Dynamics of ENSO Phase–Locking and Its Biases in Climate Models

Chen, Han‐Ching; Jin, Fei‐Fei

doi:10.1029/2021gl097603

Dynamics of ENSO Phase–Locking and Its Biases in Climate Models

Journal Article · Mon Jan 24 00:00:00 EST 2022 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2021gl097603· OSTI ID:1978530

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Nanjing Univ. of Information Science and Technology (China); Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI (United States); OSTI
Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI (United States)

Here, the contributions of different oceanic feedbacks to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phase-locking are examined by deriving ENSO dynamics based on the recharge-discharge framework. In observations, the significant winter preference of the ENSO peak is determined by a strong seasonal modulation of SST growth rate, which is controlled by the zonal advective and thermodynamic feedbacks. However, the majority of climate models fail to simulate ENSO phase-locking because the contribution of zonal advective feedback to the seasonal modulation of the SST growth rate is much smaller compared to observations. The weak annual cycle of the SST-current coupling coefficient and small annual mean of the negative climatological zonal SST gradient are two factors contributing to the weak-biased seasonality of zonal advective feedback. Further analysis shows that the Niño3.4 SSTA has better phase-locking performance than Niño3 SSTA in the climate models due to the better simulation of zonal advection feedback in the Niño3.4 region.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0005110

OSTI ID:: 1978530

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1844000

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 49; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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