Premium
An eigen analysis of the interdecadal changes in the structure and frequency of ENSO mode
Author(s) -
An SoonIl,
Jin FeiFei
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl011090
Subject(s) - thermocline , climatology , mode (computer interface) , el niño southern oscillation , advection , oscillation (cell signaling) , multivariate enso index , geology , environmental science , atmosphere (unit) , atmospheric sciences , southern oscillation , meteorology , physics , genetics , biology , computer science , thermodynamics , operating system
The mechanisms of interdecadal changes of El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) modes are examined through an eigen analysis of a simple coupled ocean‐atmosphere model. It is shown that the observed interdecadal climate shift can effectively modify the strength of two major coupled feedbacks for the ENSO mode, namely, the zonal advection and thermocline feedbacks. These modifications lead to quantitative changes of the leading coupled mode in its frequency, growth rate, and spatial pattern, which are consistent with the observation.