Abstract

Two sets of monthly sea surface wind stress over the tropical Atlantic Ocean are compared. The datasets are based on the ECMWF analyses during 1980–87 (the E-winds) and the monthly pseudo-wind stress from ship observations for the same period (the S-winds). Our examination shows that both datasets give qualitatively similar mean fields and annual cycles. Quantitatively, the zonal component of the E-winds is larger than that of the S-winds, especially in the winter hemisphere. The strongest southeast trades of the E-winds are also shifted to the east of the strongest southeast trades of the S-winds. In the vicinity of the ITCZ, the E-winds are more zonally oriented so that the convergence zone is not as clearly defined.

Interannually, both datasets show that the northeast trades were gradually strengthening from 1980 to 1986. The southeast trade winds, on the other hand, were anomalously strong during 1981–83, but weak during 1984–86. With the E-winds, the southeast trades decreased gradually during 1981–84, and with the S-winds, the southeast trades are maintained until late 1983, followed by a rapid weakening. In comparison with the E-winds, the S-winds interannual fluctuations over the central and eastern part of the tropical south and equatorial Atlantic are weak.

The sensitivity of an ocean general circulation model to the uncertainty of surface wind forcing as exemplified by these two datasets is examined. It is found that the systematic errors in the mean state and annual cycle of the model simulated sea surface temperature (SST) and upper ocean heat content (HC) are not sensitive to the differences in wind forcings. On the other hand, significantly different fluctuations of both the SSTs and the HCs on interannual timescales are generated by the simulations forced with the two wind data, respectively. A comparison between the observed and simulated SST anomalies shows that both simulations are reasonably close to the observations in the tropical north Atlantic Ocean. In the tropical south Atlantic, the E-winds produce a better simulation of the SST anomalies. Especially, the gradual weakening of the E-winds during 1981–84 produces an SST tendency consistent with observations, which are not shown in the S-winds simulation. However, the E-winds anomalies are poor during 1980–81 as judged by the comparison between the simulated and the observed SST anomalies.

Abstract

It is shown in this paper that there is no ambiguity in the final form of the governing equations of a quasigeostrophic (QG) model after partitioning the total flow into the geostrophic, balanced ageostrophic, and unbalanced ageostrophic components. The uniqueness of the QG model formulation ensures that the energetics of a QG model is the same as that derived from the QG potential vorticity equation. Particularly, the well-known but somewhat mysterious “missing term” in the energetics of Rossby waves, identified in the literature as the difference between the pressure work and the energy flux transported at the group velocity, can be easily recovered. The missing term is the pressure work on the convergence of the balanced ageostrophic flow, representing a “hidden” conversion between kinetic and potential energy of the geostrophic flow that excites the unbalanced flow. This energy conversion equals the convergence of a one-directional energy flux that always transports energy westward at the zonal phase speed of Rossby waves. The pressure work on the divergence of the unbalanced flow does the actual conversion between kinetic and potential energy of the geostrophic flow and the pressure work on the unbalanced flow causes energy propagation in other directions. Therefore, it is the pressure work on the unbalanced flow that causes Rossby waves to be dispersive, leading to the downstream development. The sum of the energy transported at the zonal phase speed of Rossby waves and the pressure work on the unbalanced flow exactly equals the energy transported at the group velocity of Rossby waves.

Abstract

The presence of the latitudinal variation of the Coriolis parameter serves as a mechanical barrier that causes a mass convergence for the poleward geostrophic flow and divergence for the equatorward flow, just as a sloped bottom terrain does to a crossover flow. Part of the mass convergence causes pressure to rise along the uphill pathway, while the remaining part is detoured to cross isobars out of the pathway. This mechanically excited cross-isobar flow, being unbalanced geostrophically, is subject to a “half-cycle” Coriolis force that only turns it to the direction parallel to isobars without continuing to turn it farther back to its opposite direction because the geostrophic balance is reestablished once the flow becomes parallel to isobars. Such oscillation, involving a barrier-induced mass convergence, a mechanical deflection, and a half-cycle Coriolis deflection, is referred to as a mechanical–Coriolis oscillation with a “barrier-induced half-cycle Coriolis force” as its restoring force. Through a complete cycle of the mechanical–Coriolis oscillation, a new geostrophically balanced flow pattern emerges to the left of the existing flow when facing the uphill (downhill) direction of the barrier in the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere. The β barrier is always sloped toward the pole in both hemispheres, responsible for the westward propagation of Rossby waves. The β-induced mechanical–Coriolis oscillation frequency can be succinctly expressed as , where , and λ is the angle of a sloped surface along which the unbalanced flow crosses isobars, α is the angle of isobars with the barrier’s slope, and k is the wavenumber along the direction of the barrier’s contours.

Abstract

A numerical simulation has been conducted using a general circulation model of the tropical Atlantic Ocean forced with observed monthly surface wind stress for 1964–87 and parameterized surface heat flux. The simulated sea surface temperature (SST) and upper-ocean heat content (HC) are used to examine the low-frequency variability in the ocean. A comparison with the SST observations shows that the model realistically simulates the major features of the decadal variability at the sea surface, such as the fluctuation of the SST dipole pattern (or the meridional gradient). It also produces interannual variations with timescales of two to three years.

The simulated HC anomalies are used to examine the variations of the thermocline depth and the effects of ocean dynamics. A principal oscillation pattern (POP) analysis is performed to distinguish the spatial structures of decadal and interannual variations. It is found that the interannual variations are associated with tropical oceanic waves, stimulated by the fluctuations of the equatorial easterlies, which propagate eastward along the equator and westward to the north and south, resulting in an essentially symmetric structure about the equator at these scales. The periods of these modes are determined by the meridional width of the equatorial wind anomaly. The decadal mode, however, is associated with the ocean’s adjustment in response to a basinwide out-of-phase fluctuation between the northeast and southeast trade winds. For instance, forced by a weakening of the northeast winds and a simultaneous strengthening of the southeast winds, the thermocline deepens in a belt extending from 5°N in the west to the North African coast. At the same time, the thermocline shoals from the southeast coast to the equatorial ocean. The associated SST pattern exhibits a strong dipole structure with positive anomalies in the north and negative anomalies in the south. When the wind anomalies weaken, the warm water accumulated in the northern tropical ocean is released and redistributed within the basin. At this stage, the SST dipole disappears. In the framework of this separation of the variability into two dominant timescales, the extraordinarily large warm SST anomalies in the southeast ocean in the boreal summer of 1984 are a result of in-phase interference of the decadal and interannual modes.

Abstract

The monthly mean surface wind stress and winds in the lower troposphere for 1986–92 simulated by the Center for Ocean–Land–Atmosphere Studies atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) forced with observed sea surface temperature (SST) is compared with observations. It is found that the AGCM surface stress has weak equatorial easterlies during boreal spring and weak El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) signals over the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. On the other hand, the AGCM winds at 850 mb are found to be in much better agreement with the observations.

An empirical scheme is developed to reconstruct the AGCM surface wind stress, based on the AGCM winds from 850 mb. The reconstructed wind stress is more consistent with observations for both annual and interannual variability. A series of numerical experiments are conducted using the observed, AGCM, and reconstructed surface stress to force an ocean general circulation model. The results demonstrate that the low-frequency ENSO signals are significantly improved in the OGCM when the reconstructed dataset replaces the original AGCM stress. Improvements are evident in more realistic SST anomalies and variability of the thermocline depth.

Abstract

A 110-yr simulation is conducted using a specially designed coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation model that only allows air–sea interaction over the Atlantic Ocean within 30°S–60°N. Since the influence from the Pacific El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) over the Atlantic is removed in this run, it provides a better view of the extratropical influences on the tropical air–sea interaction within the Atlantic sector. The model results are compared with the observations that also have their ENSO components subtracted.

The model reproduces the two major anomalous patterns of the sea surface temperature (SST) in the southern subtropical Atlantic (SSA) and the northern tropical Atlantic (NTA) Ocean. The SSA pattern is phase locked to the annual cycle. Its enhancement in austral summer is associated with atmospheric disturbances from the South Atlantic during late austral spring. The extratropical atmospheric disturbances induce anomalous trade winds and surface heat fluxes in its northern flank, which generate SST anomalies in the subtropics during austral summer. The forced SST anomalies then change the local sea level pressure and winds, which in turn affect the northward shift of the atmospheric disturbance and cause further SST changes in the deep Tropics during austral fall.

The NTA pattern is significant throughout a year. Like the SSA pattern, the NTA pattern in boreal winter–spring is usually associated with the heat flux change caused by extratropical atmospheric disturbances, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation. The SST anomalies then feed back with the tropical atmosphere and expand equatorward. From summer to fall, however, the NTA SST anomalies are likely to persist within the subtropics for more than one season after it is generated. Our model results suggest that this feature is associated with a local feedback between the NTA SST anomalies and the atmospheric subtropical anticyclone from late boreal summer to early winter. The significance of this potential feedback in reality needs to be further examined with more observational evidence.

Abstract

A series of experiments are conducted using a coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation model in regional coupled mode, which permits active air–sea interaction only within the Indian Ocean to the north of 30°S, with sea surface temperatures (SSTs) prescribed over the rest of the world oceans. In this paper, an ensemble of nine simulations has been analyzed with the observed SST anomalies for 1950–98 prescribed over the uncoupled region. The purpose of this study is to determine the major patterns of interannual variability in the tropical Indian Ocean that could be related to the global low-frequency fluctuations and to understand the physical links between the remote forcing and the regional coupled variations.

The ensemble coupled simulations with prescribed SST outside the Indian Ocean are able to reproduce a considerable amount of observed variability in the tropical Indian Ocean during 1950–98. The first EOF modes of the simulated upper-ocean heat content and SST anomalies show structures that are quite consistent with those from the historical upper oceanic temperature and SST analyses. The dominant pattern of response is associated with an oceanic dynamical adjustment of the thermocline depth in the southwestern Indian Ocean. In general, a deepening of the thermocline in the southwest is usually accompanied by the enhanced upwelling and thermocline shoaling centered near the Sumatra coast. Further analysis shows that the leading external forcing is from the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which induces an anomalous fluctuation of the atmospheric anticyclones on both sides of the equator over the Indian Ocean, starting from the evolving stage of an El Niño event in boreal summer. Apart from weakening the Indian monsoon, the surface equatorial easterly anomalies associated with this circulation pattern first induce equatorial and coastal upwelling anomalies near the Sumatra coast from summer to fall, which enhance the equatorial zonal SST gradient and stimulate intense air–sea feedback in the equatorial ocean. Moreover, the persistent anticyclonic wind curl over the southern tropical Indian Ocean, reinforced by the equatorial air–sea coupling, forces substantial thermocline change centered at the thermocline ridge in the southwestern Indian Ocean for seasons. The significant thermocline change has profound and long-lasting influences on the SST fluctuations in the Indian Ocean.

It should be noted that the ENSO forcing is not the only way that this kind of basinwide Indian Ocean fluctuations can be generated. As will be shown in the second part of this study, similar low-frequency fluctuations can also be generated by processes within the Indian and western Pacific region without ENSO influence. The unique feature of the ENSO influence is that, because of the high persistence of the atmospheric remote forcing from boreal summer to winter, the life span of the thermocline anomalies in the southwestern Indian Ocean is generally longer than that generated by regional coupled processes.

Abstract

To understand the mechanisms of the interannual variability in the tropical Indian Ocean, two long-term simulations are conducted using a coupled ocean–atmosphere GCM—one with active air–sea coupling over the global ocean and the other with regional coupling restricted within the Indian Ocean to the north of 30°S while the climatological monthly sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are prescribed in the uncoupled oceans to drive the atmospheric circulation. The major spatial patterns of the observed upper-ocean heat content and SST anomalies can be reproduced realistically by both simulations, suggesting that they are determined by intrinsic coupled processes within the Indian Ocean.

In both simulations, the interannual variability in the Indian Ocean is dominated by a tropical mode and a subtropical mode. The tropical mode is characterized by a coupled feedback among thermocline depth, zonal SST gradient, and wind anomalies over the equatorial and southern tropical Indian Ocean, which is strongest in boreal fall and winter. The tropical mode simulated by the global coupled model reproduces the main observational features, including a seasonal connection to the model El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The ENSO influence, however, is weaker than that in a set of ensemble simulations described in Part I of this study, where the observed SST anomalies for 1950–98 are prescribed outside the Indian Ocean. Combining with the results from Part I of this study, it is concluded that ENSO can modulate the temporal variability of the tropical mode through atmospheric teleconnection. Its influence depends on the ENSO strength and duration. The stronger and more persistent El Niño events in the observations extend the life span of the anomalous events in the tropical Indian Ocean significantly. In the regional coupled simulation, the tropical mode is still active, but its dominant period is shifted away from that of ENSO. In the absence of ENSO forcing, the tropical mode is mainly stimulated by an anomalous atmospheric direct thermal cell forced by the fluctuations of the northwestern Pacific monsoon.

The subtropical mode is characterized by an east–west dipole pattern of the SST anomalies in the southern subtropical Indian Ocean, which is strongest in austral fall. The SST anomalies are initially forced by surface heat flux anomalies caused by the anomalous southeast trade wind in the subtropical ocean during austral summer. The trade wind anomalies are in turn associated with extratropical variations from the southern annular mode. A thermodynamic air–sea feedback strengthens these subtropical anomalies quickly in austral fall and extends their remnants into the tropical ocean in austral winter. In the simulations, this subtropical variability is independent of ENSO.

Abstract

Two surface wind stress datasets for 1979–91, one based on observations and the other from an integration of the COLA atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) with prescribed SST, are used to drive the GFDL ocean general circulation model. These two runs are referred to as the control and COLA experiments, respectively. Simulated SST and upper-ocean heat contents (HC) in the tropical Pacific Ocean are compared with observations and between experiments.

Both simulations reproduced the observed mean SST and HC fields as well as their annual cycles realistically. Major errors common to both runs are colder than observed SST in the eastern equatorial ocean and HC in the western Pacific south of the equator, with errors generally larger in the COLA experiment. New errors arising from the AGCM wind forcing include higher SST near the South American coast throughout the year and weaker HC gradients along the equator in boreal spring. The former is associated with suppressed coastal upwelling by weak alongshore AGCM winds, and the latter is caused by weaker equatorial easterlies in boreal spring.

The low-frequency ENSO fluctuations are also realistic for both runs. Correlations between the observed and simulated SST anomalies from the COLA simulation are as high as those from the control run in the central equatorial Pacific. A major problem in the COIA simulation is the appearance of unrealistic tropical cold anomalies during the boreal spring of mature El Nin˜o years. These anomalies propagate along the equator from the western Pacific to the eastern coast in about three months, and temporarily eliminate the warm SST and HC anomalies in the eastern Pacific. This erroneous oceanic response in the COIA simulation is caused by a reversal of the westerly wind anomalies on the equator, associated with an unrealistic southward shift of the ITCZ in boreal spring during El Nin˜o events.

In both experiments, the annual cycle of the upper equatorial ocean (upper 45 m) is dominated by the annual change of surface heat flux and advection with its vertical and horizontal components dominant in the eastern and central Pacific, respectively. The El Nin˜o development, on the other hand, is mainly due to advection of anomalous zonal current in the west, the meridional advection in the central, and the displacement of thermocline in the east Pacific. The weakening of the warm anomalies in COIA in the middle of major warm events corresponds to changes of all these processes. The implication of the results derived from this study to the coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation models is discussed.

Abstract

The influence of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) interference on the dry and wet conditions in the Great Plains of the United States has been examined using monthly observational datasets. It is shown that both ENSO and PDO can generate a similar pattern of atmospheric and oceanic anomalies over the eastern part of the North Pacific and western North America that has significant impact on the climate over the Great Plains. Furthermore, the relationship between ENSO–PDO and climate anomalies in the Great Plains is intensified when ENSO and PDO are in phase (El Niño and warm PDO or La Niña and cold PDO). On average, anomalies over the Great Plains favor wet (dry) conditions when both ENSO and PDO are in the positive (negative) phase. However, when ENSO and PDO are out of phase, the relationship is weakened and the anomalies over the Great Plains tend toward neutral. Without ENSO, PDO alone does not affect the North American climate significantly. The relationship is quite robust for different seasons, with the strongest effects for the months of spring and the weakest effects for the months of autumn, whereas the months of winter and summer fall in between. The seasonality of the relationship may be associated with the seasonal dependence of the anomalies of general circulation and the pattern of mean seasonal cycle in the North Pacific.

The contrasting impact of the interference of ENSO and PDO on the climate anomalies in the Great Plains is associated with differences in the ocean–atmosphere anomalies. When ENSO and PDO are in phase, the sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies extend from the equatorial Pacific to the higher latitudes of the North Pacific via the eastern ocean. The distribution of the corresponding anomalies of sea level pressure (SLP) and the wind at 1000 hPa form an ellipse with a southeast–northwest orientation of the long axis because the SST anomalies promote coherent changes in SLP in the central North Pacific. In the upper troposphere, a similar teleconnection pattern with the same sign generated by ENSO and PDO is overlapped and enhanced, which favors anomaly (dry and wet) conditions in the Great Plains. However, when ENSO and PDO are out of phase, the SST anomalies have the same sign in the tropical and central North Pacific, which is opposite to the anomalies near the west coast of North America. The anomalously cyclonic circulation over the North Pacific is weaker in the out-of-phase situation than in the in-phase situation. The distribution of the anomalies of SLP and the wind at 1000 hPa resembles a circle. Meanwhile, in the upper troposphere, ENSO and PDO generate a similar teleconnection pattern with opposite sign, causing cancellation of the anomalous circulation and favoring neutral climate in the Great Plains.