INTERANNUAL LOW-FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS OF MERIDIONAL WINDS OVER THE EQUATORIAL INDIAN-PACIFIC OCEANS

Based on analysis of the meridional winds over oceanic areas and SST for 1950-1979 extracted from the data sets of COADS, the long-term variability of the meridional winds over the equatorial Indian-Pacific oceans and its relationship to the onset and development of El Nino events have been studied. The major results are as follows:(1) There is a great similarity between ITCZ over the Pacific and SST in the seasonal trend, with ITCZ and high SST found in the Southern Hemisphere in winter and in the Northern Hemisphere in summer.During El Nino years, unusual meridional winds were often observed, with significant convergence of meridional winds occurring over near-equatorial regions.(2) For the near-equatorial meridional winds, there are three types of interannual LFO:QBO, SO, FYO. QBO plays an important role in the unusual behavior of meridional winds for El Nino years, while SO is very important for both El Nino and cold water years. These two oscillations may fit well to the observed variation in the meridional wind. FYO may enhance the variation of meridional winds.(3) Interannual LFO of meridional winds originates in the Indian Ocean-Maritime Continent and coastal area of East Pacific. Unusual activities of winter monsoon in both hemispheres and trade winds off the coastal area of East Pacific are believed to be their major cause.(4) Monsoon-trade interaction shows up in the significant amplification of the disturbances of meridional winds while they propagate eastward from monsoon area to trade wind area.