Relationship between East Asian winter monsoon, warm pool situation and ENSO cycle

Based on the observational data analyses and numerical simulations with the air-sea coupled model (CGCM), a new perspective on the occurrence mechanism of ENSO is advanced in this paper. The continuous strong (weak) East Asian winter monsoon will lead to continuous westerly (easterly) wind anomalies over the equatorial western Pacific region. The anomalous equatorial westerly (easterly) winds can cause eastward propagation of the subsurface ocean temperature anomalies (SOTA) in the warm pool region, the positive (negative) SOTA have been in the warm pool region for quite a long time. The eastward propagating of positive (negative) SOTA along the thermocline will lead to positive (negative) SSTA in the equatorial eastern Pacific and the occurrence of El Niño (La Niña) event. After the occurrence of ENSO, the winter monsoon in East Asia will be weak (strong) due to the influence of El Niño (La Niña).     

Tropospheric biennial oscillation of the western Pacific subtropical high and its relationships with the tropical SST and atmospheric circulation anomalies

There is the significant period of tropospheric biennial Oscillation(TBO)over East Asian monsoon region at the interannual timescales,which has the important influences on East China climate.Based on a set of reconstructed indices which describes the western Pacific subtropical high(WPSH)objectively,this paper focuses on the TBO component of WPSH,one of the key members of the East Asian Monsoon system,and its relationships with the tropical SST and atmospheric circulation anomalies.It is found that(1)As an important interannual component of WPSH,the time series of TBO has the obvious transition in the late1970s,and the variability of the WPSH’s TBO component is more significant after the late 1970s.(2)The time-lag correlations between the WPSH’s TBO and the tropical sea surface temperature(SST)anomalies in several key ocean regions are more significant and have longer correlation duration than the raw data.The response of the western boundary index to ENSO is earlier than the intensity index,and the time-lag correlations of them are up to maximum when lagging ENSO by 3–5 months and 5–6months,respectively.(3)In the course of the WPSH’s TBO cycle,the occurrence of the El Ni o-like anomaly in the tropical central-eastern Pacific in winter is always coupled with the weak East Asian winter monsoon,with the most significant enhancing phase of the WPSH’TBO.In contrast,the La Ni a-like anomaly in the central-eastern Pacific in winter is coupled with the strong East Asian winter monsoon,with the most weakening phase of the WPSH’s TBO.(4)The distribution of the tropical SST and atmospheric circulations anomalies are asymmetric in the TBO cycle.The WPSH’s TBO is more significant in the period of the developing El Ni o-like anomaly in central-eastern Pacific than in the period of the developing La Ni a-like anomaly.Therefore,during the period of developing El Ni o-like anomaly,more attention should be paid to the interannual component of TBO signal in the short-term climate prediction.     

Features of tropical cyclone landfalls over East Asia corresponding to three types of Pacific warming decaying phase

This study examines the tropical cyclone （TC） landfall activities over the East Asia in three types of decaying phase of warm sea surface temperature anomalies （SSTAs） over the equatorial central-eastern Pacific： eastern Pacific warming decaying to La Nifia, eastern Pacific warming decaying to a neutral E1 Nifio-Southern Oscilla- tion phase, and a central Pacific warming decaying year. Results show that, for the type of eastern Pacific wanning decaying to La Nifia, more TCs make landfall over Hainan Island and Beibu Gulf, whereas fewer TCs reach eastern China coast. In particular, the number of landfalling TCs remarkably decreases in the decaying phase of eastern Pacific E1 Nifio to a neutral year. During the decaying phase of central Pacific E1 Nifio events, more TCs tend to make landfall over southern China, Indochina Peninsula and the Philippines. The anomalies of atmospheric circu- lation and environmental conditions induced by the SSTAs over the tropical Pacific in the different decaying types are responsible for the evident variation in features of TC landfall.     

Interconnections between the Asian monsoon, ENSO, and high northern latitude climate during the Holocene

The International Geosphere Biosphere Program (IGBP), which promotes better understanding of the living environment, was initiated in the early 1990s. IGBP and other programs have uncovered much evi-dence that the Earth system is complex and nonlinear, ex…     

Propagation of planetary-scale zonal mean wind anomalies and polar oscillations

Global atmospheric variables can be physically decomposed into four components:(1) the zonal time averaged climate symmetric component,(2) the time averaged climate asymmetric,(3) the zonal-mean transient symmetric anomaly,and (4) the transient asymmetric anomaly.This study analyzes the relationships between the intra-seasonal and inter-annual variability of planetary scale decomposed zonal and meridional winds in the tropopause,and oscillations such as those from the El Ni o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO),the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO).The tropical inter-annual zonal mean wind anomalies in the tropopause are linked with the ENSO cycle and can propagate into the subtropics,mid-latitudes,and polar front regions via abnormal meridional vertical cells.Similarly,tropical intra-seasonal (40-60-d) zonal wind anomalies can reach the subtropics and mid-latitudes.The polar intra-seasonal zonal wind anomalies in the tropopause can propagate toward high-latitude areas.Thus,the AO and the AAO are the result of the interaction and propagation of these planetary scale zonal wind anomalies.     

The tropical Pacific-Indian Ocean temperature anomaly mode and its effect

Temperature anomaly in the Indian Ocean is closely related to that in the Pacific Ocean because of the Walker circulation and the Indonesian throughflow. So only the El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Pacific cannot entirely explain the influence of sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) on climate variation. The tropical Pacific-Indian Ocean temperature anomaly mode (PIM) is presented based on the comprehensive research on the pattern and feature of SSTA in both Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. The features of PIM and ENSO mode and their influences on the climate in China and the rainfall in India are further compared. For proving the observation results, numerical experiments of the global atmospheric general circulation model are conducted. The results of observation and sensitivity experiments show that presenting PIM and studying its influence are very important for short-range climate prediction.     

The northern annular mode: More zonal symmetric than the southern annular mode

Fan （2007） recently documented the zonal asymmetry of the Antarctic oscillation （AAO） in the austral winter. In this research, the zonal asymmetry of the northern annular mode, or the Arctic oscillation （AO）, in the interannual variability is studied for the boreal winter. It is shown that there is zonal asymmetry of the AO as well, similar to the case of the Antarctic oscillation （AAO）. However, the zonal asymmetry of the AO is considerably weaker than that of the AAO. This is far beyond the speculation, since the zonal asymmetry of the geography is larger in the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern Hemisphere. The Western and Eastern Hemispheres portions of the AO are correlated at 0.54 for 1959-1998, comparing with 0.23 for the case of the AAO. The authors also discussed the physical reason for this inter-hemispheric difference, and partly attributed it to the El Ni~o and Southern Oscillation （ENSO） cycle which may be represented by the SO index. It is indicated that the SO associated sea-level pressure （SLP） patterns are more zonal symmetric in the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern Hemisphere.     

近40年大尺度气候因子对中国洪涝灾害的可能影响

基于中国1980—2018年0.5°×0.5°逐日降水数据、紧急灾害数据库数据（EM-DAT）,分析了厄尔尼诺-南方涛动（ENSO）和北大西洋涛动（NAO）对中国极端降水频次及强度、洪水发生率及损失的可能影响．结论如下:1)当冬季厄尔尼诺发生后,次年我国东部沿海及黄河、长江下游地区秋季极端降水强度增加26%;当冬季拉尼娜发生后,次年我国东部地区春、夏季极端降水强度分别增加8.8%、5.1%．2)当NAO为正位相时,我国大部分地区春、夏、秋季极端降水频次较高,华东地区夏季极端降水强度增加8.5%．3)与正常年份相比,冬季厄尔尼诺或拉尼娜发生后,次年我国春季洪水损失偏多14.5%,秋季洪水发生率偏低30%;NAO为正位相时,我国春季洪水损失偏少20%,秋季洪水发生率偏高14%．4)当拉尼娜发生后及NAO正位相、负位相时,我国长江、黄河和珠江流域极端降水与洪涝灾害的变化具有一致性．      

Occurrence of two types of El Niño events and the subsurface ocean temperature anomalies in the equatorial Pacific

The relationships between the evolution of two types of E1 Nifio events and the subsurface ocean temperature anomaly （SOTA） in the equatorial Pacific are compared in this study. The results show that both types of E1 Nifio are negatively correlated to the SOTA in the equatorial western Pacific, but relationships are different in different phases of E1 Nifio. Furthermore, the occurrence of different types of E1 Nifio is related to different features of the equatorial thermocline, e.g. its zonal gradient, significant variation area, amplitude and duration of thermocline oscillation. The propagation of SOTA in the equator plays an important role during the evolution of both types of E1 Nifio, but shows dramatic differences in intensity, duration and phase reverse of warm SOTA. Moreover, the pathways of SOTA signal are different between these two types of E1 Nifio. The dominant pathway in the life cycle of Eastern Pacific （EP）-E1 Nifio lies on the equator and to its north, but there is no loop to the south of the equator. In contrast, the dominant pathway in Central Pacific （CP）-E1 Nifio is located on the equator and to its south, and the propagation signal of SOTA to the north of the equator is very weak. The relationships between the zonal wind anomalies and the two types of E1 Nifio are also preliminarily discussed. It is shown that EP-E1 Nifio is more likely to respond to the westerly anomalies over the equatorial central and western Pacific, while CP-E1 Nifio is more likely to respond to the westerly anomalies over the equatorial western Pacific and need the cooperation of easterly anomalies over the equa- torial eastern Pacific to certain extent.     

A new advance in El Nino prediction

A statistic model of predicting El Niño based on the multiple regression analysis is developed by using sea surface temperature anomalies in the NINO3 region (5°S-5°N), 90–150°W) as a predictant and the Asian meridional circulation index as the predictors. This model cannot only simulate most of El Niño during 1950–1980 (except for El Niño in 1965), but also hindcast 1982/1983, 1986/1987, 1991/1992 and 1994 El Niño and predict 1997/1998 El Niño six months in advance. At the same time, three different sample series (periods of 1950–1969, 1970–1989, 1950–1989) are used to examine the stability and skill of the statistic model. The models have successfully hindcasted and predicted El Niño before and after the selected samples except for the 1965 El Niño. In addition, the forecast in the El Niño year is clearly superior to that in the following year. The model prediction reaches the lowest skill during March to April.     

Spatial-temporal variability of thermohaline intrusions in the northwestern tropical Pacific Ocean

Using repeated hydrographic measurements at 137°E,spatial-temporal variability of thermohaline intrusions in the northwestern tropical Pacific are investigated.Intrusions can be found in the main thermocline throughout the section,with their strength decreasing rapidly poleward.The strongest intrusions exist at the North Equatorial Countercurrent(NECC) where North/South Pacific thermocline water converges.These intrusions also exhibit temporal variations in strength which are closely associated with the meridional displacement of the NECC.Intrusion strength peaks in boreal winter when the NECC reaches its northernmost position of the year.At interannual time scale,intrusions tend to be weak(strong) during El Ni o(La Ni a) episodes.Variations in intrusion strength also lead to prominent fluctuation of lateral diffusivity K L and cross-front temperature flux F Θ.F Θ exhibits significant year-to-year changes which are well correlated with ENSO index,suggesting a possible role of intrusions in the low-latitude Pacific climate variability.     

Forced response of atmospheric oscillations during the last millennium simulated by a climate system model

Variations in global atmospheric oscillations during the last millennium are simulated using the climate system model FGOALS_gl. The model was driven by reconstructions of both natural forcing (solar variability and volcanic aerosol) and anthropogenic forcing (greenhouse gases and sulfate aerosol). The model results are compared against proxy reconstruction data. The reconstructed North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) was out of phase with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) in the last millennium. During the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), the NAO was strong while the PDO was weak. During the Little Ice Age (LIA), the NAO was weak while the PDO was strong. A La Niña-like state prevailed in the MWP, while an El Niño-like state dominated in the LIA. This phenomenon is particularly obvious in the 15th, 17th and 19th centuries. Analysis of the model output indicates that the NAO was generally positive during 1000?C1400 AD and negative during 1650?C1900 AD. There is a discrepancy between the simulation and reconstruction during 1400?C1650 AD. The simulated PDO generally varies in parallel with the reconstruction, which has a negative phase during the MWP and a positive phase during the LIA. The correlation coefficient between the reconstruction and simulation is 0.61, and the correlation is statistically significant at the 1% level. Neither the La Niña-like state of the MWP nor the El Niño-like state of the LIA is reproduced in the model. Both the reconstructed and the simulated Antarctic Oscillations had a negative phase in the early period of the last millennium and a positive phase in the late period of the last millennium. The Asian-Pacific Oscillation was generally strong during the WMP and weak during the LIA, and the correlation coefficient between the simulation and reconstruction is 0.50 for the period 1000?C1985 AD. The analysis suggests that the specified external forcings significantly affected the evolution of atmospheric oscillation during the last millennium.     

黄、东海沿岸海表温度变化与厄尔尼诺的关系

利用黄、东海沿岸8个长期水文观测站多年海表温度资料,分析黄、东海沿岸海表温度的季节和年际变化特征,重点分析在1982—1983年和1997—1998年两次厄尔尼诺年期间的异常变化,以及ENSO影响黄、东海沿岸海表温度的可能机制。结果表明,在厄尔尼诺发生年,夏季风较弱,鄂霍次克海高压加强,西太平洋副高位置偏南,强度偏强,江淮流域及长江中下游降水偏多,黄、东海沿岸海表温度偏低。黄、东海沿岸海表温度受到ENSO和PDO(太平洋年代际振荡)的影响和调制,在厄尔尼诺发生的前冬半年及当年,黄、东海沿岸海表温度偏低;在厄尔尼诺发生次年,黄、东海沿岸海表温度偏高。厄尔尼诺对黄、东海沿岸海表温度变化的影响通过海洋和大气2个通道,1982—1983年海表温度异常以负异常为主,1997—1998年海表温度异常以正异常为主;ENSO期间,北赤道流减弱,黑潮流量减少,海表温度降低。海表温度受局地气温影响显著,如果ENSO期间东亚气温升高,则黄、东海沿岸海表温度偏高。     

Permanent El Niño during the Pliocene warm period not supported by coral evidence

The El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) system during the Pliocene warm period (PWP; 3-5 million years ago) may have existed in a permanent El Ni?o state with a sharply reduced zonal sea surface temperature (SST) gradient in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. This suggests that during the PWP, when global mean temperatures and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were similar to those projected for near-term climate change, ENSO variability--and related global climate teleconnections-could have been radically different from that today. Yet, owing to a lack of observational evidence on seasonal and interannual SST variability from crucial low-latitude sites, this fundamental climate characteristic of the PWP remains controversial. Here we show that permanent El Ni?o conditions did not exist during the PWP. Our spectral analysis of the δ(18)O SST and salinity proxy, extracted from two 35-year, monthly resolved PWP Porites corals in the Philippines, reveals variability that is similar to present ENSO variation. Although our fossil corals cannot be directly compared with modern ENSO records, two lines of evidence suggest that Philippine corals are appropriate ENSO proxies. First, δ(18)O anomalies from a nearby live Porites coral are correlated with modern records of ENSO variability. Second, negative-δ(18)O events in the fossil corals closely resemble the decreases in δ(18)O seen in the live coral during El Ni?o events. Prior research advocating a permanent El Ni?o state may have been limited by the coarse resolution of many SST proxies, whereas our coral-based analysis identifies climate variability at the temporal scale required to resolve ENSO structure firmly.     

Population dynamics of Pygoscelis penguins(1980–2012) and penguin dropping records(1916–2001) on Ardley Island of West Antarctica,in response to ENSO

El Nio-Southern Oscillation(ENSO)has affected penguins and their habitats in the western Antarctic Peninsula.We used both historical penguin population dynamics data(1980–2012)and sedimentary lipids in penguin droppings(1916–2001)on Ardley Island to examine the responses of the Antarctic ecosystem to ENSO(El Nin o/La Nin a)events.The results showed that during the last 30 years,climate,marine food chain changes,and human activity have significantly affected penguin population sizes on Ardley Island.The Chinstrap(Pygoscelis antarctica)and Ade′lie(P.adeliae)penguin populations showed a good correlation with ENSO events.The Chinstrap penguin population decreased significantly because it was more sensitive to increasing human disturbance(e.g.,scientific activity and tourism)than Ade′lie and Gentoo(P.papua),particularly during the breeding season.Compositional features of n-alkanes in penguin dropping sediments revealed that organic matter came from lower terrestrial plants,bacteria and algae.C23was the main nalkane heavy hydrocarbon indicating mosses and lichens in the penguin’s diet.Variation in the ratio of nC23/nC17was closely correlated with ENSO events.The bacteria intrusion index(ratio of(iC15:0?aC15:0)/nC15:0for fatty acids)reflected significant increases in microorganism activity during several periods in this area.Meanwhile,the CPIA value for fatty acids decreased because micro-organisms contributed light hydrocarbon fatty acids to penguin droppings.Our results showed that the fine structure and molecular indices of fatty acids and n-alkanes in penguin dropping sediments can be used to explain climate-driven microbial processes,and to reveal the important role that microbes and bacteria play in the relatively simple Antarctic ecosystem.     

A variational iteration method for studying the ENSO mechanism

A coupled system of the El Ni(n)o/La Ni(n)o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) mechanism is studied. Using the variational iteration theory, the approximations of the solution of an ENSO model is obtained.     

Application of artificial neural networks in global climate change and ecological research: An overview

Fields that employ artificial neural networks (ANNs) have developed and expanded continuously in recent years with the ongoing development of computer technology and artificial intelligence. ANN has been adopted widely and put into practice by researchers in light of increasing concerns over ecological issues such as global warming, frequent El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, and atmospheric circulation anomalies. Limitations exist and there is a potential risk for misuse in that ANN model parameters require typically higher overall sensitivity, and the chosen network structure is generally more dependent upon individual experience. ANNs, however, are relatively accurate when used for short-term predictions; despite global climate change research favoring the effects of interactions as the basis of study and the preference for long-term experimental research. ANNs remain a better choice than many traditional methods when dealing with nonlinear problems, and possesses great potential for the study of global climate change and ecological issues. ANNs can resolve problems that other methods cannot. This is especially true for situations in which measurements are difficult to conduct or when only incomplete data are available. It is anticipated that ANNs will be widely adopted and then further developed for global climate change and ecological research.     

Inter-annual variation of the earth rotation and El Niño

The relationship between the inter-annual variations of the earth rotation, atmospheric angular momentum (AAM), sunspot number and El Niño is analyzed. The result shows that the inter-annual variation of the earth rotation responds to the variation of AAM and the pregnancy of El Niño timely. Generally, the inter-annual component of the earth rotation will reach zero in a changing process that increases from the negative to the positive extreme before El Niño occurs about half year or more. And the solar activity may have certain influence on the appearance of El Niño. We consider that El Niño will possibly appear around the end of 2001.     

Interannual variability of Mascarene high and Australian high and their influences on summer rainfall over East Asia

Based on the reanalysis data from NCEP/NCAR and other observational data,interannual variability of Mascarene high(MH) and Australian high(AH) from 1970 to 1999 is examined.It is shown that interannual variability of MH is dominated by the Antarctic oscillation(AAO),when the circumpolar low in the high southern latitudes deepens,the intensity of MH will be intensified.On the other hand,AH is correlated by AAO as well as EI Nino and South Oscillation(ENSO),the intensity of AH will be intensified when EI Nino occurs.Both correlation analysis and case study demonstrate that summer rainfall over East Asia is closely related to MH and AH.When MH intensifies from boreal spring to summer (i.e.from austral autumn to winter),there is more rainfall over regions from the Yangtze River valley to Japan,in contrast,less rainfall is found over southern China and western Pacific to the east of Taiwan,and most of regions in mid-latitudes of East Asia.Compared with MH,the effect of AH on summer rainfall in East Asia is limited to localized regions,there is more rainfall over southern China with the intensification of AH.The results in this study show that AAO is a strong signal on interannual timescale,which plays an important role in summer rainfall over East Asia.This discovery is of real importance to revealingt the physical mechanism of interannual variability of East Asian summer monsoon and prediction of summer precipitation in China.     

Proxy evidence for an El Niño-like response to volcanic forcing

Past studies have suggested a statistical connection between explosive volcanic eruptions and subsequent El Ni?o climate events. This connection, however, has remained controversial. Here we present support for a response of the El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon to forcing from explosive volcanism by using two different palaeoclimate reconstructions of El Ni?o activity and two independent, proxy-based chronologies of explosive volcanic activity from ad 1649 to the present. We demonstrate a significant, multi-year, El Ni?o-like response to explosive tropical volcanic forcing over the past several centuries. The results imply roughly a doubling of the probability of an El Ni?o event occurring in the winter following a volcanic eruption. Our empirical findings shed light on how the tropical Pacific ocean-atmosphere system may respond to exogenous (both natural and anthropogenic) radiative forcing.