An Equatorial Ocean Recharge Paradigm for ENSO. Part II: A Stripped-Down Coupled Model

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Abstract
The conceptual recharge oscillator model intuitively established in Part I is derived from a dynamical framework of a Cane–Zebiak type model for tropical ocean–atmosphere interaction. A two-strip approximation to the equatorial ocean dynamics and one-strip approximation to the SST dynamics are employed to obtain a stripped-down coupled model that captures the main physics of the Cane–Zebiak type model. It is shown that the conceptual recharge oscillator model can be obtained from the stripped-down coupled model with a two-box approximation in the zonal direction or a low-frequency approximation to filter out high-frequency modes. Linear solutions of the stripped-down model are analytically solved and the dependence of coupled modes on various model parameters is delineated. In different parameter regimes, the stripped-down coupled model describes a coupled-wave mode and a mixed SST–ocean-dynamics mode that results from the merger of a nonoscillatory ocean adjustment mode with an SST mode. These t... Abstract The conceptual recharge oscillator model intuitively established in Part I is derived from a dynamical framework of a Cane–Zebiak type model for tropical ocean–atmosphere interaction. A two-strip approximation to the equatorial ocean dynamics and one-strip approximation to the SST dynamics are employed to obtain a stripped-down coupled model that captures the main physics of the Cane–Zebiak type model. It is shown that the conceptual recharge oscillator model can be obtained from the stripped-down coupled model with a two-box approximation in the zonal direction or a low-frequency approximation to filter out high-frequency modes. Linear solutions of the stripped-down model are analytically solved and the dependence of coupled modes on various model parameters is delineated. In different parameter regimes, the stripped-down coupled model describes a coupled-wave mode and a mixed SST–ocean-dynamics mode that results from the merger of a nonoscillatory ocean adjustment mode with an SST mode. These t...

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