The westerly anomalies over the tropical pacific and their dynamical effect on the enso cycles during 1980–1994

Abstract

In this paper, the zonal wind anomalies in the lower troposphere over the tropical Pacific during 1980–1994 are analyzed by using the observed data. The results show that during the formation of the 1982/83, 1986/87 and 1991 / 92 ENSO events, there were the larger westerly anomalies in the lower troposphere over the equatorial Pacific. Moreover, it is explained by using the correlation analyses that the westerly anomalies over the equatorial Pacific could cause the warm episodes of the equatorial central and eastern Pacific. A simple air-sea coupled model is used to discuss theoretically the dynamical effect of the observed westerly anomalies of wind stress near the sea surface of the equatorial Pacific on the ENSO cycle occurred in the period of 1981–1983. It is shown by using the theoretical calculations of the equatorial oceanic Kelvin wave and Rossby waves responding to the forcing of the observed anomalies of zonal wind stress near the sea surface of the equatorial Pacific that the westerly anomalies of wind stress near the sea surface of the equatorial Pacific make significant dynamical effect on the ENSO cycles occurred in the period of 1982–1983.