Why Is Decadal Climate Variability Predominantly Observed in the Niño4 Region?

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates why observed decadal‐scale climate variability is predominantly pronounced in the Niño4 region compared to other equatorial Pacific areas using both observation and model sensitivity experiments. The initial shift to the negative phase of Tropical Pacific Decadal Variability (TPDV) is primarily driven by the upward and eastward migration of isopycnal negative temperature anomalies along the equator. Subsequently, the wind fields associated with the negative phase of the Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM) induce anomalous vertical currents in the equatorial Pacific. This leads to anomalous upwelling and downwelling of mean temperature in the Niño4 and Niño3 regions, respectively, thereby strengthening and weakening the corresponding subsurface‐produced sea surface temperature anomalies. Our findings clarify the roles of subsurface temperature anomalies in the phase reversal of TPDV and PMM in amplifying decadal variance, specifically in the equatorial central Pacific.

Keywords

• tropical pacific decadal variability
• subsurface temperature anomalies
• pacific meridional mode
• vertical heat advection
• TPDV phase transition
• anomalous vertical advection