Open AccessPRINCIPAL CLIMATE INDICES FOR THE NORTH PACIFIC: NATURE AND HISTORY (A REVIEW)
Author(s) -
Г. В. Хен,
Е И Устинова,
Ю. Д. Сорокин
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
izvestiâ tinro/izvestiâ tihookeanskogo naučno-issledovatelʹskogo rybohozâjstvennogo centra
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2658-5510
pISSN - 1606-9919
DOI - 10.26428/1606-9919-2019-197-166-181
Subject(s) - climatology , pacific decadal oscillation , atmospheric circulation , northern hemisphere , stratosphere , arctic oscillation , environmental science , north atlantic oscillation , el niño southern oscillation , geography , index (typography) , latitude , troposphere , oceanography , geology , geodesy , world wide web , computer science
Climatic indices reflecting the environmental conditions and patterns of their variability in the entire northern Pacific and in its local regions are overviewed. Their physical nature and mechanisms of the processes, their geography and methods of calculation are presented, with citing of the first descriptions. Among a variety of global and regional climatic indices concern ing the North Pacific, the following ones are described: the indices of Arctic Oscillation (AO), El Niño — Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Aleutian Low Pressure Index (ALPI), Siberian High Index (SHI), North Pacific Index (NPI), Pacific/North American (PNA) Index, and West Pacific Index (WP). AO is a large-scale index of atmospheric circulation reflecting the processes both in the troposphere and stratosphere, where «pumping» of air masses between the high and moderate latitudes occurs continuously. ENSO is also a large-scale index that reflects large-scale interactions in the fields of temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind, and cloudiness over the whole Pacific. Other indices are rather regional, since their influence does not extend far beyond the limits of the domains of their definition. Nevertheless, their role in environmental fluctuations in certain areas could be significant and their influence could be traced throughout the Northern Hemisphere.