Revisiting the effect of increasing horizontal resolution on the evolution of El Niño in a coupled model

Abstract

The ENSO (El Niño southern oscillation) in the tropical Pacific plays a crucial role in regulating the Indian summer monsoon. Many mechanisms have been proposed to explain the positive and negative feedback associated with the ENSO through air-sea interaction in the tropical Pacific. Historical run data at varying oceanic and atmospheric resolutions from the MPI-ESM model is analyzed and compared with observations to determine the possible reasons for the much earlier onset and delayed withdrawal of ENSO in the coupled model. Increasing the resolution of the oceanic and atmospheric components of the coupled model helps in well-resolving the annual cycle of sea surface temperature in the tropical Pacific. There is a significant improvement in the early onset and late withdrawal of El Niño in the coupled model with increasing horizontal resolution of the model components. The weak subsurface propagation along the 20 °C isotherm in the equatorial Pacific improves on increasing the horizontal resolution of the coupled model. Similar to observations, there is a clear eastward extension of convection, 20° east of the dateline, in the equatorial tropical Pacific in the coupled model during ENSO years. Increasing the resolution of the oceanic and atmospheric components of the coupled model improves the simulation of convective activity over the western Pacific along with the improved magnitude of anomalous zonal wind strength during El Niño years. However, the presentation of convective activity over the equatorial Pacific deteriorated on increasing atmospheric resolution further to T255 due to the enhanced value of the interannual amplitude of intraseasonal zonal wind around the international dateline. Also, the coupled model does not capture the accurate eastward propagation of the Madden Julian Oscillation envelope over the western Pacific. While higher resolutions showed improvement in the representation of El Niño events in terms of their number and duration, challenges persisted in accurately capturing the frequency of these events and their related triggering mechanisms. Understanding the intricate interplay of factors influencing the evolution of El Niño requires further research and progress in modeling strategies.