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Global propagation of interannual fluctuations in atmospheric angular momentum

Nature volume 357, pages 484–488 (1992)Cite this article

Abstract

THE El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a climate fluctuation that recurs on a 2–7-yr timescale, is associated with persistent large-scale fluctuations in the dynamical behaviour of the global atmosphere–ocean system1. Here we present a study of the latitudinal redistribution of angular momentum within the atmosphere from 1976 to 1991. We observe slow, global-scale coherent poleward propagation of atmospheric angular-momentum fluctuations on interannual timescales. These originate in equatorial regions, where they lead the main atmospheric anomalies of the ENSO cycle by nearly two years; they penetrate to latitudes higher than 60° in both hemispheres, where they lag behind the ENSO cycle by about four years. We can also distinguish the bimodality of the ENSO phenomenon, with a low-frequency component centred at a period close to 4.2 years and a high-frequency component centred near 2.4 years. Each of the two components has a distinct latitudinal propagation pattern. In the period studied, strong El Niño and related La Niña climatic events occur when these components add constructively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Geodetic Science and Applications Group, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, California, 91109, USA

    J. O. Dickey & S. L. Marcus

  2. Meteorological Office Unit, Robert Hooke Institute, The Observatory, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, UK

    R. Hide

Authors
  1. J. O. Dickey
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  2. S. L. Marcus
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  3. R. Hide
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Dickey, J., Marcus, S. & Hide, R. Global propagation of interannual fluctuations in atmospheric angular momentum. Nature 357, 484–488 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/357484a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/357484a0

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