The Characteristics of 30-60 Day Oscillation and Its Relations to the Interannual Oscillations

The characteristics of 30-60 day oscillation (hereafter called LFO ) of the outgoing longwave radiation data (OLR) and its relations to the interannual oscillations of the sea surface temperature (SST) are investigated by using the daily OLR data for the period from January, 1979 to December, 1987 and the corresponding monthly SST data. It is found that the LFO the band the interannual oscillations of the SST monthly anomaly (SSTA) interact each other and they all relate to the occurrence and development of El Nino events closely. Before El Nino event happens, it contributes to the SST's wanning up and to the SST's quasi-biennial oscillation (called QBO for brevity) and three and half years oscillation (called SO for short) being in warm water phase in the equatorial central and eastern Pacific (ECP and EEP) that the LFO in the equatorial western Pacific (EWP) enhances and propagates eastward; When El Nino event takes place, the LFO, SSTA and SSTA's QBO and SO in the EEP interact and strengthen each other; But the warmer SST and the SSTA's QBO and SO in the warm water phase in the EEP contribute to the LFO's weakening in the equatorial Pacific. Moreover, these contribute to the SST in the EEP becoming cold and the SSTA's QBO and SO in the EWP being in cold water phase and then impel the El Nino event to end.

THE INTERANNUAL OSCILLATION OF RAINFALL OVER CHINA AND ITS RELATION TO THE INTERANNUAL OSCILLATION OF THE AIR-SEA SYSTEM

The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and 3.5 years quasi-periodic oscillation (named TO hereafter) are exhibited in most of 48 weather stations of China by applying power spectrum analysis to the monthly rainfall data for the period from Jan. 1933 to Dec. 1987. In order to reveal the features of QBO and TO components, another rainfall data set in 160 stations over China for the period from Jan. 1951 to Dec. 1987 was analysed by means of a new method named complex empirical orthogonal function (CEOF). The results show that both QBO and TO modes exhibit two propaga- tion ways: one originates in Northeast China, extends southward, passes through North China and reaches the eastern part of Northwest China and the northern part of Southwest China; the other appears over Guangdong and Fujian, then moves northward and westward respectively to the Huanghe-Huaihe Basin and Southwest China. These two paths of oscillation meet over North China and the area between the Changjiang River and the Huanghe River. A significant correlation exists between the interannual oscillation of the rainfall over China and that of the sea surface temperature (SST) at the equator. Although the correlation between the rainfall over China and the SST over the equatorial eastern Pacific is rather weak, the correlation between their oscillation component is pronounced.

Seasonal Characteristics and Interannual Variability of Monthly Scale Low-Frequency Oscillation in a Low-Order Global Spectral Model

Analysis is done of five-year low-pass filtered data by a five-layer low-order global spectral model, indicating that although any non-seasonal external forcing is not considered in the model atmosphere,monthly-scale anomaly takes place which is of remarkable seasonality and interannual variability.Analysis also shows that for the same seasonal external forcing the model atmosphere can exhibit two climatic states,similar in the departure pattern but opposite in sign, indicating that the anomaly is but the manifestation of the adverse states, which supports the theory of multi-equilibria proposed by Charney and Devore(1979) once again.Finally, the source for the low-frequency oscillation of the global atmosphere is found to be the convective heat source / sink inside the tropical atmosphere as discussed before in our study.Therefore, the key approach to the exploration of atmospheric steady low-frequency oscillation and the associated climatic effect lies in the examination of the distribution of convective heat sources / sinks and the variation in the tropical atmosphere.

The Natural Oscillation of Two Types of ENSO Events Based on Analyses of CMIP5 Model Control Runs

The eastern-and central-Pacific El Ni（n）o-Southem Oscillation （EP-and CP-ENSO） have been found to be dominant in the tropical Pacific Ocean,and are characterized by interannual and decadal oscillation,respectively.In the present study,we defined the EP-and CP-ENSO modes by singular value decomposition （SVD） between SST and sea level pressure （SLP） anomalous fields.We evaluated the natural features of these two types of ENSO modes as simulated by the pre-industrial control runs of 20 models involved in phase five of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project （CMIP5）.The results suggested that all the models show good skill in simulating the SST and SLP anomaly dipolar structures for the EP-ENSO mode,but only 12 exhibit good performance in simulating the tripolar CP-ENSO modes.Wavelet analysis suggested that the ensemble principal components in these 12 models exhibit an interannual and multi-decadal oscillation related to the EP-and CP-ENSO,respectively.Since there are no changes in external forcing in the pre-industrial control runs,such a result implies that the decadal oscillation of CP-ENSO is possibly a result of natural climate variability rather than external forcing.

EVOLUTIONAL FEATURES OF INTERANNUAL LOW-FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS AND THEIR RELATION TO THE OCCURRENCE OF EL NINO

A simplified data set with 8°×8° grid system in a region of 32°S--32°N from 1951 to 1979 for the elements of sea surface temperature (SST), zonal wind at sea level (U), sea level pressure (SLP) and total cloud amount (CA) is made from the COADS. The oscillation components with periods of 2 years (QBO), 3.5 years (SO) and 5.5 years (FYO) in interannual low-frequency oscillations have been studied by using the methods of extended EOF (EEOF) and lag correlation analysis with the oscillational components of SST in the equator of eastern Pacific as the reference element. In our paper, the relationship between oscilla- tion components and occurrence of El Nino is also investigated.

INTERANNUAL LOW-FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS OF MERIDIONAL WINDS OVER THE EQUATORIAL INDIAN-PACIFIC OCEANS

Based on analysis of the meridional winds over oceanic areas and SST for 1950--1979 extracted from the data sets of COADS, the long-term variability of the meridional winds over the equatorial Indian-Pacific oceans and its relationship to the onset and development of El Nino events have been studied. The major results are as follows: (1) There is a great similarity between ITCZ over the Pacific and SST in the seasonal trend, with ITCZ and high SST found in the Southern Hemisphere in winter and in the Northern Hemisphere in summer. During El Nino years, unusual meridional winds were often observed, with significant convergence of meridional winds occurring over near-equatorial regions. (2) For the near-equatorial meridional winds, there are three types of interannual LFO: QBO, SO, FYO. QBO plays an important role in the unusual behavior of meridional winds for El Nino years, while SO is very important for both El Nino and cold water years. These two oscil- lations may fit well to the observed variation in the meridional wind. FYO may enhance the variation of mer- idional winds. (3) Interannual LFO of meridional winds originates in the Indian Ocean-Maritime Continent and coastal area of East Pacific. Unusual activities of winter monsoon in both hemispheres and trade winds off the coastal area of East Pacific are believed to be their major cause. (4) Monsoon-trade interaction shows up in the significant amplification of the disturbances of meridional winds while they propagate eastward from monsoon area to trade wind area.

A NUMERICAL STUDY ON THE INTERANNUAL TIME-SCALE LOW-FREQUENCY OSCILLATION

Low-frequency oscillation (LFO) of a large-scale flow pattern is an important observational characteristic feature. In this paper, under the forcing of annual periodic variation a two-layer quasi-geostrophic low- spectrum model is used for carrying out a prolonged numerical integration of more than 30 model years. In the model atmosphere, the interannual time-scale LFO is implicitly reproduced. The result is quite agreeable with the observational evidence.

STUDY ON THE AIR-SEA INTERACTION ON THE INTERANNUAL TIME SCALE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

In this paper we document the correlationship between sea surface temperature (SST) and low level-winds such as sea level wind and 850 hPa wind in the South China Sea (SCS) based on COADS (1958—1987) and ECMWF objective analysis data (1973—1986).Further statistical analyses tell us that there is a fixed SCS basin mode for variations both of SST and low-level winds in the region on the interannual time scale due to air-sea interactions. A simplified,coupled model that is designed following the McCreary and Anderson's (1985) model and includes the feedback between the upper ocean and the circulation of East Asian monsoon demonstrates an interannual oscillation in the coupled air-sea system,which is similar to the observations in the SCS.