Extra-tropical atmospheric response to ENSO in the CMIP5 models

Hurwitz, M. M.; Calvo, Natalia; Garfinkel, Chaim I.; Butler, Amy H.; Ineson, Sarah; Cagnazzo, Chiara; Manzini, Elisa; Peña‐Ortiz, Cristina

doi:10.1007/s00382-014-2110-z

Cited by 75 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Such a classification was also considered in previous studies (e.g. Hurwitz et al 2014;Charlton-Perez et al 2013). H tops have few model layers in the stratosphere and have upper lids up to the stratopause.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In terms of two models, GFDL-CM3, however, suggests closer match to observation than MIROC5, based on spatial pattern and magnitude. Now, if we focus on various model results from the CMIP5 output, it is noticed that most of the simulated responses of EN and LN have opposite sign as also observed by Hurwitz et al (2014).…”

Section: Sst Composites: En and Ln In The Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating ENSO teleconnections using observations and CMIP5 models

Roy

Gagnon

Siingh

2018

Theor Appl Climatol

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Bias correction of global and regional climate models is essential for credible climate change projections. This study examines the bias of the models of the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) in their simulation of the spatial pattern of sea surface temperature (SSTs) in different phases of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and their teleconnections-highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the models in different oceanic sectors. The comparison between the model outputs and the observations focused on the following three features: (i) the typical horseshoe pattern seen in the Pacific Ocean during ENSO events with anomalies in SSTs opposite to the warm/cool tongue, (ii) different signature in the tropical Pacific Ocean from that of the North and tropical Atlantic Ocean, and (iii) spurious signature in the southern hemisphere beyond 45°S. Using these three cases, it was found that the model simulations poorly matched the observations, indicating that more attention is needed on the tropical/extratropical teleconnections associated with ENSO. More importantly, the observed SST coupling between the tropical Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean is missing in almost all models, and differentiating the models between high/low top did not improve the results. It also found that SSTs in the tropical Pacific Ocean are relatively well simulated when compared with observation. This work has improved our understanding of the simulation of ENSO and its teleconnections in the CMIP5 models and has raised awareness of the bias existing in the models, which requires further attention by climate modellers.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Sst Composites: En and Ln In The Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating ENSO teleconnections using observations and CMIP5 models

Roy

Gagnon

Siingh

2018

Theor Appl Climatol

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“…EN events are identified when SST anomalies in the Niño3.4 region (5S-5N, 170W-120W), are larger than 0.5 K, and LN events are identified when SST anomalies in this region are more negative than − 0.5 K. EN and LN events are further categorized into four groups similar to Hurwitz et al (2014): Eastern Pacific (EP) EN, characterized by positive SST anomalies in the Niño-3 region (5S-5N, 210E-270E), and Central Pacific (CP) EN, characterized by positive SST anomalies in the Niño-4 region (5S-5N, 160E-210E), as well as EP and CP LN events, characterized by negative SST anomalies in the same two regions. EP EN events are identified when the Niño-3 anomaly is 0.1 K larger than the corresponding Niño-4 anomaly.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The model spontaneously generates a QBO (Molod et al 2012). An enhanced stratospheric resolution has been shown to be crucial for a correct stratospheric and Eurasian response to ENSO (Bell et al 2009;Hurwitz et al 2014), and we consider nonlinearities in these regions in a follow-on paper. Fine stratospheric resolution is likely less important for the North Pacific and North American response (e.g.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

The salience of nonlinearities in the boreal winter response to ENSO: North Pacific and North America

et al. 2018

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The prominence of nonlinearities in the response to El Niño as compared to La Niña, to moderate El Niño events as compared to extreme El Ninño events, and to different flavors of El Niño events, are analyzed using the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry-Climate Model. In the Central North Pacific region where the sea level pressure response to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) peaks, nonlinearities are relatively muted. In contrast, changes to the east of this region (i.e. the far-Northeastern Pacific) and to the north of this region (over Alaska) in response to different ENSO phases are more clearly nonlinear, and become statistically robust after more than 15 events are considered. The relative prominence of these nonlinearities is related to the zonal wavenumber of the tropical precipitation response. Associated with these nonlinearities over the far-Northeastern Pacific are nonlinearities in precipitation over Western United States and surface temperature over Northwest North America and Midwestern United States. In all regions at least 15 events of each type are necessary before nonlinearities can be identified as statistically significant at the 95% confidence level due to the presence of internal atmospheric variability. As there have only been a similar number of ENSO events to the total needed for significance since 1920, it is not surprising that it has been difficult to establish statistically significant nonlinearities using observational data.

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“…ENSO events are categorized into four groups similar to Hurwitz et al (2014): Eastern Pacific (EP) EN, characterized by positive sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Nino-3 region (5S -5N, 210E-270E), and Central Pacific (CP) EN, characterized by positive SST anomalies in the Nino-4 region (5S-5N, 160E-210E), as well as EP and CP La Niña events, characterized by negative SST anomalies in the same two regions. ENSO events are identified based on NDJF seasonal mean 10 SST anomalies in the ERSSTv4 dataset (Huang et al, 2015) with a 1981-2010 base period, and the same definition is applied to the coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%