Abstract
The quasi-biennial (QB)-type El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), showing a fast phase transition from El Niño to La Niña, is closely related to the variability of the North Pacific subtropical high (NPSH) and western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) during summer. Here, we show that the NPSH plays a key role in the fast ENSO transition. The QB-type ENSO is associated with both strengthened WNPSH and NPSH during the boreal summer. By contrast, the low-frequency-type ENSO, which occurs in a typical period of 3–7 years, displays an enhanced WNPSH but weakened NPSH. The stronger El Niño tends to generate a more intensified WNPSH from spring to summer, leading to the initial decay of El Niño via the modulation of easterly wind in the western Pacific. On the contrary, the NPSH has greater linkage with the decaying El Niño process after the boreal summer. Therefore, the coupled pattern of WNPSH–NPSH is important in changing ENSO phase from El Niño to La Niña. The NPSH causes sea surface temperature cooling over the subtropical Northeastern Pacific. The resultant subtropical cooling induces anomalous anticyclone west of the reduced heating, which generates the strengthening of trade winds south of the anticyclone. Consequently, this process contributes to tropical central Pacific cooling and the rapid transition of El Niño to La Niña. This study hints that the QB-type ENSO could be significantly linked to a tropics-midlatitudes coupled system such as an in-phase pattern between WNPSH and NPSH. The results are useful for improvement of ENSO prediction.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adler RF, Huffman GJ, Chang A et al (2003) The version 2 global precipitation climatology project (GPCP) monthly precipitation analysis (1979-Present). J Hydrometeor 4:1147–1167
Barnett TP (1991) The interaction of multiple time scales in the tropical climate system. J Clim 4:269–285
Bejarano L, Jin FF (2008) Coexistence of equatorial coupled modes of ENSO. J Clim 21:3051–3067
Carton JA, Giese BS (2008) A reanalysis of ocean climate using simple ocean data assimilation (SODA). Mon Wea Rev 136:2999–3017
Chang CP, Zhang Y, Li T (2000) Interannual and interdecadal variations of the East Asian summer monsoon and tropical Pacific SSTs. Part I: roles of the subtropical ridge. J Clim 13:4310–4325
Chen W, Park J-K, Dong B, Lu R, Jung W-S (2012) The relationship between El Niño and the western North Pacific summer climate in a coupled GCM: role of the transition of El Niño decaying phases. J Geophys Res 117:D12111. doi:10.1029/2011JD017385
Danabasoglu G, Large WG, Tribbia JJ, Gent PR, Briegleb BP, McWilliams JC (2006) Diurnal coupling in the tropical oceans of CCSM3. J Clim 19:2347–2365
Ha K-J, Yoon S-J, Yun K-Y, Kug J-S, Jang Y-S, Chan JCL (2012) Dependency of typhoon intensity and genesis locations on El Niño phase and SST shift over the western North Pacific. Theor Appl Climatol 109:383–395
Kalnay E et al (1996) The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 77:437–471
Kanamitsu M, Ebisuzaki W, Woollen J, Yang SK, Hnilo JJ, Fiorino M, Potter GL (2002) NCEP-DOE AMIP-II reanalysis (R-2). Bull Am Meteorol Soc 83:1631–1643
Kim K-Y, Kim Y-Y (2002) Mechanism of Kelvin and Rossby waves during ENSO events. Meteorol Atmos Phys 81:169–189
Kim K-M, Lau K-M (2001) Dynamics of monsoon-induced biennial variability in ENSO. Geophys Res Lett 28(2):315–318
Kosaka Y, Xie S-P, Lau N-C, Vecchi GA (2013) Origin of seasonal predictability for summer climate over the Northwestern Pacific. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110(19):7574–7579
Kug J-S, Kang I-S (2006) Interactive feedback between ENSO and the Indian Ocean. J Clim 19:1784–1801
Kug J-S, Jin F-F, An S-I (2009) Two types of El Niño events: cold tongue El Niño and warm pool El Niño. J Clim 22:1499–1515
Lau K-M, Lee J-Y, Kim K-M, Kang I-S (2004) The north Pacific as a regulator of summertime climate over Eurasia and North America. J Clim 17:819–833
Lee T, McPhaden MJ (2010) Increasing intensity of El Niño in the central-equatorial Pacific. Geophys Res Lett 37:L14603. doi:10.1029/2010GL044007
Lee S-S, Seo Y-W, Ha K-J, Jhun J-G (2013) Impact of the western North Pacific subtropical high on the East Asian monsoon precipitation and the Indian Ocean precipitation in the boreal summertime. Asia-Pac J Atmos Sci 49(2):171–182
Li T, Zhang Y (2002) Processes that determine the quasi-biennial and lower-frequency variability of the South Asian monsoon. J Meteor Soc Japan 80(5):1149–1163
Li Y, Lu R, Dong B (2007) The ENSO-Asian monsoon interaction in a coupled Ocean–Atmosphere GCM. J Clim 20:5164–5177
Liu C-Z, Xue F (2010a) The Decay of El Niño with different intensity. Part I, the decay of the strong El Niño. Chin J Geophys 53:14–25
Liu C-Z, Xue F (2010b) The Decay of El Niño with different intensity. Part II, the decay of the moderate and relatively-weak El Niño. Chin J Geophys 53:915–925
Liu Z, Yang H (2003) Extratropical control of tropical climate, the atmospheric bridge and oceanic tunnel. Geophys Res Lett 30(5):1230. doi:10.1029/2002GL016492
Lopez H, Kirtman BP (2013) Westerly wind bursts and the diversity of ENSO in CCSM3 and CCSM4. Geophys Res Lett 40:4722–4727. doi:10.1002/grl.50913
McGregor S, Timmermann A, Schneider N, Studecker MF, England MH (2012) The effect of the South Pacific convergence zone on the termination of El Nino events and the meridional asymmetry of ENSO. J Clim 25:5566–5586
Meehl GA (1997) The South Asian monsoon and the tropospheric biennial oscillation. J Clim 10:1921–1943
Rayner NA et al (2003) Global analyses of sea surface temperature, sea ice, and night marine air temperature since the late nineteenth century. J Geophys Res 108(D14):4407. doi:10.1029/2002JD002670
Rodwell M, Hoskins BJ (2001) Subtropical anticyclones and summer monsoons. J Clim 14:3192–3211
Roeckner E et al (1996) The atmospheric general circulation model ECHAM-4: model description and simulation of present-day climate. Max Planck Institute for Meteorology Rep 218: 90 pp
Seager R, Murtugudde R, Raik N, Clement A, Gordon N, Miller J (2003) Air-sea interaction and the seasonal cycle of the subtropical anticyclones. J Clim 16:1948–1966
Shen S, Lau K-M (1995) Biennial oscillation associated with the East Asian summer monsoon and tropical sea surface temperature. J Meteor Soc Japan 73:105–124
Smith RD, Dukowicz JK, Malone RC (1992) Parallel ocean general circulation modeling. Physica D 60:38–61
Suarez MJ, Schopf PS (1988) A delayed action oscillator for ENSO. J Atmos Sci 45:3283–3287
Sui C-H, Chung P-H, Li T (2007) Interannual and interdecadal variability of the summertime western North Pacific subtropical high. Geophys Res Lett 34:L11701. doi:10.1029/2006GL029204
Valcke S, Terray L, Piacentini A (2000) OASIS 2.4 Ocean atmospheric sea ice soil user’s guide, Version 2.4. CERFACS Tech Rep CERFACS TR/CMGC/00-10: 85 pp
Vimont DJ, Wallace JM, Battisti DS (2003) The seasonal footprinting mechanism in the Pacific: implications for ENSO. J Clim 16:2668–2675
Vimont DJ, Alexander M, Fontaine A (2009) Midlatitude excitation of tropical variability in the Pacific: the role of thermodynamic coupling and seasonality. J Clim 22:518–534
Wang B, An S-I (2005) A method for detecting season-dependent modes of climate variability: S-EOF analysis. Geophys Res Lett 32:L15710. doi:10.1029/2005GL022709
Wang B, Li T (2004) East Asian monsoon-ENSO interactions. In: Chang C-P (ed) East Asian monsoon. World Scientific, Singapore, pp 177–212
Wang B, Wu R, Lukas R (1999) Roles of the western North Pacific wind variation in thermocline adjustment and ENSO phase transition. J Meteor Soc Japan 77:1–16
Wang B, Wu R, Fu X (2000) Pacific-East Asia teleconnection: how does ENSO affect East Asian climate? J Clim 13:1517–1536
Wang B, Xiang B, Lee J-Y (2013) Subtropical high predictability establishes a promising way for monsoon and tropical storm predictions. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110(8):2718–2722
Weisberg RH, Wang C (1997) A western Pacific oscillator paradigm for the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Geophys Res Lett 24(7):779–782
Wu R, Kirtman BP (2004) The tropospheric biennial oscillation of the monsoon—ENSO system in an interactive ensemble coupled GCM. J Clim 17:1623–1640
Xiang B, Wang B, Ding Q, Jin F-F, Fu X, Kim H-J (2012) Reduction of the thermocline feedback associated with mean SST bias in ENSO simulation. Clim Dyn 39:1413–1430. doi:10.1007/s00382-011-1164-4
Xiang B, Wang B, Yu W, Xu S (2013) How can anomalous western North Pacific subtropical high intensify in late summer? Geophys Res Lett 40(10):2349–2354. doi:10.1002/grl.50431
Yasunari T (1990) Impact of Indian monsoon on the coupled atmosphere/ocean system in the tropical Pacific. Meteorol Atmos Phys 44:29–41
Yeh S-W, Kug J-S, Dewitte B, Kwon M-H, Kirtman B, Jin F-F (2009) El Niño in a changing climate. Nature 461:511–514. doi:10.1038/nature08316
Yu J-Y, Kim S-T (2011) Relationships between extratropical sea level pressure variations and the central Pacific and eastern Pacific types of ENSO. J Clim 24:708–720
Yu J-Y, Kao H-Y, Lee T (2010) Subtropics-related interannual sea surface temperature variability in the equatorial central Pacific. J Clim 23:2869–2884
Yun K-S, Ren B, Ha K-J, Chan JCL, Jhun J-G (2009) The 30–60-day oscillation in the East Asian summer monsoon and its time-dependent association with the ENSO. Tellus 61A:565–578
Yun K-S, Kim S-Y, Ha K-J, Watanabe M (2011) Effects of subseasonal basic state changes on Rossby wave propagation during northern summer. J Geophys Res 116:D24102. doi:10.1029/2011JD016258
Yun K-S, Yeh S-W, Ha K-J (2013) Distinct impacts of tropical SSTs on summer North Pacific high and western North Pacific subtropical high. J Geophys Res 118:4107–4116. doi:10.1002/jgrd.50253
Acknowledgments
This study was financially supported by GRL grant of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Korean Government (MEST 2011-0021927). B. Xiang was partly supported by NOAA MAPP Program under Awards NA12OAR4310075. S.-W. Yeh is supported by the Brain Korea 21 Plus Project in Department of Marine Sciences and Convergent Technology of Hanyang University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yun, KS., Ha, KJ., Yeh, SW. et al. Critical role of boreal summer North Pacific subtropical highs in ENSO transition. Clim Dyn 44, 1979–1992 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-014-2193-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-014-2193-6