Abnormal features of the Pacific wind system during the 1997-1998 El Nino

作者：Chen G^*; Ezraty R; He Y; Fang C

来源：International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2001, 22(18): 3907-3912.

DOI：10.1080/01431160110069926

The 1997-1998 El Nino, the strongest in recorded history, manifested itself with a number of unusual features associated with the Pacific wind system. These features include: (1) an annual cycle of an east-west migration of a weakened wind speed zone between 2 degrees N-9 degrees N; (2) an asymmetric see-saw process of trade wind variations between the two hemispheres in terms of relative intensity and central position; and (3) an 18-month cycle of meridional oscillations of the Pacific doldrums and trade wind belts. In addition, the commonly-used argument of trade wind relaxation in association with El Ninos appears to be partly introduced, at least for the present case, by the ';tilt effect'; of the Pacific zonal winds. These novel findings, revealed by the newly available multi-year TOPEX altimeter data, may help to improve existing theories on El Nino formation, and may also contribute to its future prediction.

• 出版日期2001-12
• 单位中国科学院海洋研究所; 中国海洋大学