Decadal variation of thermocline-sea surface temperature feedback in the tropical Indian Ocean and the underlying mechanisms

Meiqi Zhang; Shuangwen Sun; Lin Liu; Yongcan Zu; Lin Feng

doi:10.1007/s13131-021-1950-8

Volume 40 Issue 11

Nov. 2021

Turn off MathJax

Article Contents

Article Navigation > Acta Oceanologica Sinica > 2021 > 40(11): 31-38

Meiqi Zhang, Shuangwen Sun, Lin Liu, Yongcan Zu, Lin Feng. Decadal variation of thermocline-sea surface temperature feedback in the tropical Indian Ocean and the underlying mechanisms[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2021, 40(11): 31-38. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1950-8

Citation:

Meiqi Zhang, Shuangwen Sun, Lin Liu, Yongcan Zu, Lin Feng. Decadal variation of thermocline-sea surface temperature feedback in the tropical Indian Ocean and the underlying mechanisms[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2021, 40(11): 31-38. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1950-8

Citation:

Meiqi Zhang, Shuangwen Sun, Lin Liu, Yongcan Zu, Lin Feng. Decadal variation of thermocline-sea surface temperature feedback in the tropical Indian Ocean and the underlying mechanisms[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2021, 40(11): 31-38. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1950-8

PDF( 1226 KB)

Decadal variation of thermocline-sea surface temperature feedback in the tropical Indian Ocean and the underlying mechanisms

doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1950-8

Meiqi Zhang¹,
Shuangwen Sun^{1, 2, 3
,
,},
Lin Liu^{1, 2, 3},
Yongcan Zu^{1, 2, 3},
Lin Feng^{1, 2, 3}

1.
First Institute of Oceanography, and Key Laboratory of Marine Science and Numerical Modeling, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao 266061, China
2.
Laboratory for Regional Oceanography and Numerical Modeling, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao 266237, China
3.
Shandong Key Laboratory of Marine Science and Numerical Modeling, Qingdao 266061, China

Funds: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41976021, 41676020, 41876028 and 41876030; the Taishan Scholars Programs of Shandong Province under contract Nos tsqn201909165 and ts20190963; the Global Change and Air-Sea Interaction Program under contract No. GASI-04-QYQH-03.

More Information

Corresponding author: Email: ssun@fio.org.cn
Received Date: 2021-05-05
Accepted Date: 2021-08-06

Available Online: 2021-11-23

Publish Date: 2021-11-30

Abstract

Abstract

The thermocline-sea surface temperature (SST) feedback is the most important component of the Bjerknes feedback, which plays an important role in the development of the air-sea coupling modes of the Indian Ocean. The thermocline-SST feedback in the Indian Ocean has experienced significant decadal variations over the last 40 a. The feedback intensified in the late twentieth century and then weakened during the hiatus in global warming at the early twenty-first century. The thermocline-SST feedback is most prominent in the southeastern and southwestern Indian Ocean. Although the decadal variations of feedback are similar in these two regions, there are still differences in the underlying mechanisms. The decadal variations of feedback in the southeastern Indian Ocean are dominated by variations in the depth of the thermocline, which are modulated by equatorial zonal wind anomalies. Whereas the decadal variation of feedback in the southwestern Indian Ocean is mainly controlled by the intensity of upwelling and thermocline depth in winter and spring, respectively. The upwelling and thermocline depth are both affected by wind stress curl anomalies over the southeastern Indian Ocean, which excite anomalous Ekman pumping and influence the southwestern Indian Ocean through westward propagating Rossby waves.
- Indian Ocean,
- thermocline-SST feedback,
- decadal variation,
- upwelling,
- thermocline depth

FullText(HTML)

References(35)

References

[1]	Annamalai H, Murtugudde R, Potemra J, et al. 2003. Coupled dynamics over the Indian Ocean: spring initiation of the Zonal Mode. Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 50(12–13): 2305–2330,
[2]	Balmaseda M A, Mogensen K, Weaver A T. 2013. Evaluation of the ECMWF ocean reanalysis system ORAS4. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 139(674): 1132–1161. doi: 10.1002/qj.2063
[3]	Behringer D, Xue Yan. 2004. Evaluation of the global ocean data assimilation system at NCEP: the Pacific Ocean. In: Eighth Symposium on Integrated Observing and Assimilation Systems for Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Surface, AMS 84th Annual Meeting. Seattle, Washington
[4]	Bjerknes J. 1969. Atmospheric teleconnections from the equatorial pacific. Monthly Weather Review, 97(3): 163–172. doi: 10.1175/1520-0493(1969)097<0163:ATFTEP>2.3.CO;2
[5]	Cadet D L. 1985. The southern oscillation over the Indian Ocean. Journal of Climatology, 5(2): 189–212. doi: 10.1002/joc.3370050206
[6]	Cai Wenju, Zheng Xiaotong, Weller E, et al. 2013. Projected response of the Indian Ocean Dipole to greenhouse warming. Nature Geoscience, 6(12): 999–1007. doi: 10.1038/ngeo2009
[7]	Carton J A, Giese B S. 2008. A reanalysis of ocean climate using Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA). Monthly Weather Review, 136(8): 2999–3017. doi: 10.1175/2007mwr1978.1
[8]	Dong L, McPhaden M J. 2018. Unusually warm Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures help to arrest development of El Niño in 2014. Scientific Reports, 8(1): 2249. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-20294-4
[9]	Du Yan, Cai Wenju, Wu Yanling. 2013. A new type of the Indian Ocean Dipole since the mid-1970s. Journal of Climate, 26(3): 959–972. doi: 10.1175/jcli-d-12-00047.1
[10]	Easterling D R, Wehner M F. 2009. Is the climate warming or cooling?. Geophysical Research Letters, 36(8): L08706. doi: 10.1029/2009gl037810
[11]	Good S A, Martin M J, Rayner N A. 2013. EN4: Quality controlled ocean temperature and salinity profiles and monthly objective analyses with uncertainty estimates. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 118(12): 6704–6716. doi: 10.1002/2013JC009067
[12]	Han Weiqing, Meehl G A, Hu Aixue. 2006. Interpretation of tropical thermocline cooling in the Indian and Pacific oceans during recent decades. Geophysical Research Letters, 33(23): L23615. doi: 10.1029/2006gl027982
[13]	Hermes J C, Reason C J C. 2008. Annual cycle of the South Indian Ocean (Seychelles-Chagos) thermocline ridge in a regional ocean model. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 113(C4): C04035. doi: 10.1029/2007jc004363
[14]	Jin Feifei, Kim S T, Bejarano L. 2006. A coupled-stability index for ENSO. Geophysical Research Letters, 33(23): L23708. doi: 10.1029/2006gl027221
[15]	Kalnay E, Kanamitsu M, Kistler R, et al. 1996. The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 77(3): 437–472. doi: 10.1175/1520-0477(1996)077<0437:TNYRP>2.0.CO;2
[16]	Kerr R A. 2009. Climate change. What happened to global warming? Scientists say just wait a bit. Science, 326(5949): 28–29
[17]	Kim S T, Jeong H I, Jin Feifei. 2017. Mean bias in seasonal forecast model and ENSO prediction error. Scientific Reports, 7(1): 6029. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-05221-3
[18]	Lee S K, Park W, Baringer M O, et al. 2015. Pacific origin of the abrupt increase in Indian Ocean heat content during the warming hiatus. Nature Geoscience, 8(6): 445–449. doi: 10.1038/ngeo2438
[19]	Liu Lin, Yu Weidong, Li T. 2011. Dynamic and thermodynamic air–sea coupling associated with the Indian Ocean Dipole diagnosed from 23 WCRP CMIP3 models. Journal of Climate, 24(18): 4941–4958. doi: 10.1175/2011jcli4041.1
[20]	Neelin J D, Battisti D S, Hirst A C, et al. 1998. ENSO theory. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 103(C7): 14261–14290. doi: 10.1029/97jc03424
[21]	Ng B, Cai Wenju, Cowan T, et al. 2018. Influence of internal climate variability on Indian Ocean Dipole properties. Scientific Reports, 8(1): 13500. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-31842-3
[22]	Ng B, Cai Wenju, Walsh K. 2014. The role of the SST-thermocline relationship in Indian Ocean Dipole skewness and its response to global warming. Scientific Reports, 4: 6034. doi: 10.1038/srep06034
[23]	Nieves V, Willis J K, Patzert W C. 2015. Recent hiatus caused by decadal shift in Indo-Pacific heating. Science, 349(6247): 532–535. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa4521
[24]	Ren Hongli, Jin Feifei. 2013. Recharge oscillator mechanisms in two types of ENSO. Journal of Climate, 26(17): 6506–6523. doi: 10.1175/jcli-d-12-00601.1
[25]	Saji N H, Goswami B N, Vinayachandran P N, et al. 1999. A dipole mode in the tropical Indian Ocean. Nature, 401(6751): 360–363
[26]	Stan C, Straus D M, Frederiksen J S, et al. 2017. Review of tropical-extratropical teleconnections on intraseasonal time scales. Reviews of Geophysics, 55(4): 902–937. doi: 10.1002/2016rg000538
[27]	Trenary L L, Han Weiqing. 2008. Causes of decadal subsurface cooling in the tropical Indian Ocean during 1961–2000. Geophysical Research Letters, 35(17): L17602. doi: 10.1029/2008gl034687
[28]	Xiang Baoqiang, Wang Bin, Ding Qinghua, et al. 2012. Reduction of the thermocline feedback associated with mean SST bias in ENSO simulation. Climate Dynamics, 39(6): 1413–1430. doi: 10.1007/s00382-011-1164-4
[29]	Xie Shangping, Annamalai H, Schott F A, et al. 2002. Structure and mechanisms of south Indian Ocean climate variability. Journal of Climate, 15(8): 864–878. doi: 10.1175/1520-0442(2002)015<0864:Samosi>2.0.Co;2
[30]	Xie Shangping, Du Yan, Huang Gang, et al. 2010. Decadal shift in El Niño influences on Indo–Western Pacific and East Asian climate in the 1970s. Journal of Climate, 23(12): 3352–3368. doi: 10.1175/2010jcli3429.1
[31]	Yuan Xinyi, Jin Feifei, Zhang Wenjun. 2020. A concise and effective expression relating subsurface temperature to the thermocline in the equatorial Pacific. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(15): e2020GL087848. doi: 10.1029/2020gl087848
[32]	Zelle H, Appeldoorn G, Burgers G, et al. 2004. The relationship between sea surface temperature and thermocline depth in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 34(3): 643–655. doi: 10.1175/2523.1
[33]	Zheng Xiaotong, Xie Shangping, Vecchi G A, et al. 2010. Indian Ocean Dipole response to global warming: Analysis of ocean–atmospheric feedbacks in a coupled model. Journal of Climate, 23(5): 1240–1253. doi: 10.1175/2009jcli3326.1
[34]	Zhu Xiaoting, Chen Shengli, Greatbatch R J, et al. 2021. Role of thermocline feedback in the increasing occurrence of Central Pacific ENSO. Regional Studies in Marine Science, 41: 101584. doi: 10.1016/j.rsma.2020.101584
[35]	Zhu Jieshun, Kumar A, Huang Bohua. 2015. The relationship between thermocline depth and SST anomalies in the eastern equatorial Pacific: Seasonality and decadal variations. Geophysical Research Letters, 42(11): 4507–4515. doi: 10.1002/2015gl064220