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 A Three-Region Conceptual Model for Central Pacific El Niño Including Zonal Advective Feedback

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (13) ◽  
pp. 4965-4979 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang-Hui Fang ◽  
Mu Mu
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Central Pacific El Niño ◽  
Eastern Equatorial Pacific

The simple zonal two-region framework of the recharge paradigm can accurately manifest the traditional eastern Pacific (EP) type of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), as its major warming center is located in the EP and the anomalous sea surface temperature (SST) changes monotonically from west to east along the equatorial Pacific. However, it cannot fully depict the variations of the central Pacific (CP) type of ENSO, whose major warming center is mainly situated in the CP. Therefore, to better investigate the characteristics of the CP type of ENSO, the recharge paradigm is extended to a three-region conceptual model to describe the entire western, central, and eastern equatorial Pacific. The results show that the extended conceptual model can depict the different variations between the CP and EP well. Specifically, with increasing magnitude of the zonal advective feedback over the CP (i.e., imitating the situation for CP ENSO), the period of the system and SST magnitude over the CP and EP both decrease. However, the decreasing amplitude is more intense over the EP, indicating an enlargement of the SST differences between the CP and EP. These results are all consistent with the observational characteristics of CP ENSO.

scholarly journals Effects of Salinity Variability on Recent El Niño Events

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai Zhi ◽  
Rong-Hua Zhang ◽  
Pengfei Lin ◽  
Shiwei Shi
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Salinity Variability ◽  
Central Equatorial Pacific

Ocean salinity variability provides a new way to study the evolution of the the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Comparisons between the salinity variation and related processes responsible for sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) were extensively examined for the two strong El Niño (EN) events in 1997/1998 and 2015/2016, and a special EN event in 2014/2015. The results show that the development of EN is significantly correlated with a sea surface salinity anomaly (SSSA) in the tropical western-central Pacific. In the spring of 1997 and 2015 with strong EN events, the western-central equatorial Pacific exhibited significant negative SSSA that propagated eastward to the west of the dateline. The negative SSSA induced increased barrier layer thickness (BLT) which enhanced sea surface temperature (SST) warming in the tropical central Pacific. In contrast, although a negative SSSA occurred during April of the 2014/2015 weak EN event in the western-central equatorial Pacific, this SSSA was mainly confined to between 160° E and 180° E without significant eastward movement, resulting in a weakened BLT thickening process and a weak modulation effect on SST. We also confirm that the surface forcing associated with fresh water flux (FWF: evaporation (E) minus precipitation (P)) plays a prominent role in the surface salinity tendency in the tropical Pacific during EN events. Moreover, the negative FWF anomaly leads a strong negative SSSA by two months. Compared with the two strong ENs, the early negative FWF anomaly in the weak 2014/2015 EN did not present distinct development and eastward propagation and weakened rapidly in the summer of 2015. We demonstrate that change in salinity can modulate the ENSO, and the variation of SSSA and associated physical processes in the tropical western-central Pacific and could be used as an indicator for predicting the development of ENSO.

scholarly journals The Influence of ENSO Flavors on Western North Pacific Tropical Cyclone Activity

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (14) ◽  
pp. 5395-5416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina M. Patricola ◽  
Suzana J. Camargo ◽  
Philip J. Klotzbach ◽  
R. Saravanan ◽  
Ping Chang
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
El Niño ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Atmospheric Variability ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Model Simulations ◽  
Eastern Equatorial Pacific

El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a major source of seasonal western North Pacific (WNP) tropical cyclone (TC) predictability. However, the spatial characteristics of ENSO have changed in recent decades, from warming more typically in the eastern equatorial Pacific during canonical or cold tongue El Niño to warming more typically in the central equatorial Pacific during noncanonical or warm pool El Niño. We investigated the response in basinwide WNP TC activity and spatial clustering of TC tracks to the location and magnitude of El Niño using observations, TC-permitting tropical channel model simulations, and a TC track clustering methodology. We found that simulated western North Pacific TC activity, including accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) and the number of typhoons and intense typhoons, is more effectively enhanced by sea surface temperature warming of the central, compared to the eastern, equatorial Pacific. El Niño also considerably influenced simulated TC tracks regionally, with a decrease in TCs that were generated near the Asian continent and an increase in clusters that were dominated by TC genesis in the southeastern WNP. This response corresponds with the spatial pattern of reduced vertical wind shear and is most effectively driven by central Pacific SST warming. Finally, internal atmospheric variability generated a substantial range in the simulated season total ACE (±25% of the median). However, extremely active WNP seasons were linked with El Niño, rather than internal atmospheric variability, in both observations and climate model simulations.

scholarly journals Timing of El Niño–Related Warming and Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 2711-2719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chie Ihara ◽  
Yochanan Kushnir ◽  
Mark A. Cane ◽  
Alexey Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Monsoon Rainfall ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Summer Monsoon Rainfall ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Eastern Equatorial Pacific

Abstract The relationship between all-India summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) and the timing of (El Niño–Southern Oscillation) ENSO-related warming/cooling is investigated, using observational data during the period from 1881 to 1998. The analysis of the evolutions of Indo-Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies suggests that when ISMR is not below normal despite the co-occurrence of an El Niño event, warming over the eastern equatorial Pacific starts from boreal winter and evolves early so that the western-central Pacific and Indian Ocean are warmer than normal during the summer monsoon season. In contrast, when the more usual El Niño–dry ISMR relationship holds, the eastern equatorial Pacific starts warming rapidly only about a season before the reference summer so that the western-central Pacific and Indian Oceans remain cold during the monsoon season.

scholarly journals Attenuation of Central Pacific El Niño Amplitude by North Pacific Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (15) ◽  
pp. 6673-6688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kang Xu ◽  
Chi-Yung Tam ◽  
Boqi Liu ◽  
Sheng Chen ◽  
Xiaoyi Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Cp El Niño ◽  
The North ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies ◽  
Ep El Niño ◽  
The North Pacific

AbstractThere exists a pronounced asymmetry between the amplitudes of central Pacific (CP) and eastern Pacific (EP) El Niño sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA). The present study examines such an asymmetry and its relationship with the North Pacific SSTA. Results indicate that the weaker CP El Niño amplitude can be attributed to the weaker anomalous zonal wind response to the east–west equatorial SSTA gradient during its growing phase compared with EP El Niño. Furthermore, the occurrence of CP El Niño is closely associated with southwesterly surface wind anomalies in the subtropical North Pacific, as well as ocean warming reminiscent of the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO) pattern in its vicinity. Both the observations as well as the pacemaker experiments with a coupled global climate model suggest that the anomalous low-level southwesterlies, induced by the North Pacific Oscillation (NPO)-like atmospheric variability, can enhance anomalously positive SST signals and extend them southwestward to the central equatorial Pacific via the wind–evaporation–SST feedback. This will further attenuate the atmospheric response to zonal SSTA gradient, and hence weaken the amplitude of CP El Niño. Therefore, anomalous low-level southwesterlies over the subtropical North Pacific can effectively act as a conduit for tropical–subtropical air–sea interaction in that region, and can play an important role in limiting the intensity of CP El Niño.

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.

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