• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.687-694
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• 2006

This paper investigated the effects of wind stress forcing in the western North Pacific on ENSO decadal change before and after the late 1970s. The SVD analysis of SODA data shows that a positive wind stress curl is dominant in the western North Pacific at the ENSO mature phase, which leads to the ENSO phase change by discharge/recharge heat contents in the equatorial Pacific. Before the late 1970s, the wind stress curl in the western North Pacific was strong. This strong wind forcing that is associated with the fast discharge of heat contents in the equator led to the short period and the weak intensity of ENSO occurred during the 1960-1970. On the other hand, after the late 1970s the relatively weak wind stress curl was accompanied with the long period and the strong intensity of ENSO. The simple coupled model experiments also confirm that the amplitude and dominant period of ENSO decrease when the wind stress curl in the western North Pacific projects more strongly into the ocean at the TNSO mature phase. Our results support that the changes in the behavior of ENSO after the late 1970s are associated with the wind stress variation in the western North Pacific.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.299-303
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• 2008

In this study, an uncertainty assessment for surface air temperature(T2m) and precipitation(PCP) over East Asia is carried out. The data simulated by the intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) Atmosphere-Ocean coupled general circulation Model (AOGCM) are used to assess the uncertainty. Examination of the seasonal uncertainty of T2m and PCP variabilities shows that spring-summer cold bias and fall warm bias of T2m are found over both East Asia and the Korea peninsula. In contrast, distinctly summer dry bias and winter-spring wet bias of PCP over the Korea peninsula is found. To investigate the PCP seasonal variability over East Asia, the cyclostationary empirical orthogonal function(CSEOF) analysis is employed. The CSEOF analysis can extract physical modes (spatio-temporal patterns) and their undulation (PC time series) of PCP, showing the evolution of PCP. A comparison between spatio-temporal patterns of observed and modeled PCP anomalies shows that positive PCP anomalies located in northeastern China (north of Korea) of the multi-model ensemble(MME) cannot explain properly the contribution to summer monsoon rainfalls across Korea and Japan. The uncertainty of modeled PCP indicates that there is disagreement between observed and MME anomalies. The spatio-temporal deviation of the PCP is significantly associated with lower- and upper-level circulations. In particular, lower-level moisture transports from the warm pool of the western Pacific and corresponding moisture convergence significantly contribute to summer rainfalls. These lower- and upper-level circulations physically consistent with PCP give a insight of the reason why differences between modeled and observed PCP occur.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.240-249
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• 2005

The normal Indian Ocean is characterized by warmer waters over the eastern region and cooler waters over the western region. Changes in sea surface temperature (SST) over the western and eastern Indian Ocean give birth to a phenomenon now referred to as the Indian Ocean Dipole Mode (IODM). The positive phase of this mode is characterized by positive SST anomalies over the western Indian Ocean and negative anomalies over the southeastern Indian Ocean, while the negative phase is characterized by a reversed SST anomaly pattern. On the other hand, the normal Pacific Ocean has warm (cool) waters over the western (eastern) parts. Positive (negative) SST anomalies over the central/eastern (western) Pacific Ocean characterize the E1 Nino phenomenon. The reverse situation leads to the La Nina phenomenon. The coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon over the Pacific is referred to as the E1 Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. In this study the impact of IODM and ENSO on the East Asian monsoon variability has been studied using observational data and using the Community Atmospheric Model (CAM) of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Five sets of model experiments were performed with anomalous SST patterns associated with IODM/ENSO superimposed on the climatological SSTs. The empirical and dynamic approaches reveal that it takes about 3-4 seasons fur the peak IODM mode to influence the summer monsoon activity over East Asia. On the other hand, the impact of ENSO on the East Asian monsoon could occur simultaneously. Further, the negative (positive) phase of IODM and E1 Nino (La Nina) over the Pacific enhances (suppresses) monsoon activity over the Korea-Japan Sector. Alternatively, IODM appears to have no significant impact on monsoon variability over China. However, El Nino (La Nina) suppresses (enhances) monsoon activity over China. While the IODM appears to influence the North Pacific subtropical high, ENSO appears to influence the Aleutian low over the northwest Pacific. Thus, the moisture supply towards East Asia from the Pacific is determined by the strengthening/weakening of the subtropical high and the Aleutian low.