Abstract
In this study, two types of El Niño events are classified based on spatial patterns of the sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly. One is the cold tongue (CT) El Niño, which can be regarded as the conventional El Niño, and the other the warm pool (WP) El Niño. The CT El Niño is characterized by relatively large SST anomalies in the Niño-3 region (58S-58N, 1508-908W), while the WP El Niño is associated with SST anomalies mostly confined to the Niño-4 region (58S-58N, 1608E-1508W). In addition, spatial patterns of many atmospheric and oceanic variables are also distinctively different for the two types of El Niño events. Furthermore, the difference in the transition mechanism between the two types of El Niño is clearly identified. That is, the discharge process of the equatorial heat content associated with the WP El Niño is not efficient owing to the spatial structure of SST anomaly; as a result, it cannot trigger a cold event. It is also demonstrated that zonal advective feedback (i.e., zonal advection of mean SST by anomalous zonal currents) plays a crucial role in the development of a decaying SST anomaly associated with theWP El Niño, while thermocline feedback is a key process during the CT El Niño.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1499-1515 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Journal of Climate |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 Apr 14 |
Fingerprint
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Atmospheric Science
Cite this
}
Two types of El Niño events : Cold tongue El Niño and warm pool El Niño. / Kug, Jong Seong; Jin, Fei Fei; An, Soon Il.
In: Journal of Climate, Vol. 22, No. 6, 14.04.2009, p. 1499-1515.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Two types of El Niño events
T2 - Cold tongue El Niño and warm pool El Niño
AU - Kug, Jong Seong
AU - Jin, Fei Fei
AU - An, Soon Il
PY - 2009/4/14
Y1 - 2009/4/14
N2 - In this study, two types of El Niño events are classified based on spatial patterns of the sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly. One is the cold tongue (CT) El Niño, which can be regarded as the conventional El Niño, and the other the warm pool (WP) El Niño. The CT El Niño is characterized by relatively large SST anomalies in the Niño-3 region (58S-58N, 1508-908W), while the WP El Niño is associated with SST anomalies mostly confined to the Niño-4 region (58S-58N, 1608E-1508W). In addition, spatial patterns of many atmospheric and oceanic variables are also distinctively different for the two types of El Niño events. Furthermore, the difference in the transition mechanism between the two types of El Niño is clearly identified. That is, the discharge process of the equatorial heat content associated with the WP El Niño is not efficient owing to the spatial structure of SST anomaly; as a result, it cannot trigger a cold event. It is also demonstrated that zonal advective feedback (i.e., zonal advection of mean SST by anomalous zonal currents) plays a crucial role in the development of a decaying SST anomaly associated with theWP El Niño, while thermocline feedback is a key process during the CT El Niño.
AB - In this study, two types of El Niño events are classified based on spatial patterns of the sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly. One is the cold tongue (CT) El Niño, which can be regarded as the conventional El Niño, and the other the warm pool (WP) El Niño. The CT El Niño is characterized by relatively large SST anomalies in the Niño-3 region (58S-58N, 1508-908W), while the WP El Niño is associated with SST anomalies mostly confined to the Niño-4 region (58S-58N, 1608E-1508W). In addition, spatial patterns of many atmospheric and oceanic variables are also distinctively different for the two types of El Niño events. Furthermore, the difference in the transition mechanism between the two types of El Niño is clearly identified. That is, the discharge process of the equatorial heat content associated with the WP El Niño is not efficient owing to the spatial structure of SST anomaly; as a result, it cannot trigger a cold event. It is also demonstrated that zonal advective feedback (i.e., zonal advection of mean SST by anomalous zonal currents) plays a crucial role in the development of a decaying SST anomaly associated with theWP El Niño, while thermocline feedback is a key process during the CT El Niño.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=64049116316&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=64049116316&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1175/2008JCLI2624.1
DO - 10.1175/2008JCLI2624.1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:64049116316
VL - 22
SP - 1499
EP - 1515
JO - Journal of Climate
JF - Journal of Climate
SN - 0894-8755
IS - 6
ER -