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A mechanism for generating ENSO decadal variability
Author(s) -
Kleeman Richard,
McCreary Julian P.,
Klinger Barry A.
Publication year - 1999
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 - 10.1029/1999gl900352
Subject(s) - teleconnection , pacific decadal oscillation , thermocline , climatology , el niño southern oscillation , multivariate enso index , oscillation (cell signaling) , pacific basin , mode (computer interface) , geology , subtropics , environmental science , mechanism (biology) , southern oscillation , oceanography , physics , quantum mechanics , fishery , biology , computer science , genetics , operating system
A coupled ocean‐atmosphere model of the Pacific basin is used to illustrate a mechanism by which El Niño and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO) may be modulated on decadal time scales. For reasonable choices of model parameters, solutions exhibit two types of oscillation, an ENSO‐like interannual mode and a decadal one. The decadal mode affects the equatorial zone by means of an oceanic teleconnection that involves transport variations of the North Pacific Subtropical Cell. Since almost half of the cool, thermocline water that upwells in the eastern equatorial Pacific participates in this cell, these variations significantly alter the extent of the cold tongue, and hence provide an efficient mechanism for modulating ENSO.