The March 1997 Westerly Wind Event and the onset of the 1997/98 El Niño: Understanding the role of the atmospheric response

Journal of Climate

Volumn 16, Issue 20, 2003, Pages 3330-3343

  Lengaigne, Matthieu ^a   Boulanger, Jean Philippe ^a   Menkes, Christophe ^a   Madec, Gurvan ^a   Delecluse, Pascale ^a   Guilyardi, Eric ^b   Slingo, Julia ^b  

^a INSTITUT DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT   (France)

^b UNIVERSITY OF READING   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

HEAT CONVECTION; OCEAN ENGINEERING; OCEANOGRAPHY; WIND EFFECTS;

GENERAL CIRCULATION MODEL (GCM);

CLIMATOLOGY;

EL NINO-SOUTHERN OSCILLATION; GENERAL CIRCULATION MODEL; SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE; SEASONALITY; WESTERLY;

EID: 0344121679     PISSN: 08948755     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1175/1520-0442(2003)016<3330:TMWWEA>2.0.CO;2     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. Achutarao, K., K. R. Sperber, and the CMIP modelling groups, 2002: Simulation of the El Niño Southern Oscillation: Results from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. Climate Dyn., 19, 191-209.
2. Barnston, A. G., M. H. Glantz, and Y. He, 1999: Predictive skill of statistical and dynamical climate models in SST forecasts during the 1997-98 El Niño episode and the 1998 La Niña onset. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 80, 217-243.
3. Battisti, D. S., 1988: Dynamics and thermodynamics of a warming event in a coupled tropical atmosphere-ocean model. J. Atmos. Sci., 45, 2889-2919.
4. Bentamy, A., Y. Quilfen, F. Gohin, N. Grima, M. Lenaour, and J. Servain, 1996: Determination and validation of average wind fields from ERS-1 scatterometer measurements. Global Atmos. Ocean Syst., 4, 1-29.
5. Bergman, J. W., H. H. Hendon, and K. M. Weickmann, 2001: Intraseasonal air-sea interactions at the onset of El Niño. J. Climate, 14, 1702-1719.
6. Boulanger, J.-P., and C. Menkes, 1999: Long equatorial wave reflection in the Pacific Ocean from TOPEX/Poseidon data during the 1992-1998 period. Climate Dyn., 15, 205-225.
7. Boulanger, J.-P., and C. Menkes, 2001: The Trident Pacific model. Part 2: Role of long equatorial wave reflection on sea surface temperature anomalies during the 1993-1998 TOPEX/Poseidon period. Climate Dyn., 17, 175-186.
8. Chiang, J. C. H., S. E. Zebiak, and M. A. Cane, 2001: Relative roles of elevated heating and surface temperature gradients in driving anomalous surface winds over tropical oceans. J. Atmos. Sci., 58, 1371-1394.
9. Chu, P. S., 1988: Extratropical forcing and the burst of equatorial westerlies in the western Pacific: A synoptic study. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 66, 549-564.
10. Chu, P. S., and J. Frederick, 1990: Westerly wind bursts and surface heat fluxes in the equatorial western Pacific in May 1982. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 68, 523-536.
11. Fedorov, A. V., 2002: The response of the coupled tropical ocean-atmosphere to westerly wind bursts. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 128, 1-23.
12. Giese, B. S., and D. E. Harrison, 1991: Eastern equatorial Pacific response to three composite westerly wind types. J. Geophys. Res., 96 (Suppl.), 3239-3248.
13. Gregory, D., and P. R. Rowntree, 1990: A mass flux convection scheme with the representation of cloud ensemble characteristics and stability dependent closure. Mon. Wea. Rev., 118, 1483-1506.
14. Gregory, D., and S. Allen, 1991: The effect of convective scale down-draughts upon NWP and climate simulations. Preprints, Ninth Conf. on Numerical Weather Prediction, Denver, CO, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 122-123.
15. Gregory, D., R. Kershaw, and P. M. Inness, 1997: Parametrisation of momentum transport by convection. II: Tests in single column and general circulation models. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 123, 1153-1183.
16. Harrison, D. E., and G. Vecchi, 1997: Westerly wind events in the tropical Pacific, 1986-1995. J. Climate, 10, 3131-3156.
17. Hartten, L. M., 1996: Synoptic settings of westerly wind bursts. J. Geophys. Res., 101, 16 997-17 019.
18. Hendon, H. H., C. Zhang, and J. D. Glick, 1999: Interannual variability of the Madden-Julian oscillation during austral summer. J. Climate, 12, 2538-2550.
19. Hendon, H. H., B. Liebmann, M. Newman, J. D. Glick, and J. E. Schemm, 2000: Medium-range forecast errors associated with active episodes of the Madden-Julian oscillation. Mon. Wea. Rev., 128, 69-86.
20. Inness, P. M., and D. Gregory, 1997: Aspects of the intraseasonal oscillation simulated by the Hadley Centre Atmosphere Model. Climate Dyn., 13, 441-458.
21. Inness, P. M., and J. M. Slingo, 2003: Simulation of the Madden-Julian oscillation in a coupled general circulation model. Part II: The role of the basic state. J. Climate, 16, 365-382.
22. Inness, P. M., J. M. Slingo, S. J. Woolnough, R. B. Neale, and V. D. Pope, 2001: Organization of tropical convection in a GCM with varying vertical resolution: Implications for the simulation of the Madden-Julian oscillation. Climate Dyn., 17, 777-793.
23. Inness, P. M., J. M. Slingo, E. Guilyardi, and J. Cole, 2003: Simulation of the Madden-Julian oscillation in a coupled general circulation model. Part I: The importance of atmosphere-only interaction. J. Climate, 16, 345-364.
24. Keen, R. A., 1982: The role of cross-equatorial cyclone pairs in the Southern Oscillation. Mon. Wea. Rev., 110, 1405-1416.
25. Kessler, W. S., and R. Kleeman, 2000: Rectification of the Madden-Jullian oscillation into the ENSO cycle. J. Climate, 13, 3560-3575.
26. Kessler, W. S., M. J. McPhaden, and K. M. Weickmann, 1995: Forcing of intraseasonal Kelvin waves in the equatorial Pacific. J. Geophys. Res., 100, 10 613-10 631.
27. Kleeman, R., and A. M. Moore, 1997: A theory for the limitation of ENSO predictability due to stochastic atmospheric transients. J. Atmos. Sci., 54, 753-767.
28. Lau, K.-M., and P. H. Chan, 1986: The 40-50 day oscillation and the El Niño/Southern Oscillation: A new perspective. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 67, 533-534.
29. Lengaigne, M., J.-P. Boulanger, C. Menkes, S. Masson, G. Madec, and P. Delecluse, 2002: Ocean response to the March 1997 Westerly Wind Event. J. Geophys. Res., 107, 8015, doi:1029/2001JC000841.
30. Liebmann, B., and C. A. Smith, 1996: Description of a complete (interpolated) outgoing longwave radiation dataset. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 1275-1277.
31. Lin, X., and R. H. Johnson, 1996: Kinematic and thermodynamic characteristics of the flow over the western Pacific warm pool during TOGA COARE. J. Atmos. Sci., 53, 695-715.
32. Lindzen, R. S., and S. Nigam, 1987: On the role of sea surface temperature gradients in forcing low-level winds and convergence in the Tropics. J. Atmos. Sci., 44, 2418-2436.
33. Madden, R. A., and P. R. Julian, 1994: Observations of the 40-50-day tropical oscillation-A review. Mon. Wea. Rev., 122, 814-837.
34. Madec, G., P. Delecluse, M. Imbard, and C. Lévy, 1998: OPA 8.1 Ocean General Circulation Model reference manual. Note du Pôle de modélisation No.11, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, 91 pp.
35. Matsuura, M., and S. Iizuka, 2000: Zonal migration of the Pacific warm-pool tongue during El Niño events. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 30, 1582-1600.
36. McBride, J. L., N. E. Davidson, K. Puri, and G. C. Tyrell, 1995: The flow during TOGA COARE as diagnosed by the BMRC Tropical Analysis and Prediction System. Mon. Wen. Rev., 123, 717-736.
37. McPhaden, M. J., 1999: Genesis and evolution of the 1997-1998 El Niño. Science, 283, 950-954.
38. McPhaden, M. J., and X. Yu, 1999: Equatorial waves and the 1997-98 El Niño. Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 2961-2964.
39. Neelin, J. D., D. S. Battisti, A. C. Hirst, F.-F. Jin, Y. Wakata, T Yamagata, and S. E. Zebiak, 1998: ENSO theory. J. Geophys. Res., 103, 14 261-14 290.
40. Picaut, J., M. Ioulalen, C. Menkes, T. Delcroix, and M. J. McPhaden, 1996: Mechanism of the zonal displacements of the Pacific warm pool: Implications for ENSO. Science, 274, 1486-1489.
41. Pope, V. D., M. L. Gallani, P. R. Rowntree, and R. A. Stratton, 2000: The impact of new physical parameterisations in the Hadley Centre climate model-HadAM3. Climate Dyn., 16, 123-146.
42. Reynolds, R. W., and T. M. Smith, 1994: Improved global sea surface temperature analyses using optimum interpolation. J. Climate, 7, 1195-1202.
43. Slingo, J. M., 1998: The 1997/98 El Niño. Weather, 53, 274-281.
44. Slingo, J. M., and P. Delecluse, 1999: Scale interactions and the tropical atmosphere-ocean system. World Climate Research Programme Rep. WCRP-107, 416 pp.
45. Slingo, J. M., and Coauthors, 1996: Intraseasonal oscillations in 15 atmospheric general circulation models: Results from AMIP diagnostic subproject. Climate Dyn., 12, 325-357.
46. Slingo, J. M., D. P. Rowell, K. R. Sperber, and F. Nortley, 1999: On the predictability of the interannual behaviour of the Madden-Julian oscillation and its relationship with El Niño. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 125, 583-609.
47. Spencer, H., and J. M. Slingo, 2003: The simulation of peak and delayed ENSO teleconnections. J. Climate, 16, 1757-1774.
48. Sperber, K. R., J. M. Slingo, P. M. Inness, and W. K.-M. Lau, 1997: On the maintenance and initiation of the intraseasonal oscillation in the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and in the GLA and UKMO AMIP simulations. Climate Dyn., 13, 769-795.
49. van Oldenborgh, G. J., 2000: What caused the onset of the 1997-1998 El Niño? Mon. Wea. Rev., 128, 2601-2607.
50. Vialard, J., C. Menkes, J.-P. Boulanger, P. Delecluse, E. Guilyandi, M. J. McPhaden, and G. Madec, 2001: Oceanic mechanisms driving the SST during the 1997-1998 El Niño. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 31, 1649-1675.
51. Wang, C., 2002: Atmospheric circulation cells associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. J. Climate, 15, 399-419.
52. Woolnough, S. J., J. M. Slingo, and B. J. Hoskins, 2001: The organisation of tropical convection by intraseasonal sea surface temperature anomalies. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 127, 887-907.
53. Wu, Z., E. S. Sarachik, and D. S. Battisti, 1999: Thermally forced surface winds on an equatorial beta plane. J. Atmos. Sci., 56, 2029-2037.
54. Wu, Z., D. S. Battisti, and E. S. Sarachik, 2000: Rayleigh friction, newtonian Cooling, and the linear response to steady tropical heating. J. Atmos. Sci., 57, 1937-1957.
55. Wu, Z., E. S. Sarachik, and D. S. Battisti, 2001: Thermally driven tropical circulations under Rayleigh friction and Newtonian cooling: Analytic solutions. J. Atmos. Sci., 58, 724-741.
56. Wyrtki, K., 1985: Water displacements in the Pacific and the genesis of El Niño cycles. J. Geophys. Res., 91, 7129-7132.
57. Yu, L., and M. M. Rienecker, 1998: Evidence of an extratropical atmospheric influence during the onset of the 1997-98 El Niño. Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 3537-3540.