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Air‐Sea Interaction in the Western Tropical Pacific and its Impact on Asymmetry of the Ningaloo Niño/Niña
Author(s) -
Kusunoki Hidehiro,
Kido Shoichiro,
Tozuka Tomoki
Publication year - 2021
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 - 10.1029/2021gl093370
Subject(s) - teleconnection , oceanography , climatology , advection , sea surface temperature , asymmetry , geology , mixed layer , amplitude , entrainment (biomusicology) , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , el niño southern oscillation , physics , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics , philosophy , rhythm , aesthetics
Ningaloo Niño/Niña is the dominant interannual sea surface temperature (SST) variability off Western Australia with the former typically stronger than the latter. Although a recent study suggested that oceanic teleconnections from the Pacific partly contribute to the amplitude asymmetry, this seems counterintuitive as La Niña, which often induces the Ningaloo Niño, is generally weaker than El Niño. Here, mechanisms of the amplitude asymmetry in the oceanic teleconnection are investigated by analyzing reanalysis data and conducting ocean model simulations. Sensitivity experiments using a linear continuously stratified model reveal that stronger easterly wind anomalies in the western equatorial Pacific contribute to the stronger oceanic teleconnection during the Ningaloo Niño. Furthermore, a mixed layer heat budget analysis with a regional ocean model shows that negatively skewed SST anomalies in the central equatorial Pacific related to the skewed wind anomalies in the western equatorial Pacific, are mainly induced by vertical advection/diffusion and entrainment.