9.4
Modelling evidence for the role of the Western Pacific in determining Pacific decadal variability
Bin Yu, MSC, Victoria, BC, Canada; and G. J. Boer
Recent analyses (Garreaud and Battisti, 1999; Deser, 2002) indicate that the roots of Pacific decadal variability may lie in the tropical Indian/western Pacific oceans and south Pacific convergence zone. Support for this suggestion is being sought in the results of a 1000-yr integration with the CCCma coupled ocean-atmosphere model.
The principal mode of tropical decadal-interdecadal Pacific variability for the CGCM shows reasonably realistic features compared to the corresponding observation-based mode. Upper-ocean temperatures, atmospheric circulation, and energy balance at the air-sea interface are examined to explore the mechanisms involved in generating and maintaining the mode. The role of off-equatorial Rossby waves, the physical processes controlling the air-sea interaction, and the associated atmosphere/ocean patterns that result are also analyzed.
Session 9, Model Diagnostics and Evaluation
Wednesday, 12 February 2003, 1:30 PM-5:15 PM
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