Increased Predictability of Extreme El Niño From Decadal Interbasin Interaction

Abstract Predicting extreme El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events remains a formidable task. Utilizing eigen microstates (EMs) of complex systems, we elucidate the interplay of two key sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly modes, the newly identified Atlantic‐Western Pacific Multidecadal mode (...

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Main Authors: Xuan Ma, Rizhou Liang, Xiaosong Chen, Fei Xie, Jinqing Zuo, Cheng Sun, Ruiqiang Ding
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-12-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110943
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author Xuan Ma
Rizhou Liang
Xiaosong Chen
Fei Xie
Jinqing Zuo
Cheng Sun
Ruiqiang Ding
author_facet Xuan Ma
Rizhou Liang
Xiaosong Chen
Fei Xie
Jinqing Zuo
Cheng Sun
Ruiqiang Ding
author_sort Xuan Ma
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Predicting extreme El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events remains a formidable task. Utilizing eigen microstates (EMs) of complex systems, we elucidate the interplay of two key sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly modes, the newly identified Atlantic‐Western Pacific Multidecadal mode (AM‐WPM) and discovered Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM). Our findings demonstrate that a cold AM‐WPM phase coupled with a positive PMM phase markedly elevates the probability of extreme El Niño events; AM‐WPM's decadal variability serves as a key modulator of extreme El Niño events' frequency. Our empirical model, capitalizing on these modes, achieves robust forecasts with a 6–8 months lead time and boasts a 0.73 correlation with the observed ENSO index in hindcasts. Notably, the model precisely forecasts the intensity of four extreme El Niño episodes: 1982/1983, 1987/1988, 1997/1998, and 2015/2016. Our findings offer promising avenues for refining ENSO predictive frameworks and deepen our understanding of the key climatic drivers.
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institution OA Journals
issn 0094-8276
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language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-8cac77ffd1ce4504b792f4ef99ed58462025-08-20T02:06:01ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072024-12-015123n/an/a10.1029/2024GL110943Increased Predictability of Extreme El Niño From Decadal Interbasin InteractionXuan Ma0Rizhou Liang1Xiaosong Chen2Fei Xie3Jinqing Zuo4Cheng Sun5Ruiqiang Ding6School of Systems Science & Institute of Nonequilibrium Systems Beijing Normal University Beijing ChinaSchool of Systems Science & Institute of Nonequilibrium Systems Beijing Normal University Beijing ChinaSchool of Systems Science & Institute of Nonequilibrium Systems Beijing Normal University Beijing ChinaSchool of Systems Science & Institute of Nonequilibrium Systems Beijing Normal University Beijing ChinaCMA Key Laboratory for Climate Prediction Studies National Climate Centre China Meteorological Administration Beijing ChinaState Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science Faculty of Geographical Science Beijing Normal University Beijing ChinaState Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology Beijing Normal University Beijing ChinaAbstract Predicting extreme El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events remains a formidable task. Utilizing eigen microstates (EMs) of complex systems, we elucidate the interplay of two key sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly modes, the newly identified Atlantic‐Western Pacific Multidecadal mode (AM‐WPM) and discovered Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM). Our findings demonstrate that a cold AM‐WPM phase coupled with a positive PMM phase markedly elevates the probability of extreme El Niño events; AM‐WPM's decadal variability serves as a key modulator of extreme El Niño events' frequency. Our empirical model, capitalizing on these modes, achieves robust forecasts with a 6–8 months lead time and boasts a 0.73 correlation with the observed ENSO index in hindcasts. Notably, the model precisely forecasts the intensity of four extreme El Niño episodes: 1982/1983, 1987/1988, 1997/1998, and 2015/2016. Our findings offer promising avenues for refining ENSO predictive frameworks and deepen our understanding of the key climatic drivers.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110943
spellingShingle Xuan Ma
Rizhou Liang
Xiaosong Chen
Fei Xie
Jinqing Zuo
Cheng Sun
Ruiqiang Ding
Increased Predictability of Extreme El Niño From Decadal Interbasin Interaction
Geophysical Research Letters
title Increased Predictability of Extreme El Niño From Decadal Interbasin Interaction
title_full Increased Predictability of Extreme El Niño From Decadal Interbasin Interaction
title_fullStr Increased Predictability of Extreme El Niño From Decadal Interbasin Interaction
title_full_unstemmed Increased Predictability of Extreme El Niño From Decadal Interbasin Interaction
title_short Increased Predictability of Extreme El Niño From Decadal Interbasin Interaction
title_sort increased predictability of extreme el nino from decadal interbasin interaction
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110943
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