Tropospheric pathways of the late-winter ENSO teleconnection to Europe

The late-winter signal associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) over the European continent is unsettled. Two main anomalous patterns of sea-level pressure (SLP) can be identified: a “wave-like” pattern with two opposite-signed anomalies over Europe, and a pattern showing a single ano...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Mezzina, Bianca, García Serrano, Javier|||0000-0003-3913-0876, Ambrizzi, Tercio, Matei, Daniela, Manzini, Elisa, Bladé, Ileana
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/374577
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/374577
https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06508-6
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:El Niño Current
Teleconnections (Climatology)
El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
Sea-level pressure
Tropospheric ENSO teleconnection
Simulació per ordinador
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria agroalimentària::Ciències de la terra i de la vida::Climatologia i meteorologia
Descripción
Sumario:The late-winter signal associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) over the European continent is unsettled. Two main anomalous patterns of sea-level pressure (SLP) can be identified: a “wave-like” pattern with two opposite-signed anomalies over Europe, and a pattern showing a single anomaly (“semi-isolated”). In this work, potential paths of the tropospheric ENSO teleconnection to Europe and their role in favoring a more wave-like or semi-isolated pattern are explored. Outputs from historical runs of two versions of the MPI-ESM coupled model, which simulate these two types of patterns, are examined. A novel ray-tracing approach that accounts for zonal asymmetries in the background flow is used to test potential propagation paths in these simulations and in observations; three source regions are considered: the tropical Pacific, the North America/North Atlantic, and the tropical Atlantic. The semi-isolated pattern is suggested to be related to the well-known Rossby wave train emanating from the tropical Pacific, either via a split over northern North America or via reflection due to inhomogeneities in the background flow. The wave-like pattern, in turn, appears to be related to a secondary wave train emerging from the tropical Atlantic. The competition between these two pathways contributes to determining the actual surface response.