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Interdecadal wind stress variability over the tropical Pacific causes ENSO diversity in an intermediate coupled model

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Abstract

The role of interdecadal wind stress variability in the genesis of ENSO diversity is examined by using an intermediate coupled model (ICM) in the tropical Pacific; two types of experiments are performed, one with the original ICM, and the other with interdecadal wind stress (\({\uptau }_{interde}\)) effect being explicitly represented. The \({\uptau }_{interde}\) component is derived from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis dataset as follows. First, the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) is used to extract the interdecadal component of wind stress anomalies on about a 10–40 yr timescale. Next, an idealized interdecadal cycle of \({\uptau }_{interde}\) is reconstructed by a principal oscillation pattern (POP) analysis based on the EEMD-extracted interdecadal wind component. A 110-yr model integration is then performed by explicitly incorporating the reconstructed \({\uptau }_{interde}\) cycle into the ICM. Compared with the regular interannual oscillation in the original ICM, the simulated ENSO events become highly irregular with interdecadal variations in the amplitude and asymmetry when the \({\uptau }_{interde}\) effect is included. Especially, the model reproduces two types of El Niño with different spatial distribution and temporal evolution of SST anomalies, namely Eastern-Pacific (EP) and Central-Pacific (CP) types. Further attribution analyses are performed to understand the modulating effects of \({\uptau }_{interde}\) in the tropical Pacific using the ocean component of the ICM, forced by the added \({\uptau }_{interde}\) effect. Two different roles of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) in modulating different types of El Niño are illustrated. On the one hand, the warm phase of IPO favors for the emergence of EP-El Niño events, in association with the initial warming signals occurring in the eastern equatorial Pacific, which are absent in the original ICM. On the other hand, the cold phase of IPO tends to shift the El Niño (i.e., the single type of El Niño in the original ICM) to an CP type, with which the SST anomalies propagate eastward along the equator but cannot extend into the eastern boundary. This simple modeling study highlights the significant contributions of interdecadal wind variability to the genesis of ENSO irregularity and diversity theoretically.

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Data availability

The datasets used in this study are public available. The NCEP/NCAR reanalysis dataset can be obtained at https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.ncep.reanalysis.derived.surfaceflux.html. The ERSSTv5 can be obtained at https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/extended-reconstructed-sst.

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Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their numerous comments that helped improve the original manuscript. Hu was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC; 42030410) and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; XDB40000000). Wang was supported by the Marine S&T Fund of Shandong Province for Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao) (2022QNLM010301-4). Gao was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the CAS (XDA19060102, XDB42000000). Zhang was supported by the Marine S&T Fund of Shandong Providence for Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao) (2022QNLM010301-2), the NSFC (42030410) and the Startup Foundation for Introducing Talent of NUIST.

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  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanhai Road 7, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Junya Hu, Hongna Wang, Chuan Gao, Lu Zhou & Rong-Hua Zhang

  2. Laboratory for Ocean and Climate Dynamics, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266237, China

    Junya Hu, Hongna Wang, Chuan Gao & Rong-Hua Zhang

  3. School of Marine Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Rong-Hua Zhang

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10029, China

    Lu Zhou & Rong-Hua Zhang

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  1. Junya Hu
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Hu, J., Wang, H., Gao, C. et al. Interdecadal wind stress variability over the tropical Pacific causes ENSO diversity in an intermediate coupled model. Clim Dyn 60, 1831–1847 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06414-x

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