All flavours of El Niño have similar early subsurface origins

Ramesh, N.; Murtugudde, Raghu

doi:10.1038/nclimate1600

Cited by 57 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…This propagation links opposite phases of the tilting mode at lags À21 and +00 (Figures 1a and 1d) with a transition period of increased zonally integrated equatorial subsurface heat content at lag À09 [Meinen and McPhaden, 2000] ( Figure 1c). After reaching the upper eastern equatorial Pacific, the released heat is rapidly amplified by the Bjerknes feedback, leading to the fast growth of an EN event [Ramesh and Murtugudde, 2013].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the dynamical mechanisms explaining the western Pacific subsurface temperature buildup leading to ENSO events

Ballester

Bordoni

Petrova

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

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Despite steady progress in the understanding of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the past decades, questions remain on the exact mechanisms explaining the heat buildup leading to the onset of El Niño (EN) events. Here we use an ensemble of ocean and atmosphere assimilation products to identify mechanisms that are consistently identified by all the data sets and that contribute to the heat buildup in the western Pacific 18 to 24 months before the onset of EN events. Meridional and eastward heat advection due to equatorward subsurface mass convergence and transport along the equatorial undercurrent are found to contribute to the subsurface warming at 170°E–150°W. In the warm pool, instead, surface horizontal convergence and downwelling motion have a leading role in subsurface warming. The picture emerging from our results highlights a sharp dynamical transition at 170°E near the level of the thermocline.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the dynamical mechanisms explaining the western Pacific subsurface temperature buildup leading to ENSO events

Ballester

Bordoni

Petrova

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…El Niño-Modoki or the Central Pacific El Niño is characterized by a pattern of central Pacific warming and two patches of cooling in the eastern and western equatorial Pacific [Ashok et al, 2007]. The debate about whether these are two distinct modes or different surface expressions of the same phenomenon continues [Takahashi et al, 2011;Johnson, 2013] but some aspects of ENSO evolution may remain common across ENSO regimes [Ramesh and Murtugudde, 2013]. The impact of the similarities and the differences of subsurface processes and surface expressions on the carbon cycle need further investigation.…”

Section: Remaining Issues In Our Understanding Of the Equatorial Pacimentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal characteristics of seasonal to multidecadal variability of pCO₂ and air‐sea CO₂ fluxes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean

et al. 2014

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Seasonal, interannual, and multidecadal variability of seawater pCO 2 and air-sea CO 2 fluxes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean for the past 45 years are examined using a suite of experiments performed with an offline biogeochemical model driven by reanalysis ocean products. The processes we focus on are: (a) the evolution of seasonal cycle of pCO 2 and air-sea CO 2 fluxes during the dominant interannual mode in the equatorial Pacific, i.e., the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), (b) its spatiotemporal characteristics, (c) the combined and individual effects of wind and ocean dynamics on pCO 2 attributable to the differences in the combined and individual effects of ocean dynamics and winds associated with these two types of ENSO. A multidecadal variability in the equatorial Pacific sea-air CO 2 fluxes and pCO 2 exhibits a positive phase during the 1960s, a negative phase during the 1980s, and then positive again by the 2000s. Within the ocean, the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) anomalies are traceable to the northern Pacific via thermocline pathways at decadal timescales. The multidecadal variability of equatorial Pacific CO 2 fluxes and pCO 2 are determined by the phases of the PDO and the corresponding scale of the El Niño-Modoki variability, whereas canonical El Niño's contribution is to mainly determine the variability at interannual timescales. This study segregates the impacts of different types of ENSOs on the equatorial Pacific carbon cycle and sets the framework for analysing its spatiotemporal variability under global warming.

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“…The buildup of warm water volume (WWV) in the equatorial Pacific is a necessary precondition for the development of ENSO (Wyrtki 1975(Wyrtki , 1985Cane et al 1986;Zebiak and Cane 1987;Zebiak 1989;Jin 1997a). Ramesh and Murtugudde (2013) stated that subsurface processes can be a fundamental driver for the onset of ENSO, whereas the SSTA follows later, serving as the surface manifestation of the subsurface temperature anomaly. Zelle et al (2004) showed that there are two pathways for the thermocline depth anomaly leading to SST anomalies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The initial errors that induce a significant “spring predictability barrier” for El Niño events and their implications for target observation: results from an earth system model

Duan

2015

Clim Dyn

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All flavours of El Niño have similar early subsurface origins

Cited by 57 publications

References 23 publications

On the dynamical mechanisms explaining the western Pacific subsurface temperature buildup leading to ENSO events

On the dynamical mechanisms explaining the western Pacific subsurface temperature buildup leading to ENSO events

Spatiotemporal characteristics of seasonal to multidecadal variability of pCO₂ and air‐sea CO₂ fluxes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean

The initial errors that induce a significant “spring predictability barrier” for El Niño events and their implications for target observation: results from an earth system model

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All flavours of El Niño have similar early subsurface origins

Cited by 57 publications

References 23 publications

On the dynamical mechanisms explaining the western Pacific subsurface temperature buildup leading to ENSO events

On the dynamical mechanisms explaining the western Pacific subsurface temperature buildup leading to ENSO events

Spatiotemporal characteristics of seasonal to multidecadal variability of pCO2 and air‐sea CO2 fluxes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean

The initial errors that induce a significant “spring predictability barrier” for El Niño events and their implications for target observation: results from an earth system model

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Spatiotemporal characteristics of seasonal to multidecadal variability of pCO₂ and air‐sea CO₂ fluxes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean