Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

El Niño/Southern Oscillation

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

El Niño; Southern oscillation; Tropical pacific warming

Definitions

Easterlies. Low-latitude trade winds that blow from east to west and extend from the Galapagos Islands to Indonesia.

Kelvin wave. A nondispersive subsurface oceanic wave, several centimeters high and hundreds of kilometers wide, that balances the Earth’s Coriolis force against the equator.

El Niño. A recurrent increase of the ocean surface temperature across much of the tropical eastern and central Pacific; the term was introduced by Peruvian fishermen.

La Niña. The opposite to El Niño – cooling of the ocean surface temperature across much of the tropical eastern and central Pacific.

Rossby wave. A planetary-scale wave caused by the variation in the Coriolis force with latitude, discovered by Carl-Gustaf Rossby in 1939.

Southern oscillation. Coupled changes in surface air pressure between the eastern and western Pacific associated with El Niño and La Niña events; the term was introduced by Sir Gilbert Walker...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Allen, M. R., and Robertson, A. W., 1996. Distinguishing modulated oscillations from coloured noise in multivariate datasets. Climate Dynamics, 12, 775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, T. P., Latif, M., Graham, N., Flügel, M., Pazan, S., and White, W., 1993. ENSO and ENSO-related predictability. Part I: Prediction of equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature with a hybrid coupled ocean-atmosphere model. Journal of Climate, 6, 1545–1566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnston, A., van den Dool, H., Zebiak, S., et al., 1994. Long-lead seasonal forecasts – Where do we stand? Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 75, 2097.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnston, A. G., and Ropelewski, C. F., 1992. Prediction of NESO episodes using canonical correlation analysis. Journal of Climate, 5, 1316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Battisti, D. S., 1988. The dynamics and thermodynamics of a warming event in a coupled tropical atmosphere/ocean model. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 45, 2889.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Battisti, D. S., and Hirst, A. C., 1989. Interannual variability in a tropical atmosphere-ocean model – influence of the basic state, ocean geometry and nonlinearity. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 46, 12, 1687.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjerknes, J., 1969. Atmospheric teleconnections from the equatorial Pacific. Monthly Weather Review, 97, 163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boulanger, J. P., Menkes, C., and Lengaigne, M., 2004. Role of high- and low-frequency winds and wave reflection in the onset, growth and termination of the 1997-1998 El Nino. Climate Dynamics, 22, 267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cane, M., and Zebiak, S. E., 1985. A theory for El Niño and the Southern Oscillation. Science, 228, 1084.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, P., Wang, B., Li, T., and Ji, L., 1994. Interactions between the seasonal cycle and the Southern Oscillation: frequency entrainment and chaos in intermediate coupled ocean-atmosphere model. Geophysical Research Letters, 21, 2817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, F., and Ghil, M., 1996. Interdecadal variability in a hybrid coupled ocean-atmosphere model. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 26, 1561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diaz, H. F., and Markgraf, V. (eds.), 1993. El Niño: Historical and Paleoclimatic Aspects of the Southern Oscillation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dijkstra, H. A., 2005. Nonlinear Physical Oceanography: A Dynamical Systems Approach to the Large Scale Ocean Circulation and El Niño, 2nd edn. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dijkstra, H. A., and Ghil, M., 2005. Low-frequency variability of the ocean circulation: a dynamical systems approach. Reviews of Geophysics, 43, RG3002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghil, M., 2002. Natural climate variability. In Munn, T. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change. Chichester/New York: Wiley, Vol. 1, pp. 544–549.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghil, M., and Jiang, N., 1998. Recent forecast skill for the El Niño/Southern Oscillation. Geophysical Research Letters, 25, 171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghil, M., Allen, M. R., Dettinger, M. D., Ide, K., Kondrashov, D., Mann, M. E., Robertson, A. W., Saunders, A., Tian, Y., Varadi, F., and Yiou, P., 2002. Advanced spectral methods for climatic time series. Reviews of Geophysics, 40, 1003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghil, M., Chekroun, M. D., and Simonnet, E., 2008a. Climate dynamics and fluid mechanics: natural variability and related uncertainties. Physica D, 237, 2111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghil, M., and Robertson, A. W., 2000. Solving problems with GCMs: general circulation models and their role in the climate modeling hierarchy. In Randall, D. (ed.), General Circulation Model Development: Past Present and Future. San Diego: Academic, pp. 285–325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghil, M., Zaliapin, I., and Coluzzi, B., 2008b. Boolean delay equations: a simple way of looking at complex systems. Physica D, 237, 2967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glantz, M. H., Katz, R. W., and Nicholls, N. (eds.), 1991. Teleconnections Linking Worldwide Climate Anomalies. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • IRI: The International Research Institute for Climate and Society, 2010. Resources on El Niño and La Niña, http://iri.columbia.edu/climate/ENSO/.

  • Ji, M., Behringer, D. W., and Leetmaa, A., 1998. An improved coupled model for ENSO prediction and implications for ocean initialization, Part II: the coupled model. Monthly Weather Review, 126, 1022.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang, N., Ghil, M., and Neelin, J. D., 1995a. Forecasts of equatorial Pacific SST anomalies by an autoregressive process using similar spectrum analysis. Experimental Long-Lead Forecast Bulletin (ELLFB), 4, 24. National Meteorological Center, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang, S., Jin, F.-F., and Ghil, M., 1995b. Multiple equilibria, periodic, and aperiodic solutions in a wind-driven, doublee-gyre, shallow-water model. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 25, 764.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang, N., Neelin, J. D., and Ghil, M., 1995c. Quasi-quadrennial and quasi-biennial variability in the equatorial Pacific. Climate Dynamics, 12, 101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jin, F.-F., and Neelin, J. D., 1993. Modes of interannual tropical ocean-atmosphere interaction – a unified view. Part III: analytical results in fully-coupled cases. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 50, 3523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jin, F-f, Neelin, J. D., and Ghil, M., 1994. El Niño on the Devil’s Staircase: Annual subharmonic steps to chaos. Science, 264, 70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kadanoff, L. P., 1983. Roads to chaos. Physics Today, 12, 46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landsea, C. W., 2000. El Niño/Southern Oscillation and the seasonal predictability of tropical cyclones. In Diaz, H. F., and Markgraf, V. (eds.), El Niño and the Southern Oscillation: Multiscale Variability and Global and Regional Impacts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 149–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latif, M., Barnett, T. P., Flügel, M., Graham, N. E., Xu, J.-S., and Zebiak, S. E., 1994. A review of ENSO prediction studies. Climate Dynamics, 9, 167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lengaigne, M., Guilyardi, E., Boulanger, J. P., et al., 2004. Triggering of El Nino by westerly wind events in a coupled general circulation model. Climate Dynamics, 23, 601.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madden, R. A., and Julian, P. R., 1994. Observations of the 40–50-day tropical oscillation – a review. Monthly Weather Review, 122, 814.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mechoso, C. R., Yu, J.-Y., and Arakawa, A., 2000. A coupled GCM pilgrimage: from climate catastrophe to ENSO simulations. In Randall, D. A. (ed.), General Circulation Model Development: Past, Present and Future: Proceedings of a Symposium in Honor of Professor Akio Arakawa. New York: Academic Press, p. 539.

    Google Scholar 

  • McPhaden, M. J., Busalacchi, A. J., Cheney, R., Donguy, J. R., Gage, K. S., Halpern, D., Ji, M., Julian, P., Meyers, G., Mitchum, G. T., Niiler, P. P., Picaut, J., Reynolds, R. W., Smith, N., and Takeuchi, K., 1998. The tropical ocean-global atmosphere observing system: a decade of progress. Journal of Geophysical Research, 103, 14169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McWilliams, J. C., 1996. Modeling the oceanic general circulation. Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, 28, 215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, A. J., et al., 1994. The 1976-77 climate shift of the Pacific Ocean. Oceanography, 7, 21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, J. M., Jr., 1976. An overview of climatic variability and its causal mechanisms. Quaternary Research, 6, 481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munnich, M., Cane, M., and Zebiak, S. E., 1991. A study of self-excited oscillations of the tropical ocean-atmosphere system Part II: nonlinear cases. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 48, 1238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neelin, J. D., 1990. A hybrid coupled general circulation model for El Niño studies. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 47, 674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neelin, J. D., Latif, M., Allaart, M. A. F., Cane, M. A., Cubasch, U., Gates, W. L., Gent, P. R., Ghil, M., Gordon, C., Lau, N. C., Mechoso, C. R., Meehl, G. A., Oberhuber, J. M., Philander, S. G. H., Schopf, P. S., Sperber, K. R., Sterl, A., Tokioka, T., Tribbia, J., and Zebiak, S. E., 1992. Tropical air-sea interaction in general circulation models. Climate Dynamics, 7, 73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neelin, J. D., Latif, M., and Jin, F.-F., 1994. Dynamics of coupled ocean-atmosphere models: the tropical problem. Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, 26, 617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neelin, J. D., Battisti, D. S., Hirst, A. C., Jin, F.-F., Wakata, Y., Yamagata, T., and Zebiak, S., 1998. ENSO theory. Journal of Geophysical Research, 103, 14261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • New, M. G., and Jones, P. D., 2000. Representing twentieth-century space-time climate variability Part II: development of a 1901-96 mean monthly grid of terrestrial surface climate. Journal of Climate, 13, 2217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfeffer, R. L. (ed.), 1960. Dynamics of Climate. New York: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Philander, S. G. H., 1990. El Niño, La Niña, and the Southern Oscillation. San Diego: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasband, S. N., 1990. Chaotic Dynamics of Nonlinear Systems. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasmusson, E. M., Wang, X., and Ropelewski, C. F., 1990. The biennial component of ENSO variability. Journal of Marine Systems, 1, 71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, A. W., Ma, C.-C., Ghil, M., and Mechoso, R. C., 1995. Simulation of the Tropical-Pacific climate with a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model. Part II: interannual variability. Journal of Climate, 8, 1199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ropelewski, C. F., and Halpert, M. S., 1987. Global and regional scale precipitation patterns associated with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation. Monthly Weather Review, 115, 1606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, S. H., and Dickinson, R. E., 1974. Climate modeling. Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics, 25, 447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schopf, P. S., and Suarez, M. J., 1988. Vacillations in a coupled ocean-atmosphere model. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 45, 549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suarez, M. J., and Schopf, P. S., 1988. A delayed action oscillator for ENSO. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 45, 3283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trenberth, K. E., 1997. The definition of El Niño. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 78, 277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tziperman, E., Stone, L., Cane, M., and Jarosh, H., 1994. El Niño chaos: overlapping of resonances between the seasonal cycle and the Pacific ocean-atmosphere oscillator. Science, 264, 272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Dool, H. M., 1994. Searching for analogues, how long must we wait? Tellus, 46A, 314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, X., Stone, P. H., and Marotzke, J., 1999. Global thermohaline circulation, Part II: sensitivity with interactive atmospheric transports. Journal of Climate, 12, 83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weng, W., and Neelin, J. D., 1998. On the role of ocean-atmosphere interaction in midlatitude interdecadal variability. Geophysical Research Letters, 25, 170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zaliapin, I., and Ghil, M., 2010. A delay differential model of ENSO variability, Part 2: phase locking, multiple solutions, and dynamics of extrema. Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 17, 123–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zebiak, S. E., and Cane, M. A., 1987. A model for El Niño oscillation. Monthly Weather Review, 115, 2262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geosciences Department and Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (CNRS and IPSL), Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24, rue Lhomond, Paris, 75231, France

    Prof. Dr. Michael Ghil

  2. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Prof. Dr. Michael Ghil

  3. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Nevada Reno, Ansari Business Bldg, Reno, NV, 89557, USA

    Dr. Ilya Zaliapin

Authors
  1. Prof. Dr. Michael Ghil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dr. Ilya Zaliapin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Ghil .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada

    Peter T. Bobrowsky

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Ghil, M., Zaliapin, I. (2013). El Niño/Southern Oscillation. In: Bobrowsky, P.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_112

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation