Contrasting two spring SST predictors for the number of western North Pacific tropical cyclones

文章对比了两种可用于预报西北太平洋热带气旋生成数量的春季海温预报因子(热带北大西洋海表面温度(NTA SST)和西南太平洋与西北太平洋暖池之间海表面温度梯度(SSTG))。研究揭示了这两种春季海温预报因子在年际和年代际时间尺度上的不同变化特征、变异机制以及它们与西北太平洋热带气旋数量之间的不同相关关系。研究结果表明:在80年代末之后,NTA SST和SSTG在中部型厄尔尼诺的共同调控下呈现出共同的年际变化特征,从而增强了两种春季海温预报因子对西北太平洋热带气旋数量的预报能力。

Recent studies have revealed that two boreal spring sea surface temperature （SST） indices have potential to predict the number of western North Pacific （WNP） tropical cyclones （TCs） in the following peak typhoon season （June-October）： the northern tropical Atlantic （NTA） SST, and the SST gradient （SSTG） between the southwestern Pacific and western Pacic warm pool. The interannua[ and interdecadal variations of NTA SST and SSTG and their relationships to the number ofWNP TCs during 1950-2013 were compared. On the interdecadal timescale, SSTG showed better correlation with the number of WNP TCs than NTA SST. The interdecadal variation of NTA SST was closely associated with the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, while that of SSTG was anti-correlated with the Central Pacific （CP） El Nino index at the interdecadal timescale. On the interannual timescale, both NTA SST and SSTG were modulated by two types of El Nino. The NTA SST revealed significant correlations with the number of WNPTCs beginning from the early 1960s; by contrast, SSTG showed significant correlations after the mid-1970s. Co-variability of NTA SST and SSTG existed after the late 1980s, induced by modulation from CP El Nino.The co-variability of these two spring SST predictors increased their prediction skill after the late 1980s, with enhanced correlation between the number of WNPTCs and the two predictors.