Abstract
Using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and the ENSO indices from the Climate Prediction Center over the period 1978–2014, we have investigated the contemporaneous circulation variations in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres by performing the singular value decomposition analysis of sea level pressure anomalies (SLPA) after the ENSO signal is regressed out. It is found that there exists a polar-tropical seesaw mode (PTSM) that characterizes with the out of phase fluctuations of SLPA between the polar and tropical regions in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres in boreal winter. This PTSM explains 47.74% of the total covariance of SLPA and is almost independent of ENSO. It demonstrates a long-term trend and oscillation cycles of 2–3 and 4–6 yr. The long-term trend in PTSM indicates that the sea level pressure gradually decreases in the tropics and increases in the polar region with time. This PTSM looks roughly symmetric about the equator besides the seesaw pattern of SLPA between the tropics and polar region in each hemisphere. The disturbances in the geopotential height field in association with the PTSM shows baroclinic features in the tropics whereas equivalent barotropic features in the mid and high latitudes in the troposphere. The anomalous thermal forcing in the tropical region is possibly one of the factors facilitating the formation of this PTSM. Significant global precipitation and temperature anomalies related to the PTSM are observed. In the positive PTSM phase, precipitation and temperature are higher than normal in southern Europe and the Mediterranean and surrounding areas, but lower than normal in northern Europe and Siberia. Precipitation is higher than normal while temperature is lower than normal in Northeast Asia. Significant temperature and precipitation anomalies possibly occur in the regions of western China, northern India, parts of North America, parts of subtropical Africa, Maritime Continent, and Antarctic. These results are helpful for better understanding of the circulation variations and the mechanisms behind the interactions between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and the related winter climate anomalies over globe.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexander, M. A., I. Bladé, M. Newman, et al., 2002: The atmospheric bridge: The influence of ENSO teleconnections on air-sea interaction over the global oceans. J. Climate, 15, 2205–2231.
Ashok, K., Z. Y. Guan, and T. Yamagata, 2003: A look at the relationship between the ENSO and the Indian Ocean dipole. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 81, 41–56.
Ashok, K., S. K. Behera, S. A. Rao, et al., 2007: El Niño Modoki and its possible teleconnection. J. Geophys. Res., 112, C11007.
Bai Xuxu, Li Chongyin, and Li Lin, 2012: Numerical simulation study of the Madden–Julian oscillation influences on spring precipitation in China. Acta Meteor. Sinica, 70, 986–1003. (in Chinese)
Carleton, A. M., 1992: Synoptic interactions between Antarctica and lower latitudes. Aust. Meteor. Mag., 40, 129–147.
Chen Wen, 2002: Impacts of El Niño and La Niña on the cycle of the East Asian winter and summer monsoons. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 26, 595–610. (in Chinese)
Chen Shangfeng, Chen Wen, and Wei Ke, 2013: Recent trends in winter temperature extremes in eastern China and their relationship with the Arctic oscillation and ENSO. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 30, 1712–1724.
Chen Xiaolong, Zhou Tianjun, and Guo Zhun, 2014: Climate sensitivities of two versions of FGOALS model to idealized radiative forcing. Sci. China (Earth Sci.), 57, 1363–1373.
Christy, J. R., K. E. Trenberth, and J. R. Anderson, 1989: Large-scale redistributions of atmospheric mass. J. Climate, 2, 137–148.
Ding Yihui, Liu Yanju, Liang Sujie, et al., 2014: Interdecadal variability of the East Asian winter monsoon and its possible links to global climate change. J. Meteor. Res., 28, 693–713.
Findlater, J., 1969: A major low-level air current near the Indian Ocean during the northern summer. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 95, 362–380.
Giorgi, F., 1990: Simulation of regional climate using a limited area model nested in a general circulation model. J. Climate, 3, 941–963.
Gong, D. Y., and S. W. Wang, 1999: Definition of Antarctic Oscillation index. Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 459–462.
Guan Zhaoyong, Xu Jianjun, and Wang Panxing, 1994: Odd and even symmetry of atmospheric circulation. Part I: Theoretical basis and climatic characteristics. Scientia Meteor. Sinica, 14, 300–310. (in Chinese)
Guan, Z. Y., and T. Yamagata, 2001: Interhemispheric oscillation in the surface air pressure field. Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, 263–266.
Guan Zhaoyong, Lu Chuhan, Mei Shilong, et al., 2010: Seasonality of interannual inter-hemispheric oscillations over the past five decades. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 27, 1043–1050.
Gushchina, D., and B. Dewitte, 2012: Intraseasonal tropical atmospheric variability associated with the two flavors of El Niño. Mon. Wea. Rev., 140, 3669–3681.
Hoskins, B. J., I. N. James, and G. H. White, 1983: The shape, propagation and mean-flow interaction of large-scale weather systems. J. Atmos. Sci., 40, 1595–1612.
Huang Ronghui, Chen Wen, Ding Yihui, et al., 2003: Studies on the monsoon dynamics and the interaction between monsoon and ENSO cycle. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 27, 484–502. (in Chinese)
IPCC, 2014: Summary for Policymakers. Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, et al., Eds., Cambridge University Press, 5 pp.
Kalnay, E., M. Kanamitsu, R. Kistler, et al., 1996: The NCEP-NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 437–472.
Kusunoki, S., J. Yoshimura, H. Yoshimura, et al., 2006: Change of Baiu rain band in global warming projection by an atmospheric general circulation model with a 20-km grid size. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 84, 581–611.
Li Lijuan, Lin Pengfei, Yu Yongqiang, et al., 2013: The flexible global ocean-atmosphere-land system model: Grid-point version 2: FGOALS-g2. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 30, 543–560.
Li Li, Guan Zhaoyong, and Cai Jiaxi, 2014: Interannual variation of winter temperature difference between polar and equatorial regions associated with East Asian climate anomalies. Chin. Sci. Bull., 59, 2720–2727. (in Chinese)
Lu Chuhan, Guan Zhaoyong, Mei Shilong, et al., 2008: The seasonal cycle of interhemispheric oscillations in mass field of the global atmosphere. Chin. Sci. Bull., 53, 3226–3234.
Lu Chuhan, Guan Zhaoyong, Li Yonghua, et al., 2013: Interdecadal linkages between the Pacific decadal oscillation and interhemispheric air mass oscillation and their possible connections with East Asian monsoon. Chinese J. Geophys., 56, 117–128.
Man Wenmin and Zhou Tianjun, 2011: Forced response of atmospheric oscillations during the last millennium simulated by a climate system model. Chin. Sci. Bull., 56, 3042–3052.
Mantua, N. J., S. R. Hare, Y. Zhang, et al., 1997: A Pacific interdecadal climate oscillation with impacts on salmon production. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 78, 1069–1079.
Meehl, G. A., C. Covey, K. E. Taylor, et al., 2007: The WCRP CMIP3 multimodel dataset: A new era in climate change research. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 88, 1383–1394.
Sardeshmukh, P. D., and B. J. Hoskins, 1988: The generation of global rotational flow by steady idealized tropical divergence. J. Atmos. Sci., 45, 1228–1251.
Shi Neng and Zhu Qiangen, 1993: Studies on the Northern early summer teleconnection patterns, their interannual variations and relation to drought/flood in China. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 10, 155–168.
Shao, P., X. B. Zeng, K. Sakaguchi, et al. 2013. Terrestrial carbon cycle: Climate relations in eight CMIP5 earth system models. J. Climate, 26, 8744–8764.
Tan Benkui and Chen Wen, 2014: Progress in the study of the dynamics of extratropical atmospheric teleconnection patterns and their impacts on East Asian climate. J. Meteor. Res., 28. 780–802.
Taylor, K. E., R. J. Stouffer, and G. A. Meehl, 2012: An overview of CMIP5 and the experiment design. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 93, 485–498.
Thompson, S. L., and D. Pollard, 1995: A global climate model (GENESIS) with a land-surface (LSX). Part I: Present climate simulation. J. Climate, 8, 732–761.
Thompson, D. W. J., and J. M. Wallace, 1998: The Arctic oscillation signature in the wintertime geopotential height and temperature fields. Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 1297–1300.
Thompson, D. W. J., and J. M. Wallace, 2000: Annular modes in the extratropical circulation. Part I: Month-to-month variability. J. Climate, 13, 1000–1016.
Wallace, J. M., 2000: North Atlantic oscillation/annual mode: Two paradigms–one phenomenon. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 126, 791–805.
Wallace, J. M., and D. S. Gutzler, 1981: Teleconnections in the geopotential height field during the Northern Hemisphere winter. Mon. Wea. Rev., 109, 784–812.
Wang Panxing, Guan Zhaoyong, and Xu Jianjun, 1994: Odd and even symmetry of atmospheric circulation. Part II: Measurement and anomaly analysis. Scientia Meteor. Sinica, 15, 1–8.
Wang Bin, Zhou Tianjun, Yu Yongqiang, et al., 2008: A perspective on earth system model development. Acta Meteor. Sinica, 66, 857–869. (in Chinese)
Wang Shaowu, Wen Xinyu, and Huang Jianbin, 2013: Are the changes of winter and summer monsoons over East Asia out of phase? Adv. Climate Change Res., 9, 231–233. (in Chinese)
Wang, Z. M., J. Turner, B. Sun, et al., 2014: Cycloneinduced rapid creation of extreme Antarctic sea ice conditions. Scientific Reports, 4, 5317.
Watanabe, M., 2004: Asian jet waveguide and a downstream extension of the North Atlantic oscillation. J. Climate, 17, 4674–4691.
Weng, H. Y., G. X. Wu, Y. M. Liu, et al., 2011: Anomalous summer climate in China influenced by the tropical Indo-Pacific Oceans. Climate Dyn., 36, 769–782.
Wu Guoxiong and Meng Wen, 1998: Gearing between the Indo-monsoon circulation and the Pacific-Walker circulation and the ENSO. Part I: Data analyses. Scientia Atmos. Sinica, 22, 470–480. (in Chinese)
Xiao Dong, Li Jianping, Zhou Xiuji, et al., 2010: An evaluation of the spatiotemporal structures of the decadal abrupt changes in the global oceanatmosphere system simulated by the coupled climate models. Acta Meteor. Sinica, 68, 763–778. (in Chinese)
Xie, P. P., and P. A. Arkin, 1997: Global precipitation: A 17-year monthly analysis based on gauge observation, satellite estimates, and numerical model outputs. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 78, 2539–2558.
Yuan Yuan, Yang Hui, and Li Chongyin, 2012: Study of El Niño events of different types and their potential impact on the following summer precipitation in China. Acta Meteor. Sinica, 70, 467–478. (in Chinese)
Yuan Yuan, Li Chongyin, and Yang Song, 2014: Decadal anomalies of winter precipitation over southern China in association with El Niño and La Niña. J. Meteor. Res., 28, 91–110.
Zeng Qingcun and Li Jianping, 2002: Interactions between the Northern and Southern Hemispheric atmospheres and the essence of monsoon. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 26, 433–448. (in Chinese)
Zhang Gang, 2012: Study of East Asian winter climate predictability by using European multi-model ensemble prediction. Acta Meteor. Sinica, 70, 690–703. (in Chinese)
Zhang Jie, Li Lijuan, Zhou Tianjun, et al., 2013: Variation of surface temperature during the last millennium in a simulation with the FGOALS-g1 climate system model. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 30, 699–712.
Zhou Tianjun, Zou Liwei, Wu Bo, et al., 2014: Development of Earth/Climate System Models in China: A review from the coupled intercomparison project perspective. J. Meteor. Res., 28, 762–779.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41175062 and 41330425) and Science Innovation Program of the State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences (2015LASW-A03).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tang, W., Guan, Z. ENSO-independent contemporaneous variations of anomalous circulations in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres: The polar-tropical seesaw mode. J Meteorol Res 29, 917–934 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-015-5095-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-015-5095-6