The Role of the Annual-Mean Climate on Seasonal and Interannual Variability of the Tropical Pacific in a Coupled GCM

The role of the annual-mean climate on seasonal and interannual variability in the tropical Pacific is investigated by means of a coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model. The atmospheric component of this coupled model is the Naval Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System and the oceanic component is the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Modular Ocean Model. Three sets of experiments are conducted. In case A, no annual-mean flux adjustment is applied so that the coupled model generates its own time-mean state. In case B, an annual-mean flux adjustment for SST is applied. In case C, both the annual-mean SST and surface wind are adjusted. It is found that a realistic simulation of both the seasonal and interannual variations can be achieved when a realistic annual-mean state is presented. The long-term (40 yr) simulations of the coupled GCM demonstrate the importance of the annual-mean climate on seasonal and interannual variability in the Tropics. The mechanism that causes an annual rather than a semiannual cycle at the equator is discussed. The authors particularly notice that the interannual oscillations in the model capture essentially all three ENSO phase transition modes: the delayed oscillator mode, the slow SST mode, and the stationary SST mode.