scholarly journals Contributions of Atmosphere–Ocean Interaction and Low-Frequency Variation to Intensity of Strong El Niño Events since 1979

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 1381-1394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaofan Li ◽  
Zeng-Zhen Hu ◽  
Bohua Huang
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Frequency Variation ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Eastern Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Ocean Coupling

Evolutions of oceanic and atmospheric anomalies in the equatorial Pacific during four strong El Niños (1982/83, 1991/92, 1997/98, and 2015/16) since 1979 are compared. The contributions of the atmosphere–ocean coupling to El Niño–associated sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) are identified and their association with low-level winds as well as different time-scale variations is examined. Although overall SSTA in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific is strongest and comparable in the 1997/98 and 2015/16 El Niños, the associated subsurface ocean temperature as well as deep convection and surface wind stress anomalies in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific are weaker during 2015/16 than that during 1997/98. That may be associated with a variation of the wind–SST and wind–thermocline interactions. Both the wind–SST and wind–thermocline interactions play a less important role during 2015/16 than during 1997/98. Such differences are associated with the differences of the low-level westerly wind as well as the contribution of different time-scale variations in different events. Similar to the interannual time-scale variation, the intraseasonal–interseasonal time-scale component always has positive contributions to the intensity of all four strong El Niños. Interestingly, the role of the interdecadal-trend time-scale component varies with event. The contribution is negligible during the 1982/83 El Niño, negative during the 1997/98 El Niño, and positive during the 1991/92 and 2015/16 El Niños. Thus, in addition to the atmosphere–ocean coupling at intraseasonal to interannual time scales, interdecadal and longer time-scale variations may play an important and sometimes crucial role in determining the intensity of El Niño.

Adjoint Sensitivity of the Niño-3 Surface Temperature to Wind Forcing

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (16) ◽  
pp. 4480-4493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuebin Zhang ◽  
Bruce Cornuelle ◽  
Dean Roemmich
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Sensitivity Study ◽  
Enso Event ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Wind Forcing ◽  
Adjoint Sensitivity ◽  
Eastern Equatorial Pacific

Abstract The evolution of sea surface temperature (SST) over the eastern equatorial Pacific plays a significant role in the intense tropical air–sea interaction there and is of central importance to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. Effects of atmospheric fields (especially wind stress) and ocean state on the eastern equatorial Pacific SST variations are investigated using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation model (MITgcm) and its adjoint model, which can calculate the sensitivities of a cost function (in this case the averaged 0–30-m temperature in the Niño-3 region during an ENSO event peak) to previous atmospheric forcing fields and ocean state going backward in time. The sensitivity of the Niño-3 surface temperature to monthly zonal wind stress in preceding months can be understood by invoking mixed layer heat balance, ocean dynamics, and especially linear equatorial wave dynamics. The maximum positive sensitivity of the Niño-3 surface temperature to local wind forcing usually happens ~1–2 months before the peak of the ENSO event and is hypothesized to be associated with the Ekman pumping mechanism. In model experiments, its magnitude is closely related to the subsurface vertical temperature gradient, exhibiting strong event-to-event differences with strong (weak) positive sensitivity during La Niña (strong El Niño) events. The adjoint sensitivity to remote wind forcing in the central and western equatorial Pacific is consistent with the standard hypothesis that the remote wind forcing affects the Niño-3 surface temperature indirectly by exciting equatorial Kelvin and Rossby waves and modulating thermocline depth in the Niño-3 region. The current adjoint sensitivity study is consistent with a previous regression-based sensitivity study derived from perturbation experiments. Finally, implication for ENSO monitoring and prediction is also discussed.

scholarly journals Eastern Pacific ITCZ Dipole and ENSO Diversity

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 4449-4462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shang-Ping Xie ◽  
Qihua Peng ◽  
Youichi Kamae ◽  
Xiao-Tong Zheng ◽  
Hiroki Tokinaga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
Eastern Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Ocean Atmosphere ◽  
Preceding Season ◽  
Mean Climate ◽  
One Year

Abstract The eastern tropical Pacific features strong climatic asymmetry across the equator, with the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) displaced north of the equator most of time. In February–April (FMA), the seasonal warming in the Southern Hemisphere and cooling in the Northern Hemisphere weaken the climatic asymmetry, and a double ITCZ appears with a zonal rainband on either side of the equator. Results from an analysis of precipitation variability reveal that the relative strength between the northern and southern ITCZ varies from one year to another and this meridional seesaw results from ocean–atmosphere coupling. Surprisingly this meridional seesaw is triggered by an El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) of moderate amplitudes. Although ENSO is originally symmetric about the equator, the asymmetry in the mean climate in the preceding season introduces asymmetric perturbations, which are then preferentially amplified by coupled ocean–atmosphere feedback in FMA when deep convection is sensitive to small changes in cross-equatorial gradient of sea surface temperature. This study shows that moderate ENSO follows a distinct decay trajectory in FMA and southeasterly cross-equatorial wind anomalies cause moderate El Niño to dissipate rapidly as southeasterly cross-equatorial wind anomalies intensify ocean upwelling south of the equator. In contrast, extreme El Niño remains strong through FMA as enhanced deep convection causes westerly wind anomalies to intrude and suppress ocean upwelling in the eastern equatorial Pacific.

Understanding Diverse Model Projections of Future Extreme El Niño

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 449-464
Author(s):  
Samantha Stevenson ◽  
Andrew T. Wittenberg ◽  
John Fasullo ◽  
Sloan Coats ◽  
Bette Otto-Bliesner
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Model Intercomparison ◽  
Sst Variability ◽  
Eastern Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Intercomparison Project ◽  
Local Warming ◽  
Extreme El Niño

AbstractThe majority of future projections in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) show more frequent exceedances of the 5 mm day−1 rainfall threshold in the eastern equatorial Pacific rainfall during El Niño, previously described in the literature as an increase in “extreme El Niño events”; however, these exceedance frequencies vary widely across models, and in some projections actually decrease. Here we combine single-model large ensemble simulations with phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) to diagnose the mechanisms for these differences. The sensitivity of precipitation to local SST anomalies increases consistently across CMIP-class models, tending to amplify extreme El Niño occurrence; however, changes to the magnitude of ENSO-related SST variability can drastically influence the results, indicating that understanding changes to SST variability remains imperative. Future El Niño rainfall intensifies most in models with 1) larger historical cold SST biases in the central equatorial Pacific, which inhibit future increases in local convective cloud shading, enabling more local warming; and 2) smaller historical warm SST biases in the far eastern equatorial Pacific, which enhance future reductions in stratus cloud, enabling more local warming. These competing mechanisms complicate efforts to determine whether CMIP5 models under- or overestimate the future impacts of climate change on El Niño rainfall and its global impacts. However, the relation between future projections and historical biases suggests the possibility of using observable metrics as “emergent constraints” on future extreme El Niño, and a proof of concept using SSTA variance, precipitation sensitivity to SST, and regional SST trends is presented.

scholarly journals Spatio-temporal structure of phytoplankton assemblages in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific in the El Niño Region 1+2

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
González-Narváez Mariela ◽  
Mendes Susana ◽  
Fernández-Gómez Mª José ◽  
Ruiz-Barzola Omar ◽  
Recalde Sonia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Temporal Structure ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Phytoplankton Assemblages ◽  
Eastern Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Spatio Temporal

scholarly journals On the Physics of the Warm Water Volume and El Niño/La Niña Predictability

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 1541-1560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan J. Clarke ◽  
Xiaolin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Warm Water ◽  
Water Volume ◽  
La Nina ◽  
Eastern Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Warm Water Volume

AbstractPrevious work has shown that warm water volume (WWV), usually defined as the volume of equatorial Pacific warm water above the 20°C isotherm between 5°S and 5°N, leads El Niño. In contrast to previous discharge–recharge oscillator theory, here it is shown that anomalous zonal flow acceleration right at the equator and the movement of the equatorial warm pool are crucial to understanding WWV–El Niño dynamics and the ability of WWV to predict ENSO. Specifically, after westerly equatorial wind anomalies in a coupled ocean–atmosphere instability push the warm pool eastward during El Niño, the westerly anomalies follow the warmest water south of the equator in the Southern Hemisphere summer in December–February. With the wind forcing that causes El Niño in the eastern Pacific removed, the eastern equatorial Pacific sea level and thermocline anomalies decrease. Through long Rossby wave dynamics this decrease results in an anomalous westward equatorial flow that tends to push the warm pool westward and often results in the generation of a La Niña during March–June. The anomalously negative eastern equatorial Pacific sea level typically does not change as much during La Niña, the negative feedback is not as strong, and El Niños tend to not follow La Niñas the next year. This El Niño/La Niña asymmetry is seen in the WWV/El Niño phase diagram and decreased predictability during “La Niña–like” decades.

Energy Flow Diagnosis of ENSO from an Ocean Reanalysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 4023-4042
Author(s):  
Takahiro Toyoda ◽  
Hideyuki Nakano ◽  
Hidenori Aiki ◽  
Tomomichi Ogata ◽  
Yoshiki Fukutomi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Time Evolution ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Ocean Reanalysis ◽  
Easterly Wind ◽  
Wind Events

AbstractA method is introduced for diagnosing the time evolution of wave energy associated with ENSO from an ocean reanalysis. In the diagnosis, time changes of kinetic and available potential energy are mainly represented by energy inputs caused by surface wind stress and horizontal energy fluxes for each vertically decomposed normal mode. The resulting time evolutions of the wave energy and vertical thermocline displacements in the 1997/98 and 2014–16 El Niño events are consistent with our previous knowledge of these events. Further, our result indicated that representation of several vertical modes is necessary to reproduce the broadly distributed downward thermocline displacements in the central to eastern equatorial Pacific, generated by a westerly wind event in the western equatorial Pacific (e.g., in March 1997), that are preconditioning for El Niño development. In addition, we investigated the wave energy budget, including the influence of data assimilation, on the complicated time evolution of equatorial thermocline displacements caused by repeated westerly and easterly wind events during the 2014–16 El Niño event. Our result suggests that noise from a momentum imbalance near the equator associated with data assimilation, which possibly affected the El Niño prediction failure in 2014, was much reduced by our developed ocean data assimilation system and reanalysis. This study, which provides a new connection between the theoretical works and reanalysis products that use sophisticated systems for synthesizing OGCMs and observations, should be useful for climate research and operational communities interested in ENSO.

The Termination of the 1997–98 El Niño. Part I: Mechanisms of Oceanic Change*

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 2633-2646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel A. Vecchi ◽  
D. E. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Eastern Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Oceanic Response ◽  
Southward Shift ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies ◽  
Subsurface Temperatures

Abstract The 1997–98 El Niño was both unusually strong and terminated unusually. Warm eastern equatorial Pacific (EEqP) sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) exceeded 4°C at the event peak and lasted well into boreal spring of 1998, even though subsurface temperatures began cooling in December 1997. The oceanic processes that controlled this unusual termination are explored here and can be characterized by three features: (i) eastward propagating equatorial Pacific thermocline (Ztc) shoaling beginning in the central Pacific in November 1997; (ii) persistent warm EEqP SSTA between December 1997 and May 1998, despite strong EEqP Ztc shoaling (and subsurface cooling); and (iii) an abrupt cooling of EEqP SSTA in early May 1998 that exceeded 4°C within two weeks. It is shown here that these changes can be understood in terms of the oceanic response to changes to the meridional structure of the near-equatorial zonal wind field. Equatorial near-date-line westerly wind anomalies greatly decreased in late 1997, associated with a southward shift of convective and wind anomalies. In the EEqP, equatorial easterlies disappeared (reappeared) in late January (early May) 1998, driving the springtime extension (abrupt termination) of this El Niño event. The authors suggest that the wind changes arise from fundamentally meridional processes and are tied to the annual cycle of insolation.

scholarly journals Wind Stress Variations and Interannual Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuebin Zhang ◽  
Michael J. McPhaden
Keyword(s):  
Wind Stress ◽  
Zonal Wind ◽  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Eastern Pacific ◽  
Zonal Wind Stress ◽  
Eastern Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Equatorial Wave ◽  
Stress Variations

Abstract Vertical advection of temperature is the primary mechanism by which El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) time-scale sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies are generated in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Variations in vertical advection are mediated primarily by remote wind-forced thermocline displacements, which control the temperature of water upwelled to the surface. However, during some ENSO events, large wind stress variations occur in the eastern Pacific that in principle should affect local upwelling rates, the depth of the thermocline, and SST. In this study, the impact of these wind stress variations on the eastern equatorial Pacific is addressed using multiple linear regression analysis and a linear equatorial wave model. The regression analysis indicates that a zonal wind stress anomaly of 0.01 N m−2 leads to approximately a 1°C SST anomaly over the Niño-3 region (5°N–5°S, 90°–150°W) due to changes in local upwelling rates. Wind stress variations of this magnitude occurred in the eastern Pacific during the 1982/83 and 1997/98 El Niños, accounting for about 1/3 of the maximum SST anomaly during these events. The linear equatorial wave model also indicates that depending on the period in question, zonal wind stress variations in the eastern Pacific can work either with or against remote wind stress forcing from the central and western Pacific to determine the thermocline depth in the eastern Pacific. Thus, zonal wind stress variations in the eastern Pacific contribute to the generation of interannual SST anomalies through both changes in local upwelling rates and changes in thermocline depth. Positive feedbacks between the ocean and atmosphere in the eastern Pacific are shown to influence the evolution of the surface wind field, especially during strong El Niño events, emphasizing the coupled nature of variability in the region. Implications of these results for understanding the character of event-to-event differences in El Niño and La Niña are discussed.

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