Role of the Indo-Pacific Oceanic channel in ENSO dynamics and global climate change

Abstract:

Our understanding of the Indo-Pacific Ocean circulation has been greatly advanced based on satellite observations, Argo profiles and ship-based hydrographic surveys. The WPOC-ITF mooring arrays of the NPOCE program have provided a large amount of direct synchronous time series measurements of the western tropical Pacific circulation and of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) in key straits of the Indonesian seas. The variations of the surface and subsurface circulation impacts the western Pacific warm pool, which plays a central role in ENSO dynamics and in global climate change. The exchange of the western Pacific circulation with the Asian marginal seas and the Indian Ocean has been disclosed to significantly impact the regional heat and freshwater inventories. In this talk, the variability of the surface and sub-thermocline circulation in the western tropical Pacific Ocean and their interactions with the Indian Ocean during the latest interannual events are analyzed based on these observations. The dynamics of the latest El Niño and the accelerated global warming will be discussed in light of these disclosed variability.