El Niño and the related phenomenon southern oscillation (ENSO): The largest signal in interannual climate variation

Hui Jun Wang, Ren He Zhang, Julie Cole, Francisco Chavez

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

73 Scopus citations

Abstract

El Niño and the related phenomenon Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the strongest signal in the interannual variation of ocean-atmosphere system. It is mainly a tropical event but its impact is global. ENSO has been drawing great scientific attention in many international research programs. There has been an observational system for the tropical ocean, and scientists have known the climatologies of the upper ocean, developed some theories about the ENSO cycle, and established coupled ocean-atmosphere models to give encouraging predictions of ENSO for a 1-year lead. However, questions remain about the physical mechanisms for the ENSO cycle and its irregularity, ENSO-monsoon interactions, long-term variation of ENSO, and increasing the predictive skill of ENSO and its related climate variations.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)11071-11072
Number of pages2
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume96
Issue number20
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 28 1999

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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