westerly) vertical wind shear in the WNP during El Niño (La Niña) are the main causes of the strengthened (weakened) 20–40-day northwestward-propagating ISO mode, whereas the 40–70-day ISO initiated from the Indian Ocean can only affect the WNP during La Niña years because the dry (moist) background moisture near the Maritime Continent during El Niño (La Niña) suppresses (enhances) the ISO over the Maritime Continent, and the ISO propagates less over the Maritime Continent during El Niño years than in La Niña years.

scholarly journals Nonlinear Controls on the Persistence of La Niña*

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (19) ◽  
pp. 7335-7355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro N. DiNezio ◽  
Clara Deser
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Thermocline Depth ◽  
Climate System Model ◽  
La Nina ◽  
El Niño Events ◽  
El Nino Events

Abstract A large fraction (35%–50%) of observed La Niña events last two years or longer, in contrast to the great majority of El Niño events, which last one year. Here, the authors explore the nonlinear processes responsible for the multiyear persistence of La Niña in the Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4), a coupled climate model that simulates the asymmetric duration of La Niña and El Niño events realistically. The authors develop a nonlinear delayed-oscillator (NDO) model of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) to explore the mechanisms governing the duration of La Niña. The NDO includes nonlinear and seasonally dependent feedbacks derived from the CCSM4 heat budget, which allow it to simulate key ENSO features in quantitative agreement with CCSM4. Sensitivity experiments with the NDO show that the nonlinearity in the delayed thermocline feedback is the sole process controlling the duration of La Niña events. The authors’ results show that, as La Niña events become stronger, the delayed thermocline response does not increase proportionally. This nonlinearity arises from two processes: 1) the response of winds to sea surface temperature anomalies and 2) the ability of thermocline depth anomalies to influence temperatures at the base of the mixed layer. Thus, strong La Niña events require that the thermocline remains deeper for longer than 1 yr for sea surface temperatures to return to neutral. Ocean reanalysis data show evidence for this thermocline nonlinearity, suggesting that this process could be at work in nature.

scholarly journals The unique mean seasonal cycle in the Indian Ocean anchors its various air-sea coupled modes across the basin

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinqiang Xu ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Weidong Yu
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Tropical Indian Ocean ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Trade Wind ◽  
Coupled Modes ◽  
La Nina ◽  
The Indian Ocean

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.

scholarly journals Enlarged Asymmetry of Tropical Pacific Rainfall Anomalies Induced by El Niño and La Niña under Global Warming

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1327-1343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Huang ◽  
Dong Chen
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
Maximum Rainfall ◽  
La Nina ◽  
Rainfall Anomalies ◽  
Mean State

Abstract El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is one of the most important sources of climate interannual variability. A prominent characteristic of ENSO is the asymmetric, or so-called nonlinear, local rainfall response to El Niño (EN) and La Niña (LN), in which the maximum rainfall anomalies during EN are located farther east than those during LN. In this study, the changes in rainfall anomalies during EN and LN are examined based on the multimodel ensemble mean results of 32 CMIP5 models under the representative concentration pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) scenario. It is found that robust EN–LN asymmetric changes in rainfall anomalies exist. The rainfall anomalies during EN and LN both shift eastward and intensify under global warming, but the eastward shift during EN is farther east than that during LN. A simplified moisture budget decomposition method is applied to study the mechanism of the asymmetric response. The results show that the robust increase in mean-state moisture can enlarge the EN–LN asymmetry of the rainfall anomalies, and the spatial relative changes in mean-state SST with an El Niño–like pattern can shift the rainfall anomalies farther east during EN than during LN, enlarging the difference in the zonal locations of the rainfall response to EN and LN. The role of the relative changes in mean-state SST can also be interpreted as follows: the decreased zonal gradient of mean-state SST due to El Niño–like warming leads to a larger EN–LN asymmetry of rainfall anomalies under a future warming climate.

scholarly journals The Role of Moist Processes in Shortwave Radiative Feedback during ENSO in the CMIP5 Models

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (24) ◽  
pp. 9892-9908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lijuan Li ◽  
Bin Wang ◽  
Guang J. Zhang
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Cloud Fraction ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Radiative Feedback ◽  
La Nina ◽  
Stratiform Rainfall

Abstract The weak negative shortwave (SW) radiative feedback αsw during El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) over the equatorial Pacific is a common problem in the models participating in phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). In this study, the causes for the αsw biases are analyzed using three-dimensional cloud fraction and liquid water path (LWP) provided by the 17 CMIP5 models and the relative roles of convective and stratiform rainfall feedbacks in αsw are explored. Results show that the underestimate of SW feedback is primarily associated with too negative cloud fraction and LWP feedbacks in the boundary layers, together with insufficient middle and/or high cloud and dynamics feedbacks, in both the CMIP and Atmospheric Model Intercomparsion Project (AMIP) runs, the latter being somewhat better. The underestimations of SW feedbacks are due to both weak negative SW responses to El Niño, especially in the CMIP runs, and strong positive SW responses to La Niña, consistent with their biases in cloud fraction, LWP, and dynamics responses to El Niño and La Niña. The convective rainfall feedback, which is largely reduced owing to the excessive cold tongue in the CMIP runs compared with their AMIP counterparts, contributes more to the difference of SW feedback (mainly under El Niño conditions) between the CMIP and AMIP runs, while the stratiform rainfall plays a more important role in SW feedback during La Niña.

scholarly journals Asymmetric Modulation of El Niño and La Niña and the Linkage to Tropical Pacific Decadal Variability

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 4705-4733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuko M. Okumura ◽  
Tianyi Sun ◽  
Xian Wu
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
Decadal Variability ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Climate System Model ◽  
Pacific Decadal Variability ◽  
La Nina ◽  
Leading Mode

El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in a 1300-yr preindustrial control simulation of the Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4), exhibits distinct modulation in association with tropical Pacific decadal variability (TPDV). The frequency and duration of El Niño events modulate with changes in the interbasin sea surface temperature (SST) gradient related to the leading mode of TPDV, which resembles the interdecadal Pacific oscillation (IPO). La Niña shows similar changes with the IPO but is also controlled by changes in El Niño that often precedes La Niña, and these effects tend to cancel each other. The amplitude of ENSO, on the other hand, is closely related to the second leading mode of TPDV that affects the zonal and meridional contrast of tropical Pacific climate. Significant changes in the pattern and seasonal evolution related to this TPDV mode are found mainly for El Niño because of the nonlinear relation between the atmospheric deep convection and SSTs. The resultant changes in the amplitude of El Niño, in turn, affect the amplitude and duration of the following La Niña, as well as the asymmetry in their patterns and duration. The decadal ENSO modulation associated with both TPDV modes is not symmetrical between El Niño and La Niña and thus is not likely to occur solely as a result of random variability. The patterns of TPDV in CCSM4 have resemblance to those simulated by its atmospheric component coupled to a slab ocean model, suggesting that TPDV induced by stochastic atmospheric variability interacts with the ENSO dynamics.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document