Ocean Chlorophyll-Induced Heating Feedbacks on ENSO in a Coupled Ocean Physics–Biology Model Forced by Prescribed Wind Anomalies

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 1811-1832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong-Hua Zhang ◽  
Feng Tian ◽  
Xiujun Wang

Ocean biology components affect the vertical redistribution of incoming solar radiation in the upper ocean of the tropical Pacific and can significantly modulate El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The biophysical interactions in the region were represented by coupling an ocean biology model with an ocean general circulation model (OGCM); the coupled ocean physics–biology model is then forced by prescribed wind anomalies during 1980–2007. Two ocean-only experiments were performed with different representations of chlorophyll (Chl). In an interannual Chl run (referred to as Chlinter), Chl was interannually varying, which was interactively calculated from the ocean biology model to explicitly represent its heating feedback on ocean thermodynamics. The structure and relationship of the related heating terms were examined to understand the Chl-induced feedback effects and the processes involved. The portion of solar radiation penetrating the bottom of the mixed layer ( Qpen) was significantly affected by interannual Chl anomalies in the western-central equatorial Pacific. In a climatological run (Chlclim), the Chl concentration was prescribed to be its seasonally varying climatology derived from the Chlinter run. Compared with the Chlclim run, interannual variability in the Chlinter run tended to be reduced. The sea surface temperature (SST) differences between the two runs exhibited an asymmetric bioeffect: they were stronger during La Niña events but relatively weaker during El Niño events. The signs of the SST differences between the two runs indicated a close relationship with Chl: a cooling effect was associated with a low Chl concentration during El Niño events, and a strong warming effect was associated with a high Chl concentration during La Niña events.

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 2061-2088 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Zhang ◽  
R. Blender ◽  
K. Fraedrich

Abstract. The co-operative effects of volcanic eruptions and ENSO (El Niño/Southern Oscillation) on the climate in China are analyzed in a millennium simulation for 800–2005 AD using the earth system model (ESM) ECHAM5/MPIOM/JSBACH subject to anthropogenic and natural forcings. The experiment includes two ensembles with weak (5 members) and strong (3 members) total solar irradiance variability. In the absence of El Niño and La Niña events, volcanoes, which are the dominant forcing in both ensembles, cause a dramatic cooling in West China (−2 °C) and a drought in East China during the year after the eruption. The recovery times for the volcano induced cooling vary globally between one and 12 yr; in China these values are mostly within 1–4 yr, but reach 10 yr in the Northeast. Without volcanoes, after El Niño events the summer precipitation is reduced in the North, while South China becomes wetter (indicated by the Standardized Precipitation Index, SPI, for summers, JJA); La Niña events cause opposite effects. El Niño events in the winters after eruptions compensate the cooling in most regions of China, while La Niña events intensify the cooling (up to −2.5 °C). The simulated impact of the eruption of the Tambora in 1815, which caused the "year without summer" 1816 in Europe and North America and coldness and famines for several years in the Chinese province Yunnan, depends crucially on the ENSO state of the coupled model. A comparison with reconstructed El Niño events shows a moderate cool climate with wet (in the South) and extreme dry anomalies (in the North) persisting for several years.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (19) ◽  
pp. 7335-7355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro N. DiNezio ◽  
Clara Deser

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.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaim I. Garfinkel ◽  
Amit Gordon ◽  
Luke D. Oman ◽  
Feng Li ◽  
Sean Davis ◽  
...  

Abstract. A series of simulations using the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry-Climate Model are analyzed in order to assess interannual and sub-decadal variability in tropical lower stratospheric temperature and water vapor over the past 35 years. The impact of El Niño-Southern Oscillation in this region is nonlinear. While moderate El Niño events lead to cooling in this region, strong El Niño events appear to lead to warming, even as the response of the large scale Brewer Dobson Circulation appears to scale nearly linearly with El Niño. The tropospheric warming associated with strong El Niño events extends into the tropical tropopause layer and up to the cold point, where it allows for more water vapor to enter the stratosphere. The net effect is that both strong La Niña and strong El Niño events lead to enhanced entry water vapor and stratospheric moistening. These results lead to the following interpretation of the millennial drop in water vapor in 2001: the very strong El Niño event in 1997/1998 followed by more than two consecutive years of La Niña led to enhanced lower stratospheric water vapor. As this period ended in early 2001, entry water vapor concentrations declined. The net effect is that sea surface temperature variability led to a decrease in water vapor of 0.14 ppmv after 2001, which accounts for approximately 23&thinsp.% of the observed drop.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 4597-4615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaim I. Garfinkel ◽  
Amit Gordon ◽  
Luke D. Oman ◽  
Feng Li ◽  
Sean Davis ◽  
...  

Abstract. A series of simulations using the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry–Climate Model are analyzed in order to aid in the interpretation of observed interannual and sub-decadal variability in the tropical lower stratosphere over the past 35 years. The impact of El Niño–Southern Oscillation on temperature and water vapor in this region is nonlinear in boreal spring. While moderate El Niño events lead to cooling in this region, strong El Niño events lead to warming, even as the response of the large-scale Brewer–Dobson circulation appears to scale nearly linearly with El Niño. This nonlinearity is shown to arise from the response in the Indo-West Pacific to El Niño: strong El Niño events lead to tropospheric warming extending into the tropical tropopause layer and up to the cold point in this region, where it allows for more water vapor to enter the stratosphere. The net effect is that both strong La Niña and strong El Niño events lead to enhanced entry water vapor and stratospheric moistening in boreal spring and early summer. These results lead to the following interpretation of the contribution of sea surface temperatures to the decline in water vapor in the early 2000s: the very strong El Niño event in 1997/1998, followed by more than 2 consecutive years of La Niña, led to enhanced lower-stratospheric water vapor. As this period ended in early 2001, entry water vapor concentrations declined. This effect accounts for approximately one-quarter of the observed drop.


2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 3321-3335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masamichi Ohba ◽  
Masahiro Watanabe

Warm and cold phases of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) exhibit a significant asymmetry in their transition/duration such that El Niño tends to shift rapidly to La Niña after the mature phase, whereas La Niña tends to persist for up to 2 yr. The possible role of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Indian Ocean (IO) in this ENSO asymmetry is investigated using a coupled general circulation model (CGCM). Decoupled-IO experiments are conducted to assess asymmetric IO feedbacks to the ongoing ENSO evolution in the Pacific. Identical-twin forecast experiments show that a coupling of the IO extends the skillful prediction of the ENSO warm phase by about one year, which was about 8 months in the absence of the IO coupling, in which a significant drop of the prediction skill around the boreal spring (known as the spring prediction barrier) is found. The effect of IO coupling on the predictability of the Pacific SST is significantly weaker in the decay phase of La Niña. Warm IO SST anomalies associated with El Niño enhance surface easterlies over the equatorial western Pacific and hence facilitate the El Niño decay. However, this mechanism cannot be applied to cold IO SST anomalies during La Niña. The result of these CGCM experiments estimates that approximately one-half of the ENSO asymmetry arises from the phase-dependent nature of the Indo-Pacific interbasin coupling.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Cristina Díaz G. ◽  
Nancy Villegas

The influence of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on Colombia's hydrological variables has been shown in different studies. Most of the methodologies implemented have identified linear relationships and have associated the warm (cold) phase called El Niño (La Niña) with negative (positive) rainfall and streamflow anomalies. One of the most adverse impacts founded is the reduction in water supply during the warm phase. Therefore, it is necessary to study the linkage between ENSO and precipitation variability for efficient management of water resources. Consequently, the present paper has two purposes. The first one is to explore nonlinear correlations of the ENSO-precipitation relationship, particularly for specific regions where the freshwater resources have been significantly reduced during El Niño events. The second one is to identify which indices will enable in improving the predictability of hydro-climatological variables. The research was based on the wavelet coherence analysis of monthly precipitation time series from 1981-2016 and the ENSO indices for the same period. The results show that ENSO events influence the precipitation as periods of rainfall deficit or excess. Also, precipitation is organized in bands and that the 2–8-year scales explain most of their variance. The most significant sectors are those that cover El Niño events. In contrast, sectors are smaller when La Niña episodes. Then impacts on precipitation tend to be greater for warm events. Results also allowed to identify that El Niño 3, Niño 3,4, ONI, and BEST indices can be good indicators for forecasting work in these specific places. The use of two kinds of data, one in situ and the other from CHIRPS program, allows to establish the feasibility of using data from satellite origin in regions without enough information; the results showed that CHIRPS data tend to report fewer anomalies than data in situ. However, the coherence structure is similar, but in periods between 36 and 48 months, there were discrepancies of pi/4 in the phase difference, that is, between 3 and 6 months of difference in lags calculated with each database.


Nativa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Adilson Pacheco Souza ◽  
Carla Aparecida Ascoli ◽  
Eduardo Morgan Uliana ◽  
Frederico Terra de Almeida ◽  
Bruno Henrique Casavecchia

A quantidade e as distribuições espaciais e temporais das chuvas determinam o tipo de vegetação natural, potencialidades de exploração agropecuária e disponibilidade de recursos hídricos. Todavia, as chuvas estão diretamente relacionadas com a circulação geral da atmosfera (CGA) e com as mudanças nos seus comportamentos. Em escala global, a maior influência é decorrente do modo de variabilidade climático denominado de El Niño-Oscilação Sul (ENOS) e suas diferentes fases/intensidades (El Niño – EN; La Niña - LN), que determinam as anomalias de chuva em diversas regiões. Diante da grande aptidão agropecuária do estado de Mato Grosso (MT), objetivou-se avaliar as influências do EN e LN para as bacias hidrográficas dos Rios Juruena, Teles Pires e Xingu, situados na região Amazônica. As regiões das nascentes (Alto) das três bacias apresentam similaridade nos totais anuais de chuva. As diferentes intensidades de EN e LN influenciaram de forma significativa nos índices de chuva anual na bacia do Rio Teles Pires. EN-Forte provoca reduções nos totais anuais de chuvas nas regiões baixas (foz) das três bacias hidrográficas. LN-Forte aumentou as chuvas anuais independentemente da região do rio Teles Pires. LN-moderado reduz os totais anuais de chuva independentemente da bacia hidrográfica.Palavra-chave: bacias hidrográficas, variabilidade climática, distribuição espacial. ENOS INFLUENCE IN THE ANNUAL RAINS OF THE REGION AMAZON OF MATO GROSSO STATE ABSTRACT:The amount and spatial and temporal distributions of rainfall determine the type of natural vegetation, agricultural exploration potential and availability of water resources. However, the rainfall are directly dependents to the general circulation of the atmosphere and changes in your behavior. On a global scale, the major influences are the result of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its different phases/intensities (El Niño - EN; La Niña - LN), which determine the precipitation anomalies in several regions. Given the large agricultural faculty of Mato Grosso State, Brazil, aimed to evaluate the influence of EN and LN phenomena for the watershed of the rivers Juruena, Teles Pires and Xingu, located in the Amazon region. The regions of the sources of river (High) of the three watershed have similarity in total annual rainfall. The different intensities of EN and LN cause greater influence in the rates of annual rainfall in the Teles Pires Watershed. EN-Intensive causes reductions in total annual rainfall in the lowlands (mouth rivers) of the three watersheds. LN-Intensive provides increase in annual rainfall regardless of the Teles Pires River region. LN-moderate reduces the total annual rainfall regardless of the watershed.Keywords: watersheds, climatic variability, spatial distribution. DOI:


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Malik ◽  
Peer J. Nowack ◽  
Joanna D. Haigh ◽  
Long Cao ◽  
Luqman Atique ◽  
...  

Abstract. Many modelling studies suggest that the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), in interaction with the tropical Pacific background climate, will change under rising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. Solar geoengineering (reducing the solar flux from outer space) has been proposed as a means to counteract anthropogenic greenhouse-induced changes in climate. Effectiveness of solar geoengineering is uncertain. Robust results are particularly difficult to obtain for ENSO because existing geoengineering simulations are too short (typically ~ 50 years) to detect statistically significant changes in the highly variable tropical Pacific background climate. We here present results from a 1000-year sunshade geoengineering simulation, G1, carried out with the coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model HadCM3L. In agreement with previous studies, reducing the shortwave solar flux more than compensates the warming in the tropical Pacific that develops in the 4×CO2 scenario: we observe an overcooling of 0.3 °C (5 %) and 0.23-mm day−1 (5 %) reduction in mean rainfall relative to preindustrial conditions in the G1 simulation. This is due to the different latitudinal distributions of the shortwave (solar) and longwave (CO2) forcings.The location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) located north of equator in the tropical Pacific, which moved 7.5° southwards under 4×CO2, is also restored to its preindustrial location. However, other aspects of the tropical Pacific mean climate are not reset as effectively. Relative to preindustrial conditions, in G1 the zonal wind stress, zonal sea surface temperature (SST) gradient, and meridional SST gradient are reduced by 10 %, 11 %, and 9 %, respectively, and the Pacific Walker Circulation (PWC) is consistently weakened. The overall amplitude of ENSO strengthens by 5–8 %, but there is a 65 % reduction in the asymmetry between cold and warm events: cold events intensify more than warm events. Importantly, the frequency of extreme El Niño and La Niña events increases by 44 % and 32 %, respectively, while the total number of El Niño events increases by 12 %. Paradoxically, while the number of total and extreme events increase, the most extreme El Niño events also become weaker relative to preindustrial state while the La Niña events become stronger. That is, extreme El Niño events in G1 become less extreme than in preindustrial conditions, but extreme El Niño events become more frequent. In contrast, extreme La Niña events become stronger in G1. This is in agreement with the general overcooling of the tropical Pacific in G1 relative to preindustrial conditions, which depict a shift towards generally more La Niña-like conditions.


1999 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Hansen ◽  
James W. Jones ◽  
Clyde F. Kiker ◽  
Alan W. Hodges

Abstract Florida’s mild winters allow the state to play a vital role in supplying fresh vegetables for U.S. consumers. Producers also benefit from premium prices when low temperatures prevent production in most of the country. This study characterizes the influence of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the Florida vegetable industry using statistical analysis of the response of historical crop (yield, prices, production, and value) and weather variables (freeze hazard, temperatures, rainfall, and solar radiation) to ENSO phase and its interaction with location and time of year. Annual mean yields showed little evidence of response to ENSO phase and its interaction with location. ENSO phase and season interacted to influence quarterly yields, prices, production, and value. Yields (tomato, bell pepper, sweet corn, and snap bean) were lower and prices (bell pepper and snap bean) were higher in El Niño than in neutral or La Niña winters. Production and value of tomatoes were higher in La Niña winters. The yield response can be explained by increased rainfall, reduced daily maximum temperatures, and reduced solar radiation in El Niño winters. Yield and production of winter vegetables appeared to be less responsive to ENSO phase after 1980; for tomato and bell pepper, this may be due to improvements in production technology that mitigate problems associated with excess rainfall. Winter yield and price responses to El Niño events have important implications for both producers and consumers of winter vegetables, and suggest opportunities for further research.


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