The Hadley Circulation Regime Change: Combined Effect of the Western Pacific Warming and Increased ENSO Amplitude

The variation in the interannual relationship between the boreal winter Hadley circulation (HC) and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) during 1948–2014 is investigated. The interannual variability of the HC is dominated by two principal modes: the equatorial asymmetric mode (AM) and the equatorial...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of climate 2018-12, Vol.31 (23), p.9739-9751
Main Authors: Guo, Yi-Peng, Tan, Zhe-Min
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amplitude
Amplitudes
Anomalies
Climate change
Cold regions
Convergence zones
Datasets
El Nino
El Nino phenomena
El Nino-Southern Oscillation event
Hadley circulation
Interannual variability
Precipitation
Sea surface
Sea surface temperature
Southern Oscillation
Statistical analysis
Surface temperature
Temperature effects
Trends
Tropical climate
Winter circulation
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Summary:The variation in the interannual relationship between the boreal winter Hadley circulation (HC) and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) during 1948–2014 is investigated. The interannual variability of the HC is dominated by two principal modes: the equatorial asymmetric mode (AM) and the equatorial symmetric mode (SM). The AM of the HC during ENSO events mainly results from a combined effect of the ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies and the climatological background SST over the South Pacific convergence zone. Comparatively, the SM shows a steady and statistically significant relationship with ENSO; however, the interannual relationship between the AM and ENSO is strengthened during the mid-1970s, which leads to a HC regime change—that is, the interannual pulse of the HC intensity and its response to ENSO are stronger after the mid-1970s than before. The long-term warming trend of the tropical western Pacific since the 1950s and the increased ENSO amplitude play vital roles in the HC regime change. Although the tropical eastern Pacific also experienced a long-term warming trend, it has little influence on the HC regime change due to the climatologically cold background SST over the cold tongue region.
ISSN:0894-8755
1520-0442
DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0306.1