Composite Analysis of the Effects of ENSO Events on Antarctica

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 1797-1808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee J. Welhouse ◽  
Matthew A. Lazzara ◽  
Linda M. Keller ◽  
Gregory J. Tripoli ◽  
Matthew H. Hitchman

Abstract Previous investigations of the relationship between El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Antarctic climate have focused on regions that are impacted by both El Niño and La Niña, which favors analysis over the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas (ABS). Here, 35 yr (1979–2013) of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts interim reanalysis (ERA-Interim) data are analyzed to investigate the relationship between ENSO and Antarctica for each season using a compositing method that includes nine El Niño and nine La Niña periods. Composites of 2-m temperature (T2m), sea level pressure (SLP), 500-hPa geopotential height, sea surface temperatures (SST), and 300-hPa geopotential height anomalies were calculated separately for El Niño minus neutral and La Niña minus neutral conditions, to provide an analysis of features associated with each phase of ENSO. These anomaly patterns can differ in important ways from El Niño minus La Niña composites, which may be expected from the geographical shift in tropical deep convection and associated pattern of planetary wave propagation into the Southern Hemisphere. The primary new result is the robust signal, during La Niña, of cooling over East Antarctica. This cooling is found from December to August. The link between the southern annular mode (SAM) and this cooling is explored. Both El Niño and La Niña experience the weakest signal during austral autumn. The peak signal for La Niña occurs during austral summer, while El Niño is found to peak during austral spring.

Agrometeoros ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronaldo Matzenauer ◽  
Bernadete Radin ◽  
Alberto Cargnelutti Filho

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a relação entre o fenômeno El Niño Oscilação Sul - ENOS e o rendimento de grãos de soja e de milho no Rio Grande do Sul e verificar a hipótese de que os eventos El Niño são favoráveis e os eventos La Niña são prejudiciais ao rendimento de grãos das culturas. Foram utilizados dados de rendimento de grãos dos anos agrícolas de 1974/75 a 2016/17, e relacionados com as ocorrências de eventos ENOS. Foram analisados os dados de rendimento observados na colheita e os dados estimados com a remoção da tendência tecnológica. Os resultados mostraram que não houve diferença significativa do rendimento médio de grãos de soja e de milho na comparação entre os eventos ENOS. Palavras-chave: El Niño, La Niña, safras agrícolas. Abstract – The objective of this work was to evaluate the relationship between the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon with the grain yield of soybean and maize in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil and to verify the hypothesis that the El Niño events are favorable and the La Niña events are harmful to the culture’s grain yields. Were used data from the agricultural years of 1974/75 to 2016/17, and related to the occurrence of ENOS events. We analyzed income data observed at harvest and estimated data with technological tendency was removed. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the average yield of soybeans and corn in the comparison between events.


2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (9) ◽  
pp. 2854-2870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingting Gong ◽  
Steven B. Feldstein ◽  
Dehai Luo

Abstract This study examines the relationship between intraseasonal southern annular mode (SAM) events and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) using daily 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) data. The data coverage spans the years 1979–2002, for the austral spring and summer seasons. The focus of this study is on the question of why positive SAM events dominate during La Niña and negative SAM events during El Niño. A composite analysis is performed on the zonal-mean zonal wind, Eliassen–Palm fluxes, and two diagnostic variables: the meridional potential vorticity gradient, a zonal-mean quantity that is used to estimate the likelihood of wave breaking, and the wave breaking index (WBI), which is used to evaluate the strength of the wave breaking. The results of this investigation suggest that the background zonal-mean flow associated with La Niña (El Niño) is preconditioned for strong (weak) anticyclonic wave breaking on the equatorward side of the eddy-driven jet, the type of wave breaking that is found to drive positive (negative) SAM events. A probability density function analysis of the WBI, for both La Niña and El Niño, indicates that strong anticyclonic wave breaking takes place much more frequently during La Niña and weak anticyclonic wave breaking during El Niño. It is suggested that these wave breaking characteristics, and their dependency on the background flow, can explain the strong preference for SAM events of one phase during ENSO. The analysis also shows that austral spring SAM events that coincide with ENSO are preceded by strong stratospheric SAM anomalies and then are followed by a prolonged period of wave breaking that lasts for approximately 30 days. These findings suggest that the ENSO background flow also plays a role in the excitation of stratospheric SAM anomalies and that the presence of these stratospheric SAM anomalies in turn excites and then maintains the tropospheric SAM anomalies via a positive eddy feedback.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (20) ◽  
pp. 5164-5177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Li ◽  
Riyu Lu ◽  
Buwen Dong

Abstract In this study, the authors evaluate the (El Niño–Southern Oscillation) ENSO–Asian monsoon interaction in a version of the Hadley Centre coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation model (CGCM) known as HadCM3. The main focus is on two evolving anomalous anticyclones: one located over the south Indian Ocean (SIO) and the other over the western North Pacific (WNP). These two anomalous anticyclones are closely related to the developing and decaying phases of the ENSO and play a crucial role in linking the Asian monsoon to ENSO. It is found that the HadCM3 can well simulate the main features of the evolution of both anomalous anticyclones and the related SST dipoles, in association with the different phases of the ENSO cycle. By using the simulated results, the authors examine the relationship between the WNP/SIO anomalous anticyclones and the ENSO cycle, in particular the biennial component of the relationship. It is found that a strong El Niño event tends to be followed by a more rapid decay and is much more likely to become a La Niña event in the subsequent winter. The twin anomalous anticyclones in the western Pacific in the summer of a decaying El Niño are crucial for the transition from an El Niño into a La Niña. The El Niño (La Niña) events, especially the strong ones, strengthen significantly the correspondence between the SIO anticyclonic (cyclonic) anomaly in the preceding autumn and WNP anticyclonic (cyclonic) anomaly in the subsequent spring, and favor the persistence of the WNP anomaly from spring to summer. The present results suggest that both El Niño (La Niña) and the SIO/WNP anticyclonic (cyclonic) anomalies are closely tied with the tropospheric biennial oscillation (TBO). In addition, variability in the East Asian summer monsoon, which is dominated by the internal atmospheric variability, seems to be responsible for the appearance of the WNP anticyclonic anomaly through an upper-tropospheric meridional teleconnection pattern over the western and central Pacific.


2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (20) ◽  
pp. 5423-5434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin-Yi Yu ◽  
Seon Tae Kim

Abstract This study examines preindustrial simulations from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, phase 3 (CMIP3), models to show that a tendency exists for El Niño sea surface temperature anomalies to be located farther eastward than La Niña anomalies during strong El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events but farther westward than La Niña anomalies during weak ENSO events. Such reversed spatial asymmetries are shown to force a slow change in the tropical Pacific Ocean mean state that in return modulates ENSO amplitude. CMIP3 models that produce strong reversed asymmetries experience cyclic modulations of ENSO intensity, in which strong and weak events occur during opposite phases of a decadal variability mode associated with the residual effects of the reversed asymmetries. It is concluded that the reversed spatial asymmetries enable an ENSO–tropical Pacific mean state interaction mechanism that gives rise to a decadal modulation of ENSO intensity and that at least three CMIP3 models realistically simulate this interaction mechanism.


2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (24) ◽  
pp. 6433-6438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar G. Pavia ◽  
Federico Graef ◽  
Jorge Reyes

Abstract The role of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) in El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-related Mexican climate anomalies during winter and summer is investigated. The precipitation and mean temperature data of approximately 1000 stations throughout Mexico are considered. After sorting ENSO events by warm phase (El Niño) and cold phase (La Niña) and prevailing PDO phase: warm or high (HiPDO) and cold or low (LoPDO), the authors found the following: 1) For precipitation, El Niño favors wet conditions during summers of LoPDO and during winters of HiPDO. 2) For mean temperature, cooler conditions are favored during La Niña summers and during El Niño winters, regardless of the PDO phase; however, warmer conditions are favored by the HiPDO during El Niño summers.


2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (19) ◽  
pp. 4755-4771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Power ◽  
Malcolm Haylock ◽  
Rob Colman ◽  
Xiangdong Wang

Abstract El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in a century-long integration of a Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (BMRC) coupled general circulation model (CGCM) drives rainfall and temperature changes over Australia that are generally consistent with documented observational changes: dry/hot conditions occur more frequently during El Niño years and wet/mild conditions occur more frequently during La Niña years. The relationship between ENSO [as measured by Niño-4 or the Southern Oscillation index (SOI), say] and all-Australia rainfall and temperature is found to be nonlinear in the observations and in the CGCM during June–December: a large La Niña sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly is closely linked to a large Australian response (i.e., Australia usually becomes much wetter), whereas the magnitude of an El Niño SST anomaly is a poorer guide to how dry Australia will actually become. Australia tends to dry out during El Niño events, but the degree of drying is not as tightly linked to the magnitude of the El Niño SST anomaly. Nonlinear or asymmetric teleconnections are also evident in the western United States/northern Mexico. The implications of asymmetric teleconnections for prediction services are discussed. The relationship between ENSO and Australian climate in both the model and the observations is strong in some decades, but weak in others. A series of decadal-long perturbation experiments are used to show that if these interdecadal changes are predictable, then the level of predictability is low. The model’s Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), which represents interdecadal ENSO-like SST variability, is statistically linked to interdecadal changes in ENSO’s impact on Australia during June–December when ENSO’s impact on Australia is generally greatest. A simple stochastic model that incorporates the nonlinearity above is used to show that the IPO [or the closely related Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)] can appear to modulate ENSO teleconnections even if the IPO–PDO largely reflect unpredictable random changes in, for example, the relative frequency of El Niño and La Niña events in a given interdecadal period. Note, however, that predictability in ENSO-related variability on decadal time scales might be either underestimated by the CGCM, or be too small to be detected by the modest number of perturbation experiments conducted. If there is a small amount of predictability in ENSO indices on decadal time scales, and there may be, then the nonlinearity described above provides a mechanism via which ENSO teleconnections could be modulated on decadal time scales in a partially predictable fashion.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 4405-4431 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Olchev ◽  
A. Ibrom ◽  
O. Panferov ◽  
D. Gushchina ◽  
P. Propastin ◽  
...  

Abstract. The possible impact of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events on the main components of CO2 and H2O fluxes in a pristine mountainous tropical rainforest growing in Central Sulawesi in Indonesia is described. The fluxes were continuously measured using the eddy covariance method for the period from January 2004 to June 2008. During this period, two episodes of El Niño and one episode of La Niña were observed. All these ENSO episodes had moderate intensity and were of Central Pacific type. The temporal variability analysis of the main meteorological parameters and components of CO2 and H2O exchange showed a very high sensitivity of Evapotranspiration (ET) and Gross Primary Production (GPP) of the tropical rain forest to meteorological variations caused by both El Niño and La Niña episodes. Incoming solar radiation is the main governing factor that is responsible for ET and GPP variability. Ecosystem Respiration (RE) dynamics depend mainly on the air temperature changes and are almost insensitive to ENSO. Changes of precipitation due to moderate ENSO events did not cause any notable effect on ET and GPP, mainly because of sufficient soil moisture conditions even in periods of anomalous reduction of precipitation in the region.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mickie R. Edwards ◽  
Susana Cárdenas-Alayza ◽  
Michael J. Adkesson ◽  
Mya Daniels-Abdulahad ◽  
Amy C. Hirons

Peru’s coastal waters are characterized by significant environmental fluctuation due to periodic El Niño- La Niña- Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. This variability results in ecosystem-wide food web changes which are reflected in the tissues of the Peruvian fur seal (Arctocephalus australis). Stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) in Peruvian fur seal vibrissae (whiskers) are used to infer temporal primary production and dietary variations in individuals. Sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) recordings from the Niño 1+2 Index region captured corresponding ENSO conditions. Fluctuations in δ15N values were correlated to SSTA records, indicating that ENSO conditions likely impact the diet of these apex predators over time. Anomalous warm phase temperatures corresponded to decreased δ15N values, whereas cold phase anomalous conditions corresponded to increased δ15N values, potentially from upwelled, nutrient-rich water. Vibrissae δ13C values revealed general stability from 2004 to 2012, a moderate decline during 2013 (La Niña conditions) followed by a period of increased values concurrent with the 2014–2016 El Niño event. Both δ13C and δ15N values were inversely correlated to each other during the strongest El Niño Southern Oscillation event on record (2014–2016), possibly indicating a decline in production leading to an increase in food web complexity. Lower δ13C and δ15N values were exhibited in female compared to male fur seal vibrissae. Findings suggest ENSO conditions influence resource availability, possibly eliciting changes in pinniped foraging behavior as well as food web of the endangered Peruvian fur seal.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 905-961
Author(s):  
J. H. Duke

Abstract. A sporadic phenomenon of internal tide resonance (ITR) in the western equatorial Pacific thermocline is shown to precede 11 of 12 major upturns in the Niño 3.4 index between 1992 and 2008. Observed ITR has up to 9 °C semidiurnal temperature excursions indicating thermocline heave, but is invisible in time resolution longer than one day. It is independent of westerly wind bursts (WWB). A hypothesis is advanced that (1) ITR dissipates vorticity, leading to Pacific countercurrent consolidation (PCC) by reducing the vortex stretching term in Sverdrup balance. The consequence of lost vorticity survives ephemeral ITR events; (2) The specific surface area of countercurrents is reduced by PCC, which reduces frictional opposition to zonal gradient pressure, which triggers eastward advection at El Niño onset; (3) PCC also accelerates transfer of potential energy to the "pycnostad" below the Equatorial Undercurrent. This shoals the equatorial thermocline, leading to a distinct mode of equatorially symmetric La Niña (ESLN) characterized by a winter monsoon cell above a "cold eye" that is separated from the South American continent, as in 1998; (4) Precessional southward intertropical convergence zone migration (ITCZ) is an alternate PCC trigger, but its effect is modulated by obliquity; and (5) ESLN causes global cooling in all timescales by (a) reduced Hadley cell water vapor production when its rising branch is above the cold eye, (b) equatorward shift in southern circumpolar westerlies due to Hadley cell constriction, (c) possible CO2 sequestration by increased EUC iron fertilized export production on the equator, and (d) possible adjacent cloud seeding by biogenic dimethyl sulphide. Surprising coincidences of WWB with perigean eclipses suggest a parallel atmospheric tide influence. Proposed PCC-ESLN forcing operates in multiple timescales, beginning where the annual cycle of strong equinoctial tides coincides with the minimum perigee cycle. This forcing corresponds with El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events in 1997, 2002, and 2006. Next, extreme central eclipses that perturb perigee-sysygy intervals also correspond with extreme ENSO events, notably in 1877, 1888, and 1982, and a 586 year cycle in the frequency of these eclipses corresponds with known stadial events in the past 4 thousand years. Contrast in the 586 year cycle increases with Earth eccentricity because it is the result of shorter synodic months at aphelion. Longer timescale forcing is by orbital control of the east-central Pacific ITCZ position, yielding a 10 thousand year fast ice sheet melt interval between March and September perihelion. But default ESLN is only interrupted when perihelion in March coincides with rising obliquity. A change in the phase relation between obliquity and precession from 1:2 to 3:5 or 2:5 may therefore explain skipped obliquity cycles after the mid-Pleistocene transition. A secular improvement in eclipse commensurability that parallels Cenozoic cooling is noted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhamad Naimullah ◽  
Yan-Lun Wu ◽  
Ming-An Lee ◽  
Kuo-Wei Lan

The swimming crabs is a crucial predator species in benthic habitats and a high value in commercial fishery industries in subtropical and tropical Asia. The climate variability caused by El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events has substantial impacts on the catch and habitat of this species. In this study, a weighted habitat suitability index (HSI) model was constructed using logbooks and voyage data records from Taiwanese crab vessels (2013–2019) with the addition of environmental variables to examine the influence of ENSO events on catch rates (CRs) and habitat suitability for Charybdis feriatus, Portunus pelagicus, and Portunus sanguinolentus in the Taiwan Strait (TS). The autumn (September–October) is the major fishing season for catching these three swimming crab species in the TS. A high CR of P. sanguinolentus was observed across the TS, whereas high CRs of P. pelagicus and C. feriatus were recorded in areas in the southern and northern TS, respectively, during autumn. Moreover, the CRs for C. feriatus and P. pelagicus were higher (>7.0 and >8.0 kg/h) during La Niña events, with the increase being more than 40.0% compared with the CRs under normal and El Niño events in autumn. For P. sanguinolentus, the CRs were higher during both La Niña and El Niño events (>8.0 kg/h) compared with normal years. The high CRs for C. feriatus and P. sanguinolentus during autumn in La Niña years co-occurred with high sea temperature and low salinity, whereas the high CR of P. pelagicus co-occurred with high sea temperature and high salinity. Furthermore, the high CRs for C. feriatus and P. pelagicus were observed in areas with high HSI in the La Niña years but were distributed more widely with a lower HSI during normal and El Niño years. The low CRs for C. feriatus and P. pelagicus during normal and El Niño years and the low CR for P. sanguinolentus in normal years during autumn were highly consistent with substantial shrinkage of suitable habitats. Our findings suggest that ENSO events strongly affected the catch and habitat suitability of C. feriatus, P. pelagicus, and P. sanguinolentus during autumn in the TS.


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