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An analysis on the physical process of the influence of AO on ENSO

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Abstract

The influence of the spring AO on ENSO has been demonstrated in several recent studies. This analysis further explores the physical process of the influence of AO on ENSO using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data over the period 1958–2010. We focus on the formation of the westerly wind burst in the tropical western Pacific, and examine the evolution and formation of the atmospheric circulation, atmospheric heating, and SST anomalies in association with the spring AO variability. The spring AO variability is found to be independent from the East Asian winter monsoon activity. The spring AO associated circulation anomalies are supported by the interaction between synoptic-scale eddies and the mean-flow and its associated vorticity transportation. Surface wind changes may affect surface heat fluxes and the oceanic heat transport, resulting in the SST change. The AO associated warming in the equatorial SSTs results primarily from the ocean heat transport in the face of net surface heat flux damping. The tropical SST warming is accompanied by anomalous atmospheric heating in the subtropical north and south Pacific, which sustains the anomalous westerly wind in the equatorial western Pacific through a Gill-like atmospheric response from spring to summer. The anomalous westerly excites an eastward propagating and downwelling equatorial Kelvin wave, leading to SST warming in the tropical central-eastern Pacific in summer-fall. The tropical SST, atmospheric heating, and atmospheric circulation anomalies sustain and develop through the Bjerknes feedback mechanism, which eventually result in an El Niño-like warming in the tropical eastern Pacific in winter.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported jointly by the National Basic Research Program of China Grant 2010CB428603 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grants 41230527 and 41025017. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions and comments, which helped to improve the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Center for Monsoon System Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 9804, Beijing, 100029, China

    Shangfeng Chen & Wen Chen

  2. Climate Research Division, Environment Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Bin Yu

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  1. Shangfeng Chen
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Correspondence to Shangfeng Chen.

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Chen, S., Yu, B. & Chen, W. An analysis on the physical process of the influence of AO on ENSO. Clim Dyn 42, 973–989 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-012-1654-z

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