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Michael N. Evans Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research/Geosciences/Atmospheric Sciences course web pages: http://ic.ltrr.arizona.edu/ic/enso/. GEOS 513 ENSO: Past, Present, Future. January 18, 2006: References M.A. Cane, Oceanographic events during El Nino, Science 222(4629): 1189-1195 (1983);
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Michael N. Evans Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research/Geosciences/Atmospheric Sciences course web pages: http://ic.ltrr.arizona.edu/ic/enso/ GEOS 513ENSO: Past, Present, Future January 18, 2006: References M.A. Cane, Oceanographic events during El Nino, Science 222(4629): 1189-1195 (1983); E.M. Rasmussen and J.M. Wallace, Meteorological aspects of the El Nino/Southern Oscillation, Science 222(4629): 1195-1202 (1983). 1. The equatorial Pacific: mean state, annual cycle, and ENSO 2. How was the 1982-3 event similar to the canonical ENSO event? 3. How was the 1982-3 event unusual (is it still considered unusual?)
Coupled ocean-atmosphere system (With apologies to the graphically-enabled)
Annual cycle in sea surface temperature 100E 180 100W (Cane, 1983)
absolute Rossby wave theory (Holton, 1992)
Canonical ENSO teleconnection pattern (Rasmussen and Wallace, 1983)
Coupled ocean-atmosphere system (With apologies to the graphically-enabled)
How was the 1982-3 ENSO warm phase event typical?What made it special?
1982-3 ENSO warm phase event OLRanomaly (Rasmussen and Wallace, 1983)
Canonical vs. 1982-3 ENSO warm phase teleconnection anomaly 1982-3 canonical (Rasmussen and Wallace, 1983)
How was the 1982-3 event similar to the canonical event? • Largely explained by equatorial (Kelvin) wave theory (oceans) • Largely explained by midlatitude (Rossby) wave theory (atmosphere) • A superposition of • Coastal, annual-cycle-like anomalies • Central equatorial Pacific-centered anomalies
How was the 1982-3 event different from the canonical event? • Anomaly propagation: west to east across central-eastern equatorial Pacific • Reversal of trade winds in central equatorial Pacific • Disappearance of Equatorial Undercurrent • Reversed event timing (or else, near-simultaneous coastal and open-ocean ENSO anomalies) • Large amplitude, long duration
Was the 1997-8 El Nino event the second 'El Nino of the Century'? Source: Climate Analysis Center SST anomaly product (http://iridl.ldeo.columbia.edu/expert/SOURCES/.CAC/
Summary • ENSO events can be described as an amplification of the annual cycle of the couplued tropical Pacific ocean-atmosphere system. • The 1982-3 event was largely consistent with Kelvin and Rossby wave theory • ...But it was unusual in terms of • Timing • Amplitude • Anomaly propagation • Severity of teleconnections • Until the 1997-8 event appeared.