Variabilities of Surface Current in the Tropical Pacific Ocean

The Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) package is used to better understand the variabilities of surface current transport in the Tropical Pacific Ocean from 1950 to 1999. Seasonal variation, interannual and decadal variability analyses are conducted on the three major surface currents of the Tropical Pacific Ocean: the North Equatorial Current (NEC), the North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC), and the South Equatorial Current (SEC). The transport of SEC is quite larger than those of NEC and NECC. The SEC has two maximums in February and August. The NEC has a small annual variation. The NECC has a maximum in October and is very weak in March and April. All currents have remarkable interannual and decadal variabilities. The variabilities of the NEC and the SEC relate to the winds over them well, but the relationship between the NECC and the wind over it is not close. Analysis related to El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) suggests that before El Nio (La Nia) the SEC is weaker (stronger) and the NECC is stronger (weaker), after El Nio (La Nia) the SEC is stronger (weaker) and the SEC is weaker (stronger). There is no notable relationship between the NEC and ENSO.

IMPACT OF LARGE-SCALE CIRCULATION ON THE INTERDECADAL VARIATIONS OF THE WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC TROPICAL CYCLONE

Based on the annual frequency data of tropical cyclones from 1960 to 2005 and by the polynomial fit and statistical analysis, this work has discovered that TC activity in the 46a exhibits significant decadal-scale variability. It has two high frequency periods (HFP) and two low frequency periods (LFP). Significant differences in the number of TCs between HFP and LFP are found in active TC seasons from July to October. Differences of large-scale circulation during HFP and LFP have been investigated with NCEP/NOAA data for the season. In HFP, the condition includes not only higher sea surface temperature, lower sea level pressure, larger divergence of upper air, larger relative vorticity at low levels and smaller vertical shear, but also 500-hPa wind vector being more available for TC activity and moving to western North Pacific, the position of the subtropical anticyclone over the western Pacific shifting more northward, and South Asian Anticyclone at 100-hPa being much smaller than that in LFP. The precipitation of western North Pacific has no clear influence on TC activity.

Effect of Decadal Changes in Air-Sea Interaction on the Climate Mean State over the Tropical Pacific

Collaboration of interannual variabilities and the climate mean state determines the type of E1 Nifio. Recent studies highlight the impact of a La Nifia-like mean state change, which acts to suppress the convection and low-level convergence over the central Pacific, on the predominance of central Pacific （CP） E1 Nifio in the most recent decade. However, how interannual variabilities affect the climate mean state has been less thoroughly investigated. Using a linear shallow-water model, the ef- fect of decadal changes of air-sea interaction on the two types of El Nifio and the climate mean state over the tropical Pacific is examined. It is demonstrated that the predominance of the eastem Pacific （EP） and CP E1 Nino is dominated mainly by relationships between anomalous wind stresses and sea surface temperature （SST）. Furthermore, changes between air-sea interactions from 1980-98 to 1999-2011 prompted the generation of the La Ninalike pattern, which is similar to the background change in the most recent decade.

Correspondence between the ENSO-like state and glacial- interglacial condition during the past 360 kyr

In the warming world, tropical Pacific sea surface temperature （SST） variation has received considerable attention because of its enormous influence on global climate change, particularly the El Nino-Southern Oscillation process. Here, we provide new high-resolution proxy records of the magnesium/ calcium ratio and the oxygen isotope in foraminifera from a core on the Ontong-Java Plateau to reconstruct the SST and hydrological variation in the center of the Western Pacific Warm Pool （WPWP） over the last 360 000 years. In comparison with other Mg/Ca-derived SST and δ18O records, the results suggested that in a relatively stable condition, e.g., the last glacial maximum （LGM） and other glacial periods, the tropical Pacific would adopt a La Nifia-like state, and the Walker and Hadley cycles would be synchronously enhanced. Conversely, El Nino-like conditions could have occurred in the tropical Pacific during fast- changing periods, e.g., the termination and rapidly cooling stages of interglacial periods. In the light of the sensitivity of the Eastern Pacific Cold Tongue （EPCT） and the inertia of the WPWP, we hypothesize an inter-restricted relationship between the WPWP and EPCT, which could control the zonal gradient variation of SST and affect climate change.

Water vapor transport over China and its relationship with drought and flood in Yangtze River Basin

The characteristics of water vapor transport(WVT) over China and its relationship with precipitation anomalies in the Yangtze River Basin(YRB) are analyzed by using the upper-air station data in China and ECMWF reanalysis data in summer from 1981 to 2002.The results indicate that the first mode of the vertically integrated WVT is significant whose spatial distribution presents water vapor convergence or divergence in the YRB.When the Western Pacific Subtropical High(WPSH) is strong and shifts southward and westward, the Indian Monsoon Low Pressure(IMLP) is weak, and the northern part of China stands behind the middle and high latitude trough, a large amount of water vapor from the Bay of Bengal(BOB), the South China Sea(SCS) and the western Pacific forms a strong and steady southwest WVT band and meets the strong cold water vapor from northern China in the YRB, thus it is likely to cause flood in the YRB.When WPSH is weak and shifts northward and eastward, IMLP is strong, and there is nearly straight west wind over the middle and high latitude, it is unfavorable for oceanic vapor extending to China and no steady and strong southwest WVT exists in the region south of the YRB.Meanwhile, the cold air from northern China is weak and can hardly be transported to the YRB.This brings on no obvious water vapor convergence, and then less precipitation in the YRB.

The IOCAS intermediate coupled model(IOCAS ICM) and its real-time predictions of the 2015–2016 El Nio event

The tropical Pacific is currently experiencing an El Nifio event. Various coupled models with different degrees of complexity have been used to make real-time E1 Nifio predictions, but large uncertainties exist in the inten- sity forecast and are strongly model dependent. An intermediate coupled model （ICM） is used at the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences （IOCAS）, named the IOCAS ICM, to predict the sea surface temper- ature （SST） evolution in the tropical Pacific during the 2015-2016 E! Nifio event. One unique feature of the IOCAS ICM is the way in which the temperature of subsurface water entrained in the mixed layer （Te） is parameterized. Observed SST anomalies are only field that is utilized to initialize the coupled prediction using the IOCAS ICM. Examples are given of the model＇s ability to predict the SST conditions in a real-time manner. As is commonly evident in E1 Nifio- Southern Oscillation predictions using coupled models, large discrepancies occur between the observed and pre- dicted SST anomalies in spring 2015. Starting from early summer 2015, the model can realistically predict warming conditions. Thereafter, good predictions can be made through the summer and fall seasons of 2015. A transition to normal and cold conditions is predictecl to occur in rote spring 2016. Comparisons with other model predictions are made and factors influencing the prediction performance of the IOCAS ICM are also discussed.

Atmospheric eddy anomalies associated with the wintertime North Pacific subtropical front strength and their influences on the seasonal-mean atmosphere

This study investigates transient eddy activity anomalies in the mid-latitude upper troposphere associated with intensity variability of the wintertime North Pacific subtropical front. Our results show that the meridional gradient of air temperature and baroclinic instability in the mid-latitude atmosphere become stronger as the subtropical front intensifies, and the mid-latitude westerly jet accelerates with barotropic structure. We further divide the mid-latitude atmospheric eddy activities into high-(2–7 days) and low-frequency(10–90 days) eddy activities according to their life periods. We find that, when the oceanic subtropical front intensifies, the high-frequency atmospheric eddy activity in the mid-latitudes strengthens while the low-frequency eddy activity weakens. The stronger high-frequency eddy activity tends to moderate the air temperature gradient and baroclinicity in the mid-latitudes. High-frequency eddy anomalies accelerate the westerly jet on the northern side and downstream of the westerly jet, and enhance the jet with equivalent barotropic structure. In contrast, the weaker low-frequency eddy activity has a negative contribution to zonal wind speed tendency and attenuates the zonal homogenization of the jet. The anomalous thermodynamic forcing of the low-frequency eddy activity helps maintain the meridional gradient of air temperature in the mid-troposphere.

Processes involved in the second-year warming of the 2015 El Nio event as derived from an intermediate ocean model

The tropical Pacific experienced a sustained warm sea surface condition that started in 2014 and a very strong El Nio event in 2015. One striking feature of this event was the horseshoe-like pattern of positive subsurface thermal anomalies that was sustained in the western-central equatorial Pacific throughout 2014–2015. Observational data and an intermediate ocean model are used to describe the sea surface temperature(SST) evolution during 2014–2015. Emphasis is placed on the processes involved in the 2015 El Nio event and their relationships with SST anomalies, including remote effects associated with the propagation and reflection of oceanic equatorial waves(as indicated in sea level(SL) signals) at the boundaries and local effects of the positive subsurface thermal anomalies. It is demonstrated that the positive subsurface thermal anomaly pattern that was sustained throughout 2014–2015 played an important role in maintaining warm SST anomalies in the equatorial Pacific. Further analyses of the SST budget revealed the dominant processes contributing to SST anomalies during 2014–2015. These analyses provide an improved understanding of the extent to which processes associated with the 2015 El Nio event are consistent with current El Nio and Southern Oscillation theories.