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arXiv · 1710.03216

(Un)predictability of strong El Ni\~no events

John Guckenheimer·Axel Timmermann·Henk Dijkstra·Andrew Roberts
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Abstract

The El Ni\~no-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a mode of interannual variability in the coupled equatorial Pacific coupled atmosphere/ocean system. El Ni\~no describes a state in which sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific increase and upwelling of colder, deep waters diminishes. El Ni\~no events typically peak in boreal winter, but their strength varies irregularly on decadal time scales. There were exceptionally strong El Ni\~no events in 1982-83, 1997-98 and 2015-16 that affected weather on a global scale. Widely publicized forecasts in 2014 predicted that the 2015-16 event would occur a year earlier. Predicting the strength of El Ni\~no is a matter of practical concern due to its effects on hydroclimate and agriculture around the world. This paper discusses the frequency and regularity of strong El Ni\~no events in the context of chaotic dynamical systems. We discover a mechanism that limits their predictability in a conceptual "recharge oscillator" model of ENSO. Weak seasonal forcing or noise in this model can induce irregular switching between an oscillatory state that has strong El Ni\~no events and a chaotic state that lacks strong events, In this regime, the timing of strong El Ni\~no events on decadal time scales is unpredictable.

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John Guckenheimer, Axel Timmermann, Henk Dijkstra, Andrew Roberts. 2017-10-09. (Un)predictability of strong El Ni\~no events. https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.03216

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