Mixed-Mode Oscillations of El Niño–Southern Oscillation

Very strong El Niño events occur sporadically every 10–20 yr. The origin of this bursting behavior still remains elusive. Using a simplified three-dimensional dynamical model of the tropical Pacific climate system, which captures El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) combined with recently developed m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the atmospheric sciences 2016-04, Vol.73 (4), p.1755-1766
Main Authors: Roberts, Andrew, Guckenheimer, John, Widiasih, Esther, Timmermann, Axel, Jones, Christopher K. R. T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bursting
Climate
Climate models
Climate system
Coordinate transformations
Dynamic models
El Nino
El Nino events
El Nino phenomena
El Nino-Southern Oscillation event
Mathematical analysis
Ocean circulation
Ocean currents
Oceans
Ordinary differential equations
Oscillations
Southern Oscillation
Temperature
Three dimensional models
Water circulation
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Summary:Very strong El Niño events occur sporadically every 10–20 yr. The origin of this bursting behavior still remains elusive. Using a simplified three-dimensional dynamical model of the tropical Pacific climate system, which captures El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) combined with recently developed mathematical tools for fast–slow systems, the authors show that decadal ENSO bursting behavior can be explained as a mixed-mode oscillation (MMO), which also predicts a critical threshold for rapid amplitude growth. It is hypothesized that the MMO dynamics of the low-dimensional climate model can be linked to a saddle-focus equilibrium point, which mimics a tropical Pacific Ocean state without ocean circulation.
ISSN:0022-4928
1520-0469
DOI:10.1175/JAS-D-15-0191.1