el niño forecasting stephen e. zebiak international research institute for climate prediction the...
TRANSCRIPT
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El Niño Forecasting
Stephen E. Zebiak
International Research Institute for climate prediction
• The basis for predictability
• Early predictions
• New questions raised in the 1990s
• Beyond El Niño proper – seasonal climate prediction
• 2002 El Niño
• Summary and questions for future research
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Southern Oscillation
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ENSO wind and SST patterns
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Strong trade winds
Westward currents, upwelling
Cold east, warm west
Convection, rising motion in west
Weak trade winds
Eastward currents, suppressed upwelling
Warm west and east
Enhanced convection, eastward displacement
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Surface layer
Deep ocean; u=v=w=0
Active layer
50 m
150 m
Simplified Ocean and Atmosphere Models
Simplified form of equations for conservation of mass, momentum, energy
SSTA
Tropopause
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Model ENSO
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wind stress
- h
+ h
- h
Ocean wave dynamics and ENSO
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Early Forecasting Methods
Build-up, then relaxation of trade winds
(Wyrtki; diagnostic)
Ocean dynamic response to observed wind patterns(Inoue & O’Brien; prognostic, but not coupled)
Identification of precursor patterns in sea level pressure, SST, winds from historical observations
(Graham, Barnett, …; statistical)
Simplified dynamical coupled models
(Cane, Zebiak, … ; prognostic)
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Winds,Heat
fluxes
Ocean simulation
Ocean obs.
Ocean analysis
t t + t
SST forcing
Atmos. simulation
Atmos. obs.
Atmos. analysis
t t + t
Data assimilation
Initial Conditions, t=t0
Atmosphere model Ocean model
FORECAST
Forecast Initialization Procedures
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Winds,Heat
fluxes
Ocean simulation
Ocean analysis
t t + t
SST forcing
Atmos. simulation
Atmos. analysis
t t + t
Data assimilation
Initial Conditions, t=t0
Atmosphere model Ocean model
FORECAST
Forecast Initialization Procedures
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Correlation Skill for NINO3 forecasts
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A real-time forecast
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Retrospective Assessment of ENSO Prediction Skill over the period 1970-1992
Statistical prediction models Mixed statistical-dynamical models
Dynamical coupled models
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Winds,Heat
fluxes
Ocean simulation
Ocean analysis
t t + t
SST forcing
Atmos. simulation
Atmos. analysis
t t + t
Data assimilation
Initial Conditions, t=t0
Atmosphere model Ocean model
FORECAST
Forecast Initialization Procedures
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NINO3 forecasts initialized each month
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Revised NINO3 forecasts initialized each month
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Lamont Model; 1972-1992 validation period
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Winds,Heat
fluxes
Ocean simulation
Ocean obs.
Ocean analysis
t t + t
SST forcing
Atmos. simulation
Atmos. analysis
t t + t
Data assimilation
Initial Conditions, t=t0
Atmosphere model Ocean model
FORECAST
Forecast Initialization Procedures
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NCEP PREDICTION
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Impact of ocean initialization on NCEP coupled model forecast system skill
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Zonal Wind and zonal wind anomalies during 1996-97
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U.S. Precipitation in four El Niño winters
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PERSISTED
GLOBAL
SST
FORECAST SST
TROP. PACIFIC (NCEP dynamical)
TROP. ATL, INDIAN(statistical)
EXTRATROPICAL (damped persistence)
GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC
MODELS2°- 3° lat-lon
18 -19 vertical layers
ECHAM3.6(MPI)
ECHAM4.5(MPI)
NCEP (MRF9)
CCM3.2(NCAR)
NSIPP(NASA)
COLA2.x
AGCM INITIAL CONDITIONS
UPDATED ENSEMBLES (10+)WITH OBSERVED SST
ForecastSST
Ensembles3/6 Mo. lead
PersistedSST
Ensembles3 Mo. lead
REGIONALMODELS
HISTORICAL DATA
Extended simulations
Observations
IRI DYNAMICAL CLIMATE FORECAST SYSTEM
POSTPROCESSING
-Statistics
-MultimodelEnsembling
-graphics
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Probabilistic Skill Score – IRI Seasonal Temperature Forecasts
Probabilistic Skill Score – IRI Seasonal Precipitation Forecasts
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IRI Global Precipitation Forecasts – Ranked Prob. Skill Score
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-2
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2 JMA
NSIPP
ECMWF
LDEO
BMRC
COLA-fc
NCEP
SIO
CSIRO
SNU
UBC-hc
COLA-ac
CCA-ncep
MK-ncep
CCA-ubc
CLIPER
CCA-sawb
N-Net-ubc
CA-ncep
CDC-lim
Obs. El Nino yrs
Forecasts for Jun-Jul-Aug 2002 NINO3.4 SST anomalies
Dynamical ocean/atm or hybrid Statistical models Obs. El Nino yrs
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IRI ENSO Quick Look
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IRI ENSO Quick Look
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Summary
• There is a physical basis for (limited) predictability of El Niño– relies on “slow” ocean dynamics and strong coupling between ocean and atmosphere in tropical Pacific
• There are also clear limits to predictability– model errors– effects of lack of observations (e.g., salinity)– unpredictable “noise”
• Dynamical and statistical models comparable in performance– dynamical methods have more potential for improvement
• Ensemble-based predictions offer best hope for characterizing real uncertainties
• Current global seasonal climate forecast performance depends strongly on the state of ENSO
– necessarily probabilistic– also depend on other phenomena requiring further study
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Summary
• early 2002 situation: critical preconditions for El Niño were in place, but development was considered uncertain
– El Nino “watch” issued
– consensus of forecasts was “correct”
• For future progress, we must:– understand the role of “noise” and how to address it in forecasting– reduce systematic errors that limit forecast skill– improve initialization methods for predictions– further develop ensemble methods for probabilistic forecasts
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