83rd Annual

Thursday, 13 February 2003
A Near-Annual Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mode in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean
Soon-Il An, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI; and F. F. Jin, J. S. Kug, and I. S. Kang
Poster PDF (629.4 kB)
A near-annual coupled ocean-atmosphere mode in the equatorial Pacific is studied using the NCEP ocean assimilation data set. This fast mode of tropical Pacific climate variability is superimposed on the slow 3-5 year El Niņo-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. Anomalous zonal advection plays a crucial role in generating this fast mode. It is suggested that this fast mode can be understood in terms of a coupled Pacific basin mode. It is responsible for the occurrence of some minor El Niņo and La Niņa events and has implications for the prediction of ENSO events.

Supplementary URL: