Isolation of sea surface salinity maps on various timescales in the tropical Pacific Ocean

Abstract

To isolate sea surface salinity (SSS) maps on seasonal, ENSO, decadal, and long-term trend timescales in the tropical Pacific Ocean, the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) is applied on an SSS data set covering 1950–2009, concerning three key regions including the western equatorial Pacific Warm Pool (WP), South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ), and Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ); then a self-organizing map is performed on the intrinsic mode function maps decomposed by the EEMD, concerning the whole basin. The ENSO and decadal signals concern mainly the western Pacific, in contrast to the seasonal signal mostly notable in the east. (1) The modulated annual cycle has smaller (larger) amplitudes during El Nino (La Nina) years and later appearance of minima during El Nino years; one unique annual cycle is observed at the northwestern edge of the ITCZ lagging the well-known ITCZ cycle by ~3 months. (2) The pronounced 1999–2001 SSS-related La Nina event in the SPCZ was reinforced twice by the decadal shift in the 1990s; the eastern Pacific and central Pacific ENSO-related SSS features are compared. (3) The contrasted anomalies between the western equatorial and non-equatorial regions were pronounced during 1977–1996, whereas they were less pronounced during 1971–1976, 2005–2008, and a roughly opposite pattern appeared with strong and abrupt decrease shift prevailing in large areas over the southwestern basin during 1997–2004. (4) The freshening at the western equator and the saltening located east of the SPCZ SSS front together amplify the geographical SSS contrasts exhibited by the WP and SPCZ SSS fronts.