Open AccessInfluence of Mean Flow on the ENSO–Vertical Wind Shear Relationship over the Northern Tropical Atlantic
Author(s) -
Xianjin Zhu,
R. Saravanan,
Ping Chang
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of climate
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.315
H-Index - 287
eISSN - 1520-0442
pISSN - 0894-8755
DOI - 10.1175/jcli-d-11-00213.1
Subject(s) - tropical cyclogenesis , wind shear , climatology , geology , cyclogenesis , tropical cyclone , african easterly jet , shear (geology) , tropical atlantic , troposphere , el niño southern oscillation , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , atlantic hurricane , tropical wave , sea surface temperature , wind speed , oceanography , cyclone (programming language) , petrology , field programmable gate array , computer science , computer hardware
Vertical wind shear over the tropical Atlantic Ocean plays an important role in mediating hurricane activity. The vertical shear variability over the main development region for Atlantic hurricanes is affected by local factors as well as by the remote influence of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, as indicated by observational and climate modeling analyses. Climate model simulations of the ENSO–shear relationship are compared with observations. It is shown that there is a strong influence of background mean flow on the ENSO–shear relationship, because of the inherently nonlinear nature of vertical wind shear. In particular, the simulation of zonal flow over the tropical Atlantic is shown to play a critical role in how the remote influence of ENSO modulates the shear. Even with realistic simulations of the ENSO-induced westerly anomaly in the upper troposphere, overestimated easterly background flow in the model simulations can alter the relationship between ENSO and vertical wind shear, resulting in decreased vertical wind shear during warm ENSO events. This nonlinear superposition has important implications for the assessment of trends in large-scale environmental factors affecting tropical cyclogenesis in climate change simulations.