Predictability of tropical Pacific decadal variability is dominated by oceanic Rossby waves

Wu, Xian; Yeager, Stephen G.; Deser, Clara; Capotondi, Antonietta; Wittenberg, Andrew T.; McPhaden, Michael J.

doi:10.1038/s41612-024-00851-7

i

Predictability of tropical Pacific decadal variability is dominated by oceanic Rossby waves

2024
By Wu, Xian ; Yeager, Stephen G. ; Deser, Clara ; ...

File Language:

Select the Download button to view the document

Please click the download button to view the document.

Details

Journal Title:

npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
Personal Author:

Wu, Xian ; Yeager, Stephen G. ; Deser, Clara ; Capotondi, Antonietta ; Wittenberg, Andrew T. ; McPhaden, Michael J.
NOAA Program & Office:

OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; GFDL (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory) ; PMEL (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory) ; PSL (Physical Sciences Laboratory) ; CIMES (Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System) ; CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences)
Description:

Despite its pronounced global impacts, tropical Pacific decadal variability (TPDV) is poorly predicted by current climate models due to model deficiencies and a limited understanding of its underlying mechanisms. Using observational data and a hierarchy of model simulations including decadal hindcasts, we find that decadal isopycnal depth variability driven by oceanic Rossby waves in the tropical Pacific provides the most important source of predictability for TPDV. The predictability arising from initial isopycnal depth conditions is further amplified by tropical ocean-atmosphere coupling and variations in the strength of subtropical cells in the Pacific throughout the decadal forecasts. Regional initialization experiments that effectively isolate the impact of different ocean basins on TPDV predictability highlight the essential role of the tropical Pacific. This study enhances our understanding of the mechanisms governing TPDV predictability, offering crucial insights for improving the accuracy of decadal predictions.
Source:

npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 7(1)
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-024-00851-7
ISSN:

2397-3722
Format:

pdf
Publisher:

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. NA23OAR4320198 ; Grant no. NA20OAR4310408
License:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Rights Information:

CC BY
Compliance:

Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:f21543aac4472af6224559fc41b68ae5d64f896a758c66dbadf5c82ae7f90a41d91443ce1ff95918911f0a7e15a65e2422d7d5be1e1bcc99f634a5cfd2d27c79
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/67095/noaa_67095_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 9.74 MB ]

File Language:

ON THIS PAGE

Details

The NOAA IR serves as an archival repository of NOAA-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by NOAA or funded partners. As a repository, the NOAA IR retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.