A possible bias of simulating the post-2000 changing ENSO

Since the late 1990s, a climate shift has occurred over the tropical Pacific that is characterized with a La Nifia-like mean state. Coincident with this climate shift, climate models＇ skills in predicting the El Nifio Southern Oscillation （ENSO） events in the 2000s are sig- nificantly lower than in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in中国科学通报：英文版 no. 21; pp. 1850 - 1857
Main Author Fei Zheng Wen Zhang Jinyi Yu Quanliang Chen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 2015
Subjects
ENSO事件
ENSO模型
厄尔尼诺-南方涛动
模型偏差
模拟
气候变化
热带太平洋
耦合过程
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Summary:Since the late 1990s, a climate shift has occurred over the tropical Pacific that is characterized with a La Nifia-like mean state. Coincident with this climate shift, climate models＇ skills in predicting the El Nifio Southern Oscillation （ENSO） events in the 2000s are sig- nificantly lower than in the 1980s-1990s, A common bias is likely to exist in contemporary ENSO models that got amplified after the climate shift. In this study, we identify this model bias to be the wind-sea surface temperature coupling processes over the tropical Pacific. Evidence is presented to show that this coupling process experienced an obvious shift around year 2000 in its coupling strength and coupling center. A simple ENSO coupled model is used to demonstrate that the changing properties of the post-2000 ENSO events can be more realistically simulated if this model bias is alleviated.
Bibliography:Since the late 1990s, a climate shift has occurred over the tropical Pacific that is characterized with a La Nifia-like mean state. Coincident with this climate shift, climate models＇ skills in predicting the El Nifio Southern Oscillation （ENSO） events in the 2000s are sig- nificantly lower than in the 1980s-1990s, A common bias is likely to exist in contemporary ENSO models that got amplified after the climate shift. In this study, we identify this model bias to be the wind-sea surface temperature coupling processes over the tropical Pacific. Evidence is presented to show that this coupling process experienced an obvious shift around year 2000 in its coupling strength and coupling center. A simple ENSO coupled model is used to demonstrate that the changing properties of the post-2000 ENSO events can be more realistically simulated if this model bias is alleviated.
ENSO ; Wind-SST coupling - Biascorrection; Climate shift
10-1298/N
ISSN:1001-6538
1861-9541