Abstract:
A tropical Pacific coupled ocean-atmosphere anomaly model with an oceanic boundary layer and an atmospheric convergence feedback process has been developed in this paper. By using the model, the ENSO cycle has been successfully simulated after an integration of 30 years. The simulated horizontal structures of both the dynamical fields and the thermodynamic fileds during each phase of the model ENSO cycle, including the initiation, devlopment, duration and the recurrency of the warm and/or cold states and their association with the seasonal cycle, are in well consistency with those from the observations. The results from this model study indicate that the essential dynamics of the ENSO cycle can be determined by the tropical Pacific coupled ocean-atmosphere system itself. The proper simulation of the ENSO cycle by the coupled model would provide an essential basis for further understanding the formation mechanism responsible for the ENSO cycle.